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c-span now app or wherever you get your podcasts. host: we are back with sean del newsom, who is the executive -- sean del newsom -- shaundell newsom. he is here to discuss the state of small business in the united states. guest: happy small business saturday to all small businesses. let's go out and support them today and throughout the year. host: tell us what the small business for america's future is. what is your mission? guest: small businesses for america's future is a coalition of leaders working to provide

america's small business community with a voice. most of the time we do not have that opportunity to get lobbyists and have people speak on their behalf so we have a coalition of over 80,000 businesses nationally that come together. we talk about issues that impact small businesses. host: define what you consider to be a small business. is this a sole proprietorship. are these mom-and-pop stores that employ their children and relatives. what do you call a small business? guest: here is what i define as a small business -- a small business is a business owner in your community that goes to church with theo, that spends time in your neighborhood, that sponsors baseball games. small businesses are those folks you admire when you walk through

your neighborhood, your grocery store, your drycleaners. it ranges from the very small up to 90 to 100 employees. the real small businesses, the ones in your community helping you grow your community and being right next to you and you see them every day. host: you brought it up earlier and i want to remind our viewers that today is small business saturday. what are small businesses expecting on small business saturday and why do we have a small business saturday? guest: small business saturday is a reminder that most small businesses are not wall street corporations.

we are celebrating those small business owners throughout the country who put their blood, sweat and tears into their businesses every day. your local eatery that you get up to the coffee shop up the street, the drycleaners, the car washers. celebrate small businesses. it is about celebrating your community. everyone in your community is really excited when it comes down to local jobs. my grandmother in brooklyn, when she worked at the local dry cleaner, we could walk down to the local dry cleaner and see our grandmother. it is about the community. host: this time last year we were still on a lockdown. we were not going out shopping locally. it do we expect a big change

today now that we are hopefully emerging from this pandemic? guest: we have been devastated. small business owners have a lot of resiliency but we have been devastated. while the cares act has helped us out, we are underwater. we are trying to make sure that not only do we recover this year but we do not want to be forgotten for long-term sustainability. support small businesses going forward. small business for america's future makes sure that our local government do not forget about our job creators. host: we have heard a lot of talk about the supply chain disruption, and about the containers sitting in los angeles and not being able to

get things to major corporations. how has supply chain disruptions affect did american small businesses? guest: small businesses are impacted by the supply chain. we are very nimble at adjusting and getting in front of a lot of these things. we may do a lot better at planning and getting in front of these things. every time something impacts a large corporation, it definitely impacts small businesses. we just make sure we try to keep things going, we try to make sure our products and services are ready, but it does have an impact. host: let me remind our viewers that we are talking about the state of small businesses in the united states this morning. we will open up regional lines.

that means that if you want to take part in this conversation and you are in the eastern or central time zones, you can call (202) 748-8000. if you are in the mountain or pacific time zones, your number is (202) 748-8001. we are opening up a special line for small business owners. how are you doing? how has the pandemic affected you? are you seeing a turn as we headed to the 2021 holiday season? your number is going to be (202) 748-8002. small business owners, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8002. you can always text us at (202) 748-8003.

we are always reading on twitter and facebook at facebook.com/c-span. we were talking earlier and i heard you talk about the cares act and the coronavirus relief that small businesses have been getting. the house has passed the build back better act. your organization supports the policies in that legislation. explain to us what the build back better act would do for small businesses. guest: one of the biggest challenges we have with our employees is childcare. the build back better act addresses the childcare situation. covid-19 remains the biggest challenge facing our small businesses. we did they -- a poll and 40%

of small business owners listed covid-19 as their biggest concern. we are looking old back better act will help us to address a log of -- build back better act will help us to address a light of the issues that hit us during the pandemic -- lot of the issues that hit us during the pandemic. the build back better act in our opinion as small businesses, we are close to our employees, so that will address a lot of the issues for our employees. host: we know a lot of businesses were affected during the pandemic because of the shutdown. one of our social media

followers wants to know " do you know the number of small businesses that shut down during the pandemic never to reopen?" caller: guest: it -- guest: it really is a flowing number, but over half have had to shut down. when of the challenges we recognized is that it is not just -- it wasn't just the covid-19 itself, it was everything else that happened culturally. some people were depressed. some people had family members dying. i want everybody to understand, it was not just the financial impact. it was a lot of the social issues as well. those of us working at small businesses have to work with every issue that comes our way.

we are sitting there right next to our family members who are impacted covid-19. we are sitting there with our team members who have children who cannot go to school so we have to open up a small office so our kids can go to school there. everything impacted us during the pandemic and the shutdown. it is much bigger than the dollars that we lost. host: is there anything specifically in the build back better act that helps small businesses and in addition to that, is there anything in there for veteran owned businesses or minority owned businesses? guest: there are a lot of opportunities in there that help us with access to capital.

we all heard about the debacle of the first round of the ppp. this time around everybody is focusing on the hardest hit and the most devastated. thank you for that. i am a veteran owned business, a minority owned business, a woman-owned business. we cover although spectrums. there were a lot of small businesses who were getting access to capital. the other thing that is important is they are addressing a lot of our needs. in our survey a lot of times people were talking about the devastation from the standpoint of not having access to capital and not having access to affordable health care. i believe the build back better act will address those immediate

needs. host: let's let some of our viewers take part in this conversation. we will start with sandra calling from georgia. good morning. caller: i have a question -- does not the federal government define a small business as one that has up to 500 employees? in the black community, small mom and pop businesses, nail salons, beauty supply stores, those businesses typically do not invest in the black community. they live there and they get their dollars from their, but they -- there, but they do not sponsor games.

they do not give back to the community from which they get there -- their profits from. guest: thank you. small business -- let's start with black-owned small business. 500 employees -- most black-owned businesses do not have that many employees. less than 4% of the black-owned businesses even prior to covid had one or more employees. small business for america's future is helping out with minority businesses to help them have more access to capital that will help minority owned businesses. i believe this administration is watching a lot of those things

and we are working with them to grow a lot of our blackened businesses. in most of the communities i have been a part of, that is their primary focus. they do not sponsor games and sponsor sports teams because it is something philanthropic to do. they do it because their kids are involved, their grandkids are involved. in my community, my kids are involved. we take care of the community and we know those people. host: let's talk to steve who is calling from ormond beach, florida. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. my question is for mr. newsom. when i heard you are going to be the guest, i was researching the

small business for america's future -- how do you distinguish this organization from the traditional small business organization such as the national federation of independent business and all these groups around cities such as the business roundtable and the community of 50 and whatever these folks choose to call themselves these days? it seems their main thrust is to -- their main adversary as their employees. they are always trying to sponsor employee unfriendly legislation or block employee friendly legislation, trying to fix wages, trying to keep out unions. what is different about the small business for america's

future? can you distinguish yourself from these traditional groups? guest: we really hone in on mainstream small businesses. we hone in on their employees. we focus on and we have a conscience on our employees and team members and making sure their lives are enriched and making sure they have the quality values we have. everybody believes small business owners sit on top of a hill and looked down on the community. small business for america's future and the 80,000 businesses we have, we make sure we are honing in and focusing not only on what is good for the business but what is good for the entire community.

it is not business against to the community, it is business with the community. host: one of the things we have heard about in the news lately is labor shortages. how are labor shortages affecting the small businesses you represent? guest: if you look at it, we are still trying to fill jobs. unemployment is down and 5.6 million jobs have been filled in the last year. we are two years ahead of schedule according to the congressional budget from early in the pandemic. small businesses even during the obama administration were faster to recover jobs and bring back employees than any other businesses in the country. we know we can do this, we just

have to make sure the legislation gives us the opportunity to continue to grow like that. do not just do it after a pandemic. if we consistently invest in our small businesses we know we cannot only eradicate worker shortages that we can grow this country to be what it was meant to be. host: one of our social media followers has a question for you about health care -- " wouldn't small businesses benefit from medicare for all? how many people want to open a small business but never do because they cannot afford to lose their health insurance?" caller: one of the things about -- guest: one of the things about health insurance is small businesses want options.

i know some in vegas want to provide for their employees. in other parts of the country , they say " we need all the help we can get, so we just want the flexibility. we do not want to be bound by any legislation that puts us in a bucket. we want the flexibility to do what we have to do to help our employees." small businesses come in all shapes and sizes. i want to help every small business owner have the opportunity to access quality health care -- not just affordable but quality health care. small business for america's future, we have been fighting for that from day one. host: let's talk to marie who is

calling from new jersey. caller: thank you for taking my call. mr. newsom, some of your policies are so right on. i have worked in parts of the country where small businesses were a back of the economy. health care is a huge issue. it has been my experience that states that refused to implement the affordable care act, it is hard to keep employees. it is hard for employees to survive medical disasters. i believe you are saying that this build back better is a workaround for those states that have not properly implemented to give small businesses in mississippi, alabama, georgia the opportunity to provide

affordable health care, real policies for their workers, so they can keep their staff. is that right? guest: the build back better act has a lot of provisions focused on helping small businesses better health care,, better childcare, better chances to access capital. that is why small businesses for america's future was looking at how do we support -- it is not just us sitting on a board. most of this comes from our p oll. we had 1000 people that we polled and they were overwhelmingly in favor of the

build back better act. everyone of those small businesses were talking about " how does the build back better act impacts the issues that affect us?" we spend a lot of time talking to employees one-on-one. we are not antiunion. someone asked of question earlier. we have a great opportunity all the time to directly talk with our employees. we enjoy the conversations we have. we do not have conversations that are just like meetings. there conversations that we have with family members. host: i want to ask you a question then show some numbers from your poll? what is your organization's

position on a federal vaccine mandate? guest: 60% said they believed that vaccination efforts are important to ensure that economic recovery from covid-19 and 68% supported requiring vaccinations for federal government employees. 67% of small business owners agree that requiring organizations with 100 or more employees to have their employees vaccinated or tested weekly is a good idea. we have to get healthy. i have seen close employees' family members pass away. i had a family member pass away

from covid-19. this is devastating to the whole staff. it is devastating when you have anybody who you have to discuss from a matter of death. one person dead is not good. especially in a small business, one person passing away is very devastating. everybody hurts. we are a family. we all hurt together. host: small business owners were asked about the federal vaccine mandate. 35% opposed it. a second question asked small business owners on them having a mandate. 35% said they will not have a vaccine mandate in place.

talk to us a little bit about that second set. about half say they will have one in place, half say they will not and one in 10 say they will have one in place by 2021. guest: small businesses know we are closer to this than anybody else. we have small shops, combined spaces. we have to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. a lot of the times when it comes down to these mandates, we are ahead of the curve. we have already done some of those things. when covid-19 shut down orders and kids could not go to school,

we allowed kids to come to the office and be with their parents because we knew parents were concerned about them being in these areas with a lot of other kids. even with this, we are typically ahead of the curve when it comes to the government. we want to make sure we have a safe and healthy environment in our businesses. host: let's talk to wilbert calling from nash, texas. guest: you are going to have to unite -- caller: you are going to have to unite like a union to have health care! i worked at a job for 45 years. insurance is so high. small businesses will have to unionize themselves to get insured.

a small business opportunity like a diesel mechanic will require someone to learn a trade. they could take their small business to the highway. i have a son who is 31 years old who has been in the appliance business for 12, 11 years. he has no insurance. he will have to unite to get the insurance he needs for his family. he is a fine worker but he does not have insurance for his family. guest: small businesses are working on that. small business for america's future has been addressing health care from day one.

we want to have great and quality health care for our employees. we are working diligently with this administration. some of the things with the national -- i'm just making sure small businesses are whole. small businesses need the revenue, need access to capital, but we want to take care of their employees. access to quality and affordable health care is our goal. host: let's talk to walter calling from butler, indiana. caller: happy thanksgiving. god bless you. i'm a new york city guy. i used to live in manhattan. there was a guy who used to sharpen all your knives and tools. then there was the shoe repair

man. everyone had everything in their little community. it was all american parts and american materials distributed to american citizens. corporations have always been there but then came walmart and the big box stores. " we will cut out the american middleman and sell cheap junk to the american citizen." that was the beginning of the end for your small businesses. these people in government never signed the front of a check. they would not know how to run a business if it hit them in the backside. thanks a lot. guest: ima brooklyn guy myself.

i went to high school -- i am a brooklyn guy myself. you are 100% correct when it comes to the focus on the mainstream small business. i was in new york city going to a funeral for a guy who is my hero. he was a small business owner in brooklyn. when i was 13 years old i interned for him. he had a printshop. i became a graphic designer. he got me into graphic design! what i saw is how he was always focused on the youth in his community, always focused on what we could get done as far as economics. he taught us how to invest.

you are absolutely right. i remember walking to the corner store and getting fruits and vegetables. i remember going to the shoe repair guy with my grandmother and grandfather and my dad and my mom! i agree with you. we need those in our community because small businesses -- it is indescribable how much of an impact we can have on our local community. in vegas we have a community cafe. it is not a chain or anything. we know the parents, we know the people there. i love having small businesses. i think that is where we need to focus as a country. host: one thing we have not

talked about this. morning as inflation i want to bring -- this morning is inflation. i want to bring you some comments from joe biden. i want you to listen to president biden and then i want you to respond to him. [video clip] >> last year the pandemic shut down much of the global economy. now there is a reawakening that is creating great opportunities and tough challenges as economies across the world to come back from this pandemic. america is leading the way. like every country, we have to deal with issues of rising costs, but we have the skills and tools to control it.

so much of our economy is doing well because we have created so many new jobs as fast as we have. we are in a position to attack inflation from a position of strength not weakness. host: do you think the white house is doing enough to tackle inflation? how does inflation affect your members? guest: inflation effects small businesses especially businesses and restaurants who rely on produce. it is more of an economic problem for consumers, our employees, our community. according to the data from the consumer rights index -- the build back better act will address some of the highest costs of families and offset the

impacts while building a stronger economy in the long run. host: let's go back to our phone lines. our next caller is from pittsburgh, pennsylvania. good morning. caller: i had a small business. my family had a small business. that is one thing we do. -transcribing- reports in radiology. i hired other girls.

the doctor merely paid me to paid them while i trained them. small businesses spread by hiring other people to work for them. you have to have it registered. the taxes i had to pay, people will claim that business people do not pay taxes. they do. they have to match the social security they take from their people. they have to take that amount out of their room pocket. -- their own pocket. small businesses are very

valuable because they hire people from the area. it is very important because those small businesses turn into large businesses. each one teach one. my grandfather did that in the 1800s. guest: thank you so much for all of that. i can tell you what you just said was music to my ears. we go into the communities. we have an internship program. my wife was born and raised in north vegas. she goes into high schools and teaches them a trade, teaches them how to behave, how to carry themselves, how to be professional. that is one of those things that

is not always covered and not always explained. small business owners like myself and the lady who just talked, even her grandfather, we are the last to be paid out of all of this. we tried not only to help the business owner but it is helping the community. it is something people need to focus on when supporting a small business. you are not necessarily making the small business owner wealthy. you're supporting the entire community. those of us who operate small local businesses, we definitely care, but more than caring we contribute in other ways more than you can imagine. , we care we love are employees and we do work that -- we care, we love our employees

and we do work that many do not see. host: let's go to pastor james calling from alabama. caller: i watch you every morning. it is only by the mercy of god my family has survived 151 years. my great-grandfather mars watson and harry carter started the business during the depression. my father, who was one of the first african-americans in 1963 rose to the superintendent of concrete in 1970. when he came to my great-grandfather's funeral, he

said " put your own business in place." my father started his own company. from 1970 to 2010 my father ran that company with an iron fist. in addition to concrete, we ran 200 head of cattle. it was during the 70's and 80's that farms started to eat up the construction companies. from 1975 to 2010 had we not been a family hands-on construction company, we would not have survived. in 2010 my father died.

myself and my two brothers have struggled because we have never been able to go to the bank to borrow any money. today, as i speak from my hospital bed, i just went through pancreatic surgery and i have been confined to my room for the last two weeks, but our business -- to show you what god does -- we have more than $3 million worth of sales on the table today and my projection for '23, '24, '25 will surpass $5 million. host: my conclusion -- my

conclusion is when families start a business they need to stick like glue and they cannot let anything separate them. and that business will become a success story. guest: to god be the glory. my company, our company in las vegas, we have two foundations -- family and faith. if you go to our website, you will find scripture. exactly what you said is what a small business should be. we are a family-owned business me, my wife,, and my daughter. i started this business -- i hope and pray we can get to 151

years! one of the things i know about the provisions in the infrastructure bill as it will include minority owned businesses. construction is not normally the one that benefits from a bill like this but small and minority owned firms are the focused and imp are to the national contractors -- the focus. i am a part of the national contractors association. i pray we can have as much success and longevity as your business. thank you for that. host: we would like to thank shaundell newsom for coming on with us this morning and discussing the state of small businesses in the united states.

thank you for your time. guest: thank you for the opportunity. i am blessed to work with a great organization so i would like to give a shout out to to my co-chairs, the staff and the volunteers. host: up next we will take more phone calls as we move into our open forum. you see the numbers on screen. colin and talk to us about what your most important political issue is. -- call in and talk to us about what your most important political issue is. next we will talk to mark leon goldberg, host of the podcast global dispatches. ♪ >> next week congress returns

with sn8 continuing work on the 2022 wi -- with the senate continuing work on the 2022 defense bill. we will have live coverage of two hearings on c-span.org and the c-span now mobile app. a subcommittee here is from advocates on holiday product safety concerns. treasury secretary janet yellen and jerome powell testified before the senate banking committee on their agency's use of covid-19 relief funds. that will also stream live at

c-span.org and on the c-span now mobile app. the u.s. supreme court hears oral arguments in dobbs v jackson's women's health organization, a case banning legislation after three weeks of pregnancy. head over to c-span.org for scheduling information or to stream video live and on-demand at any time. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> washington journal continues. host: we are back and we will open our phone lines for you to talk about your most important little issue this morning. for democrats, we want to hear from you at (202) 748-8000.