For close to one-and-a-half hours this week, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis sat patiently, and deeply engaged, as she listened to the challenges and opportunities that small business faces in a country dominated by the influence of large multinational corporations. These small companies believe in livable wages, health care for all, and reversing the concentration of wealth that threatens to tear our society apart.
Almost 20 of us sat around the table representing the 65,000 companies that are part of the American Sustainable Business Council – businesses that are all committed to a just, equitable and sustainable economy. We were joined by no fewer that six members of Secretary Solis’s senior staff. As the conversation circled around the table, the Secretary made notes, asked questions and recommended opportunities for her staff to follow-up on an idea, or seek more information.
The Secretary has personally surmounted many obstacles, perhaps more than anyone else in the room. A four-term congresswoman, she became the first Hispanic woman to serve as a cabinet member. Her mother worked in a toy factory and her father in a battery recycling plant, where he contracted lead poisoning. The third of seven children, she grew up in a modest home near a giant landfill just east of Los Angeles.
Our dialogue helped renew my faith in government. I saw first-hand deeply passionate and caring people trying desperately to do the right thing. Sometimes what is missing from the process is us, the voices of small business, from corner stores to micro-enterprises; small-scale Latino farmers and ranchers competing against big agriculture and local wind turbine manufacturers bidding for jobs against Asian companies who are receiving tens times more government funding.
I saw our voices of support embolden our government’s conviction. In a political process dominated by money, lobbyists, and self-serving interest groups the door was open for people who perhaps hadn’t fully realized how essential they are to the process of governance.
We look forward to more dialogue, better understanding government programs we may not know exist and the willingness of Secretary Solis and her staff to look at the world from our point of view to find the opportunities to make things work as a smaller scale.
Sounds like Obamaganda. What, if any, concrete examples of suggestions that could make a positive difference were discussed at the meeting & what if any did the administration commit to?
Thanks for the question. Here is an answer describing what was discussed:
1. Invite business leaders, and others who represent the work and thinking for creating a sustainable economy, to participate in the presidential advisory committee on jobs and competitiveness.
2. Organize a co-sponsored business summit for a new “green,” sustainable and just economy.
3. Explore how the Labor Department can support American Sustainable Business Council businesses to share educational tools and services. Many of the ASBC groups have quality training and education programs that would benefit others. How can we best bring forward the suite of services that we can provide?
4. There are numerous Labor Department programs and services that would benefit small business – if they were aware of them. How can we help communicate their availability and access?
5. Explore how the Labor Department can improve access to other White House departments.