Last week proved to be a little chaotic, and very exciting, around here — with moving our office from the fourth to the first floor of our building where we’ll all have a little more breathing room, and then a last minute request to invite a handful of PCV entrepreneurs to meet with Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday afternoon.
Despite the late notice (the companies we wanted to invite were approved Wednesday afternoon for a Thursday afternoon meeting), Robin Petravic (Heath Ceramics), Beth Miles (ses petits mains), Greg Long (Gama- Go), Melissa Rich (InterSchola), & Lorena Siminovich (Petit Collage) jumped at the opportunity to have an intimate roundtable discuss with Leader Pelosi.
After the round of introductions, where a wide variety of industries and businesses sizes were represented, along with an array of current challenges that each business is currently facing in San Francisco, Leader Pelosi outlined the ‘ABC’s’ that Washington is currently working on to help support the small business community:
A = America. Made in America. There’s a strong push to meet the growing demand for light manufacturing in the US by increasingly supporting, promoting and facilitating a Made in America approach.
B = Building. If we’re going to make it in America, then we need to focus on building the right infrastructure.
C = Community. Connecting the dots between producers, manufacturers and distributors will lead to a stronger business community that will ultimately be able to increase the US’s exports and bring new money into our economy.
Leader Pelosi was thoughtful, attentive and honest in her discussion with our small businesses and it was really encouraging to see. As PCV’s relationship with the Small Business Administration and partners such Small Business Majority continue to strengthen, we hope to become a larger conduit to ensure that the voices of the companies in our network get heard and that their needs continue to be met.
For more from one of our entrepreneurs’ perspective, check out what Beth Miles had to say about the experience here.