2012 April Lunch

Thursday, April 19th 2012
The Seven Steps on the Road to Economic Recovery for Washington State Small Businesses - By Erin Shannon of the Washington Policy Center in Olympia

Please join the CW Chamber of Commerce in welcoming Erin Shannon, the Small Business Director of the Washington Policy Center in Olympia, Washington at the keynote speaker at the April Luncheon event. The doors open at Camas Meadows at 11:30 am on Thursday, April 19th for networking with the program beginning at noon. The cost is $15/members and $20/non members. Please RSVP at 24 hours in advance as we pre order our lunches. RSVP by emailing chandra@cwchamber.com or via website.

Erin Shannon, the Small Business Director of the Washington Policy Center will outline the seven steps on the Road to Economic Recovery for Washington State Small Businesses. These seven steps or policy recommendations were created at the 2011 Small Business Conference in Bellevue, Washington this past September. At this conference Small business owners and policymakers from around the state gathered to discuss ways to overcome the recession, put Washingtonians back to work and improve the small business climate. These practical ideas offer elected officials a way to increase economic vitality and foster success for the people of Washington state.

Facts about Washington's Small Business Climate:
• 96% of the state’s 235,230 firms are small businesses
• Small firms employ 40% of the state’s private sector work force
• Just over 1.1 million people work for small businesses in Washington
• In addition, about 387,500 people in Washington are self-employed
• Washington has the third highest business start up rate and the second highest business failure rate in the country

The U.S. economy is officially in recovery, but people in Washington state are still struggling. Traditionally, small businesses have led the way out of recession as entrepreneurs create jobs and stimulate the economy. Unfortunately small businesses have been especially hard hit by the recession. As financial markets dropped and consumer confidence plummeted, the lines of credit and new loans vital to small companies dried up. To spur Washington along the road to recovery, policymakers in Olympia need to create the best possible environment for opportunity, confidence and economic growth so that small business owners can begin hiring again.

The center for Small Business is one of seven research centers at the Washington Policy Center, an independent, non-profit, non-partisan think tank that promotes sound public policy based on free-market solutions.

This luncheon is sponsored by Lacamas Community Credit Union