Be proud, small-business owners! You're now the most trusted group in America. Listen up, federal government! You're neglecting small business — and most people think so. According to the just-released study by the highly respected Pew Research Center, small business is the most trusted institution in America. More than churches. More than colleges. More than technology companies. And certainly more than labor unions or large corporations. Republicans trust us. Democrats trust us. Independents trust us. Small business isn't a partisan issue. But we're neglected. When asked about which groups were getting too much or too little attention from the government, Americans felt small business was getting dealt the worst hand. Hey, elected officials, listen up! Small business is one of the few groups Americans want to get more government attention. The Pew Center's study got enormous media attention — but not about small business. The media coverage focused on how little Americans trust their government. But buried in the report was the fact that there is an institution almost all Americans still trust: small business. So I picked up the phone and called the Pew Center. I wanted to learn more. The results were "striking," according to Carroll Dougherty, Pew's Associate Director. "At a time when a lot of institutions are viewed negatively, small business is viewed very positively. What's really interesting is that large corporations are viewed almost as negatively as Wall Street. The contrast between large corporations and small business is enormous." "So much of this survey is partisan," Dougherty continued. "In this case, it's bipartisan. It crosses party lines." 72% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 73% of independents say small businesses have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country. Let's look at the numbers of how some groups are viewed as to whether they have a positive or negative effect on this country: PUBLIC'S NEGATIVE VIEWS OF INSTITUTIONS: Effect on the way things are going in the country (in percent): Postive Negative Other/ Don't know:
1. Small business 71 19 10
2. Technology companies 68 18 14
3. Churches & religious orgs 63 22 15 3.
4. Colleges & universities 61 26 13
5. Obama administration 45 45 10
6. Entertainment industry 33 51 16
7. Labor unions 32 49 18
8. Federal agencies and depts 31 54 16
9. National news media 31 57 12
10. Large corporations 25 64 12
11. Federal government 25 65 9
12. Congress 24 65 12
13. Banks & financial inst 22 69 10
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. The Pew Center also asked which groups get too much or too little attention from the federal government. Here, small business even beat out the "middle class" as seen as being neglected by our government: WHO GETS TOO MUCH ATTENTION, TOO LITTLE FROM FED. GOVT.? In percentages: Too much Right amount Too little Don't know:
1. Small business 8 20 69 3
2. Middle class 9 22 66 4
3. Poor people 17 22 56 5
4. Labor unions 34 30 26 11
5. Business leaders 45 26 20 9
6. Wall Street 50 25 16 9
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. Once again, this wasn't a partisan issue. 73% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats and 68% of independents say small businesses get less attention than they should from the federal government. These favorable attitudes toward small business explain why politicians — of every party — shout their affection for small business when they're running for office. (Remember "Joe the Plumber"?) But once they're in office, these same politicians — of every party — neglect us. Why is that? Because while Americans trust us, we don't have much political power. Not nearly as much as huge corporations, banks, labor unions or lobbyists. But while we may not have power to change our government, we do have power to change our world. Because we create most of the new jobs (65 percent of all new jobs are created by small companies). We have the power to innovate. And we have the power to create good working environments for our employees. So the next time you're with a group of people who own small business — or heck, you even look in the mirror — take pride! You're part of the group your fellow Americans trust most.
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