Business for Shared Prosperity

For Immediate Release
Contact: Bob Keener, 617-610-6766, bobkeener@businessforsharedprosperity.org
Richard Eidlin, 303- 478-0131 / 303- 777-4138, reidlin@asbcouncil.org

Financial Reform Passage Vital to Business Say Business for Shared Prosperity and American Sustainable Business Council

Washington, July 15, 2010 – Today’s passage of financial reform is a crucial step in rebalancing our economy from Wall Street to Main Street and preventing a repeat of the meltdown that destroyed so many businesses and jobs. “Small business growth and access to safe, fairly priced capital are key to our economic recovery and success,” said David Levine, executive director of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC). “Our fast growing network represents more than 50,000 companies working to build a strong, sustainable economy, and we applaud passage of the financial reform bill.”

Frank Knapp, Jr., president and CEO of The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said, “Today’s vote is an encouraging sign that Congress recognizes that small businesses are the real drivers of our economy. This law will restore the balance between Wall Street and Main Street through fair and common sense policies creating a stable, transparent financial environment that sets the stage for small businesses to once again get the capital they need to grow us out of this bad economy.”

“Business owners who know the difference between investment and gambling worked hard for passage of financial reform,” said Business for Shared Prosperity Director Holly Sklar. “Financial reform is an important step in moving us from a destructive casino economy to a productive sustainable economy.”

“Today's final passage of the financial reform bill, including strong protections for consumers and small business, demonstrates that the government is taking steps to prevent future economic suffering, and holds forth the promise of making financial security for our country a priority over Wall Street greed,” said Fran Teplitz of Green America.

Founded last year, the American Sustainable Business Council is a collaboration of business networks including Business for Shared Prosperity, Green America, the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Responsible Wealth, Wealth for the Common Good, the Association of Enterprise Opportunity and fourteen others working to advance policies that foster a sustainable economy.

Congress can take another step forward in helping businesses create jobs by passing the “Small Business Jobs Act.” As noted by a recent Kauffman Foundation report, small business job creation has led the country out of the last three recessions and this legislation contains numerous provisions to increase lending to small businesses.

For commentary from business leaders and small business owners around the country:

Bob Keener, Business for Shared Prosperity, 617-610-6766, bobkeener@businessforsharedprosperity.org
Frank Knapp, South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce, 803-600-6874, sbchamber@scsbc.org
Fran Teplitz, Green America, 301-312-4699, fteplitz@greenamericatoday.org,
David Levine, American Sustainable Business Council, 917-359-9623, dlevine@asbcouncil.org