White House Conference on Small Business Letter to Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin Concerning the Conference.
To Senator Gaylord Nelson:
I have carefully reviewed your October 1976 memorandum recommending a White House Conference on Small Business, as well as the additional memorandum of last autumn. This material and our recent discussion have satisfied me that such a conference would be very constructive for the nation's 14 million small and independent businesses. Therefore, I intend to call a White House Conference on Small Business, as suggested by Senate Resolution 105 which you authored.
I believe such a conference can help us identify the many special problems facing small business and design an agenda that addresses them in a constructive way. As you know, the 14 million small businesses represent a much larger part of our economy than is commonly recognized. They account for over 50% of all private employment, 43% of the gross national product and over half of all inventions.
You have been a leader in devising ways to help this important sector of our economy grow and prosper. Administrator Vernon Weaver of the Small Business Administration will be working closely with you in preparation for the White House Conference.
Sincerely,
JIMMY CARTER
Note: The text of the letter was released on April 6.
On the same day, Small Business Administrator A. Vernon Weaver, Jr., and Senator Nelson, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Small Business, held a news conference in the Briefing Room at the White House on the week-long Conference, which will be held in the fall of 1979.
Jimmy Carter, White House Conference on Small Business Letter to Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin Concerning the Conference. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/244943
