Dr. Jennifer Tran for Congress: Sensible Solutions
Small Business and Workforce Development
Small businesses are the life blood of the American economy. We need to ensure that they not only survive but that they can thrive.
Nearly 50% of all employees in the United States are employed by small businesses. Small businesses have added almost 13 million jobs in the past 25 years. But our small businesses have been deeply impacted by the challenges of our country, they’re struggling, and closing.
Our commercial centers are dying. We need federal investment to keep businesses from leaving so our cities can survive.
As the President of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, I’ve been working to support small business needs and getting a close-up look at the landscape. Oakland is losing businesses every day. Downtown is a ghost town. Our other commercial corridors like Piedmont, Rockridge, Fruitvale, Uptown, Temescal, Chinatown, Little Saigon and Lakeshore were once so vibrant. Now they are plagued by crime, vandalism, and a growing number of vacancies. If businesses are leaving, it means Oakland is dying. Local politicians can’t solve the problems. We need federal help.
Dr Tran’s Plan for Supporting Small Businesses
Expand the Small Business Administration budget by $25 Billion:
Incentivize small businesses to fill leases in empty spaces of commercial corridors.
Incentivize Millennial-owned businesses and first-time business owners.
Invest in expansion of workforce pipeline programs at community colleges to ensure job placement.
Incentivize small businesses to fill leases in empty spaces of commercial corridors.
We need the federal government to incentivize small business development in our commercial corridors to bring back our cities. The Small Business Administration (SBA) already works hard to build small businesses. We just need to infuse more funding and special incentive programs to fill empty units in our designated commercial corridors by offering tax benefits, rent assistance, special loan terms or even mid-term loan forgiveness.
Incentivize Millennial-owned businesses and first-time business owners.
Additionally, while small businesses make up over 99% of businesses in the country, Millennials own only 7% of those small businesses. It’s time to think about generational economic development. Millennials are inheriting an economy that has been stacked against them. We need to empower this generation to build the businesses of their dreams with the SBA incentivizing Millennial-owned businesses.
Invest in expansion of workforce pipeline programs at community colleges to ensure job placement.
Commercial Corridors need businesses. And businesses need skilled employees. That’s why a robust workforce development initiative needs to accompany the investment in small business. Everybody who wants a job in America should have one. Every company that needs a skilled employee should have a pipeline of employees to choose from who are being trained in their respective field. The Federal Government should subsidize that pipeline with job training, certification, and degree programs. Community Colleges and Trade Schools can be expanded with federal funding that not only trains a new generation of professionals, but also creates part-time teaching opportunities for existing professionals.
In Dr. Tran’s first 100 days in office, she will introduce legislation to Congress called the Modern Cities Act.
This legislation will include provisions to increase the funding of the Small Business Administration from $36.66B to $62B. The additional $25.34B would be allocated to fund small business development in Commercial Corridors, Millenial-Owned small businesses, and career training programs. Thriving business corridors are the future of American Cities. We won’t get there if we don’t invest in them.
How has Dr. Tran served here before?
- Small Business Ownership
My family owned a small business and my partner is a small business owner, I’ve seen firsthand the struggles facing small businesses every day - Professional Experience: Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce President
In my role as the President of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, I’ve worked with the other minority Chambers and the City of Oakland to create a more robust local economy for us all - Community Advocacy: East Bay Economic Development Alliance
My local advocacy work has centered around addressing the digital divide and digital access gap, language barriers, and economic access for many communities
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