AMPLIFYING VOICES: Opening Remarks at the SEC’s Small Business Forum

Welcome to the SEC's 43^rd annual Small Business Forum. I'd like to thank all of you for joining us over the course of the next three days to hear the voices of early-stage founders, capital allocators, and small public companies. I am excited to be here as the new Director of the Small Business Advocacy Office and to play a role in this important Commission event that brings together the small business community, the Commissioners, and other government and thought leaders.

Before I say much more, on behalf of myself and my colleagues here at the SEC, I want to make clear that the views expressed today are each speaker's own - in my case in my capacity as the Director of the Small Business Advocacy Office - and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission, any of the Commissioners, or any of our colleagues on the Staff.

While I wish I had put a nickel in my savings every time I heard it, it nonetheless remains true that small businesses and their investors are vital to our economy, no matter their life cycle stage. For instance, did you know that small businesses created over 43% of U.S. GDP last year?[1] Or that women owned or co-owned almost 45% of non-employer small businesses - that's 11.5 million firms - and almost 40% of employer small businesses - another 2.1 million firms.[2] And were you aware that over the last 10 years, diverse businesses have created over 4.7 million jobs?[3] How about the fact that small businesses accounted for 54% of employment in rural areas?[4] Or that small public companies raised $4.6 billion in registered offerings in 2022?[5]

Over the course of the next three days, I am excited to hear from leaders who have personal knowledge of the issues facing small businesses and their investors. We will have the chance to learn first-hand from one-on-one conversations with those who have lived the small business experience and survived to tell the tale. We will also engage with panels of individuals from the small business community who will share their insights and take-aways, and you in the audience will have the opportunity to ask them questions.

Today's focus will be on amplifying the stories of early-stage businesses, including conversations about barriers to entry for underrepresented founders and bridging the wealth gap. Tomorrow, we will open the dialogue with investors on their role as capital allocators and some of the challenges that emerging fund managers face, and we will address broader questions, like private market liquidity. Finally, on day three we will catch up with folks in the small public company space and get insight on initial public offerings, research coverage, and other pertinent topics.

The goal of the SEC's Small Business Forum is to bring together a multitude of voices from the public and private sectors, with different ideas and perspectives on capital raising. Over the course of this year's Forum, we will have the opportunity to listen to insightful remarks from our Commissioners and learn from our presenters, as they share their stories. But we also want to hear from all of you about your experiences, suggestions, and questions. The voices of the small business community provide insight into the journeys that entrepreneurs and investors undertake as they navigate the various capital-raising pathways. These stories can motivate us to think and consider ideas in a different way and appreciate narratives that are distinct from our own.

I suspect that many of you, in our audience, have your own stories to share about capital raising or questions you are pondering. I encourage you to amplify your voice by posting questions and comments in the chat.

In addition to fostering learning and growth through conversation, a goal of the Forum is to provide an opportunity for the public to shape recommendations to the Commission and to Congress regarding policies that affect capital formation for small businesses and their investors. We have already heard from some of you about proposed policy recommendations, but we want to hear from all of you. If you have not yet shared your ideas, there is still time to submit your thoughts through the submission portal or you can email us at [email protected]. Then, at the end of each day's panel, we will invite you to vote to prioritize the policy recommendations to send to the Commission and Congress.

While I've only been the Director of the Small Business Advocacy Office for three months, I have already had the privilege of engaging with a wide variety of our stakeholders to hear their experiences and perspectives. What an incredible learning opportunity it is to be able to dialogue with so many who play a role in the small business ecosystem. I look forward to continuing my journey as the Director and connecting with many more of you in the months and years to come!

And in this journey, I will be joined by an outstanding team. It is hard to quantify the amount of passion, time, and effort it takes to host this event, and the dedicated team in our Office does so with quiet perseverance. I would like to thank Amy Reischauer and Kim Dinwoodie for leading the charge and the rest of the team for all of their support, including Jennifer Brady, T.J. Collins, Julie Zelman Davis, Pablo Echeverri, Courtney Haseley, Sarah Kenyon, Sheen Munshi, Vikki Porter, Jenny Riegel, Malika Sullivan, Todd Vanlaere, and Tyneise Wilson.

Now, I'd like to introduce and welcome Chair Gensler to the Small Business Forum to share his insights and perspectives.

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