The 2010 NGLCC National Business and Leadership Conference started off strong with an inside view of Washington policy making as attendees heard from several distinguished members of the U.S. Congress and the Obama administration.
Administrator Karen Mills of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) keynoted the opening session, discussing the strides the SBA has made in the last two years to address the growing needs of America's small businesses, and praising the NGLCC for its ongoing support of these efforts.
"This organization has been there from day one to support this administration, the president and ourselves at the SBA on matters that relate to creating jobs and supporting small businesses," Mills said. "We have really appreciated your partnership because from the beginning you've done things that have been very important to spread the word."
Mills pointed to the Small Business Jobs Act, which has already put more than 8,000 loans in the hands of small businesses since it was passed just two months ago.
"With the support of this organization, and a lot of you, we were able to pass the Small Business Jobs Act," she said.
Specifically, the Small Business Jobs Act has waived fees for borrowers, put up 90-percent guarantees to banks reluctant to risk lending to small businesses and increased the number of banks making SBA loans.
The SBA also has implemented rules to help small businesses achieve the agency's goals of obtaining 23 percent of all federal contracts, with 5 percent going to women-owned companies.
And Mills touched on the SBA's efforts to help increase export opportunities for small businesses. She praised the NGLCC for its successful first annual trade mission to Argentina last summer.
While happy with SBA's recent accomplishments, Mills said there is "a long ways still to go."
"We still need your help, we still need your partnership, we still need to work arm-in-arm with you in a number of ways," Mill said.
Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., whose speech opened the conference, emphasized the importance of the private sector leading the way to move non-discrimination legislation forward when the new Congress comes into session in January.
"If you're a leader in a large company, if you're a small business, you can lead by example by showing that not only is discrimination of course morally wrong, but it's not efficient in the marketplace. It leads to reduced profits and leads to companies that have less of a competitive advantage in their marketplace," Polis said.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., also spoke about the challenges LGBT equality legislation may face with the incoming Congress. While she remains hopeful that the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be addressed during the lame-duck session between now and January, she was more doubtful about passing the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA) and said, "I'm not holding my breath."
"But none of this means that we're going to throw up our hands and give up. We are going to continue moving forward. Remember, our march for LGBT equality is a movement, not a moment in time. And with every great movement of social change, it requires the help of faith; A little faith that using the tools of our democracy that we can effect a change, even when it is sometimes our own government that is denying us our rights," Baldwin said.
Like Polis, Baldwin pointed to the importance of the private sector helping to move LGBT equality forward.
"This is not just a job for those of us who have the privilege of serving in the United States Congress," Baldwin said. "You all, we all, have a role to play and we desperately need your help."
Baldwin also encouraged the conference attendees to reach out to their members of Congress who don't support or co-sponsor ENDA or other LGBT equality measures and ask them to do so "enthusiastically, persuasively and forcefully."
"Keep on making your voices heard, individually and collectively," she said.
