CONTACT: Mike Donohue (202) 554-9000
Visa USA Title Sponsor of Summit
5/19/2004
NFIB, the nation's largest small-business group, today announced that its fourth biennial National Small Business Summit will be held in Washington, D.C. June 16-18. Meeting just blocks from the White House for three days next month, hundreds of small-business owners from across America will convene in the nation's capital to:
- Meet with their elected officials in Congress to urge their support on legislation crucial to small business, especially a vote in the U.S. Senate to enact Small-Business Health Plans;
- Learn how to make the voice of small business even stronger in their communities as Main Street job creators work to once again flex their political muscles and hold candidates accountable in the 2004 presidential, congressional and state elections;
- Attend workshops focusing on federal agencies and federal regulations, featuring issue experts and senior government officials;
- Hear first-hand from some of the most powerful and interesting people in Washington about how the federal government can help small business continue to drive the nation's economy.
"The NFIB National Small Business Summit brings together 600 of the country's most politically active entrepreneurs and key policymakers to discuss how small-business owners can become more involved and effective in the political process," said NFIB President Jack Faris. "For three days, policymakers see first-hand the importance of small business to the economy, and America's entrepreneurs have an opportunity to meet their lawmakers face-to-face and affect the policies that impact their businesses."
The Title Sponsor of the 2004 National Small Business Summit is Visa USA. Other corporate sponsors include MBNA America, Dell, FedEx, Wells Fargo, GatesMcDonald and NFIB Member Benefits.
"With nearly 17 million self-employed and 5.9 million employer firms across the country, small businesses fuel our economic growth," said Elizabeth Buse, executive vice president, Visa USA. "As the global payments leader, Visa is committed to giving small-business owners solutions that deliver greater value, while meeting their unique needs. Visa's participation in the NFIB Small Business Summit is yet another illustration of our dedication to developing solutions that empower small-business leaders and help make each small business a successful enterprise."
Faris said the Summit will also highlight the political landscape heading into the crucial November elections that will determine the presidency and whether the narrow pro-small-business majorities in the U.S. House and Senate will be maintained. Promising that NFIB is fully engaged, Faris said, "We recognize that the fight to protect small-business owners is never finished. And NFIB is in it for good."
"In sight of perhaps the most important and consequential national election in a generation, the National Small Business Summit will rally our Main Street grassroots political activists," said Faris. "We're going to fire up the troops and then send them back out to their communities, where the front-line battles to elect pro-small-business candidates will be fought and won."
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is the nation's largest small-business advocacy group. A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943, NFIB represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington and all 50 state capitals. For more information on NFIB visit www.NFIB.com. NFIB's 2004 National Small Business Summit will be held June 16-18 in Washington, D.C. More information is available at www.NFIB.com/summit.
About Visa
Visa is the world's leading payment brand and largest payment system, enabling banks to provide their consumer and business customers with a wide variety of payment alternatives. Nearly 21,000 financial institutions worldwide rely on Visa's processing system, VisaNet, to facilitate $2.5 trillion in annual transaction volume with virtually 100-percent reliability. Cardholders in more than 150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accepted at millions of locations worldwide. Within the United States, nearly 14,000 financial institutions issue 396 million Visa cards, accounting for more than $1 trillion in annual transaction volume. Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources -- anytime, anywhere, anyway. For more information about Visa, please visit www.visa.com.
