Join NFIB and ebay for this year’s small business conference in Washington, D.C. This is one small business event you don’t want to miss. To learn more about the keynote speakers for this year’s summit, see their bios below.
U.S. Sen. John McCain has a long career of public service and is a lifetime Guardian of Small Business Award winner. Sen. McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. President. He is currently the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
Tony Snow, CNN Political Commentator and Former White House Press Secretary
Tony Snow served as the White House press secretary for the George W. Bush administration from May 2006 to September 2007. In 1991, he served as director of speechwriting and deputy assistant to the president for media affairs for President George H. W. Bush. In April 2008 he joined CNN as a political commentator.
Trent Lott served the United States for 35 years in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and in 2007 announced his resignation. He served as the House Republican Whip in 1981, and forged the bipartisan alliance that enacted President Ronald Reagan's economic recovery program and his national security initiatives.
Sen. John Breaux is a voice and force in the American political arena and has led a long and distinguished career in Congress. His latest venture is cofounding the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, an all-in-the-family lobbying firm for bipartisan solutions, with former Sen. Trent Lott.
Roger T. Staubach, executive chairman of the Staubach Company, founded the company in 1977 to exclusively service the needs of users of commercial real estate. Under his guidance, the company became a market leading global real estate advisory firm that delivers cost-effective solutions for office, industrial and retail clients.
Widely regarded as one of the nation's keenest litmus testers on U.S. elections and political trends, Charlie Cook is the publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM.
Stuart Rothenberg has his finger on Washington's political pulse. As the editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, a biweekly newsletter that reports on and analyzes governmental developments that affect the country today, Rothenberg is the go-to authority on the U.S. House, Senate, gubernatorial and presidential elections.
Meg Whitman was president and CEO of eBay from March 1998 through March 2008, when she stepped down. During her tenure, eBay has come to dominate the online space with a portfolio of brands--notably eBay, PayPal and Skype--that generated nearly $8 billion in sales in 2007.
Bill Novelli is CEO of AARP, a membership organization of over 38 million people age 50 and older, half of whom remain actively employed. Prior to joining AARP, Novelli was president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, whose mandate is to change public policies and the social environment, limit tobacco companies’ marketing and sales practices to children and serve as a counterforce to the tobacco industry and its special interests. He now serves as chairman of the board.
Rep. Charles W. Boustany Jr., M.D.
U.S. Rep. Charles W. Boustany Jr. is a cardiovascular surgeon with more than 20 years of experience. He was first elected to Congress in December 2004 and is in his second term in office representing Louisiana's 7th Congressional District. Rep. Boustany has championed healthcare reform, sound energy policy and hurricane recovery with time-proven solutions for all Americans.
Since 2001, Bob Kerrey has been president of The New School, a university founded on strong democratic ideals and daring educational practices. Throughout his career in public service, while serving as a governor and U.S. senator from Nebraska during the 1980s and 1990s, Kerrey advocated for increased education spending. He continues to do so, believing that democratic life flourishes most when all citizens are properly educated and given every chance to participate in the political process.
Sen. Ron Wyden was first elected to Congress in 1980 to represent Oregon's 3rd District. In 1996, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in a special election, becoming the first U.S. senator to be elected in a vote-by-mail election. He was sworn in to the seat once held by his mentor, U.S. Sen. Wayne Morse.
Stuart Butler joined The Heritage Foundation in 1979 as a policy analyst specializing in urban issues. Now as vice president of domestic and economic policy studies, Butler has played a major role in shaping the policy debate on a wide range of domestic policy issues from health care and Social Security to welfare reform and privatizing government services. National Journal has called him one of Washington's 12 key players on healthcare.
"It was my first Summit and I was extremely impressed. The speakers were great and it is worthwhile to be in a group of like-minded people - not Democrats or Republicans, but small-business people."
Tom Ulbrich,
Mow More Supplies,
Alden, N.Y.
"With the commitment of money and time to attend it is important to have an organized Day on the Hill. The impact NFIB has means that Congress has to listen to us. As individual small-business owners, we don't have the ability to call and get a Hill appointment, but NFIB can get it for us. That is something other organizations cannot do."
Gordon Whitbeck,
Whitbeck Laboratories, Springdale, Ark.
"The Hill visits were pretty effective. We shook up the Senate and House buildings for at least a day. I think it is much better to be there in person than to rely on phone calls and e-mails. When there is a large group on the Hill, lawmakers know these people are serious."
Douglas Furnell,
Western Metal Company, Louisburg, Kan.
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