Small Business Day is usually held in person at a site near the State Capitol and includes one-on-one and group meetings at the Capitol with individual legislators. We moved this year’s event online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Small business owners from around the state logged into the event, which was streamed live in two sessions beginning March 30. Speakers on Day 1 included U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer Palmer (6th District) and U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (2nd District).

Palmer said he and NFIB State Director Rosemary Elebash “have worked together for a long time, and you really have a champion leading NFIB in Alabama.” He discussed efforts to pay down the national debt and regulatory reform. “We’re going to be very vigilant in trying to prevent a return of overly restrictive regulations that really don’t do anything other than hamstring the economy,” Palmer said.

Moore, an NFIB member, voiced concerns over federal spending including the Biden administration’s $3 trillion infrastructure package. “We just need to get government, taxes and regulations out of the way (and) let the small business owners do what they’re pretty good at doing,” he said.

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On the second and final day of the Virtual Small Business Day, Elebash was joined by Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, Revenue Commissioner Vernon Barnett and state Rep. Danny Garrett, who chairs the Alabama Small Business Commission.

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