Joni Ernst Questions Small Business Growth Barriers and Onshoring Benefits

Barriers to Small Business Growth

• 💡 Access to capital is a primary barrier for scaling businesses, impacting their ability to hire talented individuals and invest in technology.
• 💰 Growth requires significant investment in technology upgrades, such as ERP systems and automation, which are costly.
• 🧠 Human capital and expertise are crucial for professionalizing businesses and driving them to the next level.
• 🏗️ Building out property, plant, and equipment also demands substantial capital investment.

Advantages of Onshoring Manufacturing

• 🛡️ Supply chain resiliency is a major benefit of building products onshore, as demonstrated by the disruptions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• ⏱️ Onshoring reduces long lead times associated with imports, allowing businesses to react quickly to demand signals, such as a surge in sales for specific colored products.
• 🏭 The ability to produce in a domestic factory enables greater agility and responsiveness to market changes.
• ✅ True business advantages, beyond cost, are found in reacting to demand, maintaining resilient supply chains, and delivering safe, quality products.
• 🤝 Consumers reward companies that prioritize domestic manufacturing, indicating a preference for "made in America" products.

SBIC Program and Critical Technologies

• 📈 SBIC investments play a role in supporting American manufacturing, with 20% currently funding these companies.
• 🎯 The SBIC program can be further targeted to support investments critical to national security through a critical technology initiative.
• 🤝 This initiative is a partnership between the Small Business Administration and the Department of Defense to license SBICs that invest in sectors vital to national security.