This week is Small Business Week. Our week to celebrate the small businesses that power our economy and create jobs across Colorado.
The problem is, most small businesses aren’t in the mood to celebrate. In fact, many of them aren’t sure how they’re going to keep the lights on.
All because of the Trump administration’s reckless tariff-taxes.
Trump promised to lower prices on his first day in office. Instead, his administration announced major tariffs across the board and picked trade wars with our most valuable trading partners, like Mexico and Canada. We’re already seeing Mexico, Canada, and the other countries retaliate, targeting American businesses and producers with their own tariffs.
These trade wars have frozen businesses in their tracks.
It’s especially harmful for the smallest businesses – the newest entrepreneurs – who are the most vulnerable.
I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t know much about running a business before we opened the Wynkoop, Colorado’s first brewpub. We had to rent a book from the library just to make our first loan proposal. But I quickly learned that you always need a business plan.
There’s no way we would’ve risked buying a new brew kettle or hiring more staff at the Wynkoop if we couldn’t predict how much our basic supplies would cost us three months down the line.
These trade wars are also dissolving the trust that businesses count on to survive and grow.
When we first opened the brewpub, we ordered most of our stainless steel equipment from a small company up in British Columbia. We quickly became close partners and friends.
Our trust with each other was so significant that as we grew, they adapted their business to grow with us. That partnership became a big part of how we were able to succeed.
The current trade wars would’ve upended our partnership and risked all of our shared success. There’s no doubt that these tariff-taxes would have devastated us at the Wynkoop.
That's exactly what’s happening to small businesses across the country right now — so many are still reeling trying to figure out how to move forward in these unpredictable times.
As mayor, governor, and senator, I’ve always made fighting for our small businesses a priority. And that won’t stop.
As the Trump administration turns its back on a crucial piece of our country’s economy and steps on countless entrepreneurs nationwide, we need to make our voices so loud they can’t drown us out.