Remarks as delivered by Suzanne P. Clark, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, at the State of American Business event on January 16, 2025.
The State of American Business is local because businesses serve people where they are.
And if you think about it, that makes ALL business local.
That’s true, of course, of the small businesses that line Main Streets and the locally headquartered businesses that employ hundreds, or even thousands, of people in a community and drive its economic ecosystem.
It’s also true of…
- The national chain restaurant where you had your first job.
- The tech company that produces the equipment and the internet service provider that together enable you to work from your kitchen table or your home office.
- The energy producers that power your vehicles so you can drive across town.
- The institutions that provide the financing so you can start a business in your basement.
- The food distributors that enable your kids to have fruit for breakfast every morning.
- The pharmaceutical company that invests in research to produce the medicine you can pick up at your neighborhood pharmacy within minutes of a doctor visit.
- The global retailer that develops the supply chains that deliver products from anywhere in the world to your doorstep and builds the facilities and warehouses that employ your friends and neighbors.