May 1, 2023

Did you know that more than 80% of our State Chamber members are small businesses? This is National Small Business Week. We want to recognize and applaud all of the entrepreneurs around our state who turned an idea into jobs for other Delawareans, and created thousands of useful products and services. 

Some have grown into much larger businesses and expanded beyond their wildest dreams. However, for some, growing to be “big” isn’t always the plan or even preferential. Many liken working for small businesses as a family environment—where the culture is supportive and celebratory because everybody knows one another.

For policymakers, it’s very important to remember that small businesses have limited or no skills redundancy. They may have enough work for one welder, but not enough work to warrant the hire of a second employee. Thus, when that welder is away, work might go undone. Similarly, a small business may have one human resources staffer who is called upon to recruit and onboard new employees, explain healthcare and retirement benefits, build succession plans, offer training opportunities, and so much more. Larger organizations, in contrast, most often have a person solely dedicated to each of these areas as the issue expert whereas small businesses depend on their people knowing a little about a lot. Most small businesses also do not have attorneys on staff. Therefore, when questions of compliance with laws or regulations arise, they turn to outside legal help or organizations like the Delaware State Chamber for direction. 

This is a relatively light week for economic news and data. March construction figures came out this morning, while March U.S. job openings and factory orders are released tomorrow. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell hosts a press conference on Wednesday afternoon and we’re likely to learn about interest adjustments then. Thursday and Friday bring us jobs and unemployment data, and on Friday morning we’ll learn of the U.S. unemployment for April.

FMC Corporation, Avis Budget, Norwegian Cruise Line, Transocean, and ZoomInfo start the week off with earnings calls today. Tuesday is headlined by DuPont, Incyte, Advanced Micro Devices, Pfizer, Ford Motor, and are joined by Lending Tree, Molson Coors Brewing, T. Rowe Price, Uber Technologies, and Western Union. Corteva leads things off on Wednesday, and is joined by Garmin, Allstate, Met Life, Public Storage, Wingstop, Zillow, and others. Apple, Ball Corp, Anheuser-Busch InBev, DoorDash, Lyft, Stanley Black & Decker, Goodyear Tire, and others round out a busy week of calls.

With June 30th just around the corner, there is no better time than now for Delaware's small business community to come together before the General Assembly comes to a close for this year.

On Thursday, May 4, join the conversation at Small Business Day in Dover. A half day, immersive experience in Delaware's capital, you will learn about current issues that could impact your business and interact with the legislators who can pass or vote down these bills. Register >

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