Voices for Jobs: Local Conversation, National Impact

A Listening Tour Across America

With the economy struggling to rebound from the recession, what do americans, especially business owners and entrepreneurs, think about the current economic climate, job creation, and the power of and challenges to the free enterprise system? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Campaign for free enterprise decided to find out.

Through the Voices for Jobs Listening tour, the campaign set out in the spring of 2011 to hear what business owners and entrepreneurs around the country think are the challenges and factors influencing job creation. The goal: To spark a renewed, informed conversation on the United States’ economic future and the role of free enterprise in guaranteeing its success, and to strengthen the quality of that dialogue at all levels—local, regional, and federal—for maximum national impact.

On the tour, the campaign visited local chambers and spoke to business owners around the nation to learn what people think about the economic outlook, federal regulations on small business, the debt and deficit, and strategies to ensure american prosperity. The tour also went online, engaging the campaign’s followers on facebook and twitter (via the hashtag #Voices4Jobs) with questions to gauge their feelings on the economy’s direction, government regulation, and other challenges.

After weeks on tour and thousands of responses on facebook and twitter, the resiliency and resolve of american small business owners and entrepreneurs is clear and unwavering. Their recurring message: It has been a tough few years economically but, slowly, local small businesses are looking better and feeling more confident in their potential for profit and growth. and it’s the free enterprise system that keeps them going.