The US Women's Chamber of Commerce wishes you and your loved ones a very Hapyy Thanksgiving!

And of course, once you have finished your Turkey Celebration, the feeding frenzy really begins! Black Friday - Or is it Black Thursday??

The Small Business Administration has launched a campaign to encourage Americans to do business with small businesses this Saturday - that is the Good News.  The USWCC has a long standing mantra - buy from women owned firms first and buy from American small businesses. This keeps our money within our communities, thus supporting small businesses and the local economy.

Now for the Bad News - within this campaign, the SBA is using our tax dollars to market American Express!  My question - why is a federal government administration established to support small businesses constantly marketing big business?  Wouldn't you like the SBA to market your business brand? I have yet to see that.

And – is American Express really small business friendly?  Did you know that USA Today reported in May 2010 that "over the past six months, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Citi and Wells Fargo have raised interest rates for new small business credit cards offered on the internet roughly six times faster than the rate increases on consumer credit card offers.  On average, interest rates for small-business cards were 13.7% higher in April than last October...”?

So how do we stop this?  Call your Congressional leaders. Call the small business committees.  Call the SBA Advocacy office. Call the SBA Inspector General office. Call the President! And let them know that you oppose the SBA marketing big businesses, and demand that they stop using OUR tax dollars to market American Express and all big business.

Contacts:

• House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/
• U.S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
• House Small Business Committee: (202) 225-5821Sam Graves, Chair
• Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship 202.224.5175 Mary Landrieu, Chair
• Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): (202) 205-6533 Dr. Winslow Sargeant, Chief Counsel for Advocacy
• SBA Office of Inspector General (202) 205-6586 Peggy E. Gustafson, Inspector General
• Whitehouse Switchboard: 202-456-1414