U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

36–209 WASHINGTON : 2019

THE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM: NEW PATHS TO 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION AND 

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

UNITED STATES 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

HEARING HELD 

MAY 9, 2019 

Small Business Committee Document Number 116–019 

Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov 

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Congress.#13
(II) 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

NYDIA VELA ́ ZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman 

ABBY FINKENAUER, Iowa 

JARED GOLDEN, Maine 

ANDY KIM, New Jersey 

JASON CROW, Colorado 

SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas 

JUDY CHU, California 

MARC VEASEY, Texas 

DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania 

BRAD SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

ANTONIO DELGADO, New York 

CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania 

ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio, Ranking Member 

AUMUA AMATA COLEMAN RADEWAGEN, American Samoa, Vice Ranking Member 

TRENT KELLY, Mississippi 

TROY BALDERSON, Ohio 

KEVIN HERN, Oklahoma 

JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota 

PETE STAUBER, Minnesota 

TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee 

ROSS SPANO, Florida 

JOHN JOYCE, Pennsylvania 

ADAM MINEHARDT, Majority Staff Director 

MELISSA JUNG, Majority Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

KEVIN FITZPATRICK, Staff Director 

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C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Page 

Hon. Jason Crow ...................................................................................................... 1 

Hon. Troy Balderson ................................................................................................ 2 

WITNESSES 

Ms. Kellyn Blossom, Head of Public Policy, Thumbtack, San Francisco, CA ..... 4 

Ms. Erika Mozes, Co-Founder and COO, Hyr, Inc., New York, NY .................... 6 

Ms. Olivia Omega Wallace, Co-Founder, Wallace Marketing Group, Aurora, 

CO .......................................................................................................................... 7 

APPENDIX 

Prepared Statements: 

Ms. Kellyn Blossom, Head of Public Policy, Thumbtack, San Francisco, 

CA ................................................................................................................... 25 

Ms. Erika Mozes, Co-Founder and COO, Hyr, Inc., New York, NY ............. 30 

Ms. Olivia Omega Wallace, Co-Founder, Wallace Marketing Group, Aurora, CO ......................................................................................................... 32 

Questions for the Record: 

None. 

Answers for the Record: 

None. 

Additional Material for the Record: 

None. 

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THE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM: NEW PATHS TO 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2019 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION AND WORKFORCE

DEVELOPMENT, Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in Room 

2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jason Crow [chairman 

of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Crow, Houlahan, Kim, Finkenauer, Davids, Balderson, Burchett, and Joyce. 

Chairman CROW. Good morning. The Committee will come to 

order. I thank everyone for joining us this morning. I want to especially thank the witnesses for being here today. 

We all know how much the Internet has changed our lives, but 

the most dramatic impact it may have had is the opportunities it 

has provided small businesses. Twenty years ago, there was no 

Google, YouTube, or Facebook, companies that started small but 

eventually turned into major brands. Much of this is made possible 

by the internet and its ability to connect people in ways unheard 

of just a short time ago, allowing small businesses to compete with 

larger competitors. 

One of the first ways small businesses utilize the internet to 

start and grow a business was through the use of digital platforms. 

Digital platforms facilitate commercial interactions between suppliers one on end, and consumers on the other. Whether it is reaching consumers out of arm’s reach, or hiring someone to cover a 

shift, digital platforms stretch tight budgets and make small businesses much more efficient. 

As the online economy evolves, digital platforms are growing into 

networks referred to as digital ecosystems where stakeholders and 

consumers are tied together by digital services that foster information sharing and collaboration. These communal environments 

have become the catalyst for modern business models like the gig 

economy, and the next generation of digital marketing. 

The gig economy term used to describe an emerging labor marketplace defined by flexible temporary work arrangements is 

changing the way Americans view work. Through digital platforms 

like the ones that are represented by our witnesses today, small 

businesses can hire talent for short-term projects and benefit from 

a vast network of unbundled services. Skilled and creative 

solopreneurs, like web developers and event planners, can also use 

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digital platforms to be hired by consumers and other small business owners. In fact, 70 percent of U.S. small businesses have hired 

a gig worker, and 50 percent currently at least have one currently 

working. As a result, 43 percent of businesses hiring gig workers 

are saving at least 20 percent in labor costs. 

Digital platforms can also help small businesses reach bigger audiences. In the traditional market space, small firms must compete 

with big businesses for expensive ad space. Digital marketing levels the playing field by lowering costs and expanding impact. Data 

sharing within digital ecosystems also make it easier for small 

businesses to reach niche audiences because advertisements are 

targeted to customers of similar businesses. This competitive advantage and cost savings enable small businesses to scale and 

thrive. 

However, many small firms are being left behind. In fact, even 

today, a third of small businesses still do not have functioning 

websites, and 42 percent believe that the internet is not relevant 

to their business. 

Unfortunately, many small businesses view digital adoption as a 

luxury instead of a key driver for success. As technology rapidly develops, the digital ecosystem is only going to become more deeply 

engrained in business and everyday life. Today, there are 2.5 billion people connected to the internet, and there will be twice as 

many connected by 2020. Studies have found that 80 percent of 

companies that have embraced digital adoption have increased 

profits by 85 percent. These increased profit margins can mean the 

difference between failure and survival. America’s small businesses 

cannot afford to be left behind. 

So I hope that today’s discussion will shed light on the many 

ways digital platforms benefit small businesses and encourage 

broader adoption of digital tools. Small businesses must join the 

digital ecosystem to grow and thrive. 

I thank each of the witnesses for joining us here today, and I 

look forward to your testimony. 

I would now like to yield to the Ranking Member, Mr. Balderson, 

for his openings statement. 

Mr. BALDERSON. Good morning. And thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to join you for our Subcommittee’s inaugural 

hearing this morning. Good morning to all of you, and a special 

thank you to our witnesses for taking time out of your busy day 

to join us. 

The use of digital technology is gaining popularity with small 

firms because of the opportunities it creates for small businesses to 

compete and succeed in a rapidly changing market. Smaller businesses can only compete with their larger corporate counterparts 

by acting swiftly and adapting to these demands produced by increasingly digital modern world. Technology innovation is a critical 

component of this development and a subsequent advantage. 

As businesses adopt mobile computing devices and software, such 

as cloud computing systems and online conference calls, employees 

and key stakeholders are able to communicate and collaborate 

around the world in real time. Such innovations reduce travel cost, 

drastically improve efficiency, and eliminate barriers for startups. 

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Perhaps the greatest benefit of adapting new technologies is the 

resulting financial savings. As evidenced by the past few decades, 

digital technology increases productivity, reduces overhead costs, 

and gives businesses a leg up on their competition. Increasingly, 

digital tools and platforms serve as the foundation of modern 

American small businesses. Small firms that use digital tools are 

more nimble, resourceful, and better equipped to engage potential 

customers. In fact, it has been proven that digital-powered businesses earn twice the revenue as those that don’t, and are three 

times more likely to create new jobs than nondigital firms. 

The goal of today’s hearing is to learn how Congress can unlock 

the vast potential of our nation’s small business economy. I look 

forward to the discussion and further examination of how technology enables small businesses to succeed. 

Again, I thank my colleague, Chairman Crow, for holding this 

important hearing, and for our friendship. 

I yield back. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Balderson. The gentleman 

yields back. 

And if committee members have an opening statement prepared, 

we would ask that they be submitted for the record at this time. 

I would like to just take a minute to explain the timing rules for 

all of you. Each witness gets 5 minutes to testify, and the members 

get 5 minutes for questioning each. There is a lighting system to 

assist you. Those are the buttons that you see in front of you. The 

green light will be on when you begin, and the yellow light comes 

on when you have 1 minute remaining. The red light comes on 

when you are out of time, and we ask that you stay within that 

frame to the best of your ability. 

I would now like to introduce our first witness, Ms. Kellyn Blossom. Ms. Kellyn Blossom is the head of public policy at Thumbtack. 

Here, Ms. Blossom focuses on advocating for small businesses 

across the country. Ms. Blossom also served as Director of West 

Coast Public Policy at Uber, and Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama White House. Before the Obama administration, Ms. Blossom served the Department of Homeland Security and worked on several congressional campaigns. Ms. Blossom received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University, and a 

master of public administration from Harvard University, the John 

F. Kennedy School of Government. Welcome, Ms. Blossom. 

Our next witness is Ms. Olivia Omega Wallace, a resident of Aurora, Colorado, our hometown. Ms. Omega Wallace is brand consultant and speaker, co-founder of the Wallace Marketing Group, 

Denver Director of Brazen Global, and author of Beautifully Branded, The Girl’s Guide to Personal Branding and Understanding the 

Anatomy of Brand you. Inspiring women entrepreneurs is her passion. Olivia helps create—helps women create authentically unique 

brands through messaging, identity, and brand experiences. 

Ms. Omega Wallace is a graduate of the University of Colorado 

at Boulder Leeds School of Business and has 15 years of corporate 

branding, advertising, and digital marketing experiences. Welcome, 

Ms. Omega Wallace. 

Our third witness is Ms. Erika Mozes. Ms. Erika Mozes Is a cofounder and Chief Operating Officer at Hyr. Prior to co-founding 

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Hyr in 2015, Ms. Mozes worked as a public affairs executive and 

senior communications professional in government and on political 

campaigns. Ms. Mozes received an honor’s degree in political 

science from Western University. Welcome, Ms. Erika Mozes. 

Ms. Blossom, we will start with you. You are recognized for 5 

minutes. 

STATEMENTS OF KELLYN BLOSSOM, HEAD OF PUBLIC POLICY, THUMBTACK; ERIKA MOZES, CO-FOUNDER AND COO, 

HYR, INC.; AND OLIVIA OMEGA WALLACE, CO-FOUNDER, 

WALLACE MARKETING GROUP 

STATEMENT OF KELLYN BLOSSOM 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Thank you, Chairman Crow, for the opportunity 

to speak before you today. My name is Kellyn Blossom, and I lead 

public policy for Thumbtack. We are honored to be a part of this 

discussion to share our perspective on how technology can empower 

America’s small businesses. 

Thumbtack is a website and an app that connects customers 

looking to hire service professionals to hundreds of thousands of 

small businesses. Now over 10 years old, Thumbtack facilitates 

millions of connections every year. These customers can find small 

businesses in nearly a thousand different categories, from plumbers 

and personal trainers to caterers and cat groomers. 

Thumbtack was created to solve one of the biggest challenges facing new small businesses. A Thumbtack survey found that 43 percent of small businesses say that the number one concern for their 

business is finding the right customers. For independent businesses, finding the next client is a constant concern. Thumbtack 

solves that problem by connecting customers looking for services to 

the small businesses that provide those services in their area. We 

haven’t created new categories of work; instead, we use new technology to grow and expand the reach of small business professionals that have existed for decades and make their work more efficient. 

On Thumbtack, there are three features that are particularly 

valuable to the small businesses that are looking to grow. First, 

each small business that signs up on Thumbtack gets to create 

their own online profile that they can fill with information about 

their business, a story about how they get started, pictures of their 

work, and contact information. This profile can be found directly on 

Thumbtack. But even more importantly, it can be found through 

Google searches or other online search engines. This is crucial for 

small businesses who may not have an online presence, including 

the 35 percent of small businesses who feel that their business is 

not large enough to justify having their own website. 

Second, Thumbtack makes it easy for new customers to find reviews from past customers. While they are not a perfect measure, 

customer reviews have become a key factor that consumers expect 

and rely on when purchasing products or hiring businesses. In fact, 

surveys have found that over 90 percent of consumers, age 18 to 

34, trust online reviews just as much they trust personal recommendations. 

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And third, Thumbtack provides crucial insights to small businesses about how they stack up in their market. We give them data 

on how other businesses in the area are pricing their services, and 

how many customers are searching in their category so they can 

quickly understand the dynamics in their industry and market 

their services competitively. 

These features help small businesses grow their business on 

their own terms, because too often, technology businesses claim to 

be changing the game and revolutionizing the future of work by 

simply providing what amount to be often on demand minimum 

wage jobs. While these can be great transitional opportunities, they 

rarely allow individuals to build a business or expand their earning 

potential. 

Thumbtack focuses on giving individuals the digital tools to build 

not a just a job, but a career and a business that can scale. We 

often see professionals on Thumbtack start out as a sole proprietor, 

and eventually add employees and add services as they grow. 

And we think that technology can play a role in addressing other 

challenges that small and independent businesses face, like the 

challenge of accessing benefits. 

Earlier this year, Thumbtack was proud to become the first marketplace company to provide workers access to truly portable benefits through a partnership with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and their Alia platform. The partnership uses a digital platform to create accounts that independent workers can use to access 

paid time off and insurance products. 

While the pilot is still in its very early stages, we are optimistic 

that we can learn important insights that we can share with policymakers, so together, we can work to help small businesses and 

independent workers close the benefits gap. But our business is 

about more than just numbers and data points and pilots and 

projects. It is about people. It is about people like Terrell King from 

Washington State. Terrell had spent decades in the service industry, but he was struggling to get by. He signed up to work for a 

big cleaning agency, but he wasn’t making enough money to support his family. Frustrated and out of ideas, he turned to a family 

member who told him about Thumbtack. He created his own profile 

that evening with a picture and a story about why he loved doing 

his work. And that first day he found a customer for a high paying 

job. 

Within 4 months, Terrell went from barely basically to making 

ends meet to having his own thriving cleaning business, paying off 

his bills, and even bringing on employees to keep up with the demand. Terrell was able to use technology to take control of his own 

career and build a small business that he is proud of. 

People like Terrell are the reason that Thumbtack exists. And we 

believe technology is at its best when it empowers people to achieve 

their own dreams. 

Thank you. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Blossom. You had that perfectly timed, too. 

A lot of pressure, Ms. Mozes. You are now recognized for 5 minutes. 

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STATEMENT OF ERIKA MOZES 

Ms. MOZES. Thank you, Chairman Crow. And thank you for 

having me here during National Small Business Week throughout 

which we honor the small businesses and entrepreneurs that are 

central to our economy and to our communities. 

My name is Erika Mozes, and I am the co-founder and chief operating officer at Hyr. I am here to speak with you about the importance of the entrepreneurial spirit as it relates to the freelance 

economy, and how this new economy is providing economic mobility 

for millions of Americans. 

The structure of work which we support through the Hyr platform allows hospitality and retail workers to freelance and earn 

extra income and portable benefits. Workers like Megan. Megan 

began working hospitality shifts through Hyr in the weeks leading 

up to Christmas. After the holidays, she sent us heartwarming 

message sharing that she joined Hyr to earn extra money for 

Christmas presents her daughter wanted most. And because of 

Hyr, she was able to give those presents to her daughter. But even 

better, after just 3 weeks of working shifts through Hyr, a company 

she worked with through Hyr offered her a full-time job. 

And workers like Mandy. Mandy said Hyr allows her to schedule 

freedom. Before joining Hyr, Mandy found it difficult to work in the 

hospitality industry while starting off her career as an actress. Because of last-minute audition calls, she would have to call off from 

her job or beg coworkers to cover her shift. But with Hyr, she was 

able to pick up and choose shifts that best fit her schedule. 

At Hyr, we help workers connect with businesses that are looking to fill any shift at any time. This helps both workers and small 

businesses alike. My co-founder and I understand both sides of this 

equation all too well. As hourly paid hospitality workers at one 

point in our careers, there were just too many times that we experienced too much month at the end of the money. And later in our 

careers, when we both worked on the business side, we struggled 

to find great workers given today’s just ever shallowing labor pool. 

To help close the gap, we created a worker focus platform that 

connects the two parties. Gig workers on the Hyr platform are typically already working a full-time or part-time job within the hospitality or retail sectors, but are looking to earn a little bit of extra 

money on the side through our platform. 

And at Hyr, we ensure workers receive those earnings within 3 

days after they work their shift. But more importantly, we created 

a form of portable benefits called UPoints for gig workers that accumulate every time they work a shift through Hyr. 

We built the system to address the issues many gig workers face 

while they choose to enter the freelance economy. We did this because a growing number of Americans are choosing work that is 

just not 9 to 5. Instead, they are your Hyr pro, they are your Uber 

driver, or they are your Grubhub food deliverer. The gig economy 

has become a central cog in America’s economic growth engine providing both entry level opportunities and supplemental incomes. 

At Hyr, we set out to fill a massive gap for businesses. Access 

to talented workers, fast, and relief from high turnover and calloffs. With same-day availability, businesses post shifts on our mobile app by highlighting their specific need, location, hourly rate of 

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pay, and more. They review skilled and rated workers who apply 

for those shifts, and they choose the workers that best fit their 

need. 

And we set out to fill a massive gap for today’s gig worker. Flexible schedules, supplemental income, and portable benefits that, 

again, we call UPoints. Gig workers created their Hyr profile admittance by highlighting their particular expertise, their work history, their hourly rate of pay, and their availability. And they are 

notified of available shifts that meet their need, and then they 

apply for the shifts that interest them most. At the conclusion of 

each shift, earnings are directly deposited in the worker’s bank account within 3 business days. 

While it can be tempting to view the gig economy as either primarily beneficial or primarily detrimental, there is still a really 

large gray area. And businesses like Hyr are thinking about broader policy questions like how we help freelancers access more traditional benefits. At Hyr, we strive to bring opportunities and individuals together, and all businesses, but especially small businesses who would benefit from a modernized system that more easily allows individuals who wish to work independently to connect 

with organizations in need of talent. 

For this reason, we have engaged with a coalition for workforce 

innovation to promote Federal policies that allow the connections 

to create between organizations and individuals accessible for all 

platforms, industries, and positions. 

The fact is the number of gig opportunities are growing at unprecedented rates. And technology companies like ours have made 

it easier for workers and businesses to find each other. 

By staying flexible, collaborating with each other, and balancing 

innovation with the tried and true, we can position ourselves to 

adapt and thrive in this new gig economy. 

Thank you. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Mozes. 

Ms. Omega Wallace, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

STATEMENT OF OLIVIA OMEGA WALLACE 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. Chairman Crow, Ranking Member 

Balderson, my name is Olivia Omega Wallace, an entrepreneur and 

a marketing consultant with 20 years of experience in branding 

and advertising. 

I live in Aurora, Colorado. And I am the co-founder of Wallace 

Marketing Group. My husband and I and three contractors started 

Wallace Marketing Group specifically to help coaches and consultants in the health, wellness, fitness and nutrition industry, to grow 

their companies through branding, online marketing, and digital 

communications. 

Over the past two decades, I have seen the evolution of marketing happen before our eyes on the internet. The many barriers 

to entry started to diminish as technology increased allowing individuals with no special advantages take an idea, quickly bring it 

to market, hire employees, and scale with less up front out-of-pocket costs and less risk. 

Our clients include a vegan chef, and a naturopathic doctor, husband and wife team. They want to bring healthy living and easy 

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cooking to their local and online global communities. We also have 

a counselor that offers art therapy to families in trauma. Online 

marketing tools allow them to reach their specific target audience 

from Aurora to Australia. 

I started my first business making and selling stuffed animals as 

a teenager. And at that time, the internet, again 20-plus—20, 30 

years ago, the internet and other online resources weren’t available. It is incredible to look at young people today, such as our 

daughter, who has a business of her own. She is a sophomore in 

high school and has published three murder mystery novels for 

middle schoolers. She is pursuing her dreams early in life. This has 

been made possible by online publishing, payment, and marketing 

platforms that we, as entrepreneurs and small business owners, 

use every single day. She is releasing her fourth book later this 

year, thanks to the many digital resources at her fingertips. 

Terms like post engagement, community insights, cost per click 

page views, shared pins, retweets, channel subscribers, page 

boosts, and video views are household names for us. Whether I am 

searching for the perfect contractor on Upwork, teaching a workshop to 100 women entrepreneurs on how to leverage Facebook ads 

to grow their business, or coaching a client one-on-one on the importance of consistent content to grow their YouTube channel, the 

ability to participate fully and make a living as a small business 

or entrepreneur would be impossible without these online business 

tools. 

So I am here today to advocate for all of those small businesses, 

solo entrepreneurs, all of those independent artists, writers, and 

creators, all entrepreneurs who are using the internet, and the free 

flow of data that it offers us, to bring their vision to the world. 

Privacy and security are critical to both our family and our business. But achieving these ends must be done in a way that preserves the magic of commerce, as well as the community that 

brought us to this point. 

When I hear the phrase, ‘‘it is not personal, it is business,’’ I kind 

of laugh to myself. Our family is helping our clients provide for 

their family whether it is through online marketing or social 

media. So for us, it is always personal. 

Thank you very much. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Omega Wallace. I appreciate 

that. 

We appreciate the testimony all of you have shared. And I am 

going to begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes, starting with 

Ms. Omega Wallace. 

You know, we heard earlier that not all small businesses have 

websites. In fact, a lot of them don’t even think that it is relevant 

to their businesses. And I would love for you to share with us, in 

your experience working with other entrepreneurs, why—you 

know, A, what are the barriers to getting those websites up and 

having the technological savvy, and, B, why some don’t think that 

it is even relevant for their businesses? 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. When we think about entrepreneurs, 

let’s take a local baker, for example. They love to bake. That is 

what they know how to do. And so adding something like a website 

to their day-to-day, they think about the complications of putting 

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it together, trying to find a web designer to help them do that, the 

cost of putting a website up. 

But I think the most overwhelming thing which creates a barrier 

and why they might dismiss it is that upkeep. So going day-to-day, 

month-to-month, and even year-to-year, they want to bake. And, 

again, that is what they know how to do. So we are adding another 

piece of technology in an element of marketing that they may not 

understand to a long list of things that they have to do, including 

accounting and sales tax, et cetera. So it starts to become very 

overwhelming and, therefore, dismissing it altogether sometimes 

becomes the easiest thing in their mind. 

Chairman CROW. Yeah. It makes sense. 

Ms. Blossom, you mentioned that Thumbtack is different than 

other digital tools, and that you are not just providing a job, but 

helping people start businesses. 

And I am really interested in creating pathways for new business 

ownership and entrepreneurship, and I would love for you to talk 

a little bit more about that. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. At Thumbtack we really think that our job is to 

provide small businesses the tools to kind of scale and grow and 

fit what needs for them. The businesses that are using Thumbtack 

are able to set their budgets and, reach out to as many customers 

as they like. 

But we really think that it is up to them. We are not about limiting their opportunity. We often see people that will start out and 

they are just one person. They are a dog trainer, you know, training dogs. But then as they get more demand and they get more 

customers from Thumbtack, they bring on additional people and 

they expand into other services, so that they can really grow. But 

they still have control over how they grow. 

And one of the things that we are really proud of is that it really 

allows people to expand their earning opportunity. You know, you 

may start out at a lower rate that you are charging customers to 

try and get more customers in the door. But as you are getting 

more and more demand, you may raise your prices, and you may 

be more selective about the type of customers that you want because you have control of your own business. And we think that 

that is really important. 

Chairman CROW. Okay. Thank you. 

Ms. Mozes, we talked earlier about the gig economy. And from 

your perspective, first, how is the gig economy defined, right? Because I think about a lot, kind of, cottage industry and, you know, 

mom-and-pop stores and shops and other things. I would love to 

hear your thoughts on how we define that and how it is impacting 

the small business environment? 

Ms. MOZES. It is a great question. 

And I think the first thing is the definition of the gig economy 

itself. Where we see that as it is a free market system, which temp 

positions are common and companies contract with independent 

workers for short-term engagements. 

In terms of how it is impacting small business. I think that is 

still to be defined, frankly, because you are seeing products like 

ours that are coming about and helping small businesses connect 

with workers when they need the most. But we are still relatively 

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new. And you guys probably are aware of the other gig economy 

services that are out there, which are ride sharing or delivery. 

But if you are looking at delivery, in particular, for small businesses, you are thinking about that small restaurant that now is 

able to offer delivery, which is a whole other revenue stream for 

them that they didn’t have previously. And it is helping them reach 

customers in areas that they haven’t before. 

I think with Hyr, where we are breaking into that small business 

is when they only have five people in their restaurant, and their 

dishwasher calls off, then they have to turn down customers, because they are not able to have people actually be able to wash the 

dishes. Now with Hyr, they can bring in that extra person for those 

labor costs that they truly need. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. And it seems like we can’t have 

a conversation about the gig economy and how this is changing 

without a discussion about the portability of benefits as well. As 

people’s relationship with work changes, then the relationship with 

their health and retirement benefits changes as well. 

Thank you. 

So I will now recognize Mr. Balderson for 5 minutes. 

Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And my first 

question is pretty broad. This is to all three of you, if you all would 

like to jump in. 

I am often surprised to learn when small business owners do not 

know how the Small Business Administration can help them as 

they start and grow their businesses. For example, I am a cosponsor of an important piece of legislation sponsored by Ranking Member Chabot that would establish a program at the Small Business 

Development Center to provide cybersecurity training to entrepreneurs. 

Programs offered to small businesses owners, such as these, 

aren’t reaching their full potential if not enough business owners 

know, and know about how to use them. 

Did any of you use any of these resources at the SBA, or maybe 

at the SBDC, or did you advise any of your customers, as I would 

say, to reach out and to search out these agencies and what they 

had to offer? And anybody can answer. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. Yes, I have used some resources in the 

past, and I have advised some of my clients to do so as well. 

You asked the question of why aren’t they being used or utilized 

to their fullest. And I would say there is an overwhelming long list 

of items to check off for a business owner to start a business, from 

registering their business name, trade name, registering their 

URL, et cetera. And I truly just believe that small business owners, 

solopreneurs starting out are overwhelmed. And on the long list of 

things to do, they look at what do they absolutely have to do this 

minute on this day to get started, and things like cybersecurity 

training can fall by the wayside, unfortunately. 

Mr. BALDERSON. Ms. Blossom? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Sure. I think one of the things that we struggle 

with is there is often a misperception among the small businesses 

using our platform, the SBA—their only purpose is to provide 

loans, and a lot of the businesses on Thumbtack are not capital intensive, because they are service businesses. If you are a personal 

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trainer, you might need a set of weights and a park to get started. 

And, you know, you might think that SBA loan is not applicable 

for you. And so we are trying to educate the professionals using our 

site about all of the other services that SBA provides in terms of 

consulting, in terms of helping folks write a business plan beyond 

just the financial aspects, to let them know the full reach of the 

agency. 

Mr. BALDERSON. Okay. Thank you. 

Ms. MOZES. I think I would echo the same sentiment about just 

small businesses owners when they are first getting out. I know 

when we first started, it was so overwhelming for us to do everything from creating the app itself, creating the technology, doing 

the website. Thinking about actually just applying for a loan would 

just be very overwhelming for us. In terms of the workers on the 

Hyr platform, the majority of the workers on our platform are already working full-time or part-time within the industry, so they 

are only using Hyr as supplemental income. So that sort of benefit 

would not apply to them, just because they are only picking up a 

few shifts a month. 

Mr. BALDERSON. Okay. Thank you all. 

My next question is for Mrs. Wallace. I met with President Jake 

Ward and other members of the 3C team yesterday, and who are 

also joining us here this morning. And one thing that we discussed 

was the need for data privacy legislation. 

In your opinion, what would the successful data privacy legislation entail? 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. In my opinion, it would entail one overarching law or bill that small businesses can follow versus having 

to understand and comply to something State by State, where most 

all digital and online businesses cross State lines and have clients 

all over the country. So that is what I would recommend. 

Mr. BALDERSON. And that is a great recommendation. Thank 

you. 

Did anybody else want to add to that? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. I would just second what—— 

Mr. BALDERSON. Yes. I know. She nailed it, so—— 

Mr. Chairman, I yield back my remaining time. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. 

I will now recognize the gentlelady from Pennsylvania for 5 minutes. 

Ms. HOULAHAN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for 

allowing me to ask my questions a little bit out of order. My questions first are for Ms. Blossom, and also Ms. Mozes. 

You each spoke about—something about portable benefits in your 

particular case and about points—a point system in your case for 

what amounts to portable benefits and healthcare. 

Can you give me a little bit more detail about how that is executed in each of your organizations, and also, how we as a Congress might be able to leverage that kind of idea to help people in 

a gig economy with portable benefits and such? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Thanks. We are so happy to talk about this 

topic. 

Earlier this year, we partnered with the National Domestic 

Workers Alliance who have created an online platform called Alia, 

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designed primarily for house cleaners. And the way that the platform works is cleaners can set up an account, and their customers 

can make contributions into their account that they can then use 

to—use the credits for a number of products, including paid time 

off, life insurance, disability insurance, and critical accident insurance. It is a small step, and we know that it is not solving the full 

complement of benefits challenges that workers face, but we think 

it is an important step to take to try and move the conversation 

forward and see what we can do. 

As for what Congress can do, you know, there has been a bill 

from Congresswoman DelBene on portable benefits to set up a pilot 

fund that would help set up pilot projects in States and fund them. 

We think that that is a fantastic idea. We don’t claim to have all 

of the answers or solutions on how to do this yet, but we are openly 

looking for partners that are interested in solving this problem 

with us. 

Ms. HOULAHAN. Thank you. 

And Ms. Mozes. 

Ms. MOZES. It is a great question, and thank you for asking it. 

I think when we first looked at creating Hyr, one of the big 

things we wanted to do was, because we have gig economy workers, 

was to create a system that we would be able to provide these benefits to them. 

Today, the way that the benefits look is they are called UPoints. 

And within the UPoints, we collect money from the business, and 

we take a percentage of those earnings and we give them back to 

the workers in terms of a points-based system. What they are able 

to redeem those benefits for today is what we call a UDay. It is essentially a $75 credit which gives them a paid vacation day. By the 

end of this quarter, we are also going to be partnering with an insurance company which would allow them to put those benefits towards insurance, so accident insurance. 

We would love to be able to explore options to also be able to provide, like, that traditional healthcare benefit piece. Again, it is 

looking for clarity among legislators as well to figure out how we 

are able to do that within a gig economy work. But we do believe 

that the points-base system that we have created will allow workers to actually take part of their earnings, like on addition, because 

we are giving them these points in addition to what they are earning for their hourly wage, and then decide where to allocate those 

to what matters most to them, whether it is insurance, a paid day 

off, health insurance, or other benefits that hopefully, as we grow, 

we will be able to add to the platform. 

Ms. HOULAHAN. So at this point in time, neither of you all 

have figured out how to crack the nut of healthcare insurance. Is 

that a fair statement? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. That is fair. We know that a lot of the professionals on Thumbtack are using the ACA exchanges to get their 

health insurance. About a quarter of the professionals that started 

on Thumbtack said that accessing benefits was the biggest challenge in making that leap to entrepreneurship. And about 14 percent of them directly attribute the ACA to them being able to start 

their own business. It has been a great step. But we know as preSBD026 with DISTILLER

13 

miums are increasing and it becomes a little bit harder to access 

that, that there is more work that we need to do there. 

Ms. HOULAHAN. So I actually did read in your testimony about 

the 14 percent attributing, you know—I guess assessing that as 

being a positive thing. It actually begs the question how many 

didn’t think it was a positive thing. Was there a larger portion that 

didn’t like the Affordable Care Act? Or did you ask that question? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. We didn’t ask that question specifically. But because small businesses and professionals come from a variety of 

backgrounds, a number of them are getting health insurance 

through a spouse. Some of them are under 26 and still on their 

parents’ plan. So they are getting insurance from a variety of ways. 

But for those that didn’t have access to insurance, or that were 

relying on insurance from a previous kind of traditional 9-to-5 job, 

being able to know that they were going to be able to purchase insurance on the individual market was a huge relief for them in 

kind of getting over that barrier. 

Ms. HOULAHAN. Thank you. 

And with the last 40 seconds of my time. Ms. Mozes, if you could 

kind of speak to us a little bit about freelancers union and how you 

work with them and whether or not there is anything that the government can learn from that as well? 

Ms. MOZES. We don’t currently work with the freelancers union. 

That being said, we would love to work with them more closely. 

They are doing some really great things for freelancers in America, 

including looking at exact policy questions that you have asked 

today about healthcare, and how they will be able to provide that 

to this huge growing segment of workers that have decided to work 

this way. 

Ms. HOULAHAN. Thank you. And I appreciate the time. 

I yield back. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back. 

The gentleman from Tennessee is now recognized for 5 minutes. 

He stepped out. Okay. 

The gentlelady from Iowa is now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. FINKENAUER. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

I was really excited about the Subcommittee hearing today. I 

know, obviously, the gig economy is becoming, you know, a bigger 

part of—well, for millennials like myself and young folks across the 

country, you know, a new pathway where we can, you know, get 

creative about our future and—but it makes it difficult sometimes, 

given the policies that are out there and folks thinking about retirement and healthcare and childcare and paid family leave and 

all the things that go into it. So thank you so much for being here 

and chatting about those topics. 

But I got really excited, Ms. Wallace, when you started talking 

about marketing. And it took me back to a conversation I recently 

had with some folks back in Iowa when I was doing a small business tour, visited a company in Maquoketa, is one of our smaller 

towns that is working really hard in their Main Streets and, you 

know, trying to keep folks in Maquoketa and bring them back 

home. And the company that I talked to, you know, they had been 

around for decades and have done a great job. They do commercial 

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washers. But then, they also work with other, you know, entrepreneurs that come to them and have ideas. 

You know, one of the things I heard about was a gentleman from 

Cascade, which is an even smaller town than Maquoketa in Iowa, 

who had an idea for shredding—a shredding machinery when it 

comes to tearing down houses. And just being creative about how 

they do that more effectively, and it is a wonderful idea. Excited 

that this company was willing to help him create that product and 

asked them, you know, how is that going? Has he been able to 

grow? 

And one of the things we heard that the biggest issue was the 

marketing side of it, and how he was going to have access to that. 

Because, again, you guys are exactly right, Ms. Mozes and Ms. 

Wallace and Ms. Blossom. When you are working hard on your 

business, the last thing you are thinking about when, you know, 

you are filling out all the paperwork all that, is then how do you 

take that next step. 

Is there anything that you guys could see the Small Business Development Centers, or the SBA, start getting more involved in to 

encourage folks to have access to marketing and take it to the next 

step? And is there—what should we be looking out for here? And 

is there any—are there any programs that we are missing, or 

things that you think we should be doing that we are not doing, 

especially when it comes to connecting marketing to the folks who 

need it? 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. I don’t know that there is anything specific that is missing. But I do know that marketing is the very last 

thing that businesses think about when they are building. They 

think about creating the app and building the technology and creating the products, et cetera. They open the doors, whether virtually or physically, and wait. And the whole notion of, you know, 

build it and they will come is definitely not what happens when 

you start a business. 

So when they open their business and they wait for customers 

and then they think, oh, yeah, I should probably do that thing 

called marketing. 

So I think the message needs to be, right when they start, don’t 

forget about this major piece. Don’t start this major piece, you 

know, at the end, but think about your marketing as part of your 

entire business development now. 

Ms. FINKENAUER. And I know, Mr. Balderson, you touched on 

this quite a bit too, just how do we better educate folks about the 

programs that are out there. 

I know you guys are doing your best, again, being on the ground 

every day with our entrepreneurs and folks who are, you know, 

taking that next step and that risk. But what more can we be 

doing as a Congress to make sure that we are educating folks? 

Ms. Mozes or Ms. Blossom. 

Ms. MOZES. I mean, I think one thing that you could do is work 

with kind of more, like, community organizations that are better at 

talking to businesses. So, for example, I know for us with Tech 

New York City, that was a resource that we definitely reached out 

to. And they are very good at disseminating information to technology companies. 

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But I am sure that it is really about knowledge, right? And I 

think that a lot of small business owners as they are building businesses, like when I first started Hyr, it was kind of blinders on me 

building the business, not looking out and figuring out what else 

is out there to help me. And I think marketing—you are completely 

right. It is the hardest thing for a small business owner to wrap 

their head around, because you go online and you start reading 

about all these things you could doing with ad words or, you know, 

Facebook ads, or whatever it might be, and it is overwhelming. So 

you just don’t do anything instead of doing something. 

Ms. FINKENAUER. Yeah. Well, thank you. 

I yield back. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlelady yields back. 

The gentleman from Pennsylvania is now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. JOYCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This question is for Ms. 

Blossom. 

Small businesses are always at the forefront of what is next, because they have to stay ahead of the larger counterparts. 

What new technology is out there that will make your small 

business and many small businesses even more accessible to 

growth? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. I think that that is a great question, and I think 

it is both about utilizing new technology but also using a lot of the 

existing technology that is out there and making small businesses 

see how it can work for them. For example, we were in Colorado, 

and we met two great guys who started a deck building business. 

And on a whim, they started making YouTube videos of themselves 

building decks and now they have tons of followers. They have gotten lots of customers, because people are weirdly very interested in 

watching people watch decks. But they have used social media in 

a nontraditional way to help build their business. 

So I think we can encourage companies that might not think that 

either social media, or online presence—it could be important for 

them in business to really kind of expand their reach. And to what 

my fellow panelists said, use that as a marketing tool to let more 

customers know about their businesses. 

Mr. JOYCE. Specifically, as someone who has built decks with 

my own hands, I have never watched a YouTube video. Perhaps 

the deck would have been more stable if I had. 

But you bring a great point, and I am going to ask each one of 

you to address that, if you would for me, please. 

I come from South Central Pennsylvania, an incredibly rural 

area where there are over 5,000 farms, and these are all small 

businesses. 

Please touch on the importance of accessibility to rural 

broadband in your particular concerns, and in the concerns regarding small businesses throughout your areas? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Sure. 

We think broadband is incredibly important, because we know 

that the internet is often the first place that people are turning 

now when they are looking for businesses. We met a person this 

week who had a lawn care business, and he was connected through 

Thumbtack to his neighbor who lived across the street who didn’t 

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know that he had a lawn care business. But because of the internet 

and because they were able to connect online, they got new customers and helped build their business. 

So, rural broadband is incredibly important, because we know 

that that is where everybody is going to turn to make sure that 

those people are able to access the internet and have an online 

presence, so they are not missing out on potential clients. 

Ms. MOZES. I would echo that sentiment in terms of just that 

importance of connecting people. We hear from businesses all the 

time that are outside of large cities about how they would love to 

be able to access Hyr. One of the big reasons why we would 

never—well, not never, but why we can’t go to some of these smaller communities is that we are an app-based business. So if people 

don’t have access to broadband, they don’t have access to potentially even downloading an app, or being able to connect them. 

But sometimes it is those small businesses in rural communities 

that need a service like Hyr more than a business that is in, you 

know, downtown Manhattan, because they do need to access people. So I think that making sure that people have access to 

broadband is of utmost importance across the country. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. And I would just add to what they have 

said as far as marketing connection, but also education. And I 

think—I know for myself and for a lot of entrepreneurs, the education and training they are receiving, they are finding online. And 

so when you don’t have access to even high-speed internet or 

broadband to stream videos to learn techniques and other elements 

of running your business, then that is a hindrance as well. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. If I could just add on to what she said. 

Mr. JOYCE. Absolutely. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. We also have been surveying the professionals 

in the states. Asking them when you need information about your 

business, where do you turn? Do you turn to the SBA? Do you turn 

to your local chamber? And increasingly, people are turning to the 

internet, to Facebook groups, to YouTube videos to get information 

from fellows in their industry, and then just other business owners 

about how to solve challenges that we have talked about throughout this panel. 

Mr. JOYCE. I might just indulge just a few more seconds. 

If I asked a yes and no question for each one of you, if there was 

more access to internet through rural broadband expansion and accessibility, would that make your businesses stronger and grow 

more? It is a yes-no. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Yes. 

Ms. MOZES. Yes. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. Yes. 

Mr. JOYCE. Thank you all for being here today. 

I yield back. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. 

And I will say with confidence, nobody would want to watch me 

build a deck on YouTube. I can assure you of that. 

The gentlelady from Kansas is now recognized for 5 minutes. 

Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you so much. I didn’t realize there was so 

much deck building experience here. I have built a couple of decks 

myself. 

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Mr. JOYCE. We will have to talk afterwards. 

Ms. DAVIDS. Yeah. We will collaborate on that. 

So, first of all, thank you, Chairman Crow, for leading this important discussion today. 

The digital ecosystem has definitely opened up new opportunities 

for entrepreneurs and small businesses, you know, from founding 

a startup to existing businesses growing and helping existing businesses. And I think the biggest piece that we are seeing here is 

that so many people across the country are having access to opportunities to start their own businesses. And, in fact, Susan Cooley, 

who is—I represent the district that she has started a business in 

was, you know, someone who, like a lot of folks, saw a need. You 

know, she is looking for a reasonably priced comforter, right, and 

then discovers that there is a demand for a specific kind of product 

and decided to, you know, start an eBay store. And I think a lot 

of people have gone down this path, and now has grown that from, 

you know, offering clothing and accessory and household goods at 

Sincerely Susan, to now having a brick-and-mortar store and having 15 employees. And I think that those are the kinds of stories 

that we need to make sure that we keep in mind as we think about 

how do we help other folks who are looking to solve a problem, 

have that entrepreneurial mind-set. 

And one of the things that I kind of wanted to follow up on is 

this concept of broadband and access to broadband. Thank you for 

answering the question, because now I get to ask follow-ups to just 

like pull out a little bit more information. 

I was wondering if, when you think about broadband as someone—as folks who actually are, like, helping benefit other small 

business owners, do you find that you are kind of, like, waving your 

arms and saying broadband is important? Or do you feel like there 

are a lot of people who are also recognizing that, you know, Oh, I 

would definitely start a business if I had access. Or is this an instance where we need to be getting out there and explaining to people that small businesses would grow if there were more broadband 

access. Does this make sense? 

Ms. Wallace, I would—— 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. I think so. My first, you know, instinct 

on that and thought is that people are aware that it is important. 

And I have heard too, we have a lot of, kind of, rural areas in Colorado that, you know, if the—I had broadband or if I had, you know, 

reliable internet, then I would be able to do these things. 

So I don’t know that we have to wave our hands. I would think 

that people know that it is needed. 

Ms. DAVIDS. Yeah. So one of the reasons I ask is because a lot 

of times I think what ends up happening is that, especially legislators and lawmakers make a lot of assumptions about what people 

already know. And as the Small Business Committee, I think—and, 

you know, we are focused on innovation and workforce development 

is, how do we make sure that folks have access to information if 

rural broadband is a huge issue and, you know, the Congress now 

knows about it, it tells me that there is probably a lot of people on 

the ground who are in the weeds doing the work that have been 

trying to sound the alarm for a long time. 

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One of the things I am wondering about is whether or not any 

of you have made use of the SBA programs, whether it was Small 

Business Development Centers, loan programs. And then as the follow-up, have your—whether they are customers or folks that your 

helping connect, are they making use of them? Because I often hear 

that people realize that there was this available. We will start with 

Ms. Blossom. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Sure. We know that—we have hundreds of thousands of professionals. We know that many of them are using SBA, 

but we also know that it is probably underutilized. And so we are 

open to all ideas on ways that we can better educate people about 

the different resources that are available, because, you know, as we 

have spoken, time is the biggest resource for small businesses owners, and they are often so frenzied that they don’t know that the 

SBA would be a resource for them to look to. So, you know, anything we can do on the education front to just let them know about 

the array of services, I think would be really helpful. 

Ms. DAVIDS. And so, to tie those two things together, the reason 

I ask that is because, when access to—access to information is so 

reliant on broadband access or internet access, you know, the Small 

Business Development Centers can be a place where people might 

be able to make use of that. So that is why I was curious. How 

much are you seeing use of that in your work? 

And I don’t know if Ms. Wallace or Ms. Mozes had anything additional—— 

Chairman CROW. The gentlelady’s time has expired. But we 

will—— 

Ms. DAVIDS. Okay. No. Thank you. 

Chairman CROW. We will have a second round of questioning, 

so you can hold that—hold that question and thought. 

I will recognize the gentleman from New Jersey. Thank you for 

joining us. If you have some questions. 

Mr. KIM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah. Absolutely. 

Well, look, thank you, Chairman, Ranking Member, for holding 

this hearing. I really appreciate it. And I actually might be following up on some of that. 

But I have been deeply interested in the innovative ways the 

small businesses can use digital services to grow and adapt to an 

ever-changing tech landscape. It is something that I hear a lot 

about from folks in my own district as they are trying to figure this 

out. And once we are talking about things that we can be doing on 

infrastructure and other things, making sure that we are looking 

out for broadband. I don’t know how that is going to impact, so—— 

You know, Ms. Wallace, I just want to start with you. You know, 

you shared ways that small businesses can use digital tools to help 

them reach more customers. Can you explain how the evolution of 

digital marketing has benefited small businesses in particular? 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. Sure. 

When I started doing marketing, I worked with really big clients 

that had millions of dollars to do traditional media, to buy TV ads 

and newspaper ads. 

Today, relying on simply traditional media would be impossible 

for small businesses. So now allowing myself and clients to be able 

to buy Facebook ads for, you know, $100, or do a YouTube video, 

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or do even YouTube ads or boost post on Pinterest, allow them to 

reach a broad yet targeted audience for a fraction of the cost. So 

that has changed tremendously over the last 10 years, and even 

over the last couple of years. 

Mr. KIM. You mentioned, you know, Facebook and YouTube as 

some of these different platforms. 

What are some of the other platforms that you have seen been 

successful, either in your own work, at your family’s businesses? I 

would just be—you know, just get a better sense of that. And how 

critical is it, you know, to having that social media presence for 

small businesses now? 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. You know, I could go on and on about 

LinkedIn as well as—I mentioned Pinterest already. Constant contact in Mailchimp as far as email marketing and tying that back 

to social media. The list goes on. And I would say it is 100 percent 

critical to the success of businesses and the growth of businesses 

to have an online presence, and specifically, have a social media 

presence. 

Mr. KIM. Ms. Blossom, over to you. 

You know, we are at this point now where, you know, you have 

billions of users, you know, accessing these digital platforms on 

their phones and on their computers. You know, as these digital 

platforms gain users, what can small businesses do to try to stand 

out amongst the crowd? You know, how is it that they can kind of 

penetrate through and make their mark? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. Absolutely. 

So, I think as people turn more and more to the internet, they 

expect more and more information. And one of the most important 

things that we can do as a platform is give small businesses the 

tools to put as much relevant information online and in a searchable format as we can, so they can upload photos of your work. 

If you are wedding photographer, you are going to want to put 

lots of examples on your profile. And you may not have the money 

to create your own multimedia website. You know, if you are a personal trainer, you might put videos of how you have worked with 

other clients on there, so people looking at your business might 

find—see if you are a good fit. 

And so it is incredibly important. And I think one of great things 

about digital tools is it lets people know that there are other options than traditional big businesses. If you had a plumbing emergency, and you thought to yourself, I don’t know where to get a 

plumber, you might think, I will just call Roto-Rooter, because I 

have heard of them or seen the commercial. But if you went online 

and searched plumbers near me, you would find Thumbtack, and 

then you might get 10 to 15 options of small businesses that could 

do the job, perhaps quicker and more efficiently. 

And so opening people’s ideas up to other small business options 

that they might not have thought of is one of the best things about 

the internet. 

Mr. KIM. Yeah. You know, certainly talking to some businesses 

in my district as I went around earlier this week, I mean, I think 

that is something that they were trying to figure out is, you know, 

how do they—how do they get that word out? How do they just, you 

know, get that connection with folks? 

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And the ones that have been successful have been ones that have 

been able to kind of build a community around them. You know, 

be able to use these platforms to be able to really accentuating and 

create the, not only loyalty in terms of customers, but what I found 

really exciting was just really seeing the camaraderie and the connectedness between small businesses owners themselves, you 

know, using these platforms to be able to highlight each other and 

really trying to, you know, create that kind of atmosphere. 

So I am certainly, you know, still trying to learn some of these 

best practices. And I appreciate all of you coming out and sharing 

some of those with us. 

I will yield back. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. 

At this time, I would like to just start a brief second round of 

questioning. I think there is a few follow-ups that we all have that 

we would like to dive into a little bit more. 

So I will start by recognizing myself for 5 minutes. 

And I wanted to pick up on something that the Ranking Member, 

Mr. Balderson, alluded to earlier. And it is a concern that I share. 

He brought up the issue of digital privacy regulations. And this is 

part of a broader issue, that we have this tendency to treat all 

businesses the same, with respect to regulations and rules. And 

yet, we know that a small- and medium-size businesses have a 

much harder time bearing the costs and the burdens of compliance 

than a Fortune 500 company does. 

So specifically with regard to data privacy, whether you all have 

any experiences with compliance and the cost of those, and how 

that might have impeded your growth. And then more generally, 

if you had experiences with regulations that could be more appropriately scaled to your businesses and kind of where you are in 

your growth cycle. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. I think you very accurately summarized that. 

With data privacy regulation, we obviously support the goals. And 

for our businesses to succeed, people have to feel comfortable using 

the internet, and feel comfortable that companies like ours and 

other actors are going to take good care of their information. 

But the big companies, they are going to be able do to it. They 

are going to be able to hire enough compliance experts and lawyers, 

and they have the means to do so. For midsize companies like 

Thumbtack, and even the small businesses that we serve, some of 

these data privacy regulations, while very well-intended and have 

good goals, are to going to be incredibly cumbersome. And particularly, as we mentioned before, like if there are 50 different sets of 

data privacy regulations, it will essentially prevent small and medium businesses from operating across State lines, because they 

just won’t be able to spend enough resources on compliance information as they need to. 

Ms. MOZES. I would echo those sentiments in terms of just us 

ourselves as Hyr, as a company, we are still growing. We are very 

diligent in terms of the data that we collect, because as you can 

imagine, we are collecting data on people’s—where they are working their shifts, even geolocations of where workers are going. And 

we are very, you know, again, diligent about keeping that information and making sure that it is very intact. 

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But as more regulations are put on us, it could impede our 

growth in terms of what we would potentially have to report, how 

we would do that, you know, having to hire new technology people 

just to comply with those regulations. So I think most companies 

want to ensure that we are compliant with people’s privacy information, but just considering that when regulations are being built 

at the Federal level would be a great thing. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. And just quickly to add to that, at one 

point in time years ago, as—you know, building websites and having people have an e-commerce website, they had to process credit 

cards through their own processor in the back end, and now we are 

able to heavily rely on third parties to do that processing for us. 

So I will use my daughter as an example. She is selling books 

at a school fair, and she is using Square. We rely on Square to 

have the capability to keep data safe. And we also rely on Square 

to have the lawyers and the ability to fight that when needed 

knowing that we wouldn’t be able to if it was placed on the shoulders of the small businesses owner themselves. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you, all of you. And, Ms. Omega Wallace, I have this feeling that I will someday be working for your 

daughter, so—very impressive young woman. 

I will now yield to Mr. Balderson, the gentleman from Ohio. 

Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Ms. Wallace—and I was appreciative of the Chairman. That was 

a great question. So I am old school. I am in my late 50s. I am that 

end of that baby boomer line. And for me, to buy online is a challenge. For me, I like to still touch that piece, that shirt I want to 

buy or that piece of equipment I want to buy. You have been doing 

this for a long time, obviously. As Chairman Crow said, your 

daughter now—I will probably be dealing with her, or my son will. 

And my son gets on me about not being able to buy online yet, and 

he is 32, and that is the only way he does business. 

Tell me the difference, when you encourage folks to get into this 

online business compared to the bricks-and-mortar stores that we 

are seeing decreasing more and more, I can no longer buy a dress 

shirt in my hometown, because the last dress shop just closed. I 

say dress shop. Men’s shop, that—you know, and it is a struggle. 

So tell me the advantages to why this is all happening. I know the 

low cost. But give me some other ideas that you encourage some 

of your clients to go online for. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. When you go online, you expand your 

territory by leaps and bounds. So I actually work with quite a few 

brick-and-mortar businesses in Denver, Colorado, who are limited 

to that corridor or that neighborhood in their brick and mortar. 

Going online opens up a whole new world, literally, to them to be 

able to scale and to be able to, overall, increase revenue. 

Also, as a consultant or as a service provider, if I am doing consulting one-on-one, I max out my time after I meet with five people 

in a day. Whereas, if I can go online and expand that to a group 

setting or have, you know, a Facebook group and do live chats with 

groups of people, I can grow and expand my business and move out 

of that one-to-one service. 

Mr. BALDERSON. All right. You almost sold me, but not quite. 

But thank you. 

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Mr. Chairman, I yield back my remaining time. 

Thank you all very much. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Balderson. I can’t help the 

fact that you are old school, though. 

Thank you. 

The gentleman yields back. 

I will now recognize the gentlelady from Kansas for 5 minutes. 

Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you, Chairman. 

So I know the issue around privacy, again, I am just, like, this 

is awesome. I love the—I can just do follow-ups. What are some 

specific measures or—I don’t know if there is already policy or legislative ideas that are being put out there that you could share 

with us about how we take into account compliance for the much 

smaller businesses, and how we make sure that we are not impeding people from being able to do the kind of business that we definitely need, because, you know, if you are—when you were talking 

about depending on Square to really adhere to privacy concerns, 

you know, I think that there is some, probably, like, lines of liability that we could be talking about. But are there some specific 

pieces of policy that you think that we need to know about here? 

Ms. BLOSSOM. What we have seen in some of the State bills 

and some of the frameworks that we have seen coming out of Congress is different thresholds for compliance on the privacy. Either 

a revenue threshold or an employee number threshold that would 

really help the smallest businesses, depending upon where that 

threshold is set and let them think about privacy as they are getting bigger. And hopefully, as they grow, they will then be part of 

that compliance scheme. But giving some help to the really small 

ones who might not hit those thresholds yet. 

Ms. MOZES. Yeah. I think that thresholds on employee numbers 

as well as potentially even, like, revenue numbers. For us, much 

like you use Square, we use Stripe. Stripe is actually used by most 

big tech platforms now, so that we are not collecting any financial 

information from any of the workers on our platform. Everything 

is actually dealt through them. And that is a huge help for us as 

a business, because we don’t have to deal again with any of those— 

that financial information. 

I think it more comes down to when you are collecting people’s 

addresses, their telephone numbers, even when we are thinking 

about the geolocation of the workers that we are carrying from, 

that kind of stuff could get potentially cumbersome if we are looking at different types of legislation that could be coming up. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. And I would just agree with what they 

both said. 

Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you. 

I yield back. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. 

The gentlelady yields back. 

I will now recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania for 5 minutes. 

Mr. JOYCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I do want to thank 

Chairman Crow, and I want to thank Ranking Member Balderson 

for bringing you in front of us here today. 

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23 

I think that I learned something from what you presented to us. 

Small business is a bipartisan advocate for you. And I have often 

said that we are bridge builders. But today, I have changed that. 

We are deck builders. With Representative Davids, that we understand the importance of working together. We are your service providers. That is your take home message from me today. We work 

here with both sides of the aisles, unencumbered, to advocate for 

the small businesses in the United States. 

Now, I would like to finish with a pop quiz. But I will tell you 

there is no wrong answer. But it is a question for each one of you, 

and it is important for me to take home. Now, as someone who 

didn’t finish their formal education until I was in my early 30s, I 

am used to pop quizzes. And you might not have thought this was 

going to happen to you today, but I would like to allow you to indulge me, please. 

Regarding the growth of your individual companies, if you had 

to choose between one of the three following, which would you 

choose? Again, I will preface by saying there is no wrong answer. 

Would you ask for more capital for that growth? Would you ask for 

better broadband access for your companies for that growth? Or 

would you ask for better access to trade associations? 

So better broadband, more capital, or better access to trade associations. What works best for you? 

I will start with you, please, Ms. Blossom. 

Ms. BLOSSOM. It is a very interesting question. I think for us, 

we are lucky to have the capital that we need to grow. And so 

broadband would actually be interesting, because we don’t know 

how many potential Thumbtack service providers and customers 

are out there that aren’t using our platform or aren’t aware of the 

opportunities, because they don’t have access. So for us, that is 

really an unknown and a very interesting question that we would 

love to explore. 

Mr. JOYCE. So, Ms. Mozes, it is your chance to tell us why these 

are important to you and which is the most important? 

Ms. MOZES. I think it is a great question for us at our stage in 

our business capital. We are at this point in our business turning 

down business because we don’t have enough capital in order to 

hire enough people to service all of the small businesses that want 

to use us to access labor. But we are in a unique position because 

we are a growing tech company. And so if you usually ask any 

growing tech, capital would be number one. But I think all three 

are important for businesses to grow in America. 

Mr. JOYCE. Thank you. Ms. Wallace. 

Ms. OMEGA WALLACE. We are in an interesting situation, but 

also a situation that a lot of business owners face is that my husband’s income and my income is the same income from our business that we bring in. So I would have to say capital, because right 

at this moment, we are at a place where we are juggling three contractors and bringing in the right amount of business to be able to 

pay them, pay ourselves, pay our mortgage. And so, it is a very 

tricky balance of cash flow. So capital would be helpful so that we 

can scale, grow more, bring on more people and help provide marketing to more small businesses. 

Mr. JOYCE. Thank you all, and thank you for being here today. 

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24 

Chairman Crow, I yield my time. 

Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. 

I will say, John, this deck joke is going to be good for a long time, 

I can tell. 

I would like to thank all of the witnesses for sharing their time 

with us today. Digital platforms provide transformative resources 

for entrepreneurs to build and grow businesses. That is very clear 

from our discussion today. 

The collaboration fostered through digital ecosystems has improved both the cost and efficiency of digital marketing and employment. These costs and time savings are particularly helpful for 

small businesses that are burdened with tight budgets and limited 

resource. But small businesses cannot unlock these opportunities if 

they fail to adopt digital tools. That is why the members of this 

committee must raise the awareness of the value of digital platforms and encourage small businesses to become active participants in the ecosystem, but also identify ways to lower the hurdles 

as well and not have us stand in the way of your entrepreneurship 

and your growth. 

I would ask unanimous consent that members have 5 legislative 

days to submit statements and supporting materials for the record. 

And without objection, it is so ordered. 

If there is no further business to come before the Committee, we 

are adjourned. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 11:13 a.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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The Digital Ecosystem: New Paths to Entrepreneurship 

United States Honse of Representatives Committee on Small Business 

May 9, 2019 

Presented by Kellyn Blossom 

Head of Public Policy, Thumbtack 
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Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today. My name is Kellyn Blossom and I am 

the Head of Public Policy for Thumbtack. We are honored to be a part of this discussion to share 

our perspective on how technology can unlock entrepreneurship. 

What is Thumbtack? 

Thumbtack is a website and app that connects customers looking to hire service professionals to 

hundreds of thousands of small businesses in the United States. Now over I 0 years old, 

Thumbtack facilitates millions of connections every year. These customers find professionals in 

nearly 1 ,000 categories from plumbers and personal trainers to caterers and cat groomers 

everywhere in the country. In fact, there are small businesses available on Thumbtack in each of 

the over 3,000 counties in the U.S. 

Thumbtack was created to solve the biggest challenge facing new small businesses - finding the 

right customers. Over 43 percent of small businesses on Thumbtack cite this as their number one 

hurdle to success.' For independent businesses, finding the next client is a constant concern. 

Thumbtack solves that problem by offering a platform that introduces customers looking for 

service professionals to small businesses in their area. We haven't created new categories of 

work; instead, we use new technology to grow and expand the reach of small business 

professionals in trades that have existed for decades. These florists, electricians, and DJs can 

work more efficiently, spending their time earning income doing skilled work they love, rather 

than worrying about where the next customer will come from. 

Digital Features to Help Small Businesses 

The internet has changed both the way customers buy products and services and the expectations 

that consumers have before making a purchase. Digital tools like Thumbtack make it easier for 

small businesses to market themselves to the customers who want their services and help those 

customers hire with confidence. 

On Thumbtack, there arc three features that are particularly valuable to small businesses looking 

to grow. 

• First, each small business that signs up on Thumbtack gets to create an online profile that 

they can fill with information about their business, photos of past work and contact 

information. This profile can be found by customers using Thumbtack or through search 

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engines like Google. This is crucial for small businesses who may not already have an 

online presence, including the 35 percent of small businesses who feel their business is 

not large enough to justify a website.' 

• Second, Thumbtack makes it easy for new customers to find reviews from past 

customers. While not a perfect measure, customer reviews have become a key factor that 

consumers expect and rely on before purchasing products or hiring businesses. In fact, 

surveys have found that over 90 percent of consumers aged 18-34 trust online reviews as 

much as they trust personal recommendations.' Providing a way to let potential customers 

view reviews from past customers is an important tool to help small businesses gain new 

customers. On Thumbtack we encourage customers to leave honest reviews, and we work 

hard to ensure that the reviews are fair. 

• Third, Thumbtack provides crucial insights to small businesses about how they stack up 

in their market. We share data on how other businesses in their area are pricing their 

services and how many customers are searching in their category. so these business 

owners can quickly understand dynamics in their industry and market their services 

appropriately. 

We also know that the small businesses that are succeeding on Thumbtack are using a range of 

other digital tools to perform the essential tasks to keep their business running. 

These businesses tell us they use payment processing services like Square and Paypal for 

customer transactions, bookkeeping tools like FreshBooks and Xero to manage their accounts 

and send invoices, and online scheduling tools like Google Calendar and Time Tap. All of these 

tools make it easier fbr small businesses to focus on their craft so they can create better products 

and services and spend less time and hassle doing administrative work. 

Creating Jobs v. Building Careers 

Too oJhm technology companies claim to be changing the game and the future of work by 

simply providing what amount to be on-demand minimum wage jobs. While these can be great 

transitional opportunities or side hustles for students, retirees and those trying to make a little 

extra money, they rarely allow individuals to build a business or expand their earning potential. 

2 
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Thumbtack focuses on giving individuals the digital tools to build not just a job, but a career and 

business that they can scale. We often see professionals on Thumbtack start out as a sole 

proprietor and eventually add employees and services as their businesses grow. 

For example, Jonathan Johnson of Connecticut was an accountant with a passion for 

photography when he suddenly was laid off when his organization downsized. He created a 

photography booth service profile on Thumbtack to help bring in income, and his business took 

off. He now manages a staff of four, has been hired on Thumbtack over 200 times, and regularly 

books jobs from Fortune 500 companies. 

Through Thumbtack, Jonathan was able to find not just a job, but a tool that empowered him to 

grow his business and create greater opportunity for himself and others. This is how we should 

be leveraging technology to help small businesses grow- and contribute to their communities. 

Helping Small Business Owners Access Benefits 

While technology has helped many small businesses problems, there are still many challenges, 

particularly for individuals who work for themselves. 

One of the biggest challenges for small business individuals is getting access to benefits. The 

system of benefits in America has largely been designed for traditional W -2 employees who 

work full-time for one employer. Benefits that are incentivized or mandated by the government 

like health insurance, tax-advantaged retirement savings, workers compensation, unemployment 

insurance and paid leave are often available to workers with an employer, but often not available 

or difficult to access for the professionals that work for themselves. Yet we are encouraged by 

recent policy efforts to help narrow this gap for independent workers. 

The Affordable Care Act has made substantial strides in making health insurance available to 

independent workers. For full-time professionals on Thumbtack, 25 percent say access to 

benefits like health insurance affected their decision to start their business, and 14 percent report 

that the ACA directly helped them make the jump to running their own business: 

The Secure Choice retirement savings program being developed in numerous states and available 

to independent workers in Oregon and soon to be in California could help self-employed workers 

save for retirement outside a traditiona140 I (k) system. 
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And we in the private sector are taking action to help independent workers access benefits. 

Earlier this year Thumbtack became the first marketplace company to provide workers access to 

truly portable benefits through a partnership with the National Domestic Workers Alliance's Alia 

platform.5 This is an important step, but we'll be the first to acknowledge that these are 

patchwork efforts. In truth, we need the government's help to make benefits portable and 

universally accessible to both employees and those who work for themselves. 

We are encouraged by Congressional efforts to make portable benefits a reality through bills like 

Congresswoman DelBene's Portable Benefits for Independent Workers Pilot Program Act. We 

hope this committee will join these efforts to help the smallest of businesses the 

self-employed business owner- thrive. 

What Success Looks Like 

Like the small businesses that drive the American economy, our business at Thumbtack is about 

helping people find their own success. People like Terrell King, a Thumbtack user from 

Puyallup, Washington. Terrell had spent decades in the service industry but was struggling to get 

by. He signed up to work for a cleaning agency, but wasn't making enough money to support his 

family. Terrell said he often skipped meals so he could save food for his wife and child. 

Frustrated and out of ideas, he turned to a family member who told him about Thumbtack. He 

created a profile on Thumbtack that evening with a picture and his story of why he loved his 

work, and that first day found a customer for a high paying job. Within four months, Terrell went 

ti·mn making ends meet to having his own thriving cleaning business, paying off all his bills, and 

bringing on employees to keep up with the demand. Terrell was able to use digital tools like 

Thumbtack to take control of his own career and build a small business that he is incredibly 

proud of. 

People like Terrell are the reason Thumbtack exists. We believe technology is at its best when it 

empowers people to achieve their own dreams . 

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dcnt-work~rs, 

4 
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THE GIG ECONOMY IS HERE TO STAY AND THAT IS GOOD NEWS FOR SMAll BUSINESSES 

Thank you for having me here during National Small Business Week, throughout which we honor 

the small businesses and entrepreneurs that are central to our economy and our communities. 

I am here today to speak with you about the importance of that entrepreneurial spirit as it relates 

to the freelance economy and how this new economy is providing economic mobility for millions 

of Americans. This new structure of work has emerged and it's here to stay. 

This structure of work, which we support through the Hyr platform, allows workers in hospitality 

and retail to freelance and earn extra income and portable benefits. 

Workers like Megan. Megan began working hospitality shifts through the Hyr platform this past 

December in the weeks leading up to Christmas. After the holidays, she sent my Co-Founder and 

I a heartwarming message sharing that she joined Hyr to earn extra money for the Christmas 

presents her daughter wanted most. And because of Hyr, she was able to gift those gifts to her 

daughter. Even better, after just three weeks of working shifts through the Hyr platform, a 

company she worked with offered her a full-time job. 

And workers like Mandy. Mandy says that Hyr allows her to "schedule her freedom." Before 

joining Hyr, Mandy found it very difficult to work in the hospitality industry while starting her 

career as an actress. Because of last-minute audition calls, she would have to either call-off from 

her bartending job or beg a co-worker to cover her shift. But with Hyr, she was able to pick and 

choose shifts that best fit her schedule. I'm also happy to share that Mandy is now working fulltime on a TV production. 

At Hyr, we help workers connect with businesses that are looking to fill any shift, at any time. 

Which, frankly, helps both workers and small businesses alike. 

My Co-Founder and I understand both sides of this equation all too well. As hourly paid 

hospitality workers ourselves, there were too many times we experienced too much month at 

the end of the money. And later in our careers, when we worked on the business side, we 

struggled to find great talent in today's extremely shallow labor pool. 

To help close this gap, we built a worker-focused platform that connects the two parties. 

Gig workers on the Hyr platform are typically already working a full-time or part-time hospitality 

or retail job, but looking to earn a bit of extra money, fast. At Hyr, we ensure workers receive 

their earnings within three days after a shift if worked. 

But more, we created a form of portable benefits called UPoints for gig workers that accumulate 

each time they work a shift through the Hyr platform. 
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We built this system to help address the issue many gig economy workers face when they choose 

to enter the freelance economy. 

We did this because a growing number of Americans are choosing work that is not 9-to-5. Instead 

they are your Hyr pro, your Uber driver, your Grubhub food deliverer, or your Barkly dog-walker. 

The gig economy has become a central cog in America's economic growth engine, providing both 

entry-level opportunities and supplemental incomes. 

At Hyr, we are setting out to fill a massive gap for businesses: access to talented workers, fast, 

and relief from high turnover and call-offs. With same-day availability, businesses post shifts on 

Hyr's mobile app by highlighting their specific needs, location, all-in hourly rate of pay, and more. 

Then they review skilled and rated workers who elect to make themselves available for the shifts, 

and they choose the workers that are the best fit. 

And we set out to fill a massive gap for today's gig worker: flexible schedules; supplemental 

income, and fairness with UPoints, our form of portable benefits, but also a broader range of 

positions to create opportunities for workers with a broader range of skills. Gig workers create 

their Hyr profile in minutes by highlighting their particular expertise, work history, hourly rate, 

and availability. Then they are notified of available shifts that meet their needs, and they apply 

for the ones that interest them the most. At the conclusion of each shift, earnings are directly 

deposited to the worker's bank account within three days, not weeks. 

Some gig economy marketplaces have faced criticism for not providing fair wages or benefits. 

One of our top priorities at Hyr is to bring fairness to the gig economy, so we created UPoints. 

Designed as a form of benefits that are portable for a freelancer's entire working life, UPoints are 

earned with every shift and redeemable for whatever matters most to you, the worker, hence 

the name UPoints. Today, UPoints are redeemable for UDays, which are equivalent to paid 

vacation days, and as we continue to grow, workers will be able to redeem UPoints for 

healthcare, retirement savings, personal savings, and more. Freelancing in America is the most 

comprehensive measure of the gig economy workforce. Their 2018 study, conducted by an 

independent research firm and commissioned in partnership by Upwork and Freelancers Union, 

surveyed more than 6,000 American workers. In its fifth annual year, 22 percent of gig workers 

said access to affordable healthcare is their top concern, with saving for retirement at 19 percent, 

and being able to put enough money into savings at 15 percent. 

While it can be tempting to view the on-demand economy as either primarily beneficial or 

primarily detrimental, there is still a large gray area. And businesses like Hyr are thinking about 

broader policy questions, like how we help freelancers access more traditional benefits. 

Fact is, the number of gig economy opportunities are growing at unprecedented rates, and 

technology companies like Hyr have made it easier for workers and businesses to find each other. 

By staying flexible, collaborating with others, and balancing innovation with the tried and true, 

we can position ourselves to adapt and thrive in this new gig economy. 
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Written Testimony of Olivia Omega Wallace 

President, Wallace Marketing Group 

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business 

Subcommittee on Innovation and Workforce Development 

May 8, 2019 

Chairman Crow and Ranking Member Balderson, my name is Olivia Omega Wallace, an 

entrepreneur and marketing consultant with 20 years of branding and advertising experience. I 

live in Aurora, Colorado and I'm the co-founder of Wallace Marketing Group. My husband and I 

started Wallace Marketing Group to help coach and train entrepreneurs and small businesses 

within the health and wellness industry to grow their companies through branding, online 

marketing and digital communications. 

Over the past two decades I've seen the evolution of marketing happen before our eyes on the 

internet. The many barriers to entry started to diminish as technology increased, allowing 

individuals with no special advantages take an idea, quickly bring it to market, hire employees 

and scale with less upfront out-of-pocket costs and less risk. Our clients include a vegan chef and 

naturopathic doctor husband and wife team who want to bring easy healthy living to both their 

local and global online communities, and a counselor who offers art therapy to families in trauma. 

Online marketing tools allow them to reach their specific target audience from Aurora to Australia. 

I started rny first business making and selling stuffed animals when I was 13. At that time the 

internet and other online resources weren't available. It's incredible to look at young people today 

such as our daughter who is a sophomore in high school and has published three murder mystery 

novels for middle schoolers. She's pursuing her dreams early in life. This has been made possible 

by online publishing, payment and marketing platforms that we as entrepreneurs and small 

business owners use every single day. She is releasing her fourth book later this year thanks to 

the many digital resources at her fingertips. 

Things like "post engagement", "community insights", "cost-per-click", "page views", "shared pins", 

"retweets", "channel subscribers", "page boosts" and "video views" are all household terms for us. 

Whether I'm searching for the perfect contractor on UpWork, teaching a workshop to 100 women 

entrepreneurs on how to leverage Facebook ads to grow their business or coaching a client oneon-one on the importance of consistent content to grow their YouTube channel, the ability to 

participate fully and make a living as a small business or entrepreneur would be impossible 

without these online business tools. 

So I'm here today to advocate for all of those small businesses, all those independent artists, 

writers and creators, all entrepreneurs who are using the internet - and the free flow of data it 

offers to bring their vision to the world. Privacy and security are critical to both our family and 
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