To understand how crucial, just look at the facts and figures. But they make an outsized contribution to our nation's well-being. Small businesses employ more than half of the private nonfarm workforce and, combined, generate 51 percent of our private gross domestic product. Today they produce almost two-thirds of all new jobs. Small business men and women, in short, are the vehicles for the nation's initiative and creative imagination.
Small firms produce twice as many product innovations per employee as larger firms.
From small businesses have come innovations as complex as the artificial heart valve and the optical scanner and as prosaic as the zipper. From small businesses will undoubtedly come the product breakthroughs of the future. That will enhance the American standard of living and ensure the nation's continued economic success. Notwithstanding the strength and ingenuity of the small business sector, we live in turbulent times. And yet, I believe that we have much reason for optimism.