OHI, the national trade association for the outdoor hospitality industry, has formally joined a broad business coalition supporting H.R. 6855, the White House Conference on Small Business Act.
The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Congressman Don Davis of North Carolina and Congressman Brad Finstad of Minnesota, aims to restart the national forum for the first time in three decades.
“OHI has joined a coalition in support of legislation that will provide small businesses with a national platform. The White House Conference on Small Business will provide a forum connecting outdoor hospitality businesses with the White House, Congress on economic and regulatory issue[s],” the announcement states.
The proposed act establishes a structured, recurring framework for small business owners from all 50 states and U.S. territories to provide verbatim input on federal policy.
The conference would prioritize state-level meetings to ensure that the local operational realities of small-scale hospitality providers are represented in national legislative discussions.
“After three decades since the last White House Conference on Small Business, it’s more crucial than ever to give small business owners a meaningful national platform to voice their concerns,” Congressman Davis said in a press release.
Congressman Finstad, a member of the House Committee on Small Business, also noted that the legislation is designed to reignite conversations between family-owned businesses and federal policymakers.
“This bipartisan legislation reignites meaningful conversations between the small business community and the White House, ensuring small businesses from every state and background have a seat at the table,” Finstad explained.
Todd McCracken, president and CEO of the National Small Business Association, stated that small firms “desperately need the renewed focus from policymakers that this kind of convening would create.”
The last national conference, held under the Clinton administration, resulted in 60 specific policy recommendations aimed at leveling the playing field for American small enterprises.
Historically, the White House has convened three such conferences—in 1980, 1986, and 1995—which were authorized through both executive orders and congressional approval.
The current coalition includes over supporting organizations, ranging from the American Subcontractors Association to the Minority Business RoundTable and the National Society of Professional Surveyors.