Last week, together with more than 20 independent business organizations representing over 60,000 independent businesses across the country, we launched Small Business Rising. It’s a coalition of business owners and entrepreneurs from all corners of the country united around a common goal: breaking up monopoly power to safeguard the right of small businesses to compete and serve the needs of their communities.
The launch attracted significant national media coverage, including a feature in the Wall Street Journal, and stories in Bloomberg, Inc., Agence France Presse, Politico Pro, The Hill, the Associated Press, and elsewhere.
In Bloomberg, Washington, D.C.-based hardware retailer Gina Schaefer said she joined Small Business Rising in part because she wants “the folks on the Hill to realize we need help leveling the playing field.”
In the Wall Street Journal, another coalition member, Doug Mrdeza, told how his e-commerce business "laid off close to 40 employees in late 2019 after Amazon raised his fees and struck deals with some of his suppliers to sell products itself, cutting him out of the supply chain."
It’s time for entrepreneurs from every background and industry to stand up for one another. Join us. Learn more about Small Business Rising.
Read more in the Wall Street Journal.
|
|
WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
- Kennedy Smith spoke at the Main Street Now conference about community strategies to support independent businesses. Over 4,000 people attended the virtual event, including 2,500 independent business owners. Watch Kennedy's panel here.
- Ahead of the union vote in Alabama, Stacy talked to CNBC about Amazon’s aggressive anti-union tactics. “This whole unionization effort advances a public conversation about the fact that we need to do something about Amazon’s power.” She also talked to the Independent about Amazon’s punishing working conditions and to VICE about the corporation’s history of securing government handouts and tax incentives.
- Stacy explained to Goop how grocery consolidation, driven by failed antitrust policies, has fueled the spread of food deserts.
- Mary Timmel and Ron Knox joined Be Local Radio to talk about the antimonopoly movement, and our work connecting small business owners to the antitrust fight.
- Stacy joined a panel, hosted by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, on how tax policy contributes to monopoly power.
- Green America interviewed Sue Holmberg about fighting monopoly power at all levels of government. “We believe that federal action is incredibly important and necessary, but there’s a lot that states and local communities can do.”
|
|
ICYMI
Covid shattered the music industry, but it’s monopoly power that’s impeding its recovery. In Wired, Ron Knox explains how the monopolization of three chokepoints in the distribution of music — record labels, streaming, and live venues — is making it impossible for all but the top artists to reach listeners. To restore the industry’s diversity and creativity, we need antitrust reform. Read the article here. You can also listen to Ron talk about music monopolies on KEXP’s Sound and Vision show here.
|
|
|
NEWS STORIES WE'RE FOLLOWING
|
|
|
From informing policymakers to shaping media coverage, ILSR's research is
making an impact. Please help us work to create an economy that's more
competitive, equitable, and prosperous by making a donation today.
|
|
|
|
