American Entrepreneurship for 250 Years: Driving Innovation, Growth, Opportunity

I call the committee on small business and entrepreneurship to order. I apologize for my tardiness. On July fourth, seventeen seventy-six, a group of patriotic Americans declared independence from British tyranny. They forged a new nation founded upon the self-evident truths that all are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As we approach the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our nation, we should take time to reflect on our rich history. Our American story is one of courage, determination, and resilience. It is impossible to tell this story without the entrepreneurs and innovators who have driven the country forward, serving as the catalyst for freedom and prosperity. For two hundred and fifty years, bold Americans have conquered what was thought to be impossible. Americans' curiosity led to a wave of transformative innovation. With limited resources but limitless determination, pioneers turned constraints into opportunity. From the light bulb to the spinning wheel to agricultural advancements, our earliest innovators created the foundation of the society we know today. While American soldiers bravely fought in two world wars, American businesses of all sizes stepped up and led the charge on the domestic front. Our businesses, large and small, mobilized to supply critical resources on the battlefield and fueled our economy at home. We kept the competitive American spirit going and channeled it into flight. Less than one hundred years after the Wright brothers first took to the skies, American engineers and manufacturers made it possible to put a man on the moon. And I have to note the Iowa connection here. When the Wright brothers were kids, they actually lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where their father brought home an early iteration of a helicopter for them to play with. The brothers credited this as one of their inspirations for their own airplane. And now we stand at the forefront of technological innovation, unlocking a new digital frontier. connecting nearly every corner of the globe. We turned big, impossible dreams into real-world breakthroughs in science, medicine, business, and finance. And there is still much more to come. Last summer, President Trump chose the great state of Iowa to kick off our nation's two hundred and fiftieth celebration. At the Iowa State Fairgrounds, he underscored Iowa's unique role in the American story. And I would have to agree, look no further than our Iowa State Fair, where the creativity and entrepreneurship of our small businesses and farmers are on full display. As we continue to strive to fulfill our founder's promise of a more perfect union, I have no doubt America's small businesses and entrepreneurs will continue leading the way. Today we're kicking off our part of America's two-fiftieth birthday celebration, By reflecting on our storied history and listening to folks from three states that have played pivotal roles in early American entrepreneurship. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Massachusetts embodies the American entrepreneurial spirit, starting with settlers arriving from England and building everything from scratch. Within new towns, small businesses were the catalyst for success. Nearby in New Hampshire, a similar entrepreneurial mindset enf- emphasized innovation, self-reliance, and the pursuit of opportunity. As America progressed, New Hampshire's leadership in industrialization helped propel the entire nation forward. Down the coast in South Carolina, Charleston's small shops and merchant houses lined the streets in one of the busiest ports in colonial America. America two fifty is a bipartisan organization established by Congress to celebrate these unequaled achievements. America's two fiftieth birthday is certainly cause for celebration, and I am excited to hear about America's two fifty plans for this July fourth. I am grateful that we're joined today by our panel of witnesses. I look forward to hearing from them to see how their states have contributed to the American economy over the past two hundred and fifty years. And I now recognize ranking member Markey for his opening statement.

Um, thank you Madam Chair so much, and uh thanks to all our witnesses. From cobblestone streets to America's high-tech highway, route one twenty eight, Massachusetts has been the nation's road map for revolution. From the American Revolution two hundred and fifty years ago, and Concord and Lexington to the revolutions of today in clean energy, in biotech, in health care, education, Massachusetts is a pioneering state. The historic shot at Lexington and Concord has turned into life-saving shots in arms to prevent COVID-19 and moon shots to cure Alzheimer's. That's no accident. Massachusetts embodies America's entrepreneurial spirit through our business plan. Number one, we attract the best and brightest to our universities from across the nation and across the world. Two, we invest in opportunity and give entrepreneurs a reason to stay. Number three, we train the healthiest and most educated workforce in the United States. And number four, we roll out the red carpet for the immigrant community to come to Massachusetts. And that's our business plan.

Mm-hmm.

And we are per capita the wealthiest state. in the country. It works. This plan is what makes Massachusetts not just the Bay State, but the brain state. Massachusetts is home to seventeen of the fortune five hundred companies, half of which were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants. But it's not just the giants that power our state. Massachusetts is also home to more than ninety-one thousand ninety-one thousand immigrant entrepreneurs. From Boston to Lowell to Worcester to Springfield, so many of the businesses that make our neighborhoods vibrant and strengthen our communities were started by immigrants. And it is clear that across our country, immigrants and minority owned businesses play an important role in powering our economy. Hispanic owned businesses contribute eight hundred billion dollars to our economy each and every year. AAPI owned businesses employ five point two million people each year. Black-owned businesses generated two hundred and forty-nine billion dollars in revenue in twenty twenty-five alone. And yet, throughout our history, immigrants, minorities, marginalized groups have been forced to overcome discrimination and unjust policies. At the turn of the twentieth century, it was French Canadians in Lowell and in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, unable to uh get loans from English-speaking banks. That's our history, Senator Shaheen and I. Those immigrants came together to create the Jean d'Arc Credit Unit, which to this day continues to serve immigrants from Asia, Africa, Latin America, uh in Northeast Massachusetts and across the boundary into New Hampshire. Unfortunately, as we know, history doesn't repeat itself, but it oftentimes rhymes. And today the Small Business Administration has put in place a policy to deny loans to legal immigrants despite the fact that immigrants, including those with temporary protected status, or TPS, are more likely to start a business than native-born citizens. Earlier this morning, the Trump administration argued for ending TPS status for Haitians and Syrians. Uh, Massachusetts is home to forty-five thousand people from Haiti with TPS status, uh an estimated five thousand of them are self-employed, just in the state of Massachusetts. Right now. This administration prefers to demonize immigrants and continue to campaign on contempt against communities of color rather than recognizing that immigrant entrepreneurs have created the fabric of our communities and powered our economic vitality for two hundred and fifty years. So instead of uh celebrating this history, the Trump administration attempts to erase it, from housing to employment. To entrepreneurship, this administration is turning back the clock and ignoring the historic systemic injustices that continue to exist today. Trump's executive order called restoring truth and sanity to American history, directs agencies to remove content deemed to inappropriately disparage Americans past or living. That order is responsible for erasing the documentary that told the story of women and immigrant mill workers in Lowell, Massachusetts. Erased. Those mill workers were forced to work in hot and unsafe textile mills, but organized for their rights and against slavery. That documentary is called Lowell, the Continuing Revolution. As the birthplace of the American Revolution, that's what Massachusetts does. The Industrial Revolution was started in Lowell, Massachusetts as well. We need to tell the full story. We continued the revolution, we will continue to share our history. We will continue to drive innovation and growth, and history uh will have uh will will have rhymes, but no reason unless we deal with the reality of what actually did happen. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Ranking Member Markey, and I want to extend a warm welcome to all of our witnesses today. I am thankful that you took time out of your busy schedules to join us here, and share your expertise and insight with this committee. I now recognize Senator Scott to introduce our witness from South Carolina.

Thank you, Chairwoman Ernst and ranking member Markey, as well as the members of the committee. It is certainly my pleasure to introduce my dear friend, Cat Doherty, who is with us today as we celebrate two hundred and fifty years of American entrepreneurship. There is no one better to share the story of South Carolina's small businesses and highlight the role they continue to play in our amazing country. In her nearly three decades of experience, and you can look at her and tell that she started at the young age of eight, working in tourism and economic development, Kat has helped build a foundation that powers thousands of small businesses across the Charleston area and far beyond. As the Vice President of Marketing for Explore Charleston, Kat helps to tell the story of our city's rich history, unique culture, and the strong business community that we love. In Charleston alone, the city's growth and success have served as a national model for how culture, history, and entrepreneurship can work hand in hand. Most importantly, Cat understands that behind every visitor i- is an opportunity for the small businesses that serve them both directly and indirectly across the supply chain. Whether it's filling hotel rooms, supporting local restaurants, or showcasing Regional Artisans, her work helps to ensure that Charleston's success is shared nationwide. Beyond her role at Explore Charleston, Cat continues to give back by serving as President of the South Carolina Association of Tourism Regions, serving on the board of the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, and mentoring the next generation of hospitality leaders at her alma mater the College of Charleston. If your kids are looking for some place to call home after high school, call the Charleston or even Charleston Southern Bucks would be good choices for those kids. As we reflect on two hundred and fifty years of American entrepreneurship, Cat's work is a powerful reminder that the spirit of the American dream is alive and it is well on our main streets and our small businesses and in communities nationwide. I am grateful for her leadership. I'm very proud to call her my friend and confident that her testimony will offer valuable insight into how history hospitality and entrepreneurship continue to shape our American story. Kat, thank you for being with us today and to the other witnesses, thank you for making the investment of your time and your expertise to showcase the greatest nation on God's green earth.

Thank you, Senator Scott. I now recognize myself to introduce Miss Rosie Rios. Miss Rios is Chair of America Two Fifty, the bipartisan congressional commission planning the two-fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. She served as the forty-third treasurer of the United States, managing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the US Mint. Prior to her presidential appointment, Miss Rios was the Managing Director of Investments for McFarland Partners, a real estate investment management firm. Miss Rios holds a degree from Harvard University. And thank you again, and I now recognize ranking member Marky to introduce our other witnesses.

Um, well, I'm gonna introduce one of the witnesses and uh Senator Shaheen is going to recognize the other.

Okay. Very good.

I'm going to um introduce uh Liz Wheat um who has served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. We call it MIRA since January of twenty twenty two, an expert on immigration law and policy. Liz has a record of more than twenty years of advocating for immigrants and refugees. Um she is um a national uh expert on these issues and uh she is going to be an excellent witness here today. Thank you Madam Chair.

Yes, you are recognized, Senator Shaheen, to introduce your witness.

Um, thank you very much, Madam Chair. I am really pleased to introduce Amanda Grappone Osmer, who is the president of Grappone Auto Group in Concord, New Hampshire. Her great-grandparents started this business more than a hundred years ago with a single gas station in Concord. The family's grown the business to three dealerships in New Hampshire, although she'll give us a little bit more of that history, I think, when she speaks. She's now the fourth generation to own and operate Grappone Automotive. And she graduated from the University of New Hampshire. And her sister used to work for me when I was governor. So I have known the Grappone family for a very long time. And, um, not just Amanda, but her whole family has contributed significantly to the well-being of the state of New Hampshire. And we appreciate it. Thank you for being here, Amanda.

Thank you, Senator Shaheen, and briefly to our witnesses. I'd like to take a moment just to explain the lighting system in front of you. Three lights, um green means go, yellow means uh you're running out of time, and red means to wrap it up and and conclude your remarks. I ask unanimous consent that the witnesses' full statements be included in the record, and without objection, so ordered. As your written testimony has been made part of the record, the committee asks that you limit your oral remarks to five minutes. And with that, Miss Rios, you are recognized for five minutes for your testimony.

Thank you so much. Chair Ernst, Ranking Member Markey, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for your leadership and for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Rosie Rios, and I have the honor of serving as the forty-third Treasurer of the United States. And today I serve as Chair of the U. S. Semi-Quincentennial Commission, America Two Fifty, for which Senator Shaheen is also a member of our commission. As Treasury of the United States, for eight years I was also a senior advisor to the secretary on issues of community development including small business, access to capital, and CDFI funding. Prior to my government service, I was focused on promoting economic development and urban revitalization in local communities, and since then my passion continues to be focused on start-up creation and growth. And as the mother of a successful entrepreneur, who is joining me today, my son Joey. This is something that has personal significance, so the jurisdiction of the committee is very near and dear to my heart. America two fifty is the national nonpartisan effort charged to plan our nation's two hundred fiftieth anniversary in twenty twenty six. We were created by Congress in twenty sixteen and are comprised of twenty-four commissioners eight of whom are members of Congress serving as commissioners from the Republican side of the Senate are Senator Murkowski, and Capito and from the Democratic side are Senator Shaheen and Senator Padilla. Similarly, we have two Republicans and two Democrats from the House that serve a as commissioners. I'm very proud to say that the Congressional America Two Fifty caucus is the largest bipartisan, bicameral legislative caucus in the history of this great country. Now, when I submitted my testimony, we were at three hundred and ninety-eight members. That was a few days ago. Today, We are at four O one, the first time ever reaching the four hundreds as a caucus again in our history, including fifty-six senators. Our caucus continues to grow, and I absolutely have five hundred in my sights. And it is almost equably distributed between Democrats and Republican members. We hope to welcome our four hundredth, uh we hope to remember our five hundredth caucus member now, any day. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the committee members who have joined our caucus. Our team looks forward to working with you and your offices to help connect your constituents in celebrating America year-round. Over the past year, America two fifty has launched or announced a number of national values-based programs that are unprecedented in scope and scale. We call these programs our movement. They are a lasting legacy that will connect Americans at every level and extend into international spectacles like the twenty twenty-sixth world. World Cup and the twenty twenty eight Olympics in Los Angeles. And in addition to this movement, of course, we are planning for some unforgettable moments for the week of July fourth. Part of our mission is to tell a more complete story of America, and one important through-line in that story is our country's unique spirit of entrepreneurship. Paul Revere, a Boston silversmith and industrialist, built one of the early American manufacturing businesses while supporting the revolutionary cause. Robert Mills, a South Carolina-born architect and entrepreneur, built a national practice and designed landmarks, including the Washington Monument. So this entrepreneurial spirit has been embedded in the American people from the very, very beginning. But today, that same spirit is being tested. Data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor shows that nearly half of US adults who see good opportunities to start a business say that they would not do so for fear it might fail. Gallup shows that only twenty percent of young workers believe it is a good time to find a quality job down sharply from just a few years ago. Young Americans are clearly anxious about their future. But there's another way to look at this moment. There is a time of real opportunity to create something new, in part because that is because the fundamentals of starting something new are shifting in favor of builders. There have never been more pathways to access the capital and new technologies e- especially artificial intelligence are dramatically lowering the barriers to entry for founders. So this is a moment that calls for more young Americans to step forward and build, just as my son has done. That is the idea behind a recent America two fifty initiative called America's Startup. America's Startup is a national competition designed to engage undergraduate students and young entrepreneurs across the country. Students have an opportunity to pitch ideas in early stage ventures for the chance for ten finalists to receive twenty-five thousand dollars in nondilutive grant funding, as well as priceless mentorship opportunities and national recognition. In this pilot round, we received proposals from nearly two hundred accredited colleges universities and trade schools nationwide. The top proposals are currently being reviewed by an in- investor council that includes luminaries such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and four-time Super Bowl champion Joe Montana. Winners will be announced May fourth, following a live pitch weekend in Silicon Valley this coming weekend, with top judges including Tim Draper, Naveen Jain, Sarah Fryer, and Chris Larson. America's Start-Up is our way of reintroducing entrepreneurship as a defining part of the American identity. Delivering on that vision, however, requires partnership. America two fifty is funded through a combination of congressional appropriations and private sector support. Since fiscal year two thousand nineteen, Congress has provided annual funding which we have supplemented with contributions We've worked hard to be responsible stewards of those resources, and in fact, on an inflation-adjusted basis, federal funding for America two fifty is less than half of what was spent on the nineteen seventy-six bicentennial. We are grateful for Congress's continued support, and to fully deliver on this once in a generation effort, we will be seeking additional funding through the fiscal year, twenty twenty-seven appropriations process. Ultimately, America two fifty is just as mu- about much about the future as it is the past. And if we do this right, not only will our semi-quincentennial commemorate two hundred and fifty years of history, it will inspire the next two hundred and fifty years of American entrepreneurship. In fact, we have an entire after-the-fireworks strategy that will include the launch of America's start-up all over again in the fall, and perhaps again in twenty, twenty-seven, as we look to the moment of the semi-quincentennial to create a movement of inspiration in the years to come. Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

Thank you, Miss Rios. And next we'll recognize Miss Sweet. You are recognized for five minutes for your testimony.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Chair Ernst, Ranking Member Markey, and all members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to join this hearing. My name is Liz Sweet and I serve as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, or MIRA, based in Boston, Massachusetts. I appreciate the opportunity to submit this testimony regarding the critical contributions that immigrants have made to small business growth throughout our nation's history. The Mirror Coalition is the largest coalition in New England, advocating for the rights and inclusion of immigrants and refugees, who number more than one point three million in Massachusetts. Throughout our history, immigrants have contributed to our prosperity and economic growth, in Massachusetts and nationally. All too often, new immigrants face barriers to full economic inclusion, which often drives them toward greater creativity and adaptation in founding small businesses to create their own opportunities. In one recent analysis by Mass Budget, the Immigration Research Initiative, and the Economic Policy Institute, they found that immigrants generate some one hundred and thirty billion of output annually for the Massachusetts economy. Currently in Massachusetts, twenty eight percent of business owners are immigrants, which is higher than the national average of twenty one percent. Foreign-born workers make up one fifth of our workforce in Massachusetts. And as Senator Marquillard already mentioned, more than ninety one thousand immigrant entrepreneurs generate more than three billion dollars of business income for Massachusetts. In greater Boston, immigrants own forty percent of our Main Street businesses, including more than half of all restaurants, sixty-one percent of nail salons, and eighty-six percent of convenience stores. These small businesses power our main streets, attracting people and resources to our cities and towns. Massachusetts has long had a powerful draw on newcomers to America. The earliest Ill- English colonists came to Massachusetts, followed by Irish escaping famine, who helped transform Boston into an industrial city. The Industrial Wave brought large numbers of Italian, Russian, and Polish immigrants, and then from the nineteen sixties to the nineteen nineties, Massachusetts was one of seven states that as a group attracted between sixty to seventy-five percent of all immigrants arriving to the United States each year. These more recent waves of immigrants have brought people from Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. And within each of these waves, immigrants have set up businesses and contributed to our economic competitiveness. Immigrants to Massachusetts have throughout history identified opportunities and opened key businesses. For example, in the time of the whaling industry in southern Massachusetts, large numbers of Cape Verdean immigrants worked as whaling crew members and settled in New Bedford. As the whaling industry declined, enterprising Cape Verdeans bought up those old whaling vessels and refitted them to become packet ships. Between nineteen sixty and nineteen sixty five, forty one percent of the packet ships trading between New England and Cape Verde islands were owned by Cape Verdeans, contributing to our trade and growth. More recently, Max and Morris Feldberg immigrated to Massachusetts, fleeing Tsarist Russia in the earliest twentieth century. After they settled in Chelsea, they opened their first retail store, which then grew to hundreds of stores by the time of Max's death in nineteen eighty eight. That is now what we know as TJX companies, the Framingham-based Fortune five hundred firm that owns TJ Max, HomeGoods and Marshalls. And more than half of the Fortune five hundred firms, based in Massachusetts, were founded by at least one immigrant or child of immigrants. And of course, today in Massachusetts, we're home to a world-class robust life sciences ecosystem, and a globally innovative healthcare and biotechnology sector. This sector is also powered by immigrants, who account for nearly thirty percent of STEM workers. Businesses founded and operated by immigrants not only drive our shared prosperity, but ensure that we remain competitive in our changing global economy. Immigrants bring creativity, adaptation, new ideas and innovation. Their businesses also add to our culture, bringing new flavors, new products, and new perspectives that enrich us all. This is truly our American story, that waves of newcomers have have arrived here, have identified gaps and opportunities, and have built new businesses to continue to grow our country in the into the powerhouse that we are globally. Immigrant entrepreneurship is nothing new for Massachusetts or for this country. But it is an engine upon which we all rely and benefit. And we must ensure that our country continues to be a place where entrepreneurs can flourish. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Miss Sweet. And next we will hear from Mrs. Doherty, and you are now recognized for five minutes for your testimony.

Thank you. Chair Ertz, Frankie, member Markey, and distinguished members of the committee, I appreciate the privilege to speak to you today. My name is Catherine Doherty and I'm Vice President of Marketing Lower Charleston, which is the destination marketing office representing over eight hundred businesses in the greater Charleston area. Our state of South Carolina has been incubating entrepreneurs since before there was a United States of America. Two hundred and fifty years ago, South Carolina's founders did not wait for permission to build. They looked at the land, the water, the clay beneath their feet, and the communities around them, and they created. That spirit is unbroken today, and I want to take you on a brief tour of two hundred and fifty years of our entrepreneurs told not through spreadsheets but through the things our people have made with their own hands. Starting in the Lowcountry and home to Senator Scott, for centuries our Gullah Geechee women have woven sweet grass baskets in a tradition brought from West Africa. These are not just crafts, they are unbroken thread of entrepreneurship. Past generation to generation, sold on the streets of Charleston, along the highway of Mount Pleasant, long before anyone used the word small business. Today, master weavers contribute that to that tradition, and those baskets command hundreds of dollars apiece, and I invite you to make sure that you view some of the ones on display at the African American Museum and the American History Museum, right here in DC. This is living heritage and living commerce intertwined. And no survey of South Carolina entrepreneurship would be complete without one of my favorites the Pauli's Island rope hammock. Today, the original Pauli's Island hammock is one of the oldest continuously manufactured consumer products in the United States. Still hand woven by local craftspeople, it is a reminder that the most durable entrepreneurial ideas are often the simplest ones, " See a problem, solve it well," and the market will find you for the next one hundred and forty years. Traveling inland to Edgefield, South Carolina, in the early eighteen hundreds, the alkaline glaze pottery tradition took root in the Edgefield area, producing utilitarian stoneware that was functional, beautiful, and distinctly South Carolina. Enslaved artisans, including the remarkable poet-potter Dave Drake, helped define this tradition. Today, Edgefield pottery is collected internationally, and potters continue working in that tradition. From bondage came artistry, and from art- artistry came commerce. Now, my home area of the Pee Dee region, In nineteen O three, a pharmacist in Blenheim, South Carolina, mixed unusually spicy mineral spring water with ginger and created Blenheim ginger ale. And it is spicy, y'all. One hundred and twenty years later, people still drive off the highway to find it. That is brand loyalty earned the old-fashioned way by making something genuinely worth seeking out. Today, that same spirit pulses through producers like Marsh Henmill on Edisto Island. stone grinding, heirloom grits the way they were made before industrialization flattened the flavor out of our food or white blossom coffee in the old English region sourcing and roasting with the care a farmer brings to his own fields or ninety six pecans, named for the historic town of ninety six bringing the flavor of South Carolina's heartland to tables across the country. And fun fact about ninety six, this is the site of the longest siege fought during the Revolutionary War. It was twenty-eight days and led by Patriot Major General Nathaniel Greene. And are you all familiar with kudzu? Cuz it's related to bamboo.

Yeah.

And it is a very invasive vine, one of the South's most persistent nuisances. There's kudzu crafts in the upcountry that is turning these vines into handmade goods. Now that is pure South Carolina ingenuity. Take what the land gives you, And when it gives you too much, you make something of value. And lastly in the Aiken area, the Mennonite crafts people bring generations of woodworking and agriculture tradition to the local economy. Quiet, persistent, but extraordinary in quality. Madam Chair, what connects a sweet grass basket woven in seventeen eighty to a bag of stone ground grits packaged in twenty twenty six? The applied skill and determination built something worth buying. South Carolina entrepreneurs do not ask for much. They ask for markets they can reach, regulations they can understand, and a federal government that recognizes the backbone of the American economy is not built in boardrooms. It is built in pottery sheds, farm stands, kitchen tables, and roadside stores. I urge this committee to remember them and do all that you can to support them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Doherty. I think we all need a uh spicy ginger ale and uh one of those hammocks.

Chair Ernst, Ranking Member Markey, and distinguished members of the committee, my name is Amanda Grappone-Osmere and on behalf of the two hundred and thirty-five team members at Grappone Automotive in Bow and Concord, New Hampshire, thank you all for your service to our great country and for inviting me here today to tell you a little bit about the Grappone Automotive story. My paternal great-great-grandfathers both immigrated from southern Italy to the United States in eighteen ninety-one, leaving behind not only grinding poverty and government oppression, but most of their family members. Like the millions of other European immigrants during that time, they risked it all to make a better life in America. Their respective son and daughter are my great-grandparents Rocco Grupponi and Emanuela Dorlando. They came to this country around the turn of the twentieth century, one a stone mason with a skilled trade to offer, the other an illiterate peasant farmer. They married in nineteen O five and after moves from Boston to New York City to Vermont, they finally settled in Concord, New Hampshire, where they raised their seven surviving children. They had followed the granite for years, but stone cutting was a dangerous line of work, and my great grandmother Manuela had always wanted Rocco to find a different way to support the family. Around nineteen twenty, Emanuela and her two eldest daughters went to work in a local factory, making parts for Ford Model Ts. Their savings along with Rocco's earnings

Mm.

Understanding that the sale of gas alone would not sustain them, they began servicing and then selling cars, becoming an Oldsmobile distributor in nineteen twenty seven. Their son John, my grandfather, began working at Grappone and Sons in grade school and worked there, gassing and greasing cars as he used to say, for seventy nine years. My grandmother, his wife of seventy one years, continued to report to the Ford showroom every day until she was ninety eight years old. Their son Robert, my dad, spent a sixty year career at Grappone and he'll, until his retirement last year, and after twenty eight years in the business, I became the company's president on the first of the year. On uh our team is two hundred and thirty-five people strong, and we are proud to partner with three of the world's top automotive manufacturers, Ford, Mazda and Honda. Over the last century our business has gone through many, many iterations. An entrepreneurial spirit has gotten us to where we are, and I have faith that it will lead us soundly into the next century of business. The auto industry is dynamic and arguably as entrepreneurial an industry as our country has ever produced. The local dealers who connect the manufacturers to the end consumer are, in many cases, anchors. In New Hampshire alone, there are a hundred and fifty-eight new car and truck dealers who employ almost twelve thousand five hundred people. Together we generate more than seven hundred million dollars in annual payroll and support countless vendors civic groups and non-profit organizations. It is not an overstatement to say that the word " grapone" is as tied to community support in my home state, as it is to selling cars, trucks and parts. For many years we've committed five percent of our annual net profit to charitable causes. To me, the presence of entrepreneurialism is a sign of a healthy business ecosystem. Entrepreneurs are by nature creative people, and where creativity exists, so does the sense of optimism. And where optimism shines its face, fear is not in the driver's seat. A long-held vision of mine is to create a workplace in which the team feels a sense of agency to understand not just that their contributions matter but also how. It is also important to our company that our team members feel a responsibility to give back to the community that supports us. by buying and servicing their cars at Grouponi. When team members ask if they can help to build a kit car with a local high school, or host an event in our community space, or teach a young person about their trade, I see this vision come to life. I'm proud that some of our team members have taken the brave step to have businesses of their own in addition to working their day jobs alongside me. The entrepels entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well at Grouponi Automotive. It's also alive and well all across New Hampshire. On Monday of this week, I went back to my alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, and toured one of their farms where research and manual labor work side-by-side to grow food for the dining hall and local soup kitchens. Then on the other side of the campus I experienced the Olsen Advanced Manufacturing Center a coworking facility that serves as a pipeline for trained skilled workers who will be able to successfully step into the state's manufacturing sector with practical knowledge and experience. From the farm to the manufacturing floor we talked about how to adapt and learn, and invent, and share all tools found in the Entrepreneur's Toolbox. My husband and I have three children and one is very interested in coming into the family business after he's finished college and seen some more of the world. I'm grateful every day that my ancestors chose a life of curiosity and hard work. Because they followed their entrepreneurial spirits, the fifth generation of Grouponis can step into the business and carry on the tradition of caring for our team guests and community, with integrity, kindness and respect. Thank you very much for your time.

Wonderful. Thanks to all of our witnesses for your testimony. We'll now go into questions and answers and I'll recognize myself for five minutes for questions. And Mrs. Doherty we'll start with you. Um in your testimony you highlighted a number of small bi- businesses that really have deep historical significance in South Carolina and to Charleston, and of course the broader economy in in South Carolina. Uh can you talk about and drawing from your uh with explore Charleston and the College of Charleston, some more recent examples of small businesses that are really embodying South Carolina's entrepreneurial spirit.

Absolutely, thank you. Uh I I think of several of our retailers on King Street, which is the heart of Charleston, the original uh road into the Walled City. We have some amazing um stores like Krogan's Jewel Box, they're fourth generation now. And they not only feature national jewelry brands, but they've also created their own brand called Gold Bug. And they have really done a great job of utilizing social media, um, to sell their goods. And e-commerce has helped so many of our businesses, like Heart Jewelry, that's been featured many times in national magazines, uh, Tiny Tassel. So those are the stores I think of, and just utilizing modern technology to really get their name out.

That does seem to be a way that many small businesses have gone, especially in the rural areas as well, to to draw more revenue in. Um, and Miss Real, so I was really excited. This was something that was, um, unique to me, hearing about your shark tank style way of doing business. It's a competition, uh, through America Two Fifty. which is designed to support and celebrate the next generation of entrepreneurs. And you're providing students the opportunity to pitch their businesses and their innovations to some of the nation's most successful business leaders and investors. So if you can talk a little bit more about that event and uh, you know, so in particular this this event There's many others that will be happening across the United States. Uh, talk about that and how is America two fifty then elevating entrepreneurs kind of amid this incredible milestone?

Thank you so much uh for that wonderful question. This is actually one of my favorite projects. So America's Startup is really,

Great.

uh as as I mentioned earlier, as much about the future as it is the past, and really inspiring this next generation of leadership. What we found last fall is the Gallup poll that identified this particular cohort of eighteen to twenty-four year olds where it specifically said that that group of folks are the most disconnected the least patriotic and the most cynical of a generation they've seen in a while and uh and so it dawned on me um you know, what we're trying to accomplish at America two fifty is trying to make as many Americans as possible feel like this is the land of opportunity all over again. I am the American dream, my son is the American dream. My parents came from Mexico in nineteen fifty eight and they landed in Hayward, California because my dad was a seasonal migrant worker at the Hunt's tomato factory, which is now part of Silicon Valley. And so for me, um, you know, eleven years later and nine kids later, my mom left a an abusive relationship. My father returned to Mexico, my mom stayed in this great country because she knew that, that we would have a much better uh, chance of succeeding if we stayed. So with the help of our Catholic village, And on her own, somehow she sent all nine of us off to college. So, for me this is more than personal. And so the the the concept of America's start-up is really to provide that generation, that very specific generation opportunity for the brass ring. And we specifically focused on undergrads because when you look at start-up capital it usually doesn't follow the undergrads it usually follows, if you're gonna have it in in colleges and universities, it's usually graduate students. That's where the patents are, the research, that's where the work experience is. But because we knew that that undergraduate cohort was that disconnected, we wanted to focus on them and give them an opportunity that perhaps they would never get otherwise. And so uh my my partner, Nick Tawil from O'Shana Sea Ventures is here today because he actually came up to me at a dinner. And when I was speaking about uh America two fifty, he said, " I wanna get involved, I wanna do anything." And so we came up with this concept of America's start-up. We brought in Tim Draper from Draper Ventures. Of course he put the star in start-up as one of our partners and together we created pilot program that launched uh uh about six weeks ago uh and then uh we are now down to the thirty semi-finalists the actual taping of those thirty semi-finalists to get to the ten is this coming Saturday at Draper University uh where they will receive that twenty five thousand dollars of non-dilutive grant funding and if all goes as planned we're going bigger even in the fall uh and we plan on inviting the president to be a judge we think he would love this this uh atmosphere and more than anything We really wanna inspire this next generation to own their future, feel their future, and do something about their future.

That is amazing. Um, I appreciate that very much, and we look forward to hearing more about those finalists. Um, so now I will recognize Senator Shaheen.

Well, thank you very much, Madam Chair, and Senator Markey, thank you for letting me bump you since I have to leave here in just a few minutes. Um, but I did wanna take the opportunity to thank all of you for being here. You're all such articulate and eloquent spokespeople for the role that immigrants have played, not just in small businesses but in this country and um the successful economy that we all enjoy today. Um I also wanna thank you um, Miss Rios, for your service as Treasurer and uh your work on the commission, as you point out. There are a number of senators on that and it's been a joy to be able to serve. And I also especially appreciate you're working with me to try and get a woman on our currency. We still have work to do, but we're not giving up. Um, and it's great to be able to welcome Miss Griponi Asmar to the small business committee and um I think all of you saw that she's done a wonderful book about her family, um called Griponi Automotive, The Founding, which talks about what your family has um done with the business. What's interesting to me is that only about twelve percent of family businesses survive the transition from second to third generation, as you're probably aware, UNH actually has a center that helps um business small business owners try and figure out how to make that transition to the next generation, and this committee has actually done a hearing on that. So talk about how how you were able to survive to be the fourth generation and I loved your testimony where you talked about the fifth generation from the family. And and also what what did you find in your book that you surprised you about the contribution of small businesses or your family business to New Hampshire?

Um I'll take the first question first and because I'm fifty-two and I cannot remember two questions in a row so But I will remember the second one. Um, the first one is, I think, I always think of myself on a continuum, so I kn- I know that I wasn't the founder, I can never be the founder of Grappone Automotive, and God help me, I won't be the one to end Grappone Automotive, so I'm somewhere in the middle, and so for me that the the responsibility of carrying the mantle of the thousands, literal thousands of people who spent their lives dedicated to my family business prior to me, um that's something I take very seriously, and knowing that of our three kids at least one, maybe more eventually will come into the business, uh that certainly also puts a different sense of responsibility on making sure that it's thriving and vibrant, so when they come and take it over and wanna put their mark on it, they have you know something viable to to step into. Um so that that's kind of what keeps me going, and I just love people, I'm not a gear head, I'm not a car person, if I never go to another new car show in my life that'll be soon enough, I I ca No offense. I mean, I love cars. They're super helpful.

We won't report that back.

I do love cars. I love what they've done for our economy. I love what they do for freedom, you know, for independence. Um, but like, do I get excited when I hear a loud engine? No, I'm more like, trying to enjoy my walk here. Uh, so, but the people, that's what keeps me coming back, always, always has. I always swore I'd never be in the family business because I wasn't a car person. Um, but it turns out, uh, it's a people business very much, all day long. And I did forget the second question.

The second question was whether there was anything that surprised you as you were learning about your family and its contribution.

Yes, thank you. Yes. Um, maybe not so much a surprise. I'd have to think more about that question, but what did s- really strike me in the research was that my great grandparents, much like the French Canadians, couldn't get alone, um, to save their lives. And one of the stories I tell at the very end of the book where the they're about to buy the gas station, is the president of the bank, mister Dudley, went to their home to shake their hands and to meet them and just to see what's this family all about. And I was like, man, I wish it were like that now. I just w- and I I get that there's this there's this scale of it and it's impossible to go visit every single customer that wants your your business or to take a loan out, but just that notion that you could look someone in the eye and shake their hand and understand something enough about them to be able to trust that they'll pay you back I wish that were real still. Maybe it is. It's probably very much alive in in certain places, but um when it comes to getting a bank loan, that has not been my experience of late.

No, and it's particularly telling, given that one of the biggest challenges small business ha small businesses have is that access to capital,

Yes.

which is so hard to come by.

Yes.

Um, I know, I think there are there are a number of movies about those bankers who were able to do a handshake and provide the loan, which sadly we don't have anymore. But thank you all again so much for being here. Thank you, Madam Chair and Senator.

Thank you.

Yes, thank you. I'll recognize now ranking member Markey for five minutes.

I I thank you, Madam Chair. Um, in March I released a report on the small business impact of the Trump administration's cruel and callous raids on immigrant communities, and the findings are devastating. Dine-in restaurants' sales fell by as much as sixty percent in Chicago. during Operation Midway Blitz. Small businesses lost eighty-one million dollars in revenue in Minneapolis, after Operation Metro Search. And ICE operations in Orange County, California resulted in approximately fifty-nine million and lost economic output over an eight-week period. In Massachusetts, almost a third of small businesses say that immigration enforcement has impacted them. Over forty percent of Latino-owned businesses And the Commonwealth say that they have been impacted by the ice raids and ice presence has made their staff afraid to go to work and customers afraid to go to the restaurants. These anti-immigrant actions are unconscionable. If this administration were to go back and study history, they would see that immigrants made America the dynamic nation that it is today. So, Miss Sweet, what consequences of the Trump administration's immigration tactics are you seeing in Massachusetts? Does this differ from past waves of prejudice against immigrants in America? And would you agree that history shows that policies that welcome immigrants paved the way for our prosperity in our communities?

Thank you for the question. Um, yes, we are absolutely seeing additional violence. Thank you.

We are absolutely seeing an extraordinary chilling effect of this administration's, um, immigration enforcement policies on our communities. And as you point out, Senator Markey, it's on such a wide range of individuals. Um the immigrants themselves are afraid, you know, to to sometimes send their children to school, to even attend doctor's appointments, um and certainly at times to show up to work or or be in any public setting. Um and that includes immigrants who are here with lawful status. because of the wide-ranging enforcement policies that this administration has pursued. And so the reality is that we are going to begin seeing more and more economic impacts. We're gonna begin seeing a downturn in some of these businesses we've been talking about that have been powered by immigrant owners and immigrant workers. Um and, you know, we we are deeply concerned for what this goi- is going to mean for our economy and particular sectors think about in Massachusetts how much our healthcare sector depends on the contributions of immigrants from um home health aides to nurses to to doctors. Um Our history does show that welcoming immigrants, giving immigrants a pathway to economic inclusion, um a pathway to create those businesses and grow those businesses, creates greater prosperity for all of us.