Hearings to examine the next 250, focusing on small businesses leading the way.

Entrepreneurship to order. Thank you to our witnesses for being here today. I appreciate your willingness to participate in this discussion about the future of innovation and the role small businesses will help play in shaping our economy, over the next several decades. Thank you. As we all know, this year marks the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the United States. For the past two hundred fifty years, small businesses have helped define the American economy, creating jobs, strengthening communities, and helping drive economic growth. As we look ahead to the next two hundred fifty years, they will remain just as essential to America's success. As the son of a small business owner, I grew up uh with uh great appreciation for the hard work and commitment required to run and sustain a small business. America's entrepreneurial spirit has fueled our nation's progress over the past two and a half centuries, but the pace of change today is unlike anything uh many small businesses have experienced before. New technologies, including artificial intelligence and automation, are transforming industries, changing how businesses operate, and creating new opportunity for growth and productivity. Large companies often have the resources to implement these technologies quickly. For many small businesses, however, the challenge is knowing where to begin and how to integrate these tools into their day-to-day operations. Across industries, small business, uh, small businesses recognize that is changing the market place and they wanna keep pace. That challenge is one of the reasons I introduced the AI for Main Street Act with Senator Cantwell. Our bipartisan legislation would encourage the Small Business Administration to provide small businesses with the information and resources they need to better understand and adopt artificial intelligence tools. AI has the potential to help small businesses reduce administrative burdens improve productivity, and compete in an increasingly technology-driven economy. At the same time, we know that the technology uh uh uh the technology adoption is only one piece of the puzzle. If we want small businesses to succeed in the long term, we also need to ensure that entrepreneurs have access to capital, a skilled workforce, and a regulatory environment that supports innovation and growth. This year, the Small Business Committee reauthorized and reformed the Small Business Innovation Research, SBIR, and the Small Business Technology Transfer, STTR, programs through September thirty, twenty thirty-one. These programs help insure entrepreneurs transform promising ideas into commercial products, strengthening partnerships among small businesses, research institutions, and the federal government. By reauthorizing these programs, we help ensure America remains the world leader in developing and commercializing critical and emerging technologies. Now, for decades, the SBIR and STTR programs have supported breakthroughs in fields ranging from biotechnology to advanced manufacturing to artificial intelligence and national security. As new technologies continue to reshape our economy, These programs will remain essential tools for ensuring that small businesses have the opportunity to innovate, scale, and create jobs in communities across the country. Today's hearing is an opportunity to hear directly from small businesses on what Congress can do to ensure they continue to innovate, compete, and succeed over the next two hundred fifty years. So I look forward to hearing about the opportunities and challenges ahead, and on the policies that will help America's entrepreneurs continue to innovate and grow. Thank you again to our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to your testimony. I want to thank staff for their hard work in uh assembling and organizing for uh this hearing. And um I want to thank uh my colleague ranking member, Marky, for his ongoing cooperation on on issues that fall under this committee's banner, I now recognize ranking member Markey for his opening statement.

Um and thank you uh Chairman Young, thank you for your partnership. Um today is the fourth hearing in this committee series celebrating small businesses and the central role they have played in our nation's history. Again I wanna thank you, Mister Chairman, for making this an inclusive committee,

Thank you.

bipartisan in nature. uh that has involved all of our members and given us a chance to showcase all of our states. Uh sadly, this spirit of bipartisanship that um is in this committee is not shared by Donald Trump and his administration. Instead, bi- instead partisanship is his north star. Just recently, the Trump administration admitted in court that the Department of Energy cancelled more than seven point five billion dollars in grants based on whether the recipient was in a blue state. Let me repeat that. Donald Trump is retaliating against people whose states did not give their electoral votes to him. He's cancelling grants based solely on the manner in which Americans exercised their right to vote, as granted by our Constitution. that we are celebrating today, this year. DOE has admitted their decision was not based on performance, cost, or any other factor of substance. It was pure political punishment. American people are being denied government services because of how they choose to exercise their democratic rights. They are being denied lower energy bills. denied the ability to get a paycheck for clean energy work and denied a more reliable energy grid, all thanks to this political hatchet job. But it's not just energy. The White House is currently proposing to politicize and weaponize all federal grants through the Office of Management and Budget. Donald Trump wants to replace a merit-based process with a political puppet show. The corruption has spread throughout even the most basic of government functions, our ability to help our neighbors build back after extreme weather. The Trump administration is already politicizing major disaster declarations by refusing to help states that didn't vote for him. New documents revealed that Trump overrode the advice of his own agency and denied four democratic states, including Massachusetts, from receiving disaster assistance related to blizzards earlier this year. According to these documents, the states easily met FEMA's internal qualifications for disaster aid, but for Trump the only qualification is blind loyalty. According to Trump, nearly three hundred thousand Massachusetts residents, losing power and nearly thirty-eight inches of snow in twenty-four hours is not an emergency. But apparently, repainting the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool before his scheduled America Two-Fifty celebration qualifies as a multi-million dollar emergency. While red states FEMA disaster applications have been approved eighty-nine percent of the time those from blue states receive sign-off. from the Trump administration only twenty-three percent of the time. And those are small businesses. Those are people who need help. This isn't the United States of America. This is the divisive state of our nation right now. The federal government shouldn't turn its back on communities and small businesses based on whether they live in a blue state or a red state. That's no way to honor our founding. As we celebrate our two hundred fifty birthday, we are also confronting a climate crisis, and over the next two hundred fifty years, climate-related disasters will only intensify. Whether it's coastal flooding in the east, wildfires in the west, or droughts in the heartland, no community is immune from environmental catastrophe. Storms don't destroy communities because of who they voted for. To build a future that people deserve, We need to fight for the American dream, not the Republican dream, not the Democratic dream, just the American dream. We need to invest in the best ideas, pursue policies that work for everyone, not just a select few, and help Main Street, Main Street business people all across our country to weather the challenges ahead and also then to pave the way for the next two hundred and fifty years. I look forward Um to our witnesses today and again I wanna thank you, Mister Chairman, for holding these bipartisan hearings, for making it inclusive, um and uh we should be celebrating these businesses uh that are appearing before us today. Thank you.

Thank you, ranking member Markey. Uh grateful for um those words. Uh again I wanna extend a warm welcome to our witnesses. I'm thankful to all of you. Uh you're busy people and you took time. Out of your busy schedules to come to DC and testify before the committee. Or we will now go ahead to uh witness introductions. First we have Mister A. J. Malschi from West Lafayette, Indiana. Mister Malschi is the CEO of Arkwright Space, an in space materials manufacturer. He's also currently a President's Fellow and Professor at Purdue University, a Hagler Fellow at Texas A and M University, And he serves as chairperson of the National Academy of Engineering. He is an internationally recognized educator, inventor, um, entrepreneur, and business leader. He holds a PHD in physics and earned a post-doctorate in mechanical engineering from the Ohio State University. Welcome, Mr. Malshi. Um, I will now turn to Senator Curtis for his introduction of Mr. Wigte.

Thank you, uh, Chair Young. It's my privilege, uh, to introduce today's witness from the great state of Utah, Mister Val J. Rigby. Thank you, uh, for being here today. Mister Rigby serves as president of the Utah Farm Farm Bureau Federation, our state's largest general agricultural organization, representing more than thirty-seven hundred members and family members. Val J. is a fifth generation farmer from Newton, Utah, where his family continues to farm land that was part of its original eighteen sixty nine homestead. Today he farms alongside his brothers, his children, raising beef and cattle and growing approximately fifteen hundred acres of alfalfa and small grains. Mister Rigby holds a bachelor's degree in finance and a master's degree in information systems from Utah State University. He has also served his community as president of the Cache County Farm Bureau, on local planning and zoning water boards, and is a volunteer firefighter. Thank you, uh, Mr. Rigby, for making the trip from Utah to join us today. I'm sure they're missing you back on the farm. Uh, but thank you for being here and I look forward to hearing your testimony.

Thank you, Senator Kernis, uh, and uh, I would now like to recognize Senator Hickenlooper from the great state of Colorado to introduce our next witness. Senator Hickenlooper, you are now recognized.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for calling this meeting. I think it's gonna be very illuminating. Um, I get to welcome, uh, Lorena here, uh, who's come all the way from Colorado. Uh, we are so pleased to have you with us and, uh, sharing your story. Uh, and I practice this, Lorena Cantavarisi. Good. Uh, really one of our great entrepreneurial success stories and, uh, I think a sterling example of the American dream. Uh, originally from Argentina, she immigrated to the United States with no personal connections, about three hundred bucks in her pocket, and as she says, only three English words, hi, hello, and chow. Uh after settling in Denver she began making empanadas for her family and friends, people in the neighborhood, uh the passion generally grew into Maria's empanadas, named after her mother who first taught her how to make empanadas, uh as Lorena worked to grow her business she took advantage of the small business administration resources including small business center development workshops and counseling from SBDC advisors. Through her hard work, her perseverance, and a lot of flour, Maria Maria's empanada became a stable. Uh in Denver in two thousand seventeen the small business administration uh their Colorado district named Lorena the small business person of the year. Today Maria Empanadas has expanded to eight locations across Denver Metro, creating jobs, serving communities, and earning literally national recognition by appearing on Gefeieri's Denver's Drive-Ins and Dives and serving empanadas to Lionel Messi the famous football player, uh soccer player. Uh, Lorena's story is a reminder that with determination and access to the right resources, small businesses can grow from a simple idea into a cornerstone of the community. As we look at the future of small businesses, her experience experiences offer lessons on how we can ensure the next generation of small business owners has the same opportunity to succeed. We're grateful to have you here today and look forward to hearing about your journey.

Thank you, Senator Hickenlooper. Uh, I now recognize Senator Schiff from uh the state of California to introduce his witness. Senator Schiff, uh you're recognized.

Thank you, Mister Chairman, uh thanks for holding this hearing and I welcome this opportunity to introduce Nikki Heye, the owner of Octavia's Bookshelf in Pasadena, California. Ms. High opened her booksh- her bookshop in twenty twenty three to create an inclusive cl- community of readers and uplift the stories that impacted her own life uh through the authors uh that she loved the most, including Octavia Butler uh who was a resident not far away, living not far away uh from the community in Altadena, California. Needless to say, Octavia's bookshelf quickly became a community staple. Sadly, uh less than two years later, the lives of thousands were changed forever when the Eaton fire swept through Altadena and Pasadena. In the face of this tragedy, Ms. Hai transformed her six hundred square foot bookshop into a community resource, providing everything from water bottles to diapers to a stable internet connection, and later connecting residents to grief counseling and support groups. Folks found out that Her bookshop still had power and came flocking uh to her bookstore uh in search of help during those very difficult dark weeks uh during and after the fires. When our communities are in need, small businesses step up to fill in the breach. They are the heart and soul of our community. In one of our community's darkest moments, uh Ms. High and other small business owners demonstrated that these small businesses are more than local storefronts. They're pillars in our community, where we go in times of celebration, in times of crisis. And I just want to thank you, uh, Miss High, not only for coming here to testify, but for all you've done to serve our community, um, your generosity, and just how you have become such a vital integral institution, um, back in Southern California. So I thank you. It's honor to have you. Uh, thanks for helping to rebuild our community back home. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Senator Schiff. Uh, and again, thank

A- a- can I say also, Mr. Chairman, um, we we're in the middle of a series of votes, so please don't be taken aback by us coming and going.

It's the normal pattern of business around here, so, um, even I may find a way to duck out and cast a vote and and and reappear soon thereafter. Um, so, thank you to all of our witnesses. briefly, I'd I'd like to take a moment to explain our lighting system to our witnesses. There are three lights in front of you. Uh, the green means go, yellow means uh, you're running out of time, and red means uh, you should conclude your remarks. So, I ask unanimous consent that the witnesses' full statements be included in the record, without objection? So, order. As your witness uh uh uh testimony has been made part of the record, the committee asks that you limit your oral remarks to five minutes. Doctor Malshi, you're recognized for five minutes.

Thank you. Uh, I would like to thank the Committee Chair, Ernst, Chairman Senator Young, Ranking Member Markey, and all the distinguished members. Thank you for this opportunity as America celebrates its two hundred and fifty years anniversary and look forward to the next two fifty. I'm A. J. Malshish, CEO and Co-founder of Autocrat Space, distinguished professor at Purdue University, and a member of National Academy of Engineering. For the two hundred and fifty years, America's strength has come from our ability to invent, manufacture, scale and commercialize. We transformed workshops into factories, semiconductors into electronics and computers, and aviation into space flight. Today, the next great industrial frontier is space. My message is simple. If America wants to lead in space, we must learn not only how to get there, but how to manufacture, maintain, repair, compute, operate and sustain our stuff there. I call America's first space era space one point zero. We reached moon, built a international space station, created GPS, satellite, and commercial launch economy. But almost everything we use in space still made on earth and launched through the earth's gravity well. Space one point zero was about getting there, and space two point zero now is about building there. That requires an America's industrial base in space. And why? As space offers unique physics, chemistries, engineering opportunities to make new products and defend more from the highest ground, that is space. In-space manufacturing is much more than three D printing on ISS. It converges advanced manufacturing, materials, robotics, AI, autonomy, sensing, digital twin, and computing. Make what we need where we need it. One strategic opportunity is semiconductor electronics and chips in space, and I thank Senator Young for supporting that and committee for supporting SBIRs and STTRs for deep-tech businesses. Semiconductor electronics would be the nervous system of space economy, enabling satellites, communications, AI, robotics, electronic warfare, cyber-infrastructure, autonomous mobility and future data centers in space. A satellite should not become obsolete. Just because one electronic subsystem failed, a lunar installation should not wait months for a replacement circuit from electro- from Earth. We must move from a logistic dependent system to a self-sustained space infrastructure and to small businesses like Arkwright or the America's secret weapon. Universities discover, government enables, small businesses are risk tolerant and move fast. Large companies integrate and scale. But too many deep technologies fall into the valleys of death between invention and deployment. Meanwhile, China, Russia understand the strategic importance of space. The nation that enables manufacturing infrastructure, supply chain standards of the future space economy will gain the enormous economic and national security advantage for next two fifty years. I would like to quote nineteen fifty eight, Senator Lin- Lyndon Johnson, In the post statement, including the landmark Sputnik inquiry, control of space means control of world. So, manufacturing become resilient, manufacturing be- becomes deterrent, and manufacturing becomes national security. Three request to consider by the distinguished members. First, invest in deep technology science, engineering and talent. Create a national initiative for in-space manufacturing science and engineering, including chips. in space, build America's future space workforce. Second, cross the valley of death, give deep-tech small businesses fast, risk-tolerant capital, and affordable flight demonstrations, moving technologies beyond laboratories to flight deployment to scale. Third, build America's space industrial base integrated small businesses. Provide the business opportunity for small businesses to compete in the space commerce. I would like to close by saying the next two fifty years offer different futures. We can extend America's extraordinary industrial leadership beyond Earth, or operate in a space economy built and shaped by the others, including adversaries. We must deliberately build the future we want. Over the next two hundred and fifty years, America's industrial power was defined in the past by what we make on Earth. The next two fifty years will be what we make in space. The next two fifty years are about two point zero space. Build there what I can industrial above. And that's what I would like to promise, that small businesses will bring to the America's success in space as an industrial base. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Malshi. We now turn from manufacturing in the heavens to heavenly manufacturer of empanadas here on Earth. Uh, Miss Contour

That is.

Cantaro Vici, uh you are now recognized for five minutes.

Chair eh Chairman Young, uh ah yes Chairman Young, uh ranking my member uh Marquis, Senator Hickenlooper, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for inviting me today. My name is Lorena Cantaro Vici, a founder of Maria Empanada. I was born and raised in Argentina by a single mother. For many years life was terribly difficult for us, but my mother moved mountains so I could be educated. I started accounting and became a banker in Buenos Aires. I was proud to bring home a small steady salary because my mother could not find jobs. But it was not enough. For a time, my mom and I were essentially homeless. I was an accountant with job, but without a secure place to sleep. I grew tired of constant instability. I wanted the chance to build a future. So with one backpack, three hundred dollars in my pocket, and no English, I came to the United States. Like many immigrants, my first job was in a restaurant. And I fell in love with the energy, with the people, and the feeling that every day began again. A restaurant is much more than food, it is a collection of systems. As for as a former bank auditor, I understood systems, and in a restaurant business, I found a new way to use that strength. I learned how to make empanadas from my mom, Maria. Years later, I began making them in home, in my kitchen, and selling them to friends. I took a class through an SBA supported program to learn how to write a business plan, and to turn an idea into a company. I borrowed four thousand dollars and I opened my first location. In that moment, I felt that perhaps the American dream was not some only something I had heard about. Perhaps it could belong to me too. Then I did what entrepreneurs are told to do. I went to the banks. Twelve banks reject me. I was considered unbankable. One banker even joke and told me, we like lending money to people who do not need it. It turns out that that was not really a joke, that's the reality. Eventually, community lenders gave me a chance. Then came an SBA loan and later venture capital. In twenty seventeen, I became only the thirteen minority women in the country, in history, to receive an investment of that size. Now, after years of putting myself into Maria Empanada, we have expanded to seven locations. including the Denver International Airport, and employ over sixty-five people in Colorado. The business does much more than just providing food to people. We provide community, culture, and place to connect. And my success has provi- provided the privilege to talk to you about the barriers that still exist for many entrepreneurs that are hoping to walk down this path. The first is access to capital. Only one half of one percentage of venture capital goes to minority women. Being one of the few is a honor, but remain one of the few is a is a big problem. Another barrier is the current approach to immigration. Immigration is complex, difficult, and emotional. As a small business owner, I'll have immigration policy to you all, but I do want to paint you a picture of how immigration policy affect businesses on the ground. Fear has entered everyday life for many people. People are afraid to go out because of their skin color, their face, their ass accent, or because they may be mistaking for someone else. Guests stay home instead of dining out. Employees miss work or avoid applying for jobs. People make themselves smaller and community shrinks. This fear affects people regardless of their legal status. I am a new American, but I will always be an immigrant. There's an advantage to seeing this country through an immigrant's eyes. Sometimes you must come from somewhere else to appreciate how extraordinary this is. This country gave me the opportunity to become an entrepreneur. It gave me the opportunity to create something on my own, something for my community. But entrepreneurs do not only create companies. We create other entrepreneurs. Success is contagious. Someone sees that we build and they begin thinking, maybe I can do that too. Restaurants are struggling and they're a small piece of much larger ecosystems that includes farmers ranchers drivers, builders, customers, and many others. Restaurants are where where people laugh, gather and celebrate. We bring life and joy to neighborhoods and city and cities. I came to this country looking for better possibilities. As an as entrepreneur, this country gave them to me. I hope together we can create a future where other entrepreneurs can do the same. Thank you for listening to my story.

Thank you, uh, Miss Cantor-Ovici, for telling your story. Uh, Mister Rigby, you're recognized for five minutes, sir.

Chair Young. Chair Young, Ranking Member Markey, and distinguished members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Thank you uh Senator Curtis for that gracious introduction. Um like millions of farmers across the America, our farm is more than a business. It is our livelihood, our legacy, and our hope for the next generation. Yogi Berra once famously observed, it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. As this committee looks for the next two hundred and fifty years of American small business, I believe family farms offer valuable lessons about what allows small businesses to endure. If we want American agriculture to thrive for another two hundred and fifty years, I believe Congress should focus on three things. First, strengthen the economic foundation of agricultural small business. Between between two thousand seventeen and two thousand twenty-two, the United States lost nearly a hundred and forty-two thousand farms. Even as agricultural production increased, family farms still represent ninety-seven percent of America's farms, and ninety-one percent of operated acreage. Many have grown larger because rising costs for land, equipment, labor, fuel, fertilizer, and compliance leave few alternatives. Most farm families also depend on income earned off the farm. I recently smiled at a social media video that said, " I could never work a nine to five job, I just love the flexibility of working my hundred hour work week whenever I want." Farmers understand the joke as most spend the day at another job before coming home to irrigate fields, feed livestock, repair equipment, or prepare for the next day. That is simply how families manage risks they cannot control. That is also why regulatory certainty matters. Most family farms do not have attorneys or compliance specialists on staff. Congress and other agencies should eliminate these unnecessary regulations and make compliance requirements proportionate to the businesses expected to meet them. A strong farm bill can also provide certainty through crop insurance, access to credit, and tools to manage difficult markets and weather. Utah Farm Bureau urges the Senate to advance a farm bill as quickly as possible. Second, keep land, capital and opportunity within reach of the next generation. A young farmer may have the knowledge, equipment, work ethic and desire to farm, yet still be unable to access land or capital. At the same time, families face significant challenges transitioning farms to the next generation because of land values, taxes, estate planning and other ownership decisions. Policies should help keep productive farms in the hands of farming families. For Western agriculture, federal federal land management is also critical. Ranchers often combine private ranches with grazing permits on BLM and Forest Service lands. This generations-long partnership produces food while maintaining working landscapes and stewarding natural resources. This is why the Utah Farm Bureau supports the bipartisan Fix Our Forest Act. We appreciate Senator Curtis's work on this legislation. Active forest management, hazardous fuel reduction, and faster forest reforestation um can reduce these catastrophic wildfire risk and protect these agricultural business and rural economies that depend on healthy landscapes. Third, Congress should recognize agriculture as a national asset. Agricultural security is national security. Family farms support rural economies, steward land and water, feed our population, and provide resilience to our food system. When drought, disease, extreme weather or supply chain disruptions affect one region, agriculture in another helps keep our food system strong. And there is one contribution of family farms that no government can fully measure. Agriculture produces great kids. Growing up on a farm teaches Responsibility, accountability, resilience, humility and teamwork. It teaches young people to work hard, solve problems, manage resources, and understand that their efforts affect something larger than themselves. Those lessons prepare young people not only to become good farmers, but good employees, entrepreneurs, neighbors, citizens, and leaders for the next two hundred and fifty years. America needs family farms. We need rural communities and a diverse, resilient food system. and we need the next generation to believe farming remains a viable way to make a living, a legacy worth carrying forward, and a future worth pursuing. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you, Mr. Rigby. Ms. Hai, you're recognized for five minutes.

First and foremost, thank you for the opportunity to tell you about Octavia's bookshelf and the incredible community of Pasadena and Altadena. By way of introduction, my name is Nikki Hei. I live in Altadena and I own a small bookshop called Octavius Bookshelf, named in honor of our hometown legend, Octavia Estelle Butler. As an early and eager reader, books have always been a part of my life. I often joke that I can taste words as I read. I can chew on stories and that hunger remains insatiable. A large part of why I opened the bookshop is that I wanted to share my love of reading with others, and to connect on a deeper level with my community. I suspected that people wanted a space to celebrate storytelling, a place where they were reflected in stories, and a safe space to be curious. And I was right. Octavia's bookshelf opened in February of twenty twenty-three, to a crowd of hundreds upon hundreds of people. We quickly became a fixture in Pasadena and Altadena. We partnered with local schools. We held bookish events. We hosted librarian conferences and even birthday parties. We hosted panels on important community related topics. We hosted weekly writers groups and craft nights. Most recently we served as the space where a regular customer propo proposed marriage to the love of his life. I'm still swooning from that magic we witnessed, and of course we read so many books. As I quietly ushered in twenty twenty five, I reflected on how I could further service my community and reach in Pasadena, Altadena, and beyond. Little did I know I would have the chance to connect in unimaginable ways. After evacuating on January seventh, My husband and I drove back to our street the next morning to find it actively on fire. I drove the few blocks from my house to my bookshop and was relieved to discover that we were still standing and we had power and WiFi access. I posted to Instagram letting my customers know that the shop was still standing and encouraged neighbors and friends to come by, charge their phones, make some calls, and have a snack. We had so many people show up to get food and use our facilities. Soon after, many others came by for water and masks. Others showed up just to sit and try to process what was happening. Within hours, we had a mountain of donations. I cleared the books from the shelfs and stocked air mattresses, bedding, food, clothes, diapers, first aid kits, air purifiers, gift cards. and so much more. I invited our community to come in and get the resources they needed. Octavia's Bookshelf became a mutual aid hub for five weeks. We remain in service to our community to this day. Absolutely none of this would have been possible without the generation without the generosity from ordinary people. For context, running a small business is difficult, running an indie bookstore adds another layer of challenges and complexities. With a profit margin of two to three percent, every penny counts and there's little room for error, let alone a tragedy of this magnitude. As a small business owner, I no longer plan for the future, I now plan by the month, and sometimes I plan by the day. Thousands of residents have yet to move back. Others are facing the reality that they may never come back as the cost to rebuild homes or find stable housing in the city is out of reach. For Octavia's bookshelf, that means sales are down by thirty-four percent. We are still finding ways to pivot to keep the doors open and the resources available for those in need. Small businesses are the very heart of the community. We can and do show up before boots hit the ground. We show up at a moment's notice. We fill in gaps. We hold space for the highs, the lows, and everything in between. On the bleakest of days, I'm asking myself, what miracles can I perform? How will I make ends meet at home and at the shop? I know I'm not alone. Small business owners throughout the community are facing the same questions. What I know for sure is I will never stop trying. I know that this community deserves to have third spaces where we feel seen respected and safe. We deserve to have the support of our elected officials and we need that help now. I will end with the wise words of Octavia E. Butler, "So be it." see to it. Thank you.

Well, thank you, Ms. High, and I'm sorry for the challenges of you and your neighbors, but inspired, uh, by your resilience. So your presence here I know means a a lot to so many. Doctor Malshi, it's uh we're turning to questions now, uh, and I'll begin with you, sir. Um, in your written testimony you described small businesses as the secret weapon of the space race, and you argue that they're essential to our national security and our economic resilience. What barriers do small businesses face that large aerospace companies not face?

Well, thank you, Senator, for that question. Small, I will, before I describe just a bit, I would like to paint a picture of space. Space when we see in the Hollywood movie, or we see in the beautiful pictures, it look very romantic. But space is a contested territory. There is no homeland. our assets is our our homeland. Second, the space is also not very far, international space station is just far from here to New York. So it is not far, but at the same time our adversaries are very busy in the space as well. So it brings a very different opportunity. At the same time you have new physics, you can invent new materials. So it is a great opportunity. Now, considering that deep technologies, there is a financial tech called fintech, but space, quantum, they are deep tech. It goes through the four I's, ideation, invention, innovation, and implementation. It typically takes about eight to twelve years for most ambitious plan for a deep tech to go through that. And there are three layers of this. The second layer is that university take a risk in inventing. At the same time, governments invest in high risk technologies at the same time. And at the same time, small businesses, those are absolutely risk tolerant. They need high speed capital to move that idea into a reality and they have rolled all out. I came to this country with forty dollars and a suitcase, and here I am. Why? Because I took a risk. An opportunity to take this risk is a risk by itself. And small businesses do that more than ever from across America, from California to Indiana to Colorado to all the way across the nation, especially in the space. And the last but not the least, science engine come with a capital. This need space is an expensive opportunity. Just like Industrial Age, when we built a bridge over the Mississippi, now we are just building a bridge beyond Earth. And for that, the traditional businesses, aerospace businesses have a capital, have an acquisition processes in place that small businesses don't. They need to have acquisition as a part of staying in the business so they can transform the future of America. Thank you.

Well, thank you. That's all quite helpful. Um, can you unpack maybe briefly some of the attributes of of small businesses that uh that our our our larger enterprises cannot offer, uh that they struggle to provide at the very least, so what what are the perhaps unique value propositions of of small businesses as you've come to know as as a category?

So small businesses bring radical new ideas, sometime they are called disruptive innovations or or destructive innovations, depending how you look at it. But years before Google, Microsoft All these were small companies, but they disrupted the world, and here where we stand now at the juncture of two fifty years, small businesses building disruptive idea, they truly challenged the status quo. At the same time, these small businesses are very risk tolerant. Everyday they take risk just like my fellow colleagues here. Everyday they wake up and say how can I do the world differently? What is today's risk that I'm going to address? And the last they are not shy to speak up because they want to survive, thrive, and keep going.

Yes. So you're second to last,

Mm-hmm.

or recall what number it was, uh attribute was was the uh the uh take big risks, take big swings at the bat if you will,

Mm-hmm.

right. And economists often, as do entrepreneurs, refer to the valley of death,

Mm-hmm.

right, you take a big risk and if you can get over uh, that period of time when so many enterprises are capital-starved,

Mm-hmm.

when they're pursuing big dreams and trying to solve hard problems, um, that's the key to survival and ultimately rapid growth.

Yep.

If you were to isolate one particular policy instrument that we could use, or, or just think of it from your perspective, identify one hurdle that companies face in getting over that valley of death, what would you point to?

I would like to, I would like to really paint in front of you the triad of this one message, that one, they need a f- risk tolerant capital with speed. This committee, I'm very grateful that reauthorized SBIR, STTR and especially that they took us to the large scale breakthrough opportunities. And those are very important I would like to highlight. So that is one key piece of the policies, that how you feel their growth. Second, when they make a breakthrough technology work, they are looking for the business opportunity and making America's future acquisition small business centric is very important because it is an ecosystem of companies like Intel, Northrop, Starlab, which are our partners, but there is a handshake and that handshake is very important. The last but not the least that us as Americans, if we establish the standards, the future economy will be following those standards. Otherwise, we'll be following the standards of our adversary countries. So we are the forfeit are establishing standard, establishing commerce is very important. Thank you.

Thank you, Dr. Malshi. Senator Hickenlooper, you're recognized for questions, sir.

Great. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, I'll start with Lorena, just cuz you've come all this way. Um, you and I both know how hard it is to raise the capital to start a business and I also I think you got turned down by a dozen banks, something like that. Um, I think I got turned down by even more than that, worse yet I got turned down by my own mother um trying to raise the money. Uh I I think that for an immigrant it must be even more difficult cuz you don't have that friend and neighbor's network built in most um most people that are raised in the city where they're trying to start the business, that they they begin with that uh foundation. Uh how do you look at that in terms of you know, how would you advise other would-be small business owners uh but who are immigrants to find that that early capital? Did you learn any tricks?

Mm, my tricks are that you need to be creative, you need to have the time also to be out and talk, to people and make sure that your plan is serious and is not just a dream, because we visionaries entrepreneurs could be dreamers too and it goes away. So be serious, create a small business plan, and for all these eh there are a lot of opportunities and support in the cities. And uh once you have a big plan and a business plan that you can um uh support your idea, then is when you start talking and communicating that. And like you are saying, is difficult because this is also those segments are are very vulnerable, right? You you don't have those connection, you don't have your mom that can so give you the money. You need to go and make sure that your dream is very substantial and and you can make it happen and is a very good um a business offer for the community too.

And and w- and once you got going and demonstrated you're a good uh a good opportunity for the community. How describe how some of the SBA programs were useful.

Yes, I did have a program, I did a program for SBA uh SBDC, a small business development center that uh helps you to build that plan and it was actually my savior because that give me the the map of how to build my my business. And then of course, I went to community lenders. Um initially I went to banks and I was rejected, right? So I find out that there are community lenders, so was kind of a new new vocabulary for me. And um these community lender support you with some some kind of uh funds, but but then I understand that there's a gap and everything stands right there. If you want to grow, if you want to if you want to hire more, create more jobs, invest in equipment, uptake opportunities, then you don't know what else is the next step, because you are no something real for a bank and um the SBA doesn't have still the the history on you so there's a time that gets completely stable and you don't know how to proceed from that. um and everything what happen with the small business is that it keeps you frozen for a little bit right I mean you still having all the the desire and the opportunities but it keeps you frozen for a while until you get the time and history to great to get uh alone with an SBA uh guarantee

right and once you got one you can get another I mean it's a

and then you start the yes

yeah exactly Um, mister Rube, I wanted to ask you, cuz we've heard a lot in Colorado of just the challenges of getting good prices for your, uh, what you raise, uh, the at least in, for a lot of the exports coming out of Colorado. The the, uh, issues to international tariffs and some of that, the response to that has reduced to what they can get for commodities. But at the same time there also, there's more cost for diesel, more cost for fertilizer, all those things. How are you trying, how are you, uh, are the people around you, but yourself as well, navigating that, uh, situation?

Yeah, I appreciate you bringing that up, that it is difficult to navigate, that's that's the good word, um, is to navigate because, you know, we use a, uh, phrase in agriculture a lot, we're price takers. We very seldom, um, are able to set our own prices for what we sell. And, you know, for example, I I get a text while we're here today that Had a thousand gallons of diesel delivered to my farm over here, and that's forty six hundred dollars, that bill for that diesel, and I I can't pass that on, I have to absorb that in my uh um uh uh it just as part of my operations. And that goes with everything. So any time we disrupt um those that that economy by whatever means um it it creates uncertainty in a market It puts pressure on commodity prices, um, and it's difficult for those for those farmers cuz there's no certainty

Right.

due to those external forces that we just, as a producer, um, I have no control over.

Right, some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world, I think, are our farmers and ranchers and dealing with that level of uncertainty. Um, anyway, thank you all, I appreciate you all being here. You're back, O'Clore.

Mr. Rigby, I wanted to uh two things that you said in your testimony, one I have a comment on, the other is a question. Uh you you talked about how you were developing character in in youth, and I will just tell you as a previous small business owner myself, if anybody ever walked in my door and said they grew up on a farm in Utah or Idaho, we hired them. But no questions asked, they're hard workers, they're disciplined, they're problem solvers, and I would totally uh agree with you. You also alluded to the fact that you don't have a a a roomful of lawyers and attorneys to help navigate these regulations and I want I wanna focus on that for just a minute uh pert- particularly as it relates to kind of the move for consolidation in farms and in ranches and so if you think about the high cost that my senator from Colorado uh alluded to, the regulatory burden, what role is that playing uh to this consolidation and and how do we here in Washington help you push back on that?

Appreciate the question, you know, any time that we can uh reduce regulatory burden on farmers and producers and simplify um those programs, instead of adding on to regulations, uh i- i- it is a tremendous help because as a, as a farmer I, I, I have my, my lots of hats that I get to wear every day, but I'm a business owner, I manag- I have to look at my finances, manage those, um I'm constantly thinking about my cash flow, I I may have lots of assets, but I have no cash in the bank, just ask my banker. And and so anytime those programs that we we can provide opportunities to to incentivize so I can add value to crops that I grow on my farm, that increases uh the revenue that comes into my farm, any of those programs um are a benefit. If we, when we can incentivize uh lowering of interest rates because that's one of the challenges in agriculture is access to capital, you know, and and and credit because, you know, a beginning farmer goes to start out and uh the challenge they have is just like we've talked about, they don't have decades of experience and a bank uh and a balance sheet to show that they that they're a good risk. And so any of those programs are a tremendous help to our producers.