Helping Small Businesses Succeed

Sherrod knows that for small business owners, expanding and investing in employees is non-negotiable. He also knows that it can be difficult to cover costs while keeping pace with bigger competitors, which is why he has voted for over $1.3 billion in tax breaks for small businesses.

Sherrod has supported legislation that allows small businesses to stay competitive by writing off R&D costs and investments in business equipment and software. He was a vocal advocate for the Small Business Jobs Act, which the Akron Beacon Journal called “a most worthy response to the recovering yet still fragile economy.”

Sherrod recognizes that small businesses don’t have the time or resources to spend making sense of byzantine paperwork. He co-sponsored the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011, which would have cut red tape by updating tax reporting requirements for small businesses.

Since joining Congress, Sherrod has stood up for Ohio’s small businesses by opposing unfair trade deals that allow corporations to send jobs overseas, hollowing out communities and leaving small businesses struggling to compete.

Sherrod voted against NAFTA in 1993 and is playing an active role in the Trump administration’s renegotiation of the agreement to deliver a better deal for Ohio. He stood up to members of his own party in opposing Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and led Democrats away from trade deals that hurt workers and small businesses. He has also opposed trade agreements with Central America, Colombia, China, and South Korea.

Sherrod has helped Ohio businesses enter the global marketplace by leading the reauthorization and expansion of the Export-Import Bank, which benefited 226 small businesses in Ohio between 2007 and 2015. He has been a vocal opponent of currency manipulation by foreign countries, which undercuts international trade law and puts American businesses at a disadvantage. Sherrod and Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) wrote a letter to the Department of Labor asking Secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate and crack down on countries caught engaging in unfair practices.

Sherrod has worked with members of both parties to expand financing opportunities for small and mid-sized manufacturers, and to reward small businesses that hire more employees and invest in job training and retraining. His bipartisan SECTORS Act worked to match employees skills to existing jobs by requiring that job training programs be designed with input from partnering companies.

Sherrod has worked to create business incubators and innovation hubs around the country to ensure that the America remains a leader in high-tech manufacturing. He worked with Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) to pass bipartisan legislation to create manufacturing innovation hubs across the country, the first of which was established in Ohio in 2015.

Since 2013, Sherrod has secured more than $17 million in federal grants and loans to support job creation and training in Ohio.

• Human Rights Campaign
• Cleveland Stonewall Democrats
• Equality Cincinnati PAC