COMMENTARY: How the federal government can help Nevada’s small businesses succeed

Nevada’s small businesses are the backbone of our state’s economy. National Small Business Week, which ran from April 29 through May 5, gave us a chance to celebrate the job creators and community leaders that employ 42 percent of Nevadans and account for 91 percent of all employers in the state.

Small-business owners such as Nevada’s 2018 Small Business Person of the Year, Mehdi Zarhloul, are inspiring examples of how the federal government can help support hardworking Nevadans with a vision, a strong work ethic and a dream to reach their full potential.

Mr. Zarhloul came to the United States from Morocco at age 16 with $30 in his pocket. With the help of a Small Business Administration loan and a tireless work ethic, he is now the successful owner of three restaurants and a well-known supporter of Las Vegas nonprofits.

My goal is to ensure that more entrepreneurs such as Mr. Zarhloul have access to the capital and federal grants they need to succeed. I fought to make sure small-business interests were represented in the 2018 spending agreement. We ensured that Small Business Administration funding was preserved, guaranteeing the continuation of the agency’s critical small-business grant and loan programs.

Nevada is making great strides when it comes to supporting a diverse and growing small-business community. There are currently 71,800 minority-owned and 23,000 veteran-owned small businesses in Nevada. In addition, more than 40 percent of Nevada’s small businesses are women-owned. The State of Women-Owned Businesses report found that, in the past 10 years, Nevada’s women-owned businesses have enjoyed the nation’s biggest growth in the number of firms, employment and revenues.

Denette Braud, who owns the Funnel Cake Café in Las Vegas, is one example of that success. She founded the café while working full time, and her perseverance has turned a business that started with selling baked goods at tables and exhibits into a successful brick-and-mortar shop.

Her story of hard work and ingenuity is one many small-business owners and entrepreneurs across Nevada know well. While success stories such as Ms. Braud contribute to the $1.5 trillion in annual sales that women-owned businesses generate each year, a lack of support is still holding many women- and minority-owned businesses back. Las Vegas alone is home to 75,600 women-owned businesses, but only about 270 of them have initiated the process to compete for federal contracts that are awarded specifically to women. We need to support mentoring and counseling programs, equal access to financial capital and ensure that the federal government is doing its part to promote diversity within the business community.

Last week, I held a roundtable in Reno at which local small-business leaders shared the opportunities and challenges facing women in the technology field. One of the panelists at that roundtable was Allison Clift-Jennings, the inspiring owner and cofounder of Filament. Ms. Clift-Jennings has kept the Reno-based tech firm on the cutting edge of blockchain technology and recently secured $15 million in venture financing. While growing her successful company, Allison has also gracefully navigated her own personal process of transitioning genders, showing her company — and the business community as a whole — the power of her personal story while also building a business that serves our community.

Roundtables, networking events and business development centers are important venues for our small-business owners to come together and share their stories, engage in our communities and support one another. This support system is even more critical in highlighting the importance of mentorship and support for entrepreneurs who are women and persons of color. These leaders learn so much from one another by sharing their stories, supporting and guiding each other.

Nevada’s small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. Small businesses create jobs, employ our veterans and are the drivers of innovation for our growing economy. Our communities thrive when our small businesses are strong.

Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, represents Nevada in the U.S. Senate.