Americans Trust Small Businesses–But Government Hasn’t Caught On

There’s some interesting new research from the PEW Research Center.  People view small businesses with more trust than even churches, colleges, labor unions and other groups.  The study also showed that Americans say small businesses don’t get enough attention from the federal government. “At a time when a lot of institutions are viewed negatively, small business is viewed very positively. What’s really interesting is that large corporations are viewed almost as negatively as Wall Street. The contrast between large corporations and small business is enormous,” said Pew Associate Director Carroll Dougherty.

Although most of the media seemed to pick up and run with the fact that Americans have lost their faith in government, what was overlooked is the positive that small business IS trusted.  Let’s take a look at some of the study findings:

pew public view of institutionspew govt attn

Of course, as a small business owner myself, I (as well as other small business owners) have very little government influence.  But, don’t count us out!  Although, we may not have the power or funds of big business to change government, we do have power to change our world. Because we create most of the new jobs (65 percent of all new jobs are created by small companies). We have the power to innovate. And we have the power to create good working environments for our employees.

Do you agree, disagree, or have other “powers” to add?