As a small business owner I was pleased to hear that an important gauge of confidence for small businesses rose in April to its highest level in six months. The National Federation of Independent Business recently announced its Small Business Optimism Index rose 2.6 points to 92.1, the highest reading since October.

That’s good news for our economy, our country and most importantly, fellow small business owners here in Maryland. As we celebrate Small Business Month, we need to be mindful of the following important facts:

  1. There are an estimated 27.2 million small businesses in America.
  2. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business.
  3. Small businesses create 60-80% of new jobs in the country.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration a small business can generally be defined as having 500 or fewer employees. Next time your company needs to make a purchase, hire a consultant or grow in any shape or form, I hope you will consider calling on one of the 27 million plus small businesses here in America.

Jonathan Oleisky is the President of Kalix Communications