Your first press conference was brilliant–your concern and confidence are palpable. I want you to succeed in getting a Stimulus Package passed in Congress soon. I agree, we need to get this economic recovery moving to stop the loss of jobs, housing, small businesses and overall confidence in ourselves and the country. It was most encouraging to hear last week that former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul Volcker will head up the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. I read through the list of board members, all knowledgeable and experienced people who we are lucky to have working on this–as you said, "Historic crisis demands a historic response."

You are missing one key and important ingredient however–there are no representatives from the Small Business community on the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. President, small businesses of less than 500 employees are responsible for creating between 50-60% of all private sector jobs in the United States. Why would you want to leave out representatives of the employers who create 50-60% of all private sector jobs? How are you going to create 4 million jobs without even consulting with us? I am sure it was an oversight on the part of your staff who are doing a great job under very challenging circumstances.

Please include a few Small Business Representatives particularly from the women and minority owned business community. We are the fastest growing, job producers even in this economy. We want to help our country too.

Learn more about the Make Mine a Million $ Business RACE.

Respectfully yours,
Nell Merlino