By Susan Bysiewicz

Political leaders in Hartford have stated that their top priority in 2010 is improving the business climate in Connecticut and making it easier and more profitable for small businesses to grow and create jobs. This is a laudable goal, and the statistics bear out why helping small business could give our economy a major boost.

As Connecticut’s Chief Business Registrar, I can tell you that small business in Connecticut is BIG business. What do I mean by that? If you look at job creation statistics for the last 10 years in Connecticut, you will see that more than 90% of the jobs created in our state in the last decade have been created by companies with 50 employees or less. A full 75% of the businesses who register with the state employ between just 3 and 9 people.

Right now, it is no secret that businesses in Connecticut are having a tough time. Recent statistics released by my office show that more than 13,414 businesses shut their doors in 2009, slightly less than the record-breaking number of 13,456 in 2008. We also saw a 6% decline in new business startups in 2009 from 2008 numbers.

What do small businesses need to succeed and reverse the negative trend? It’s actually pretty simple. Small businesses need to make a profit and cut down on their expenses. To do this, they also need access to credit and capital, streamline their operations and eliminate burdensome and unnecessary expenses. Government support of these efforts can only help businesses begin to flourish in this sluggish economy.

One burden on small businesses I have urged our lawmakers get rid of for years is the annual $250 Business Enterprise Tax or BET. This tax is not a major revenue generator, yet it has the effect of penalizing entrepreneurs from doing what we all want them to do which is start new businesses and create jobs. The BET also disproportionately targets small businesses that are scraping for every penny right now. The sum of $250 might not sound like a lot of money to the major corporations of our state who have no trouble paying it. But businesses who are dealing with the highest utility costs in the nation, soaring healthcare costs, a credit market that is still in many ways frozen, and a decline in orders can find it hard to pay this tax and pay all of their other bills. There are currently several proposals in front of the General Assembly to eliminate the BET, including one that would suspend the tax on small businesses and another that would eliminate this tax completely and pay for it with a levy assessed on the bonuses of banking executives.

The Governor has also proposed some innovative ideas to free up credit for small businesses that merit consideration by the General Assembly. One such idea would invest up to $500 million in public and private sector dollars in the form of loan guarantees and direct loans to small business. This is a good first step, as is the idea to offer small businesses a tax-credit of up to $2,500 for every new job created for the next three years. I urge my fellow Democrats in the General Assembly to take these ideas seriously.

Looking forward, the industries of the future with the highest growth potential are in the fields of renewable and alternative energy sources, maximizing energy efficiency, life sciences, and medicine. Connecticut has a highly skilled and educated workforce, but we lag behind Texas, North Carolina and Oregon when it comes to providing businesses incentives to invest in green technology and life sciences. More incentives should be available for Connecticut businesses to invest in energy efficiency or launch new ventures in technologies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and cut our dependence on foreign energy sources. We should view our current economic downturn as an opportunity to make Connecticut an international hub of business research, development and manufacturing in these fields.

With the future of Connecticut’s economy at a critical juncture, job creation and growing the economy must be the top priority for all of our elected officials. Too many hard working people in Connecticut have lost their jobs, and too many families have lost their homes due to foreclosure. There are two and a half months until the end of the legislative session. I urge the Governor and legislators in Hartford: it’s time to help small businesses in Connecticut. Let’s get it done.

Susan Bysiewicz is Connecticut’s Secretary of the State and Chief Business Registrar