Friends,
Live events and small business had a tremendous boost today.
Howard Schultz, founder and former CEO of Starbucks sent the attached letter to all of our House and Senate members this morning.
https://www.howardschultz.com/lettertocongress/
It is signed by over 100 CEOs from big and small businesses.
I signed it as well as a few other industry people.
Signers include leaders from:
- Mastercard
- Walt Disney
- American Express
- Starbucks
- Merck
- SAP
- Alphabet (Google)
- Cisco
- Walmart
- Microsoft
- McDonalds
- Cisco
- Dunkin
- Costco
- Xerox
The Schultz-inspired letter is getting instant attention. I have been contacted by several legislators and staff members this morning regarding the letter.
Below is the start of a large media response. This is as of now, more will follow.
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-03/ceos-warn-congress-of-small-business-failures-without-more-aid
- https://www.facebook.com/yahoo/posts/10159553714089714
- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/more-100-ceos-warn-congress-catastrophic-consequences-small-biz-without-n1235613
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/
- https://www.axios.com/small-business-howard-schultz-ceos-letter-congress-7b2298f3-8a0c-4575-ae49-32c7baba770d.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/08/03/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus#ceos-call-for-more-aid-for-us-small-businesses
- https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article244686152.html
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/08/03/us-corporate-leaders-urge-congress-to-provide-more-support-for-small-businesses/#37ee9c7c5b35
- https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article244686152.html
- https://www.heraldonline.com/news/coronavirus/article244686152.html
- https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/coronavirus/article244686152.html
The voices of this collection of people is of immense value to our endeavors.
Senators Pelosi and Schumer met Saturday morning with White House Chief of Staff Meadows and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and identified alignments and differences.
Staffers met on Sunday to continue their work toward common ground.
Negotiations have begun again this morning and will continue toward a relief bill that is in the best interest of all Americans.
There is bi-partisan support for financial aid for small business, as is evidenced by the 72 House members and 45 Senators that have sponsored the RESTART Act.
It is rumored that several more legislators are signing on now as co-sponsors.
There are several pieces of pending legislation before Congress, and they are working through them.
That is why it is important for you to reach out to your House and Senate members today and let them know of your concern.
Your concern is that small business and Live Events in particular are in need of additional funding through the end of 2020.
This process is meant to end this Friday, so time is of the essence.
When there is a better view of where they are headed, we will have another call to action instigated by NAMM.
This next call to action will be more focused as we will have more facts on their direction.
NAMM is our most powerful voice in DC.
Do not forget to use any personal relationships you have with any of our legislators and their staff.
Share these e-mails as wide as you can.
Our best path to success is in sheer numbers, and thus far you have done a phenomenal job in contacting our leaders.
I realize it feels like a repetitive process, but it is just that.
The longer and more focused we deliver our message, the more the leaders listen.
Nothing happens in a vacuum.
This will be a busy week with multiple communications.
A call to action will follow soon.
Keep pushing any and all other such endeavors you are involved in, they all matter.
Thank you for all you do and stay tuned.
Michael T. Strickland
Chair and Founder
Bandit Lites