November 22, 2022
In March 2022 the American Sustainable Business Network’s Business for Democracy (BfD) working group launched a campaign to build small business collaboratives in 8 targeted states. The mission was to use the trusted voice of small business to elevate the issue of protecting democracy to be one that voters in the midterms would consider when casting ballots.
The message was that a strong democracy was essential for a vibrant entrepreneurial economy and a warning of the negative economic consequences of the country sliding into an autocracy.
The collaboratives consisted of individual businesses and business organizations in NC, WI, MI, OH, PA, CA, AZ and NV.
Administration and activities for the eight collaboratives were handled by the BfD National Director.
The BfD campaign also supported the work of other organizations on educating the public about election integrity, promoting voter participation, and advocacy for Congressional reforms.
The campaign to educate voters about the need to protect democracy consisted of:
- press releases to all state media (print, TV, radio)
- radio talk show interviews
- opinion editorials
- letters to the editor
- webinars
- business networking
- press conferences
- Congressional candidate survey
The BfD asked all Republican and Democratic candidates for the U.S. House and Senate to complete a short survey assessing their support for three Congressional reform bills. This survey would serve as the litmus test for candidates to be publicly recognized for their support for protecting democracy. This was not a candidate endorsement. The three bills were the Electoral Count Reform Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
Below are links to the opinion editorials that ran in local media, press releases from the final press conferences, and videos of those press conferences.
Press conferences
Ohio: Video, Release
Michigan: Video, Release
Wisconsin: Video, Press (here, here, and here)
North Carolina: Video, Release
Pennsylvania: Video, Release
Arizona: Release
California: Release
Guest Editorials and Letters
The Bryan Times (OH), Times Bulletin (OH), Reno Gazette Journal, Madison.com, The Columbus Dispatch, Charlotte Observer, Raleigh News and Observer, The Herald-Sun (Durham), Graham Star (NC), Montcalm County and Ionia County (MI), Cleveland.com, Spooner Advocate (WI), Greensboro News & Record, Inside Sources, The Lima News (OH), The Telegraph (NH), The Register-Herald (WV), WorldNews, Lowell Sun (MA), Las Vegas Sun, Delaware Valley Journal (PA), Inside Sources, Herald and News (OR), Daily Independent (AZ), Queen Creek Independent (AZ), South Central Florida Life, The Telegraph (NH), Minority News Network, Jacksonville Journal Courier, Spot On Illinois, Price County Review (WI), The Disruptive Quarterly (NV), Elko Daily Free Press (NV), WIS Politics.com, PennLive Patriot-News (PA), The State (SC), Hilton Head Island Packet, Carolina Panorama (SC), The News (SC)