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Mary Landrieu, a Senator from Louisiana, became the chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship in 2009. At the time, businesses in her state were being crippled by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The state got hit again in 2010 by the Gulf oil spill and by Hurricane Isaac in 2011. After the series of devastating disasters for her station and region, Landrieu has become a strong advocate for disaster aid for small businesses, as well as an advocate for small business on a wide range of issues. Her current agenda includes helping companies to continue recovering from the recession, find skilled workers and have a voice in the debate in Congress over taxes. Landrieu is also focusing on mandating that federal agencies reach the government’s goal for giving contracts to small business. “It is hard to pinpoint exactly when our economy, including small business expansion, will really take off, but we are seeing encouraging signs,” Landrieu said in a recent interview. She says lawmakers can help the recovery pick up momentum, by helping to make loans easier for small businesses to get, and by sponsoring programs to mentor business owners and train workers so they’ll have the skills that companies increasingly need. At the moment, Landrieu is working on building consensus around the budget and lessening the negative impact of recent budget cuts. “Businesses both large and small are not only suffering the direct impact of these budget cuts, they are also operating through a never-ending cycle of uncertainty that makes business investment risky and is holding back growth,” said Landrieu. Landrieu has spent most of her adult life working in politics. Landrieu, 57, has held public office since she was 23. After working in real estate after college, she was elected to the Louisiana Legislature, served eight years as a state representative and two terms as state treasurer. She was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996. The Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship oversees the Small Business Administration, the agency charged with helping small businesses grow and providing aid after a disaster. For more info, click here
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