On behalf, of the President of ICSB, Dr. Geralyn Franklin, the ICSB Executive Director attended and spoke at USPS major conference titled “Micro Business, Macro Impact – The Role of the U.S. Postal Service in Microbusiness Solutions”.
From agriculture to law, and online marketplace to home garages, microbusinesses underpin the American economy. While small in scale, with 0 to 9 employees – this sector accounts for about three-fourths of all U.S. private-sector businesses and comes with a diverse set of needs.
Dr. El Tarabishy, thanked on behalf of Dr. Franklin, the efforts of USPS to focus on micro businesses and discussed ICSB efforts to raise global awareness of the importance of micro businesses. Micro-, small and medium enterprises, the first responders to societal needs. These types of enterprises are responsible for significant employment and income generation opportunities across the world and have been identified as a major driver of poverty alleviation and development.
MSMEs tend to employ a larger share of the vulnerable sectors of the workforce, such as women, youth, and people from poorer households. MSMEs can even sometimes be the only source of employment in rural areas. As such, MSMEs as a group are the main income provider for the income distribution at the “base of the pyramid”.
MSMEs should be the first responders to societal needs and provide the safety net for inclusiveness.
Discussion questions for the session covered the following topics: What challenges, needs, and wants do microbusinesses have for their shipping and mailing activities? What does reliability and quality service mean for mailing and shipping? As microbusinesses grow, what challenges do they face in expanding that the Postal Service could be a solution for?
In attendance of this session where, Mr. John Pellegrin, Fairfax County Small Business Commission, Chairman. Mrs. Ashley Shillingsburg, eBay, Senior Manager of Government Relations, and Wendy Urquhart, Taradel, Vice President of Business Development.
Dr. El Tarabishy, on behalf of ICSB, invited USPS to celebrate MSMEs Day and declare June 27th – USPS MSMEs Day!
