Next week is National Small Business Week. Here are some facts from the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation about small businesses that demonstrate why entrepreneurs are so important to America.

• Small businesses have developed a significant number of this nation’s most important inventions and innovations, such as heart valves and the airplane. Small firms are twice as innovative per employee as larger firms.
• Small, innovative firms produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms, and their patents are twice as likely as large firm patents to be among the 1 percent most cited.
• Small firms provide the first job for most entrants to the labor force. Many of the skills learned in these first jobs, such as showing up on time, learning respect for owners and customers, and learning how to get along with co-workers, last a lifetime.
• 66 percent of Americans think that small business “exerts a positive influence on the way things are going in the country today.”
• 91 percent of small business owners contributed to their community in the last year through volunteering, in-kind contributions, and/or direct cash donations. About 41 percent contributed all three ways.
• The estimated average value of contributions is $6,600 per small employer, contributing and not, for a total of roughly $40 billion.
• 74 percent of all small business owners say that they volunteered for community and charitable activities in the last year. The average is somewhat over 12 hours per month, or the equivalent of 18 working days per year.
• 37 percent who volunteer also hold an office, including a board position, in one or more community organizations.
• Disproportionately large percentages of small business owners are registered to vote (95 percent), usually do vote (84 percent), and run for elective office (3 percent).
• 96 percent believe that every citizen should participate in public affairs and politics, if only to vote.
• 82 percent agree that business owners are leaders, and leaders have a responsibility to lead in public affairs and elsewhere.
• Small business owners overwhelmingly agree that positive change can result when good people participate in public affairs. They also overwhelmingly believe that achieving good public policy is a constant struggle.

NFIB is a leading small business advocacy association with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. Its mission is to promote and protect the right of its members to own, operate and grow their businesses. Find out more information on NFIB at www.NFIB.com.