Small business owners have a vitally important role to play in our elections as community anchors and civic narrators

What is more American than entrepreneurship, not the faux version appropriated by heirs to affluent parents but the creation of small businesses by risk takers seeking to support their families, innovate goods and services, and invigorate their communities?  As Audrey Roofeh explains on this episode of Power Station, it was small business owners who gambled their own safety to take care of community members during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis by the US Department of Homeland Security and ICE. An entrepreneur herself, Audrey's firm Mariana Strategies, which helped federal agencies cultivate workplaces free from misogyny, racism and anti-LGBTQ conduct was put out of business by a White House executive order banning DEI initiatives by government contractors. Audrey heard the alarm expressed by fellow small business owners about sustainability in a marketplace where the Rule of Law no longer applied. She founded Integrity Matters, a unique association or small business owners impacted by tariffs, ICE crackdowns, inflation and unpredictable governance. Its members are now organizing to protect voters in upcoming elections, a powerful example of how small business owners invest in us.