Legislators Visit Open Mobile to Celebrate Small Business Week

Local Representatives Tom Sannicandro and Chris Walsh and Senator Karen Spilka visited small businesses to celebrate National Small Business Week on Monday, an annual celebration which was started by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and which President Barack Obama has continued this year.

Continuing this wonderful tradition and recognizing the important contributions of our nation’s nearly 27 million entrepreneurs and small businesses to the nation's economy, President Barack Obama has designated May 21-26 National Small Business Week. 

 The Legislators kicked off the week’s festivities by visiting local businesses in their home towns to thank them for their incomparable contributions to the Commonwealth’s economy and to promote shopping small and local this spring. 

Sannicandro visited three local businesses: Steve the Bike Guy, a one-man fix-it shop owned by Ashland resident Steve Brandt; Biosurfaces, Inc., an Ashland-based medical device manufacturing company, and Open Mobile World Wide, a Framingham-based mobile phone app compatibility company.

At Open Mobile World Wide, Sannicandro was joined by Spilka, Walsh, and Assistant Secretary of Economic Development Anderson Lamoureux.

With offices in China, India, and Finland, Open Mobile could locate anywhere in the world but chooses to have its headquarters in Framingham.

“Small businesses – like Open Mobile – are the backbone of our economy,” said Spilka. “In order to ensure continued economic development and job creation, we must remain committed to supporting entrepreneurs and the growing small business community in Massachusetts.”

April Anderson Lamoureux, Assistant Secretary for Economic Development at the Executive Office of Economic Development joined the two state representatives and state senator at Open Mobile. The group met with Bob Angelo, Chairman and CEO at Open Mobile and additional members of the staff to discuss their experience growing a small business in the Commonwealth and reiterate the state’s commitment to assisting small businesses in their development. 

“This was a great chance to see the variety of small businesses and entrepreneurs in my area, see the good work they’re doing and what we as legislators can do to support them,” Sannicandro said. “I’m a small-business owner myself. I know the struggles these businesses face and it’s essential we offer our support to keep our economy growing.”

Walsh also visited Framingham-based , an internationally recognized innovator in the field of integrated physical security management products.

“On Main Street” is the first in a series of events planned for State House Small Business Week 2012, an initiative organized by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business in conjunction with National Small Business Week. 

All 200 legislators were invited by Senate President Murray, Speaker DeLeo and the Committee Chairs to visit with small businesses in their district as a way of collectively demonstrating the Legislature’s commitment to the small business community in Massachusetts. 

Throughout the week legislators and their small business constituents will have the opportunity to participate in a number of events, including on oversight hearing on the Administration’s progress in implementing Small Business Impact Statement legislation and other public policy issues affecting small businesses as well as a continuation of the Joint Committee’s Statewide Small Business Listening tour with a stop at UMASS Boston’s Venture Development Center. 

The highlight of the week’s events will be the Small Business Resource Fair tomorrow, May 23 from 8:30 to 11 a.m. in the Great Hall at the State House, which is free and open to the public. 

Governor Deval Patrick and Treasurer Steve Grossman, at the fair, will be highlighting ways the state can support small businesses, including resources for everything from designing a business plan to securing state funding.