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Whether it’s the ports we rely upon to transport our goods to the utility systems that power our factories, maintaining America’s infrastructure is fundamental to a robust economy and to the nation’s competitiveness.

The topic of infrastructure is vast, encompassing networks of highways, bridges and waterways that span thousands of miles across America.

As a nation, we have a proud legacy of pushing the boundaries of innovation. Historically, America’s robust infrastructure network has fostered strong economies and allowed us to be both competitive and efficient. Today, we have built telecommunications and broadband systems that connect us in a matter of seconds.

However, by many measures, we are failing to keep up with the growing demands of our modern society. Whether it’s the high-speed internet connection that has not yet reached our rural communities to the outdated and crumbling tunnels that connect our cities—decades of neglect and lackluster investments have allowed our infrastructure to fall apart and fall behind other advanced economies.

Let us be clear, this has all come at a cost to commerce and small businesses. That is why we must now address this issue head on. Today, we are here to think big about the countless ways in which our infrastructure impacts the small business sector. 

We know that investments in infrastructure promote future economic opportunities for American workers and small businesses. In fact, 61 percent of the jobs directly created by infrastructure spending would be in the construction sector, 12 percent in the manufacturing sector, and 7 percent in retail trade – that’s 80 percent in these three sectors alone.

Most importantly, 90 percent of these jobs are good paying middle-class jobs – many of which are supported by our nation’s small businesses. From construction to engineering to architecture, small businesses are critical to maintaining and expanding our infrastructure systems. 

And yet, we must level the playing field to ensure that any federal infrastructure plan includes opportunities for small business owners, and particularly for women- and minority-owned business. 

All of us have an obligation to ensure there is adequate federal infrastructure investment and guarantee our nation’s long-term competitiveness in the global economy. Accordingly, a robust and well-planned investment in our infrastructure should benefit small businesses – both as end users of these networks and by creating business opportunities for them.

It is my hope that today’s discussion can help identify strategies for accomplishing that goal. With that, I thank each of the witnesses for joining us today and I look forward to your testimony.