Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 81.djvu/1136

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PROCLAMATION 3783-MAY 9, 1967

[81 STAT.

D O N E at the City of Washington this ninth day of May in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixtyseven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-first.

By the President:

Secretary of State. Proclamation 3783 SMALL BUSINESS WEEK, 1967 May 9, 1967

By fhe President of the United States of America A Proclamation

Fully 95 percent of the businesses serving the needs of the American people are small and privately owned. More than a third of the Nation's total goods and services are supplied by small businesses. Small businesses perform a service to the Nation beyond the supplying of goods. Operating in an open, competitive market, they stimulate the new ideas that create progress. They provide community leadership to aid economic development. They offer a wide and challenging variety of job opportunities to our people. To encourage the growth of new small businesses, the Small Business Administration has in the past three years granted 830 loans, totalling over $131 million, to local development companies. These loans have resulted in the creation of 28,800 new jobs, and added nearly $1.2 billion to our economy. During the last three years there has been a net increase of 200,000 in the number of small business establishments in our Nation. We recognize and applaud the contributions made by our 4.8 million small businesses. We must insure that they will continue to hold a vital place in our society. NOW, THEREFORE, I, LYNDON B. JOHNSON, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning May 21, 1967, as Small Business Week, and I urge industrial and commercial organizations, chambers of commerce, boards of trade, and other public and private organizations to participate in ceremonies recognizing the significant contributions, past and present, of small business to our land, our culture, and our ideals. I N W I T N E S S WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed.

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