President Donald Trump on Monday hosted small business owners from across the country to honor their contributions to the nation, featuring one of Utah’s own small businesses.
Ahead of Small Business Week, the president issued a statement honoring the “entrepreneurs innovators, and dreamers” that have powered the U.S. economy and been the foundation of national strength for 250 years.
“Congratulations to the small business people of the year, from all 50 states. It’s a big deal and you can be proud of yourself,” Trump said. “Our country’s made up of a lot of small businesses and that ends up being a really big business.”
Trump shared that the people in the room represented the 36 million small businesses across the country that create 40% of all economic activity in the United States.
Utah’s honoree Monday was Chad Riches, the president and third-generation owner of Beacon Commercial Door and Lock in Salt Lake City.
Described by the Mountain West Small Business Finance organization as one of the world’s most passionate doorknob enthusiasts, Riches and others traveled to D.C. to be honored by the president and the Small Business Administration.
The White House said the Trump administration was delivering “incredible victories” for American small businesses, including through the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” passed last year. Trump celebrated the bill being signed into law and event attendees applauded. He joked that it should have really been called the “Great Big Beautiful Tax Cut and Regulation Cut Bill.”
“I want to say, thanks to these tax cuts, 12 million American small businesses got an average tax cut of over $7,000,” he said.
The president has received some criticism from small businesses over the whiplash they experienced because of Trump’s tariff agenda, leading to higher costs on some goods. The Supreme Court later deemed some of the tariffs he levied unconstitutional. However, Andrew Saville, president of Georgia-based Coosa Steel, spoke at the event to thank Trump for the tariff plan because he said it brought jobs back to the United States.
Trump in his remarks on Monday afternoon criticized the Biden administration and said his policies protect people like the small business owners in the room. He argued that wages fell for workers under the Biden administration and went up when he reentered the White House.
Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler spoke about how she’s implementing Trump’s plan for small businesses and criticized the Biden administration’s approach.
“President Trump’s economic agenda means ‘Made in America’ is coming back, and it’s coming back fast,” Loeffler said.
She said it was an honor to highlight the award winners in the White House on Monday.
“They are America’s backbone,” Loeffler said. “Two hundred and fifty years ago, our Founding Fathers were also entrepreneurs, small businessmen, with the America first agenda that legacy continues.”
