Main Street Alliance

Main Street Alliance (MSA) is a national network focused on ensuring small business owners can directly engage with policy makers on issues that impact their businesses, employees and community.

Through grassroots organizing, MSA builds understanding of the issues that matter most to small businesses and tailor political education and leadership development opportunities to engage them on these issues. Small businesses are powerful ground-level experts on the economy and can make a compelling case for paid leave, child care and other key issues as necessary supports for a thriving local economy.

State allies can call on the Main Street Alliance to:

Develop small-business mobilization plans to help them advance paid family and medical leave and increased funding for child care.

MSA provides individualized technical assistance to organizations and/or coalitions to gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities that exist to engage small business owners in state policy advocacy. It provides critical campaign resources and advice for engaging small business owners in these issues, even while many are struggling to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. MSA can also work with allies to plan for building up resources for initiating and sustaining small business engagement in campaigns.

Help bring their state's small business voices into child care and paid leave advocacy.

MSA can provide coaching to organizations or coalitions to aid their efforts to work with small businesses -- both through direct outreach and through networking with business advocacy groups. It provides tested outreach strategies and sample materials and helps problem solve start-up challenges. MSA facilitates regular national webinars and meetings to engage small business owners on these issues and coordinates meetings between the various state campaigns/organizations to share best practices among groups working on care issues.

Support them in communicating the small-business case for family-friendly policies.

MSA provides communications support tailored to the state campaign/coalition's capacity. It provides template research and educational tools that articulate the small business case for family-friendly policies, including reports, fact sheets, and related media materials. MSA materials are developed through a racial, gender, and economic justice lens to ensure equity is at the center of our advocacy.