American Express Wraps Up Voices From Main Street Program With Position Paper Calling for a Greater Focus On the Needs of Small Firms.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2001

In a position paper published today, American Express Small Business Services wrapped up its Year 2000 Voices from Main Street program by calling on industry and community leaders to place a greater focus on helping smaller firms find and train employees.

The position paper, entitled "The Small Business Workforce Crisis; A Study of the Skills Shortage and Possible Solutions," portrays this problem from the viewpoint of the thousands of small business owners who participated in the Voices from Main Street program. Launched by American Express in March, 2000, Voices from Main Street was designed to engage small business owners in a national dialogue about the issues that matter to them most. The year-long program included:

-- A web site (www.americanexpress.com/voic es)

-- A national town hall meeting produced by CNN (broadcast on May 24, 2000)

-- Regional forums for small business owners to meet with their peers and
engage in discussions on a local level

-- Broadcast and print advertising featuring small business owners speaking
about the issues they find to be most important

-- National opinion polls

"Small business owners told us that finding and retaining qualified workers continues to be a critical issue," said Jim Blann, Senior Vice President and General Manager, American Express Small Business Services. "Unfortunately, this dilemma affects small firms disproportionately because they don't have the human and financial resources that larger companies have to develop their own programs or take advantage of existing third-party programs.

"By publishing this position paper, we hope to focus more organizations and community leaders on helping smaller companies overcome this obstacle," Blann said.

The position paper, a compilation of comments and research on small business workforce issues, recommends four possible solutions:

1) Create a central information repository -- Time-taxed

entrepreneurs need information, readily accessible to them in

one location, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Linking

entrepreneurs to existing successful programs would help

immensely.

2) Incorporate more internship programs formally into high school

curriculum - Small firms struggle to take part in

school-to-work programs. A greater emphasis on placing interns 

at smaller businesses is sought.

3) Small business owners need to create and enact their own local

solutions -- Small business owners should work with school

administrators and teachers in their local communities to

expand existing curriculum to cover those skills needed to

succeed in the work place.

4) Take advantage of the growing number of elderly workers - -A

focus on preparing young people for the workforce should not

be at the expense of developing training programs that can

assist workers of any age, especially older Americans who are

making up a greater percentage of the population every year.

Copies of the position paper can be obtained by e-mailing a request to: richard.d'[e-mail].

About American Express

American Express Small Business Services is a unit of American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. solely dedicated to serving companies with fewer than 100 employees. Small Business Services provides a broad range of financial services, including charge and credit cards, equipment financing, lines of credit and tax and business advisory services. To obtain more information about the Small Business Services group, visit the Small Business Exchange at www.americanexpress.com/smallbusiness.