May is National Small Business Month, and the PA Chamber is proud to count thousands of small businesses among our more than 13,000 members across the Commonwealth. These businesses span a wide range of industries, bring culture and opportunity to their communities, support jobs, and enhance our overall quality of life.
This month provides a special opportunity to recognize and thank small business owners for the many ways they enrich our lives and
livelihoods – and to consider how we can better support them. At the local level, that means patronizing the small businesses that serve us every day. For the PA Chamber, as a leading advocate for the state’s business community, it means working to remove the barriers that make it harder for small businesses to hire, grow, and keep their doors open.
Our tax reform efforts are a great example of our work on behalf of small businesses. The Chamber has led efforts to continue reducing the Corporate Net Income Tax rate (Pennsylvania’s current rate is 7.49 percent and is on track to reach 4.99 percent by 2031), helping strengthen the business environment small companies depend on. When major employers invest and expand, they don’t do it alone—they rely on thousands of small suppliers, vendors, and service providers. Lower corporate taxes help fuel that demand.
We have also led the effort to continue improving Pennsylvania’s Net Operating Loss treatment, increasing the NOL carryforward cap from 40 to 80 percent prospectively by 2029. We’ve also led bipartisan efforts to shorten permitting timelines, reduce red tape, and enhance investments in proven workforce development strategies.
These efforts are making Pennsylvania more competitive for small businesses. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Pennsylvania ranks among the top states for new business survival, as 56 percent of businesses started in Pennsylvania remain open after five years, the third-highest percentage nationwide compared to the national average of 51.6 percent. Moody’s Analytics reports that Pennsylvania is the only state in the Northeast with a growing economy. And Site Selection Magazine ranked Pennsylvania 11th in its 2025 Business Climate Rankings, a seven-spot jump from the previous year. These improvements reflect the PA Chamber’s successful efforts to advance pro-growth policies that are boosting businesses of all sizes in the Commonwealth.
Our celebration of these businesses extends well beyond May. Last year, the PA Chamber honored Pennsylvania’s small business community with our first-ever “Small Business of the Year” awards. Our inaugural winners, Hocus Pocus Cleaning of Schnecksville, PA, and The Lexis Group of Harrisburg, PA, exemplified the work ethic, creativity, community engagement, and entrepreneurial spirit that drive successful small businesses across the state, and several other small businesses took top honors. You can check out the full list of our honorees here!
For tools and resources to help small businesses and startups launch and grow, we encourage you to explore this list of U.S. Chamber-curated resources.