Small businesses in emerging industries – like clean energy – have cutting-edge ideas that are strengthening our country and changing the world.  Today, we’re helping them continue to do just that in two major ways.

First, unlike larger firms, many small firms don’t have the staff or time to search for all of the federal opportunities that can help them grow and create jobs.

We’re pleased to announce that today, they’ve got a new tool with green.sba.gov, where they can find all federal opportunities in a single location.

How did this come about?  For the past year, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Small Business Administration worked together to help Navy tap into the innovation that is happening throughout America’s strong and growing number of small, clean-energy businesses.

One of the first, simplest efforts was to create a single web page where all of Navy’s green and renewable energy contracts could be easily found by small businesses.  Navy created that site in just a couple of months. 

When it was completed, we thought, “Why don’t we do this across the entire federal government?”

So we did. 

Watch a Joining Forces PSA featuring Tom Hanks, here.

Three of the biggest stars in America are lending their voices to Joining Forces, the initiative started by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr.Jill Biden to bring attention to the unique needs and strength of America’s military families. Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg have each created public service announcements (PSAs) that tell real stories about America's military families and call on all Americans to give back to ensure service members and military families have the support they have earned.

"The entertainment community answered the Joining Forces call and has done what they do best -- bring to life stories that move us," said Mrs. Obama. "Through this PSA campaign, Americans will learn more about the unique challenges and needs of our military families, see their strength, resilience and service, and find out how they can give back to these extraordinary troops and families who have given us so much."

The project was conceived by Academy Award-winning producer Bruce Cohen, who leads the Inter-Guild Joining Forces Task Force, an entertainment industry coalition that provides creative and production support for Joining Forces. Each of the PSAs tells the story of a military family  as they endure the hardship of a deployment overseas. The PSAs will be airing on A + E, CBS, NBC,  ABC, FOX, and WB networks.

Dr Biden, whose son served in Iraq, said, "As a military mom, I know just how much it means when people reach out to show their support for our service members and their families. The first lady and I hope that this campaign will inspire more Americans to take action and reach out to military families in their own communities around the country."

Watch a Joining Forces PSA featuring Oprah Winfrey, here. 

Watch a Joining Forces PSA featuring Steven Spielberg, here. 

Last night, Republicans blocked the American Jobs Act. That’s right -- not a single member of the Republican Party voted for a bill that independent economists estimate would put up to 1.9 million Americans back to work next year.

They blocked a piece of legislation filled with ideas that they have supported in the past that would keep teachers in the classroom, police officers on the beat, and put construction workers back on the job rebuilding our roads and bridges. The next step now is for Congress to take up each individual piece of the American Jobs Act. Will they oppose each of these common-sense measures that will get the American people back to work and put money in the pockets of middle class families?

Take a look at the front page of the Cincinnati Enquirer. With so many Americans out of work and so many families struggling, we can’t take “no” for an answer. It’s time for Congress to meet their responsibility, put their party politics aside and take action on jobs right now.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and it’s an important time to consider the role that each of us can and must play in combating this disease. Far too many of us have lost a loved one to breast cancer – or seen a neighbor or a colleague endure painful treatments or a long battle with the disease.

We know that early detection can make all the difference. And I am proud to be a part of an Administration that is working hard to ensure that affordable and accessible preventive care is a reality. Thanks to the health reform law, the Affordable Care Act, most private health plans and Medicare cover women’s preventive health care – such as mammograms and screenings for cervical cancer –with no co-pays or other out-of-pocket costs. This year to date, 3.8 million women in traditional Medicare have received a free mammogram.  

Last week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Jennifer Aniston, and I toured a state-of-the-art breast health center in Northern Virginia. We met with committed health professionals as well as with women who shared personal stories about their battles with breast cancer. 

There is no question that we have a lot of work ahead of us – but I will say that we were all inspired and hopeful after the visit. Please take a minute to see some highlights of our visit, and hear first-hand from some of these inspiring women. 

Forward this video to your loved ones, together we will win this fight!

-Jill

Tamara Washington hopes Congress passes the American Jobs Act. Provisions included in that bill that will affect the long-term unemployed "allowed me to start back on the ladder, which I am still climbing." The single mom from Torrance, California thinks others should be afforded the support she had when she needed help. (by)

Tamara Washington is a single mother whose main priority in life is taking care of her 3 year old son, Amir. Washington, who lives in in Torrance, California hopes Congress passes the American Jobs Act, because there are provisions in that bill that can change people’s lives. Washington knows that from experience, because she benefitted from one of the programs that will be extended if the American Jobs Act is passed.

Washington lost her job at Hunter Douglas early in the economic crisis, and she struggled mightily to find another. “I could be homeless right now. I can never forget the experience – I was at a bad place. When you are out there trying to find jobs, you’re not sitting at home, you are out there looking and no one is hiring. My unemployment was running out, my son was an infant and I was afraid I was going to lose my home.”

Fortunately for Washington, she received a “blessing” in the form of subsidized employment in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund, which enabled her to obtain a job and support her son. “It allowed me to start back on the ladder, which I am still climbing.”

Through her TANF job, Washington learned all new skills in visual technology and sales. “I started out at a lower rate, but what I learned enabled me to get another job somewhere else and I got a lot more money. The program funded my training and gave me the experience to get the job I have now and I can take care of my son.”

Jamail Larkins, the President and CEO of Ascension Aircraft, hopes Congress passes the American Jobs Act so he can grow his business. "The ability to reduce our payroll taxes will allow us to hire more people by stretching our limited capital."

Jamail Larkins wants Congress to pass the American Jobs Act so he can reduce his payroll expenses and put more people to work. "The Jobs Act is critically important to small firms like mine. One of our biggest expenses is payroll, and the ability to reduce our payroll taxes will allow us to hire more people by stretching our limited capital."

Larkins, 27, is the President and CEO of Ascension Aircraft, an airplane sales and leasing company in Augusta, Georgia that he founded in 2006. This entrepreneur's love of flying began the first time he piloted a plane -- at the age of twelve. He continued taking lessons, but his decision to volunteer to wash planes at his local airport  helped him establish relationships with pilots and more quickly gain confidence in his flying abilities. Eventually Larkins petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration to allow him to fly solo before his 16th birthday. Though his exemption was denied, he was undeterred and traveled to Canada, where the minimum age to fly solo was fourteen. That year, Larkins became one of the youngest American pilots to solo a powered aircraft in Canada. “I was fortunate that I discovered my calling in life at a young age. Flying a small aircraft is a very unique experience. It’s challenging, it’s exciting, always changing, and it allows you to see the world from a completely different perspective.” 

President Obama today attended a meeting of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, where he heard recommendations from the group on how to get the economy moving and create more jobs. The advisory council, which includes leaders from business, labor and academia, was created by the President earlier this year to provide diverse perspectives and ideas on how to create jobs and strengthen our competitiveness. 

The third quarterly meeting of the Council today in Pittsburgh was focused on a report that team presented to the President  that offered five major initiatives to increase employment while improving competitiveness:

• Measures to accelerate investment into job-rich projects in infrastructure and energy development 
• A comprehensive drive to ignite entrepreneurship and accelerate the number and scale of young, small businesses and high-growth firms that produce an outsized share of America’s new jobs 
• A national investment initiative to boost jobs-creating inward investment in the United States, both from global firms headquartered elsewhere and from multinational corporations headquartered here 
• Ideas to simplify regulatory review and streamline project approvals to accelerate jobs and growth; 
• Steps to ensure America has the talent in place to fill existing job openings as well as to boost future job creation. 

Jane Iredale's cosmetics company has 160 employees and is based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Jane Iredale says that the American Jobs Act  "will make a significant difference to my company and our family of 160 employees. By cutting my employees' payroll taxes in half, they will be able to use the extra money for help with mortgages, rents, fuel bills and college tuitions. Happy employees are productive employees. Cutting my company's payroll taxes in half will allow me to put those gains back into the company to aid with growth. We will also be able to continue hiring because of the elimination of payroll taxes for new hires and wage increases up to $50 million."  

But the payroll tax holidays are not the only provision of the President's plan to immediately put workers back on the job and put more money in the pockets of working Americans that will benefit Iredale's cosmetics company, the 100% depreciation deduction for qualifying investment will also help her bottom line. "We are currently renovating a building that will become our global headquarters. By extending the deductions for the purchasing of new equipment and machinery, we will be able to outfit the building in a timely fashion."

Phillip Maung, the founder and CEO of Hissho Sushi arrived in the U.S in 1989 with $13 in his pocket. Today his company operates more than 400 sushi bars across the country.

Philip Maung, founder and CEO of Hissho Sushi, believes that Congress should pass the American Jobs Act so that small businesses like his can fast track their growth. “The American Jobs Act has provisions that will motivate small businesses owners like me to expand in an environment in which we have been forced to put some hiring decisions on hold for quite some time. Hopefully, with these incentives, small businesses will get back on track and our company, along with many other companies, can continue in our role of being the driving engine behind job growth.” 

Maung arrived in this Los Angeles from Burma in 1989 with $13 in his pocket.  He had a dream of making something of himself and wanted to make his family proud.  In 1998, Maung and his wife started Hissho Sushi in their dining room.  What began as a tiny company providing fresh sushi to supermarkets and cafes has evolved into a dynamic foodservice and distribution enterprise, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hissho Sushi now employs more than 200 people and trains sushi chefs, distributes sushi ingredients throughout the United States and operates more than 400 sushi bars across the country.