Our Work
Family. Fairness. Freedom
What We Fight For
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The supports families need so workers can show up, customers can shop, and Main Streets can thrive.
Healthcare – Premiums eat into profits and make it harder to hire and keep staff.
Childcare – Parents can’t work or shop if they can’t find or afford care.
Paid Leave – Workers shouldn’t have to choose between a paycheck and their family.
Housing – When housing is out of reach, employees and customers get pushed away.
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Leveling the playing field so small businesses can compete with giants.
Tax Fairness – Big corporations dodge taxes while small businesses foot the bill.
Capital Access – Without fair loans, local entrepreneurs can’t open or grow.
Antitrust & Corporate Concentration – When a few giants dominate markets, small shops get squeezed out.
Tariffs & Trade Policy – Sudden costs on goods hit small importers and retailers first.
Insurance – Rising costs for health, property, and liability coverage are crushing small firms.
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Removing barriers so every entrepreneur and community has the chance to thrive.
Infrastructure & Utilities – Every community deserves the basics: reliable roads, broadband, and energy.
Zoning – Fair rules mean small businesses have the freedom to open and grow without being boxed out.
Criminal Justice – Over-policing and mass incarceration destabilize communities and weaken the customer base.
Immigration – Immigrant workers and entrepreneurs are vital to Main Street’s future.
Workforce Development – Training pipelines give everyone the chance to access good jobs.
Small business owners know success isn’t just about hard work — it’s about the conditions around us. Rising costs, unfair rules, and broken systems put Main Street at a disadvantage. That’s why we organize around three simple values:
1,000 Main Streets
Our Organizing Ethos
1,000 Main Streets is the backbone of all our advocacy — a national movement of small business owners reclaiming their role as trusted messengers and civic champions. Every media hit, every state win, every federal push flows through this ethos. By building a critical mass of local leaders, we’re tipping the balance of power back to Main Street — shaping policy, strengthening local economies, and protecting our democracy.
Shape the Story (MSA Messengers)
We’re making sure Main Street has the loudest voice.
We find, train and lift up small business owners and give them the tools to speak out — writing op-eds, pitching them to media, and sharing their stories online. And when leaders overstep, our members even take them to court.
Check out our tariff and healthcare toolkits with some of our recent press hits.
Speak to Power (MSA Power)
We’re turning main street stories into action.
We bring small business leaders together for roundtables, town halls, and days of action that put policy front and center. Through workshops and coalitions, they learn how to take their stories straight to lawmakers and help write bills on childcare, healthcare, tax fairness, and fair competition.
Register for events near you here.
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MSA Academy: Workshops led by 1KMS leaders to teach citizens how to educate elected officials on policy impacts.
Organizing for Power: Meetups to coordinate policy-shaping efforts of small business leaders and coalition partners.
Annual Days of Action: Budget-focused mobilizations that put Main Street leaders directly in front of lawmakers.
Pull People In (MSA Votes)
We’re pulling more people back into democracy.
Small business owners are trusted voices — when they speak up, their employees, customers, and neighbors listen. They’re helping people register and take part in civic life, especially Black, Brown, and women entrepreneurs too often excluded from civic engagement.
Whether it’s a reminder to employees, a flyer at the counter, a quick post on social media, or a mention to a customer, they make voter registration simple and accessible — part of everyday life on Main Street.
State/Federal Campaigns
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We brought 80 small business owners to the Capitol for a Day of Action on childcare. Their voices helped secure $300 million in stabilization funding — a lifeline for a Main Street industry that’s been reeling for years.
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After shaping the state’s paid leave bill in 2023, we’re making sure small business owners — especially immigrant-owned enterprises — get the resources they need to make it work on the ground.
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Our 1,000 Main Streets champions are growing membership and organizing Days of Action around state budgets, making sure family, fairness, and freedom are at the center of spending decisions.
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Working with Small Business Majority, we flew 50+ small business owners into DC to educate lawmakers on a what a pro-Main Street tax code looks like ahead of the passage of OBBBA.
Back in the states, we’re arranging roundtables and town halls with elected officials to that they can see the impacts of the bill’s cuts to healthcare on-the-ground.
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When tariffs rise or healthcare cuts loom, Main Street Alliance moves fast. Through our Care Is Capital campaign and other efforts, we flood the zone with grounded testimony and real stories from small business owners across America. By amplifying the lived experiences of Main Street, we cut through the noise, counter disinformation, and make sure policymakers and the public hear what’s really at stake.
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Small businesses can’t thrive in chaos. We need fair markets, reliable public services, and a government that works for people — not against them. When extremist politicians slash funding or cripple key agencies, Main Street and working families pay the price.
That’s why we don’t just organize — we fight back in court. From blocking unlawful freezes to defending pro-small business policies, we bring Main Street voices into the courtroom to protect our communities.