Chairman Williams Op-Ed: Main Street Must Stem 'Silver Tsunami' of Ownership Exits

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, published the following op-ed in Newsmax.

"As small business owners near retirement, many successful Main Street businesses face a new challenge: finding someone to carry on what they've built.

"By 2035, roughly six million American small businesses will change ownership as their owners retire, a movement experts now call the 'silver tsunami."

"Without family successors in place, many of these businesses will be forced to close their doors. For the next generation of young entrepreneurs who are willing to work hard and take risks, this challenge presents a tremendous opportunity.

"In my home state of Texas, the stakes are especially high. Texas ranks near the top among those with the most small business value at stake, and nationally, boomer-owned businesses employ about one in six workers.

"My own family's business made it through this transition.

"My father, Jack Williams, opened a Chevrolet dealership in Fort Worth in 1939.

"I came home to work alongside him, and in time, the business became mine to run. It still serves customers today, and I intend to pass it on to children and grandchildren, as my father did to me.

"That kind of handoff is becoming rarer every year. Fewer than 15% of businesses are passed down within the family, and many owners assume the question of who comes next will sort itself out.

"It usually doesn't. A Chase survey this year found that 40% of small business owners plan to retire within the next decade, yet 70% have little or no formal plan.

"Part of the problem is what we've told young people: get a degree, find a corporate job, and leave business ownership to someone else. Even so, more than a third of Gen Z and millennial business owners say they plan to buy a business from a retiring owner.

"House Republicans have been working to make that transition easier for families.

"When we passed the Working Families Tax Cuts, we permanently raised the estate tax exemption to $15 million per individual.

"That means more family farms, ranches, or businesses can stay in the family without the generation being forced to sell land or equipment to pay the IRS.

"The U.S. House has also passed two of my bills to help buyers finance a purchase: the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act and the Main Street Parity Act.

"Together, these bills will help the next generation of small business owners access the financing they desperately need to succeed and keep a local shop open instead of watching it close.

"As Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, I will keep working with President Trump and my House Republican colleagues to ensure the businesses that built Texas do not disappear for lack of ownership.

"My father's dealership is still open because someone was ready when the time came.

"With the right planning, more Texas families can say the same, and we can keep Main Street on its feet for generations to come."

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