Two nights ago, Obama delivered the 2012 State of the Union Address. However, as indicated by many reports that have surveyed the public’s response to the address, small businesses are beginning to truly feel left out of the equation.

To be fair, Obama did address many subjects affecting business in general – such as improving the manufacturing industry, bringing jobs back to the United States, international trade, unemployment, taxes, and making energy cleaner and more efficient. However, his dealings with small business seemed to only scratch the surface. His plans for small business fit into a large-scale plan for economic improvement and did not address the issues truly facing small business owners from day to day.

In fact, it seems that when it came time for Obama to discuss small business, he immediately began to address entrepreneurship and innovation instead. As small business owners know, these two ideas are not always synonymous. Small business owners who run businesses that have been around for many years, or those who work in industries such as food service, beauty, automotive, and other fields that have been around for are actually the people who run this country. According to the US Department of State, “fully 99 percent of all independent enterprises in the country employ fewer than 500 people,” and these small businesses “account 52 percent of all U.S. workers.” Therefore, the State of the Union Address seemed to overlook the issues affecting more than half of the United States population. While innovation is clearly great for the American economy, what seems to be more urgent is to address the needs of the huge portion of the population that is attempting to keep small businesses as the engine that keeps the American economy strong.

How could the speech have been improved? Obama could have done a much better job addressing the real issue faacing small business owners in 2012, such as how to grow their client base, where to find additional financing, and simply staying afloat in an economy that never seems to improve.