BALTIMORE — There's a lot of potential ground for presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to cover in their first and possibly only debate before the 2024 election.
One topic, they are almost certain to touch on, is likely the economy and what either candidate will put in place to help cool inflation and business owners across the country may be tuning in specifically for that conversation.
That's definitely the case for "10,000 Small Businesses Voices"a group, created by global investment banking company Goldman Sachs, that represents the interests and concerns of thousands of businesses.
Brothers, Khari and Shawn Parker, co-founders of Baltimore's Connie's Chicken and Waffles, believe the new program is needed; even after seeing success with their business for nearly a decade.
"Just knowing what we know now, it’s our responsibility and duty to kind of forge the path and to help out newer business owners the way that business owners helped us out when we first started," Khari said.
The duo runs Connie's Chicken and Waffles in Lexington Market, which is home to many other small businesses. Khari talks about why he feels like being a part of Voices is crucial.
"It gives us the opportunity to actually have our voices heard by local state, national level policy makers," he said.
Khari along with many of the other business owners who are a part of Voices, hope the candidates are able to tackle at least some of their concerns about, access to capital, affordable childcare for their employees, workforce development and affordability, which ties back to inflation, and even A-I.
"With artificial intelligence emerging on the scene, the question becomes what kind of policy and legislation will come out and how will that affect business owners?" Khari asked.
To make sure that message gets to ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, they put a digital billboardup in Times Square.
So why try to make such a big statement on behalf of small businesses? Khari says the answer is in the numbers.
"It affects everyone," he said. "Small businesses are the bedrock of our community. [We] make up 50% of the jobs in the United states 44% of the GDP."
Which means if the candidates are given the opportunity to tackle these topics on stage, it could make a difference in a race that's expected to be close in November.
"Success in this sense would be them mentioning their small business policies and allowing the American people, the small business owners to decide, ‘hey this policy works for me, this policy doesn't just so we can kind of know where the candidates stand and make our best individual decisions," Khari ended.
The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia hosts the debate with ABC News at 9 p.m. EST.
ClickHERE to learn more about the work Voices is doing with small businesses across the country.
