John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO
John Arensmeyer has used his long experience as a business owner to build Small Business Majority into a nationally recognized small business organization and the leading advocate for critical public policy issues facing America’s entrepreneurs—particularly healthcare reform, clean energy, access to capital and job creation. The organization is focused on ensuring small businesses’ success as a way to rebuild the economy.
John was the founder and CEO of ACI Interactive, an award-winning international e-commerce company. Information Week named ACI's signature product one of the nation's top 100 e-business innovations, and the company was cited by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the top 100 fastest growing private companies in the Bay Area. Earlier, John was the chief operating officer of a pioneering multimedia business and an attorney in New York.
John is a frequent speaker on small business policy issues and a regular guest on TV and radio, including PBS NewsHour, Fox News, NPR's Marketplace, MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and the CBS Evening News. In 2009 he served on a panel at the White House summit on healthcare reform. He testifies regularly before congressional committees, and has briefed congressional leadership on the small business perspective on healthcare reform, clean energy policies, job creation and small business lending. He also sits on the Association for Enterprise Opportunity's Enterprise Economic Impact Council.
Terry Gardiner, Vice President, Policy & Strategy
Terry Gardiner, based in Washington, DC, directs Small Business Majority's policy development and works on long-term strategic planning, where he brings to bear his decades of business ownership and job creation experience. He is particularly focused on policies that will ensure the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act, including the establishment of the 50 state small business healthcare exchanges. He also plays a key role in policies that promote a vibrant clean energy economy, access to capital and small business economic development.
Originally a commercial fisherman, Terry founded and spent 22 years as the CEO of Silver Lining Seafoods, later NorQuest Seafoods. He grew the company to over $100 million in sales, with 1,000 employees and markets in 22 countries. After the sale of NorQuest in 2004, he turned to public policy work, focusing on healthcare reform.
Terry is a former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, in which he served for 10 years and authored a host of successful groundbreaking legislation. He is a member of the National Co-Op Advisory Board and has testified at congressional committee hearings.
Kathy Berry, Operations Director
Kathy Berry directs Small Business Majority’s administrative, accounting and human resources operations, while also working on selected projects. She has 30 years of business management experience, including more than 10 years in small entrepreneurial environments, having helped grow three small businesses in the arenas of healthcare, interactive technology and online education. She also has held senior positions with companies and organizations focused on technology, law and housing.
Prior to joining Small Business Majority, Kathy served as a Director at iMind Education Systems and as Director of Operations for ACI Interactive, where she oversaw administration, human resources and accounting. Most recently, she was Human Resources Manager for Freed & Associates, a boutique healthcare consulting firm.
Rhett Buttle, National Outreach & Government Affairs Director
Rhett Buttle directs Small Business Majority’s Washington, DC operations, acting as the primary liaison with the administration, Congress and national partners. He also directs the organization's growing small business outreach efforts, which include fostering strong relationships with business and other organizations across the country and building an active network of small business owners. Before joining Small Business Majority, Rhett served in the Office of the President at George Washington University. Prior to that, he worked on President Obama’s 2008 campaign, and in the office of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he was part of California’s healthcare reform team.
David Chase, California Outreach Director
David Chase directs Small Business Majority's Sacramento office, focusing on relationships with small business organizations and owners across California and working closely with legislators and other policymakers in the state. Previously, he served for more than four years in the office of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, where he built coalitions with business and other stakeholder groups to advance the Governor's agenda. David was part of the team responsible for building the coalition behind Governor Schwarzenegger's 2007 comprehensive healthcare reform proposal.
Erin Musgrave, Communications Director
Erin Musgrave directs Small Business Majority's communications functions, including media relations, content and small business owner stories. An award-winning journalist, her experience in the newspaper industry spans both editorial and advertising. She worked as a reporter, editor and advertising executive for a newspaper group in California before launching a weekly newspaper and serving as publisher and editor-in-chief. She then transitioned into public relations, where she managed marcom for a green business in Santa Cruz, CA, while providing PR and marketing support to small businesses on a consulting basis.
Conan Knoll, Research & Development Manager
Conan Knoll manages opinion research and development for Small Business Majority. He also develops major reports and policy documents. Previously, he was a news editor and reporter at several California Central Coast newspapers. In his 12 years as a journalist, Conan covered city, county and state governments, coordinated news coverage and oversaw a staff of award-winning reporters. He has won awards for investigative reporting, breaking news coverage and editorial writing, and has led newsrooms that won awards for general excellence in journalism.
Jessica Stone, Outreach Manager
Jessica Stone manages healthcare outreach to the states out of Small Business Majority's Washington, DC office where she builds strong relationships with business and other organizations across the country. Prior to joining Small Business Majority, she served as the principal healthcare policy advisor for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, Chair of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. She was part of the senator's team that worked on the Affordable Care Act and its small business provisions. Jessica has also worked on several U.S. Senate campaigns in Florida, North Carolina and Louisiana.
Michael Points, Southern California Outreach Manager
Michael Points manages Small Business Majority’s outreach activities in Southern California, where he focuses on educating small business owners on how the Affordable Care Act affects their businesses, and collects their feedback. He directly reaches out to small businesses and business organizations through Listening Tours, conferences and other meetings so that owners understand the impact of the healthcare law on their bottom line. Michael has more than 10 years of political organizing experience working on presidential, congressional and state campaigns, as well as for the Alliance for Climate Protection.
Erica Dowell, Network Coordinator
Erica Dowell grows and maintains Small Business Majority’s small business owner network by fostering relationships with entrepreneurs and small business groups nationwide. Before joining the team, Erica worked for U.S. Senator Mark Warner where she helped build a network of local elected officials and community leaders. During the 2010 election, she was a field organizer for Congressman Rick Boucher in Southwest Virginia and worked in his congressional office during the healthcare debate.
Carly Imhof, Writer/Researcher
Carly Imhof is a writer and researcher for Small Business Majority. Carly helps develop testimony, reports, media materials and manages the Health Coverage Guide. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from California Polytechnic State University, she moved to the Bay Area to pursue a writing career. Carly began her work with Small Business Majority as an intern researching healthcare policy for development of the California Health Coverage Guide. After working on the website and on other media-related projects, she was hired as a full-time writer.
Eszter Szocska, Executive Coordinator
Eszter Szocska manages Small Business Majority's web communications, small business database and project IT functions. Previously, she worked as an executive assistant and website administrator at Green-Wifi, a small business specializing in the development of solar-powered Wi-Fi grid networks for schools in the developing world. Previously, Eszter spent nine years in Tokyo, Japan, where she cofounded FCC International, a small web services company.
Ben Geyerhahn, Director, Special Projects
Ben Geyerhahn manages Small Business Majority’s New York office, while also managing special projects in healthcare, clean energy, access to capital and small business workforce management.
Ben co-authored the Small Business Majority study “The Impact of Healthcare Reform on New York’s Small Businesses.” He worked with Criterion Ventures on Healthcare Uncovered, a project that tracked the cash market for health insurance services, and has advised social venture capitalists on the purchase of companies that identify and deliver public benefits, such as SCHIP and food stamps. Most recently, he worked with New York State elected officials on the pricing and delivery of Family Health Plus, a state-designed health insurance plan, and with a nonprofit organization on the design of a state healthcare exchange.
Ben is also the managing principal with Hudson TG, a strategic political and policy consulting firm.
Celia Canfield, Clean Energy Business Advisor
Celia Canfield has played senior management and advisory roles for Small Business Majority since its founding. She now advises the organization on its clean energy research and business outreach efforts. She is a long-time small business owner, and, as a consultant in clean energy and sustainability, has worked with West Coast Green, Sustainable Life Media and several other green media properties and solution providers.
With more than 25 years of print and web publishing experience, Celia developed communication programs for some of the world’s largest brands. She built a successful custom content creation agency as a co-founder of Tendo Communications.
Celia is a charter member of Women’s Energy Efficiency Network (WEEnet), and is a member of Efficiency First. She has first-hand understanding of implementing green design and sustainable products and methods from renovating her home to make it LEED-compliant. She wrote about her renovation experiences and was featured in USA Today.
