Proclamation 5145—Small Business Week, 1984

America's strength lies in the ingenuity and perseverance of its people. No other group of Americans better exemplifies these qualities than the Nation's small business owners, who contribute daily to our economic well-being.

The willingness of these individuals to embrace the challenges of competition and independence ensures that our lives are enriched with new opportunities and innovations. When their resourcefulness and resilience are melded with an economic system that allows them to pursue their goals and harness the dynamic forces of the marketplace, new products and technologies are developed, jobs are created, and the young and unskilled are trained for more productive lives. With each new opportunity our commitment to liberty is strengthened; with each new accomplishment our faith in ourselves is reaffirmed.

Entrepreneurs are the standard-bearers of economic progress and the stalwarts of the energizing forces of the free market. As we embark upon a new era of economic growth and development, we should encourage small business owners by acknowledging their tremendous importance as the mainsprings of continued economic and individual progress for our Nation.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning May 6, 1984, as Small Business Week. I call upon the American people to join with me in saluting the small business owners of our Nation during this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

In Witness Whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3rd day of Jan., in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-4, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.

RONALD REAGAN