Welcome remarks by Governor Cook at the State of Small Business Symposium, June 24, 2026

🎥 Jun 24, 2026 📺 Federal Reserve ⏱ 5m 👁 1649 views

Transcript (PDF): https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsev... The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It performs five general functions to promote the effective operation of the U.S. economy and, more generally, the public interest. The Federal Reserve conducts the nation’s monetary policy to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. economy; promotes the stability of the financial system and seeks to minimize and contain systemic risks through active monitoring and engagement in the U.S. and abroad; promotes the...

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About Lisa Cook

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has focused recent public appearances on the intersection of artificial intelligence, financial inclusion, and small business economics. At a July 2026 panel on "Emerging Innovation, AI and Financial Inclusion," Cook stated that financial inclusion "connects directly to our dual mandate" and described AI as "central to my work at the Fed." She noted that the speed of AI adoption is "remarkable," citing a small business credit survey finding that nearly half of small employer firms reported using AI and 71% saw increased productivity. Cook also said she began holding roundtables with stakeholders in 2022, before ChatGPT appeared, because stakeholders "weren't talking to one another." In May 2026 remarks at the SIEPR Spring Policy Forum, Cook said inflation was "clearly moving in the wrong direction," estimating the PCE price index rose 3.8% over the 12 months ending in April, "well above our 2% target." She stated that she saw "elevated risks to both sides of our mandate" and believed "the right course of action is to hold rates steady," while adding she was "prepared to raise rates if the expected disinflation does not appear in a timely manner." Cook also warned that "AI-related job loss could precede job gains" and that the economy "could be approaching the most significant reorganization of work in generations." At the June 2026 State of Small Business Symposium, Cook highlighted that 99.9% of U.S. businesses have fewer than 500 employees and have accounted for 61% of net new job creation since 1995, emphasizing that achieving the dual mandate "will create the conditions where small businesses and all Americans can thrive."

Source: AI-verified profile updated from Lisa Cook's recent appearances. Browse all interviews →

Transcript (10 segments)

Lisa Cook0:00

Welcome to the State of Small Business Symposium. Thank you to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland for hosting this event. And thanks to each of you for your interest in small businesses and the vital role they play in creating jobs, expanding economic opportunities, and building vibrant communities.

Along with innovation, small and new businesses and entrepreneurship were major, long-standing focal points of my research before I arrived at the Fed. Understanding small and new businesses is critical to understanding the US economy. What happens in these storefronts, offices, shop floors, and even basements and garages shapes households, neighborhoods, and ultimately the aggregate outcome for the US economy.

Consider this. 99.9% of businesses in the US have fewer than 500 employees, and since 1995, those businesses have accounted for 61% of net new job creation. Monetary policy makers' actions matter deeply to owners and employees of small firms. Achieving our dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices will create the conditions where small businesses and all Americans can thrive.

Due to the prevalence of small businesses in the US, policy makers and researchers must have high-quality data about this important part of the economy. The Federal Reserve's Small Business Credit Survey, SBCS, is an essential source for such data. As a national sample of businesses with fewer than 500 employees, the SBCS provides insights into firms' financing requirements, debt needs, and experiences generally.

I am grateful to all the Federal Reserve System staff who work to make the survey and the collection and analysis of data from it possible. As an economist who started surveying firms as early as the dissertation process and throughout many countries, I appreciate the ongoing effort it takes to consistently produce such a survey.

These researchers are not only consistently producing the survey, but they have also increased its size and scope over the last decade. This year marks 10 years since the survey went national, going from a four-bank regional effort to a system-wide collaboration. The questions have expanded, too, and the survey now captures near real-time small business credit conditions, financing frictions, and emerging operational challenges that are often not directly observable in other economic statistics or administrative data sets.

The full 2025 survey will be presented later today, but I want to call attention to one notable finding: the use of artificial intelligence, AI, by small businesses. The survey found that nearly half of small employer firms reported using AI in some capacity, and 71% of these firms reported increased productivity as a result. These data suggest that many small businesses are resourceful, adaptable, and eager to find innovative tools that help them manage and grow their operations.

This finding is the diametric opposite of the conventional wisdom that large firms have an advantage in deploying AI. But as someone who spent her career studying innovation, I am not at all surprised to see small and especially new businesses experimenting with and deploying AI. Some of the most significant breakthroughs this country has ever witnessed came from startups using frontier technologies in new and innovative ways.

This finding on AI usage is just one example of the timely and relevant insights into small business decision making the SBCS captures. If you are a researcher or future researcher, or a graduate or undergraduate student, practitioner, or policy maker who wants to better understand the financial experience of small firms, I encourage you to explore the survey's data in depth. They provide insights related to which firms access credit, how they seek it, why they are being turned down, and what they plan to do next.

From both my own research and from my visits to communities around the country, I know that access to credit plays a key role in small firms' ability to get established, grow, create jobs, spur innovation, and strengthen their communities. Thank you for attending this year's symposium and for your interest in small businesses and the SBCS. The organizers have created an exciting program for you today and tomorrow. This is an important time for us to understand the challenges and opportunities facing small businesses and the solutions supporting them. Thank you again for being part of this symposium.