With National Small Business Week underway in the US, it is time to recognize the crucial role small and franchised businesses play in the economy, and the resilience these companies have shown through the many challenges and disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic, write CBA President and CEO Richard Hunt and the heads of three small business trade associations, noting that US banks have been there to provide key support along the way. "For well over a century, the nation's leading banks have financed the American Dream for small and franchised businesses in every community they serve. This commitment was reaffirmed over the course of the last 18 months and continues today," they write.