Click here for all of our featured Small Business Shoutouts.

Millions of small businesses across the country have embarked on a similar journey, with a goal of Making it in America.

Small businesses in America share a sense of passion and commitment, allowing them to become the backbone of the American economy. And that's why we want to highlight these inspiring stories. The daily Small Business Shoutout profiles a different small business that's working hard to Make it in America. If there's a small business you want us to know about, click here to post on our Facebook page, or send us an e-mail to makingitinamerica@hlntv.com.

You can also tweet us @HLNMakingIt and use #makingit.

To give you an idea of just how important small businesses are in this country, check out some of the ways these companies and business owners have impacted the U.S. job market and U.S. economy.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration:

• 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales.

• Small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s.

• The 600,000 plus franchised small businesses in the U.S. account for 40% of all retail sales and provide jobs for some 8 million people.

• The number of small businesses in the United States has increased 49% since 1982.

• Since 1990, as big business eliminated 4 million jobs, small businesses added 8 million new jobs.