Wikipedia:Connected Commerce Council

The Connected Commerce Council (3C) is a Washington, DC based non-profit membership organization created in 2018. 3C's mission is to ensure that online tools needed by small businesses remain cheap and easily accessible. 3C helps small business through issue advocacy, education, training, and mentoring. 3C works on issues such as anti-trust, data privacy, and security at both the state and federal level. Jake Ward is the founder and president of the organization.

History
3C was founded in 2018 by Jake Ward. Ward's aim was to keep digital services to small businesses affordable and accessible. He was particularly concerned with anti-trust rules hamstringing such services.

In 2020, 3C announced that it had expanded its work to Europe.

Issues
In addition to the issues detailed below, 3C also works on international trade.

Anti-trust
3C has publicly opposed anti-trust policy aimed at large technology firms. 3C argues that while successful tech companies may be large and interconnected, they are also very competitive and innovative and that this benefits small businesses. 3C was particularly concerned about a 450-page report generated by the House Judiciary Committee that called for numerous changes to anti-trust laws targeted against companies like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google.

3C strongly opposed a lawsuit filed in December 2020 by Colorado's attorney general along with 38 other state attorneys general alleging that Google had engaged in anti-competitive conduct that resulted in lower quality search results and higher prices. Ward called the lawsuit "nuts." A similar lawsuit was filed in December 2020 by Texas' attorney general on behalf of ten states was also denounced by 3C.

In 2020, 3C published an open letter to Colorado's governor, Jared Polis, signed by about 150 small businesses stressing the importance of protecting access to online tools during the coronavirus pandemic through overly aggressive anti-trust enforcement. Ward expressed concern about a House Judiciary Committee report on anti-trust issues surrounding large technology firms and investigations be conducted by state attorneys general.

3C has led the effort to send similar letters to the governors of New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah. Letters were also sent to relevant congressional committees.

Privacy
3C supports rigorous privacy protections that are tailored not to impede economic growth. The organization supports a universal standard for data practices. It believes that such a standard should avoid vaguely defined terms but should instead have clear definitions and precise rules in order to promote compliance.

Security
3C wants security-related legislation to continue to allow the use of large anonymized data sets. 3C would like federal legislation that encourages business owners to bring security breaches to the attention of law enforcement while enacting “safe harbor” rules to ensure that they are not punished for coming forward.

States
The Connected Commerce Council presented Governor Andy Beshear and other state policymakers with a letter signed by numerous community leaders and small businesses asking for help to ensure access to certain business-critical digital tools. The letter specifically singled out overbroad regulations and poorly thought-out court orders as a threat to small businesses. The letter was signed by 80 business leaders from across Kentucky.

Political appointments
3C supported the nomination of Isabel Guzman to lead the Small Business Administration.

Training
Google has partnered with the Connected Commerce Council to provide training, consulting, and other resources to people who want better careers or to grow their businesses. This program, called “Grow with Google,” focuses heavily on computer and social media skills. The program uses a wide range of means to reach learners ranging from short online video tutorials to multi-day in-person workshops. This program is part of what 3C calls a “digital safety net” for small businesses.

Research
A study conducted by the Connected Commerce Council in 2020 determined that about 70% of small businesses found digital tools were very useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. 31% of respondents said they would have to reduce their operations or shutdown altogether without such resources. The same study found that businesses that did not use e-commerce were twice as likely as those previously doing business online to have ceased operations during the pandemic.

In 2020, 3C contracted with Google and Greenberg to produce a research report based on a survey of 7,021 small business in all 50 states, with results broken down by state. The report was entitled “Digitally Driven.” The researchers found that businesses that adopted online tools aggressively at the start of the pandemic were on track to earn four times as much revenue as businesses, called “Digital Maintainers,” that failed to adapt in the same manner.

Jake Ward
Ward grew up in northern Maine in Greenville. His father was a small business owner. Ward worked in politics but later moved onto corporate communications in the technology industry. Prior to starting the Connected Commerce Council, Ward was co-founder and CEO of the Application Developers Alliance and Forward Strategies. He sits on the advisory board of Data Catalyst, a non-profit working to mold data privacy policies to provide meaningful protection while promoting economic growth. Ward has testified before the United States Congress. He is a frequent public speaker.