The past several years have not been easy for corporate voices. Companies that spoke up on social issues found themselves praised by half their employees and customers, and boycotted by the other half. A few high-profile missteps — statements that landed wrong, causes that became culture war flashpoints — sent a clear message: silence is safer.
So business leaders have been quiet, not because they stopped caring about the country but because the old calculus — that a business voice is helpful and welcome — no longer holds.
Now we find ourselves at America's 250th, and there's a trap a lot of companies are about to walk into. This is the least partisan terrain available: a shared milestone that belongs to every American (and every American business). And sitting this one out comes with a cost. The story of what enterprise has meant to this country will be written during this anniversary. The only question is who holds the pen.
The data makes clear that Americans don't want business to sit this one out. According to a 2024 U.S. Chamber of Commerce study, 93% of Americans say they'll think more highly of companies that publicly celebrate the 250th. But it goes deeper than brand perception: 82% believe businesses can play an important role in bringing people together. Americans aren't just open to this; they want it.
The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer sharpens the picture: your employer is now the most trusted institution in Americans' lives — more trusted than government, more trusted than media. 75% of people say CEOs are obligated to help bridge trust divides. Only 44% believe they are actually doing it. That gap is an invitation to act.
Business has always been part of how America marks its biggest moments. When the country turned 200 in 1976, companies of every size found ways to be involved, whether launching a bicentennial-themed product or sponsoring a float in the local parade. That instinct didn't come from a PR strategy. It came from a genuine civic identity that American enterprise has carried since the beginning.
That moment has come once again. That's why I'm inviting every business leader to write a Birthday Letter to America: a personal letter to their employees, members, communities, and country about what the 250th means to them, what they stand for, and what they believe America can be.
Business leaders across the country are already writing. Together for 250, organized by Business for America in partnership with leading business organizations, is coordinating a national showcase of these letters and a media push in mid-June. When hundreds of leaders write, it becomes something larger than any one of them — a document of what American business chose to say at this point in history.
Think of it as a virtual time capsule. A hundred years from now, anyone can open it and read what American business leaders believed about this country, where they thought it was headed, and what they wished for the future. That record will exist whether you're in it or not.
I'm writing one too. I've spent ten years watching business leaders go quiet — not out of indifference, but because every possible opening seemed to come with a political tripwire attached. This one doesn't. And I believe that when enough leaders choose to speak — honestly, hopefully, in their own voices — it will matter.
America is hungry for something honest and hopeful from people it still trusts. If you’re a business leader who has been waiting for the right moment, this is it. Join us at TF250.US/letter.
Sarah Bonk is a civic entrepreneur and the founder/CEO of Business for America. She spent over 20 years leading strategy, design, and organizational change at Apple and American Electric Power. Today, she works with business leaders to help fix what’s broken in American politics.
