The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's leading small-business association, announced its endorsement of U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson in her re-election bid Monday.

"In a time when there is a lot of focus on helping small business, some leaders just talk about it and others work to find ways to deliver on it," Lisa Goeas, NFIB's vice president for political operations, said in a news release. "Congresswoman Emerson is one of those leaders working to deliver results for our nation's job creators."

In the release, the NFIB said Emerson has a long track record of support for small business with a "100 percent" voting record in Congress. The NFIB said Emerson has been a strong leader on health care cost issues and is focused on regulatory reforms that help reduce costs on small business.

According to the news release, the endorsement comes from NFIB's Save America's Free Enterprise Trust, the association's political action committee, and is based on positions on key small-business issues including health care, taxes, and labor and regulatory issues.

Emerson will face Democrat Tommy Sowers of Rolla, independent Larry Bill of Jackson and Libertarian Rick Vandeven of Chaffee in the November election.