Despite emergency stimulus measures, small business lending continues to fall. In the just-ended quarter, the Small Business Administration's flagship program backed 30% fewer loans than it did a year ago, and 55% fewer loans than it did in 2007, before the recession set in.
As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market.
In 2008 a lucky engineering firm snagged the top spot on a list of leading small business contractors to the federal government. Based in Alexandria, Va., the company had signed an impressive 39 contracts with government entities ranging from the U.S. Navy to the Department of Energy. The catch? The "small business" in question, VSE Corp., employs 1,920 workers and posted $1 billion in revenues last year.
Tina Ames owns the Craftsmen Cafe, a Clarence, N.Y. eatery that specializes in organic comfort fare such as chicken soup and apple pie. Recently she needed to replace her restaurant's roof, a $7,000 job. Ames was loath to part with that much cash and didn't want to take out a loan.
Louis Sirico had no reason to suspect that he was flooding his customers' email inboxes with content they "didn't really care" about. Sirico is the founder of IndustryWizards.com, a San Jose, Calif.-based professional online network that connects industry experts with one another and provides its 50,000 members with high tech-related content, product reviews, and research via blogs, discussion forums and monthly e-newsletters.
At the sound of a bell's "ding!," the floor of a cavernous expo hall swirls with movement as entrepreneurs in power suits scurry to find their next assigned table. There, a small business procurement officer waits to hear their pitch. The next bell will be in 20 minutes -- a brief window of time, but long enough to potentially kick off a lucrative business relationship.
Struggling small business owners can begin applying next week for an interest-free debt-relief loan through a new Small Business Administration program -- if, that is, they can find a bank to process their application.
One week before its emergency loan program is slated to launch, the Small Business Administration issued guidelines for banks and borrowers on how the new loans will work.
In the midst of a struggling economy, the Small Business Administration is hoping to create jobs and generate wealth in hard-hit urban communities by boosting small-business growth through its Emerging 200 initiative.
When the Senate passed its credit-card reform bill on Tuesday, Senator Christopher Dodd called it "a great day for consumers." But what will it mean for small business owners who've been struggling with inflated rates and unexpected fees on their credit cards?
Despite emergency stimulus measures, small business lending continues to fall. In the just-ended quarter, the Small Business Administration's flagship program backed 30% fewer loans than it did a year ago, and 55% fewer loans than it did in 2007, before the recession set in.
As Congress prepares to do battle over health reform, a parallel dispute is shaping up among small-business groups that are staking out opposing positions on a key element of reform proposals: whether Uncle Sam will take on a bigger role in offering insurance coverage or leave the field to the private market.
In 2008 a lucky engineering firm snagged the top spot on a list of leading small business contractors to the federal government. Based in Alexandria, Va., the company had signed an impressive 39 contracts with government entities ranging from the U.S. Navy to the Department of Energy. The catch? The "small business" in question, VSE Corp., employs 1,920 workers and posted $1 billion in revenues last year.
Tina Ames owns the Craftsmen Cafe, a Clarence, N.Y. eatery that specializes in organic comfort fare such as chicken soup and apple pie. Recently she needed to replace her restaurant's roof, a $7,000 job. Ames was loath to part with that much cash and didn't want to take out a loan.
Louis Sirico had no reason to suspect that he was flooding his customers' email inboxes with content they "didn't really care" about. Sirico is the founder of IndustryWizards.com, a San Jose, Calif.-based professional online network that connects industry experts with one another and provides its 50,000 members with high tech-related content, product reviews, and research via blogs, discussion forums and monthly e-newsletters.
At the sound of a bell's "ding!," the floor of a cavernous expo hall swirls with movement as entrepreneurs in power suits scurry to find their next assigned table. There, a small business procurement officer waits to hear their pitch. The next bell will be in 20 minutes -- a brief window of time, but long enough to potentially kick off a lucrative business relationship.
Struggling small business owners can begin applying next week for an interest-free debt-relief loan through a new Small Business Administration program -- if, that is, they can find a bank to process their application.
One week before its emergency loan program is slated to launch, the Small Business Administration issued guidelines for banks and borrowers on how the new loans will work.
In the midst of a struggling economy, the Small Business Administration is hoping to create jobs and generate wealth in hard-hit urban communities by boosting small-business growth through its Emerging 200 initiative.
When the Senate passed its credit-card reform bill on Tuesday, Senator Christopher Dodd called it "a great day for consumers." But what will it mean for small business owners who've been struggling with inflated rates and unexpected fees on their credit cards?
The Small Business Administration plans to begin dispersing funds in mid-June for a new, highly anticipated emergency lending program, but don't race off to the bank to fill out an application just yet. Many lenders are still sitting on the sidelines, waiting for more details from the SBA before they decide whether or not to participate.
Monday marks the start of National Small Business Week (NSBW), a five-day event intended to spotlight the accomplishments of America's entrepreneurs and draw policymakers' attention to the challenges confronting them. But after more than 50 years, the annual Small Business Administration-run event still remains off the radar of many small business owners.
An emergency loan program designed to shore up struggling-but-viable small businesses will open for applications in mid-June, the Small Business Administration announced Monday.
Here's something you probably haven't heard a lot these days: Despite an industrywide credit clampdown, many banks have sustained their lending to small businesses, and some are even making more loans now than they ever did before.
Despite recent encouraging signs in the economy, Americans are having a hard time getting credit and the effectiveness of government programs to spur lending is unclear, a congressional bailout watchdog said Thursday.
Thinking of floating your small business on the software-as-a-service cloud? Maybe it's time to step back down to Earth.
Geoff Chapin, CEO of green remodeling company Next Step Living, is ready to do his part for our flailing economy. He believes that federal stimulus funds, which include $5 billion for weatherization projects, will trickle down to his Boston-based startup.
More than a month after President Barack Obama pledged "aggressive action" to help small businesses struggling to survive the recession, key government relief efforts are running behind schedule, an audit report released Thursday points out.
President Barack Obama warned recently that small business lending had declined so sharply that the Small Business Administration was on track to back only half as many loans this year as it did last year. The SBA's lending data for the just-ended quarter bears out that bleak forecast: The number of loans the agency backed though its flagship program declined 57%.
With sales down, credit tight and job losses mounting, America's small businesses are struggling - and so far, the Small Business Administration hasn't been able to do much to help them weather the recession. In her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, President Barack Obama's pick to lead the troubled agency acknowledged the problems besetting the SBA but offered few concrete suggestions for addressing them.
Employment at small businesses with 500 or fewer employees decreased by 614,000 positions in March, marking one of the sharpest drops yet in 14 consecutive months of declines, according to an employment report released Wednesday by payroll processor ADP.
It is at least 1,000 pages long. It costs $787 billion. And it's as thick as two telephone books.
At a time when small business owners desperately need loans and credit lines to help them weather the recession, some of the industry's most active lenders have bolted shut the doors to their vaults.
The Small Business Administration is still drawing up guidelines for its forthcoming emergency loans program, a stopgap measure intended to shore up small businesses struggling to keep up with payments on existing debt. But the agency this week confirmed an unexpected twist: Businesses with current loans backed by the SBA won't be able to use the new loans to cover payments on their existing SBA debt.
President Obama vowed Monday to ease the financial plight of the nation's small businesses, which have been hit hard by the recession.
President Barack Obama vowed Monday to ease the financial plight of the nation's small businesses, promising immediate action to revive frozen credit markets.
President Barack Obama vowed Monday to ease the financial plight of the nation's small businesses, which have been hit hard by the recession.
President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Monday will announce administration plans to make lending to small businesses more attractive, two senior administration officials confirmed.
Small companies continue to hemorrhage jobs. Employment at companies with fewer than 500 employees dropped by 576,000 positions in February, according to ADP's latest job report, released Wednesday.
The Small Business Administration is still waiting for a detailed budget and breakdown of its financial priorities for the next fiscal year, but the budget overview President Barack Obama released last week earmarks around $700 million to support the agency in 2010, enough for it to back $28 billion in loans to small businesses.
The number of small business loans banks issue has cratered since the recession took root last year. Rebuilding that number is the focus of the small business provisions in the economic recovery bill that President Obama signed into law on Tuesday.
Bank lending to small businesses has dried up in recent months. One reason credit has grown scarce: They're risky loans. A new analysis of Small Business Administration-backed loans found that the failure rate has hit the double digits, with 11.9% of the SBA's loans last year going into default.
If your business has an online presence, picking a Web host is one of the most critical decisions you'll make. The host manages the servers on which your site will run and literally has control of your company's connection to its customers.
Spot Runner once seemed an unbeatable value proposition for entrepreneurs seeking to maximize their marketing budgets. Launched in 2006, the Los Angeles company helps small businesses create video ads for as little as $499 and target them by zip code on local TV.
Small businesses owners struggling to keep up with their bills may see some relief from a new $255 million emergency loan program authorized this week as part of the economic recovery bill.
With sales down and banks reluctant to extend loans without hefty collateral guarantees, many small businesses are strapped for operating capital. Both the House and Senate versions of the economic recovery bill address this pressing issue, but their proposed solutions are wildly different.
In Brunswick, Maine, the road running through the center of the town is spelled like the state: Maine Street. It's quintessential New England, picturesque and steeped in history - and like so many other downtown districts around the country, Maine Street is filled with small businesses struggling to survive the ongoing recession. But Maine Street's business owners will soon be looking to one of their own for help, when local resident Karen Gordon Mills takes charge as the new head of the Small Business Administration.
The issue of compensating your employees just got a bit trickier.
One of the keys to the various health reform plans kicking around Washington is "pooling." The proposal floated by President Obama during the campaign, for instance, would establish a National Health Insurance Exchange designed to help small businesses and individuals reduce their premiums.
Barack Obama made health-care reform a central promise of his presidential campaign. But the shape any change takes will probably depend as much on Congress as on the new president's plans.
Rich Gallo says he can't afford to provide health insurance for his nine employees. For a long time he put off buying insurance for himself, figuring he needed time to shop carefully. Gallo's desk was piled high with policy proposals when he suffered a heart attack. Lacking insurance, he delayed going to the hospital for several hours.
The government's first step toward thawing the frozen market for small business loans will take effect next month, in a behind-the-scenes move to unlock the capital some banks rely on to finance their small business lending.
Small business owners hit hard by the recession have little confidence that things will get better in the coming months, according to two surveys released on Tuesday.
On the campaign trail, President-elect Barack Obama pledged that his efforts to rebuild America's tattered economy would "start with our small businesses on Main Street." Maine businesswoman Karen Mills, Obama's nominee to head the Small Business Administration, will be his point person for that effort. But in a time of tremendous need among small businesses for government assistance, Mills is set to inherit an agency caught in a quagmire.
The small businesses sector in December suffered its largest one-month jobs decline in at least a decade, according to an employment report by payroll processor ADP, which estimates that small companies shed 281,000 jobs last month.
The credit freeze afflicting America's small businesses shows no signs of thawing. In the last three months of 2008, the Small Business Administration's flagship loan-guarantee program backed less than half the number of loans it approved a year earlier - a sign that fewer entrepreneurs are getting financing to start or expand their ventures.
Joe the Plumber must be pleased: President-elect Barack Obama has recently hinted he'll delay his plan to raise taxes on individuals earning more than $250,000 a year. But what will this reprieve really mean for small business owners - should they prepare for an eventual tax hike?
Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Karen Mills has been chosen by President-elect Obama to head the Small Business Administration.
Sales have come to a standstill at many small businesses, and few owners expect improvement any time soon.
What could jump-start the economy? Affordable loans for small business.
What's going well for small businesses? Not much, according to The National Federation of Independent Business' monthly Small Business Optimism Index, which fell 5.4 points in October and landed at the third-lowest reading in the history of the survey.
Riemeier Lumber weathered every economic crisis since 1925, including the Great Depression, but it isn't surviving the latest one. The Cincinnati building materials company will shut its doors November 6, laying off more than 100 employees.
Compared with many U.S construction firms, Premium Stone Surfaces has had a decent 2008. Owners Terry and Lora Mullins have nearly doubled their residential-repair business so far this year, even though their commercial contracts have cratered from 20 in 2007 to two today. But expenses have skyrocketed, and they've had to look far beyond their base in Craigsville, W.Va., to find those residential flooring jobs.
In his Democratic convention acceptance speech sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton declared that as one of the first initiatives of his administration, he would "take on the health care profiteers and make health care affordable for every family."
In speech after speech, presidential candidate John McCain hammers on the claim that his rival Barack Obama will raise taxes on many small businesses.
Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy and the financial markets meltdown it catalyzed blew a hole in small business owners' optimism about the economic environment, according to the latest installment of the National Federation of Independent Business' monthly survey.
President Bush's announcement Tuesday that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will temporarily do away with its insurance caps and cover all deposits in non-interest bearing accounts was a measure aimed straight at Main Street. But critics say the step doesn't address the most critical problem threatening small businesses: slow sales and a sluggish credit market.
When recruiting consultant Fran Quittel heard on her car radio one Friday afternoon in July that her bank, IndyMac, had been seized by federal regulators, she was surprised but unworried. An IndyMac customer for five years, Quittel had both personal accounts and business accounts at the bank, but she was confident her accounts contained less than the $100,000 insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday proposed emergency assistance for small business endangered by America's financial crisis, calling for a "small business rescue plan" of tax incentives and loans.
A growing number of businesses are struggling to land loans through the Small Business Administration's flagship lending program. The number of 7(a) loans given in the 2008 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, dropped 30% from 2007, the SBA reported last week.
Unable to get bank loans and credit lines, small business owners are turning to other sources for the cash they need to run their businesses.
With sales slow and credit almost nonexistent, small businesses - the country's largest employer - face painful job cutbacks.
After 41 years in business, Hull Printing shut down its printing presses for good in March, laying off 19 workers and closing one of the oldest family-run businesses in Barre, Vt. The catalyst: Hull Printing's bank slashed its line of credit, kicking off a death spiral that led to the company's collapse.
David Michaels sports a bona fide mane, sculpted and flowing, like a modern-day Bee Gee. Around his neck hangs his lucky red rep tie from Saks. In his hand: a comb with a built-in laser, meant to foster follicle growth.
With commodity, fuel and insurance costs hitting record highs, small-business owners are anxious about Thursday's federal minimum wage hike, which will require employers in 26 states and the District of Columbia to raise their base to at least $6.55.
Stephani Smith's Maui-based healthy meals delivery company had been thriving since 2004, but needed financial assistance to expand its marketing efforts and Web exposure.
Jody Hall considers herself lucky to be able to offer health insurance to the 55 employees of her two Seattle coffeehouses, Vérité Coffee and Cupcake Royale. But she may not be able to afford it much longer. Her premiums, currently $6,000 a month, took a staggering 40% leap last year. Even that is just for major medical, coverage that she calls "compromised." And it's available only to employees working at least 30 hours a week, who must still pay 25% of the cost.
Have you been a victim of corporate-America layoffs? Look to small businesses for your career future.
The two presidential candidates are in full Rudolph Valentino mode, breathing sweet nothings into the ears of small-business owners.
It's time to spruce up the window displays and organize your accounting records: Despite the economic downtown, sales of small businesses are starting to boom.
The dunking booth is always the most popular attraction at the Broadmoor Fest, a neighborhood carnival held every year since Hurricane Katrina to celebrate the survival of one of the Crescent City's low-lying, flood-ravaged districts. At recent fairs FEMA officials were favorite targets in the booth; this year, though, everyone was waiting in line to soak a city tax assessor.
By inadequately vetting participants in its HUBZone set-aside program, the Small Business Administration has mistakenly placed more than $20 million in government contracts in the hands of undeserving businesses, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report spotlighted in a hearing last week by the House Committee on Small Business.
For a tax that each year affects only a few hundred of the nation's 27 million small companies, the estate tax manages to scare an outsize number of entrepreneurs: In a July Zogby poll of small-business owners, nearly half said they believe they will be affected by the fee critics call "the death tax."
Small businesses drove much of the employment growth in July, according to a report released Wednesday by payroll manager Automatic Data Processing. Firms with fewer than 50 workers added 50,000 new non-farm jobs to the private sector this month, which offset the 41,000 jobs dropped at medium and large companies.
The good news: The economy is not as bad as it was in the early 1980s, when unemployment hit 10% and the inflation rate touched the double digits. The bad news: A lot of small business owners think it is.
Optimism is a rare commodity among today's small business owners, according to a new national survey conducted by Suffolk University. More than 80% believe the country is in an economic recession, and 86% feel that the government is doing "nothing" or "little" to help small businesses.
President Bush's recent nomination of Santanu "Sandy" Baruah to head the Small Business Administration (SBA) was met neither by celebrations or jeers in the small business community, but by a resounding "Who?"
When the Massachusetts passed its much-delayed state budget last week, it included an obscure tax-law change that could be crucial for small-business owners concerned about unfair competition. By becoming the 22nd state to adopt "combined reporting" legislation, Massachusetts lawmakers are hoping to put a stop to a longstanding practice that, they say, gives large corporate chains an unfair advantage over their smaller competitors at tax time.
Anne Messenger's hair stood on end as she read her former administrative assistant's Facebook profile. The picture showed the woman in a sultry pose, smoking a cigarette. Her main interests? Men and drinking. Yet in her interview, the candidate had seemed personable and energetic. The position included bookkeeping and her math skills were a little subpar, but she could brush them up on the job, right?
President Bush has selected a new leader for the Small Business Administration: Santanu "Sandy" Baruah, who currently heads the Economic Development Administration at the Department of Commerce and has been a member of the Bush administration since 2001.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain threw some red meat to the small-business crowd on Tuesday, promising that if elected president he would drastically overhaul the tax system, end corporate welfare, introduce tax credits to make health insurance more affordable, and help the GOP "reclaim our good name as the party of spending restraint."
The cost of health insurance continued its 20-year reign as the number-one issue worrying small-business owners, according to the latest edition of the Small-Business Problems and Priorities survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, released on Monday.
Barely two months after Meg Whitman vacated the CEO position at eBay after a 10-year run, the executive's supporters are eager to see her step into a new power-broker role.
Is it time to consider moving your small business to Macs?
It's no exagerration to say that entrepreneurs are being crushed by regulatory costs. A 2005 report by the Small Business Administration found that small firms spend $2,400 more per employee, on average, than bigger counterparts to keep up with the demands of Uncle Sam.
There are two proven paths to building wealth: You can increase the amount of money you make, or you can increase the amount of money you keep.
Dear FSB: My business partner and I have a small horse-treat manufacturing and distribution business. We are in a small commercial space and have no employees. We would like to expand, but need guidance with how to go about it. Do we hire people? Outsource the baking and packaging? As far as financing, is a commercial loan better than investors?
Dear FSB: My sister just started her own business and I'm trying to set up her payroll on Intuit's QuickBooks. The program is asking me for addresses to which to send state taxes and federal taxes. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I need to. Is there a list of "what to do" when paying employees? Who to register with? Where to send the tax payments, etc?
As if you didn't have enough to worry about.
An online job-search company founder was named National Small Business Person of the Year this week, becoming the first entrepreneur to win the Small Business Administration award for a Web venture
While the headline National Small Business Week events take place in Washington D.C. and New York City throughout the next few days, regional Small Business Administration (SBA) offices across the nation are recognizing small enterprises in their own time and in their own ways.
In "Small Business Success," small business owners share how they grew their businesses and some key decisions that made them successful. Watch "Small Business Success" on "Morning Express with Robin Meade" on Headline News.
A barbershop quartet sings "The Girl From Ipanema" in Portuguese on a television dialed to a Brazilian satellite channel inside Pavilion Barbecue, where the air is piquant with the aroma of the house specialty, frango de churrasco - slow-roasted chicken braised in red chili sauce.
Carnival operators in Alaska, landscapers in Pennsylvania and sugarcane processors in Louisiana are just a few of the thousands of small businesses imperiled by a Congressional standoff concerning H-2B visas, which allow seasonal foreign workers to enter the country legally.
Competing for federal grants can make a small-business owner feel as if she has stepped into a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Larger, better-funded firms are always ready to pounce on little guys and snatch their tiny portion of the government cheese. What's worse, some politicians have now decided that it's Tom who needs some help. The U.S. House has passed, and the Senate is considering, legislation that would dramatically alter the definition of "small" business and expand access to set-asides now reserved for independent entrepreneurs. The bill's Orwellian title: the Small Business Investment Expansion Act.
Dear FSB: Our company has been recognized as among the top contingency and retainer search firms, but would like to go beyond that. We are a small business with a young owner. What kind of recognition or lists can we be considered for?
Dear FSB: I own a carpet cleaning company. I am looking to move my existing health care insurance and 401(k) to one company. Do you have any suggestions on the best provider to contact?
Who's an entrepreneur's best friend during tax season? If "accountant" is your answer, you may need to reconsider.
The Small Business Administration and preferential contracting - procurement policies designed to assist small companies and other vendors designated as disadvantaged in open competition - have been inexorably linked for more than 50 years.
When she heard that a unit of the U.S. Navy planned to award contracts worth $5.4 million for disposing of hazardous waste in her area, Elizabeth Novak was ready to bid.
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