New York SBDC Research Network

"Americans work almost 200 more hours every year than we did in 1970 — that's about an extra month," Psychology Today explains. And while putting in long hours isn't necessarily problematic, "it's only when the daily grind eclipses other areas of your life that it's time to stop and rethink your schedule." More HERE .

Advocacy's Small Business Quarterly Bulletin , a brochure-style publication that contains commentary and analysis on the current employment and financing trends of small businesses, shows a positive first quarter of 2011 for small business. Small business employment and financing were turning the corner and trending up, thus joining GDP, which has been growing for seven quarters.

National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2010 The National Compensation Survey (NCS) provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings, compensation cost trends, the incidence of benefits, and detailed benefit provisions. This bulletin presents estimates of occupational pay for the Nation. These national estimates originate from the NCS locality survey data and are weighted to represent the Nation as a whole. The estimates include pay for workers in major sectors within the U.S. economy in 2010–the civilian, private, and State and local government sectors–and by various occupational and establishment characteristics. The civilian sector, by NCS definition, excludes Federal Government, agricultural, and household workers. National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages by Census Division, 2010 Preliminary Multifactor Productivity Trends – 2010 [PDF]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, the Bureau) reports the number and frequency of work-related fatal injuries and nonfatal injuries and illnesses each year. The Bureau also provides detailed information on the circumstances of the injuries and illnesses and on the characteristics of the affected worker.

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in the growth of the U.S. economy. As the primary source for information on the nation’s labor market, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects data on new businesses and job creation. The following highlights from data series produced by BLS Business Employment Dynamics (BED) program provide some insights on the contribution of new and small businesses to the number of businesses and jobs in the economy.

How to kill innovation, in five easy steps | TechRepublic Some things to keep in mind if you want to foster innovation. If you wonder at a shortage of good new ideas, these may be some issues to address.

SBA Introduces New Mobile Application for Small Business Owners, Entrepreneurs New SBA mobile application brings enhanced access to information and resources WASHINGTON – Smart phone users interested in starting or growing a small business can now find helpful resources at their fingertips via a new SBA mobile application from the U.S. Small Business Administration. “Increasingly, smart phones are the vehicle through which Americans access information. This is certainly true of many entrepreneurs and small business owners and this new application ensures they will have access to SBA’s resources and programs – literally at their fingertips,” said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. “Greater mobility fits with the new user-focused SBA.gov launched recently, and is another example of the steps we are taking to do a better job of connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners with the tools to help them start or grow their businesses and create jobs.” Developed and donated as a gift by...

The Onondaga SBDC, in co-operation with some partners, has initiated a program called the Green Core Company certification, which "provides a blueprint for businesses working to achieve green operations through reduced environmental and social impacts, and recognizes businesses that make a substantial effort to develop a culture of sustainability within their organization; while challenging the offence of 'greenwashing' - the unregulated and improper use of the term and methodology of 'green' for marketing advantage." In other words, it is NOT a self-certification program that allows someone to pay some money to get a sticker for the store logo. The program is currently designed for businesses in the central New York (Syracuse) area, a participatory process involving SBDC clients who want to save money while doing better for the environment.

"Companies that are new to exporting and companies that have previously considered and abandoned an export strategy can use the Basics of Exporting to get up to speed on terminology, processes, common pitfalls and strategies for success." From the Southern United States Trade Association (SUSTA) , "a non-profit agricultural export trade development association comprised of the Departments of Agriculture of the 15 southern states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Since 1973, our programs and services have assisted exporters of high-value food and agricultural products. "SUSTA is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) , its member states and private companies. FAS administers and executes many foreign market development activities."

In 2007, U.S. military veterans owned 2.4 million businesses, which accounted for 9.0 percent of all businesses nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. These businesses generated $1.2 trillion in receipts, or about 4.1 percent of all business receipts nationwide, and employed nearly 5.8 million people. All in all, businesses where veterans were majority owners or half-owners numbered 3.7 million, representing 13.5 percent of all businesses nationwide, accounting for more than $1.6 trillion in receipts and employing 8.2 million people. The new data come from the Survey of Business Owners (SBO): Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2007 , which provides the first-ever detailed information for all veteran-owned businesses in the United States, including number of firms, sales and receipts, number of paid employees and annual payroll. Statistics are also shown for nonveteran-owned businesses, as well as for businesses that are equally owned by both veterans and nonveterans. Nearl...

We know from previous Advocacy-sponsored research and more than three decades of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that year in and year out veterans have a consistently higher rate of self-employment than non-veterans. Why is this? The new study by the SAG Corporation, Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship among Veterans [PDF] , investigates this question and quantifies a variety of factors observed in its analyses. The research summary can be found here [PDF] . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Joe Sobota at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

WASHINGTON – A proposed rule published this week for comment in The Federal Register by the U.S. Small Business Administration would adjust the size definition of small businesses in the transportation and warehousing sector to reflect changes in marketplace conditions in those sectors. The proposed revisions would increase the revenue-based size definition businesses must meet to qualify as small businesses in 22 industries of the transportation and warehousing sector. As part of its ongoing comprehensive review of all size standards, the SBA evaluated all industries in this sector that have revenue-based size standards to determine whether the size standards should be retained or revised. In 2007, the SBA began the process of reviewing and updating size standards based on industry-specific data. Before this, the last overall review of size standards occurred more than 25 years ago. Under provisions in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, SBA will continue its comprehensive review o...

WASHINGTON – The devastating effects of a hurricane extends beyond the coastal areas where the storms land. In recent years, we’ve seen how the impact of storm surge—which is the indirect damage from water and flying debris—inflicts collateral damage on small businesses in a surprisingly widespread area. The 2011 Mid-Atlantic Hurricane season begins June 1. Is your business prepared for a possible shutdown on the heels of the infrastructure collapse that usually follows a major storm? Get tips on protecting your customers, employees and your investment during a free webinar on May 17 at 2 p.m. EDT. Hosted by Agility Recovery Solutions and the U.S. Small Business Administration, the webinar will feature Weather Services International Senior Meteorologist Ben Papandrea, who will present the 2011 Hurricane Season forecast. Paul Sullivan, a vice president for Agility Recovery Solutions, will share best practices towards preparing your company for disasters. SBA has partnered with Agili...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama hailed small business owners as the backbone of the nation’s economy in his proclamation of the week of May 15-21 as National Small Business Week. The President declared them to be the embodiment of America’s promise: “the idea that if you have a good idea and are willing to work hard enough, you can succeed in our country.” The President’s proclamation was issued before the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 48th annual observance of National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C. (May 18-20). The event honors outstanding entrepreneurs from across the country, and features announcement of the 2011 National Small Business Person of the Year, who is selected from among 54 small business award winners from 50 states, D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The President’s proclamation states: “Our country started as an idea, and it took hard-working, dedicated, and visionary patriots to make it a reality. A successful business starts much th...

WASHINGTON – Fifteen individuals from across the country have been appointed to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Council on Underserved Communities (CUC). Building on SBA’s core programs and Recovery initiatives, the CUC will provide input, advice and recommendations on strategies to help strengthen competitiveness and sustainability for small businesses in underserved communities. These strategies will be focused on increasing entrepreneurship and technical assistance, creating new and strengthening existing outreach and training, and raising awareness in underserved communities of SBA programs and services. The CUC is chaired by Catherine Hughes, founder and chairperson of Radio One and TV One, and will have 20 members who represent a diverse range of backgrounds and geographic areas. “One of SBA’s core missions is to support small businesses in traditionally underserved communities, including minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities and in rural areas,”...

From export.gov Are you an exporter seeking a market where the United States has an existing competitive advantage? Are you spending time looking through pages of legal texts to figure out the tariff under a trade agreement for your products? Would you like to feel empowered to perform instant and at-a-glance searches for trade and tariff trends in one easily accessed location online? The FTA Tariff Tool has the answers to these and many other trade-related questions. America’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners offer attractive markets for many U.S. companies looking to expand into new markets or export for the very first time. Through these agreements, the U.S. has negotiated the elimination of tariffs, the removal of non-tariff barriers, and secured non-discriminatory treatment of U.S. goods and services. Originally trade and tariff information could only be accessed by sifting through the actual text of the agreements. The FTA Tariff Tool streamlines the search process... Additio...

From BNET , by Jon Gelberg: So you’ve decided you need to blog. As the owner of the business, you want to put a human face on the brand and become a source of valuable information for customers. Good for you! The big question now is, what the heck are you going to write about? And, more importantly, will anyone read it? Obviously you’re going to have to get a feel for what your target audience wants to read. That will come with time. Right now you just need to start writing. To give you a jump start on your blogging efforts, I’ve come up with 10 specific post ideas that I’ve found work well with most any audience.