New York SBDC Research Network

WASHINGTON – Less than 90 days after Hurricane Sandy struck, the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved more than $1.1 billion in disaster loans to 16,800 residents and businesses in the federally declared states affected by the storm. This milestone comes as Congress passed emergency legislation that will add $799 million to SBA’s disaster assistance program budget to help meet the demand for loans from Hurricane Sandy and future disasters. "Getting money into the hands of individuals and businesses in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy continues to be one of our top priorities," said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. "My pledge to those affected by the hurricane is that SBA, working together with our local and federal partners, will help you rebuild. I am pleased Congress took the important step of appropriating much-needed funds to help us keep our promise." Here’s how the supplemental appropriations will be used: * $520 million for disaster loan...

On May 9 the House voted to kill the American Community Survey, which collects data on some 3 million households each year and is the largest survey next to the decennial census. The ACS — which has a long bipartisan history, including its funding in the mid-1990s and full implementation in 2005 — provides data that help determine how more than $400 billion in federal and state funds are spent annually. Businesses also rely heavily on it to do such things as decide where to build new stores, hire new employees, and get valuable insights on consumer spending habits... The fight over cutting funds for data-gathering agencies has opened up a rift in the deficit-hawk crowd. A handful of organizations that generally support big fiscal spending cuts have voiced their support for fully funding the three main data-gathering agencies: Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Chamber of Commerce, for example, strongly advocates funding them, since its ...

Since 1953 the SBA has approved more than 1.9 million loans to U.S. Residents and Businesses WASHINGTON – Emergency lending by the U.S. Small Business Administration to survivors of natural and man-made disasters since 1953 has surpassed $50 billion, SBA’s head of disaster response told members of the U.S. House Small Business Committee at a hearing on federal disaster response programs. “Since the agency’s founding in 1953,” said SBA Associate Administrator James Rivera, “the agency has made more than 1.9 million low-interest disaster loans worth more than $50 billion to homeowners, renters, nonprofit organizations and businesses of all sizes.” The $50 billion in SBA assistance represents loans made to help residents and business owners recover from many of the most devastating disaster events in U.S. history. Since FY 1989, more than $36 billion in SBA disaster loans have been made, with significant portions of that total going to those rebuilding after the Northridge Earthqua...

To help the SBDC delegation on their current trip to Washington, last week I assembled information for each of New York's 29 members of the House of Representatives. Here's what I put together: http://www.nyssbdc.org/RNFiles/NYS_House_Overview.doc The idea was to prepare a one-page summation of each member - district, party affiliation, committee and subcommittee assignments, etc. Also, what issues are key to them? Where in the press (and in what context) do their names come up in the press? Answering this last question was the fun part. I read a lot of articles about each of the twenty-nine. I wanted to excerpt from only those articles that made reference to a stand on an issue relating to the economy, or those which would affect their local business sector. I found these in local business papers, press releases, the representative's website, business journals, etc. When possible, I only selected items that have appeared within the last 12 months (though there are exceptio...

We've written occasionally about Melissa Data's website before. There is a wealth of data available. Instead of me listing the highlights for you, below is a list of information that is provided by the site. I've broken it down by the level of geography by which data can be found. With respect to providing research for our clients, I find the links for home sales, nonprofit organizations, business credit reports, and income tax returns especially useful. General U.S. Addresses - Verify & correct any U.S. address. Canadian Addresses - Look up & correct Canadian addresses. Carrier Routes Radius - Displays the Carrier Routes in a radius around a given street address. People Finder - Locate anyone anywhere with public records. Business Credit Report - Comprehensive financials and credit risk facts. Easy-to-read format. By ZIP Code Home Sales - Get the monthly home sales and selling price by ZIP Code. Income Tax Statistics - Income statistics by ZIP Code. House Numbers ...