New York SBDC Research Network

The business community is dead-set against raising taxes on the rich, right? Sorry, trick question. It's fallacious to think that there is single, monolithic bloc of company owners and managers out there all singing from the same economic hymnal. Many small businesses, in contrast to U.S. multinationals, largely back the so-called Buffett rule, a plan made famous (or infamous) by legendary investor Warren Buffet that would hike tax rates on top income-earners, according to a new survey. More HERE .

The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses on the busiest shopping weekend of the year. On November 26, pledge to shop small at your favorite local stores and fuel your local economy. When millions of Americans shop small, it could be huge. Shop Small on Small Business Saturday Check out Small Business Saturday on Facebook .

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.

I wrote a piece last week with a similar theme, but it bears repeating. Every day, I get an email from the National Federation of Independent Business, providing links to recent news stories on a whole spectrum of small business-related trends. Lately, every day there's another article with a title that indicates the overall angry mood of our nation's entrepreneurs. Here are two new ones: No Small Differences Over Obama’s Treatment of Small Business (from the "Front Row Washington" blog on the Reuters website) Obama's Budget to Raise Small-Business Taxes (from an opinion piece by Donald Lambro, in the Washington Times ) And then this, with a much different point of view: FACT CHECK: GOP Adrift on Small Business Claim The numbers are so politicized, it's difficult to ascertain what's truth, and what is just spin. Anyone have a story from an actual business owner, who can compare and contrast his or her return from this year to one in the recent past? I...

I was having a discussion with a an SBDC colleague about the term "microenterprise". I found some stats, then I came across this report Do Business Definition Decisions Distort Small Business Research Results? According to SBA: This working paper has two purposes. It presents special tabulations from the U.S. Census Bureau's Survey of Business Owners (SBO) to offer the public detailed information on businesses with and without employees and their owners (including owner age, home-based status, franchises and financing). Second, the authors consider the characteristics of nonemployer and employer businesses. Their examination shows that research results based on data on nonemployers are not necessarily applicable to employers and vice versa. A copy of the report is located here and the research summary can be found here . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd or Radwan Saade at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

Survey: 40 Percent Of Small Businesses Have No Disaster Preparedness Plan "A new national survey reveals that a startling number of small businesses remain unprepared to face a potential disaster, be that a hurricane, tornado, wildfire or computer virus, and the majority of these businesses have no plans to change. Commissioned by Office Depot, the survey of small businesses shows 40 percent admit they are not ready for a disaster and one-third indicate having no current plans to get prepared."

Monthly Small Business Economic Trends Analysis from the National Federation of Independent Business.

Does international pressure really affect the survival of domestic manufacturers? Does it have the same effect regardless of size? A new study released by the Office of Advocacy, The Impact of International Competition on Small-Firm Exit in U.S. Manufacturing, provides answers. The study finds that changes in exchange rates affect the smallest of manufacturers, those with fewer than 20 employees, but have limited a impact on larger manufacturers. Manufacturing firms in high-tech industries felt less impact from international pressures than low-tech industries did. A full copy of this report is available here and the research summary can be found here . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov. *** This report, "Characterization and Analysis of Small Business Energy Costs," compiles available information to (1) characterize the potential impact of energy price increases on small entities in individu...

According to the Bizjournals.com website and the Business Review newsweekly, employers must begin using a revised I-9 work eligibility verification form for new employees by December 26, 2007. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service revised it to update the types of documents that can be used. "The new form also instructs employees that they don't have to include their Social Security number on the form unless they used their Social Security card as evidence of their work eligibility or unless their employer participates in the E-Verify program. Employers in this voluntary program electronically check a new worker's Social Security or visa number against government databases." In other employer news from the US government, the Department of Homeland Security plans to revise its new regulation that would require employers to fire employees if they can't resolve discrepancies between the Social Security numbers submitted by workers and government records. ...

The SBA Office of Advocacy released an update to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). It estimates that there are 26.8 million small businesses in the United States, and addresses small businesses' importance to the U.S. economy. It provides data on small business firm survival, owner demographics, health care questions, regulations, and procurement. Advocacy's updated FAQs can be found here (PDF) . *** Small Business Report: Statistics for Tax Year 2003 Small businesses are defined by New York State as those businesses that employ fewer than 100 employees. Small businesses in New York may be sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies and partnerships, general business corporations, subchapter S business corporations, or transportation, transmission, and utility companies. Data presented in this report includes employment and business receipts by entity type and employment class. This edition of the Small Business Report provides data for New York Stat...

Survey Based Assessment of Financial Institution Use of Credit Scoring for Small Business Lending: The introduction of credit scoring by banks for small business loans may help increase small businesses’ access to credit, according to a study released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The report also found that relationships continue to be the dominant factor in banks’ decisions to lend to small businesses. Written by Drs. Charles and Adrian Cowan with funding from the Office of Advocacy, A Survey Based Assessment of Financial Institution Use of Credit Scoring for Small Business Lending, shows that banks, particularly those in urban areas, are moving towards the use of both owner and business credit scoring as a key metric in the small business loan decision. A copy of this report can be obtained here , and the research summary here . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Charles Ou at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov . **...

The number of small business loans outstanding under $100,000 increased 25 percent between June 2004 and June 2005, according to a report released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The increase came mostly from credit card use by small business. The report also noted that the number of small business loans outstanding between $100,000 and $1 million increased 5 percent during the same period. The report, "Small Business and Micro Business Lending in the United States, for Data Years 2004-2005," uses both Consolidated Reports of Condition and Income (Call Reports) from June 2005 and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) reports for 2004 to review small business lending activities by financial institutions. This year's edition expands to include savings banks, savings and loan institutions, and American Territories. The report also ranks lenders in each state by their small business lending activities, as well as ranking large national financia...