New York SBDC Research Network

We’re all gearing up to help small businesses in New York understand and gain most advantage from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . We’ll try to keep up-to-date with the details both here in the blog and on the NYS SBDC home page . Specifically wondering what the Recovery Act has to offer green businesses? “ Stimulus Package Has Green for Clean Energy ” from Entrepreneur.com discusses how the Recovery Act will offer tax incentives, bonds, grants and loan guarantees that may be particularly helpful to clean energy companies. Cash grants in particular will help individuals or businesses install solar energy systems – good news for installation and related firms. Don’t forget that small businesses can save money right now by lowering their energy usage. NYS SBDC, NYSERDA, NYBDC and others have teamed up to offer a new energy savings program- get more details here .

Facebook is not just a virtual community for friends; it has evolved into a networking utility for businesses and professionals. Today, there are over 175 million active users on Facebook with the fastest growing group of users those 30 years and older. College graduates and young professionals, the original target audience of Facebook when it launched in 2004, are now using the site to foster professional growth. Should your business create a Facebook Page and join this growing online community? Below are some thoughts about businesses on Facebook: Ten Reasons to Use Facebook for Business Facebook caters to a diverse audience including professionals and businesses. It is a free online tool to facilitate networking with professionals and businesses. 30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook This blog provides a list of the applications available on Facebook and how businesses may be able to use the applications for their business needs. Should your business be on Facebook? “The secret is

In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the river now bearing his name to what is now Albany. A historic year indeed. Sketches of New York State's colorful early history are wrapped up in the everyday words that name our 62 counties. They recall the Indians, the English and Dutch colonists, heroes of the Revolutionary War years, Presidents and early politicians — and the inventor of the steamboat. Roll your mouse over a county to reveal its name. Click to discover where that name came from. Now try this game where one has to find each county! [No, that's not Greene, it's Columbia.]

From here . Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith and the New York State Senate invites you to attend a Town Hall Forum on the Federal Stimulus Package. Here's what you'll find out: • How your community can benefit from the Stimulus Package; • What projects are eligible for funding; and • Information about job creation and business opportunities. Long Island Suffolk County Community College Saturday, March 14, 2009 11 am - 1 pm Albany College of St. Rose Wednesday, March 18, 2009 6 - 8 pm Syracuse Syracuse City Council Chambers Thursday, March 19, 2009 6 - 8 pm Buffalo Cheektowaga Senior Citizen's Center Saturday, March 21, 2009 11 am - 1 pm Rochester University of Rochester Alumni Center Thursday, March 26, 2009 6 - 8 pm Westchester TBA To attend, please contact the office of the Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith at (212) 298-5585 or sign up in the form on the right side of this page. If you provide us with your email address, we will send you updates as you

I feel vindicated after listening to a report on NPR about how doodlers tend to retain more of what they are listening to - because doodling is mental stimulation and actually keeps your mind on track. Instead of daydreaming and missing what's going on, doodling actually ocupies your mind enough to keep the rest of you present. Jackie Andrade who is a University of Plymouth professor of psychology who tested what function doodling had by playing a tape of someone more or less rambling in a fairly monotonus tone. Those that had been given a doodling task had retained 29% more of what they had heard than those who had not been. So, doodling actually helps focus your attention. So there. The NPR website has also posted examples of presidential doodles.

From the International Finance Corporation (World Bank) newsletter: Family businesses constitute the world’s most dominant form of business organizations, playing a key role in economic growth and employment generation in many developing countries. Yet, most have a short life span and about 95 percent do not survive the third generation of ownership. A new book from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Family Business Governance Handbook , recommends ways to help family businesses improve their sustainability by establishing good governance practices. It highlights corporate governance challenges facing family businesses and proposes structures and practices that can help mitigate them.

I recently learned of a website that tracks the history of the current financial crisis in the U.S. It's maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Fortunately, the site consists almost solely of one-paragraph summaries of significant events in this ongoing drama - starting in February 2007, right up to the present. A link to a "View Full Timeline" PDF file is available, if you want to see everything in one place. For me, it puts into perspective that this hasn't been going on forever. It just seems that way.