New York SBDC Research Network

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a 400+ page document that in my opinion would require multiple PhD’s and numerous years to fully understand as an individual. Over the next few months, we at the Research Network will be working on providing our staff and clients, as well as other readers of this blog, with information pertaining to the Stimulus Package (as it is more commonly referred to). While at times this will include government released documents that are difficult to read and extremely long, more often we will try to provide pared down information, especially relating to New York State. Below are a few links to get started. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 New York American Recovery and Reinvestment Handbook From the New York State Senate: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – The Federal Stimulus impact of New York State From the Business and Labor Coalition of New York (BALCONEY): Bulletin on the Impact of the 2009 Stimulus

We are asked with some regularity for information to assist small businesses trying to choose a good location for their business. The tools we typically use are the Demographics Now product which offer a numebr of reports and a pre-set packet they call the Business Location Summary Report which consists of: Business Demographic Snapshot Charts Executive Demographic Average Household Net Worth Median Household Income We may also include data and maps from the Deaprtment of Transportation's Traffic Data Viewer ( www.nysdot.gov/tdv ) for a traffic study for the county in question. There are also other sources for checklists and general guidance for choosing a location from some popular bsuiness information sites including one that will allow you to look up prices for commerical property by zip code. SBA Small Business Planner Pick a Location This guide lays out the various new business owners face with a main one being where to locate. Nolo.com Choosing a Successful Location for Your

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.

I just returned from Sturbridge, Massachusetts, where I presented on the demonstrable benefits that a well-designed sign can bring to a small business. Yes, I'm still involved in the subject of signage. For those of you who don't know, we wrote a book on the subject ( What's Your Signage? ) in 2004, and created a website for it in 2006. The New York SBDC is seen by many people in the signage industry as great advocates in this area. I was one of four people who spoke to a collection of 100 or so building inspectors and code administrators from around Massachusetts. These are the people who are charged with enforcing the sign code ordinances of their town. An ordinance in one town can be completely different from the town next door. Just as easily, an ordinance in one town can be friendly to its business community, while the one next door can be terribly restrictive. These folks are the people who have to judge a sign and whether it should exist. They straddle the line betw

An article in the Wired Blog Network recently discussed YouNoodle , a social networking site for startup entrepreneurs. The website has "introduced a dynamic scoring system purports to indicate the viability of early-stage ventures." "A YouNoodle Score is a quantitative measurement, on a scale of 0 to 100, of a startup's impact and importance based on its traction, activity, and buzz. The score is based on information pulled in from thousands of online sources: traffic, mainstream media, the blogosphere, conversations on Twitter, and other key factors." Currently in it's Beta phase, click here to go directly to the You Noodle website.

RS Means Site Work & Landscape Cost Data 2009 " A successful project is built on the foundation of an accurate and dependable estimate. This book will enable you to construct just such an estimate." Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009 "The national data book." Engagement is Not Enough Keith E. Ayers "You need passionate employees to achieve your dream... light a fire within your employees, not under them!" Fresh Customer Service Michael D. Brown "Treat the employee as #1 and the customer as #2 and you will get customers for life." Long Island Business News - Book of Lists 2009 "LI's Best on Display"

Interested in knowing more about "green" jobs and the "green" economy? The following reports may be particularly useful for those of us in New York State. Cleantech : A New Engine of Economic Growth for New York State From the New York City Investment Fund, January 2007 Central Upstate New York’s Green Industry Sector: Opportunities and Prospects Prepared for Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York and Creative Core’s Regional Green Team, November 2007 Current and Potential Green Jobs in the U.S. Economy From the US Conference of Mayors, October 2008 Includes statistics on the number of existing and projected green jobs by metro area. This is just the tip of the iceberg. For more, check out California’s Employment Development Department's Digest of "Green" Reports and Studies - they are doing a great job keeping track of reports from around the country.

Google recently launched an application, Latitude , that tracks users’ location using GPS and cell-tower triangulation. "Latitude" is an opt-in application meaning users can choose to share their geographic location with friends. This application broadcasts the users’ location but is equipped with "fine-grained privacy controls" built into the application that allow the user to control how precise the location they broadcast is. The location can be as specific as available through "Latitude's GPS and cell-tower triangulation technologies" or as broad as city-level. Users can also control who is allowed to view their location by limiting the audience to a circle of friends or a specific person. Is this creepy or is it another way to minimize geographic distance and provide another avenue for information? Google Latitude video - Amy Peker

SBA has upgraded its podcasts to offer additional resources to the nation’s entrepreneurs. The podcasts, available here , provide an introduction to a variety of small business topics, and provide useful business information and advice. The newest podcast topics include Marketing to the Federal Government, Getting Your Small Business Ready for Tax Season and Online Reporting of Employee Wages. Existing podcasts for entrepreneurs are Is Entrepreneurship for You and Checklist for Starting a Business. New podcasts will be added regularly to provide insight and tips on such topics as downshifting in a slowing economy, going green and business plan development, along with programs for veterans and information to help entrepreneurs start, grow and succeed. Each podcast delivers a broadcast quality recording that can now be downloaded through RSS feeds, in addition to portable media players and personal computers. RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing Web content, such as pod