New York SBDC Research Network

I found out about an article in the Salt Lake City Tribune that talks about a plan hatched by Overstock.com called the "Main Street Revolution Initiative". The first paragraph reads: "Small and minority-owned businesses have a chance to expand product sales through a partnership with Overstock.com, the Salt Lake City-based online discount retailer." Here's the page on Overstock's website, promoting the program: http://www.overstock.com/mainstreet As you'll notice on this site, the company says that the program "is designed to increase the visibility of small and minority-owned businesses which currently lack exposure to national markets. By joining our network these small businesses can reduce their supply chain costs, and open their products to a mass audience." More information is posted there. Anyone out there tapped into this yet?

Lately we’ve had a bunch of questions from clients who are authors or aspiring authors. Here are some resources related to publishing your work. If you are hoping to get the attention of the publishing houses, you may need a literary agent. Search for an agent here: Agent Query describes itself as the “the internet’s largest and most current database of literary agents.” Search by keyword, nonfiction or fiction genre, and you’ll get lots of results. Not sure if you need an agent or need help choosing one? The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America offers a helpful article and resources on literary agents in their “Writers Beware” web pages. Harold Underdown (author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books) also has a nice piece on “ Finding and Choosing Literary Agents ” We’ve also just purchased a copy of the 2010 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market which is full of helpful guidance and lists of agents and publishers, etc. Decide to forgo

Federal Reserve statistical releases and historical data have been divided into two pages: Statistics and Historical Data and Surveys and Reports. Principal Economic Indicators •Consumer Credit - G.19 •Factors Affecting Reserve Balances - H.4.1 •Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization - G.17 •Money Stock Measures - H.6 Bank Assets and Liabilities •Aggregate Reserves of Depository Institutions and the Monetary Base - H.3 •Agricultural Finance Databook - E.15 •Assets and Liabilities of Commercial Banks in the U.S. - H.8 •Assets and Liabilities of U.S. Branches and Agencies in Foreign Banks•Charge-Off and Delinquency Rates on Loans and Leases at Commercial Banks •Insured Commercial Bank Assets and Liabilities, Domestic and Foreign Offices •Survey of Terms of Business Lending - E.2 Business Finance •Commercial Paper •Finance Companies - G.20 •New Security Issues, State and Local Governments •New Security Issues, U.S. Corporations •Stock Market, Selected Statistics Exchange Rates an

FormNet® FormNet® is a tool designed to save you the time and expense of creating business documents from scratch. You can download and customize each form according to your needs, and immediately put them to work in your business--all for free. Areas covered range from Accounting to Human Resources to Office Management to Starting a Business. All free checklists, worksheets, forms and questionnaires.

The Earth Day Green Business Guide is a document from Business.gov , the official business link to the U.S. Government. The guide is intended to help "small business owners save money while protecting the environment. From changing a light bulb and using recyclable products to installing energy efficient equipment and systems, every business can make simple changes that save energy costs and natural resources." Small businesses can learn how to: * Develop an Environmental Management Plan * Comply with Environmental Regulations * Develop Green Products * Market and Grow Your Green Business * Reuse, Reduce and Recycle Waste * Explore Green Commuting Options * Learn about Successful Green Businesses In addition, the following Small Business Guides also available through Business.gov include special highlights to help you green your business: * Starting a Green Business - Start an Eco-Friendly Business * Advertising and Marketing - How to Ma

Two patent searching sites for any lists of science, law or business resources: SumoBrain FreePatentsOnline Both of the sites are totally free, with powerful search engines, large document collections, and many features that other sites lack, including PDF downloading.

Here's an unusual article from the journal Psychological Science that might have no immediate use by any of your clients, but I'm sharing it nonetheless. A study from the University of Toronto argues that certain people, when simply exposed to green products (either in a market, or in advertising), act more altruistically and generously than those who actually buy the same product. This is an extension of what's known as "priming," whereby consumer behavior can be influenced by exposure to imagery - for instance, seeing the Apple logo inspires creativity in some folks. The authors argue that green products, marketed to promote a higher sense of social responsibility, are meant to inspire within the consumer the motivation to do good works. Conversely, they also argue that consumers who act on this exposure are the equivalent of the person who runs a 5K, then goes home and eats three Big Macs as a reward for their good work. Through a series of experiments,

One of the most useful and interesting publications that I read every month is Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals . Each issue contains guides to the best resources available for different industries, as well as information on how to find certain types of documents (i.e. dissertations) or where to find information on interesting topics (i.e. Dutch Libraries). The March 2010 issue contained an article titled Environmental and Alternative Energy Information Sources: Part 2: Government Information, Resources, Metasites, and Web Directories . Below is a partial list of the links provided in the article but the entire article is well worth reading and the website above should be checked out. National Council for Science and the Environments - CRS Reports Information Bridge: DOE Scientific and Technical Information DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy US Energy Information Administration The Library of Congress Science Tracer Bullet Series Forest Service Research &

FedSpending.org is a database from OMB Watch that is designed to give journalists, analysts, government officials, and regular citizens easy access to information on federal spending. The website tracks government spending, whether it's through contracts for products and services, grants and loans, or other forms of assistance (including Social Security, veterans' benefits, etc.). The data can be as summarized or as detailed as you like - you can even get minute details on each individual government contract transaction. In the upper left corner of the website, there are three tabs labeled Contracts, Assistance, and Recovery. Select what type of spending you are interested in and click the tab. There are multiple criteria to choose from in basic and advanced search options and though the search was slow, I imagine the database has an extreme amount of data it must search. I clicked on New York State and below is the resulting data on contracts awarded in FY2008. Competiti

Every housing market is unique. These Local Market Reports (LMRs) — which reflect data available through 4th Quarter 2009 — provide insights into the fundamentals and direction of the nation's largest metropolitan housing markets. Each downloadable report evaluates a number of factors affecting home prices, including: •• The health of the local job market •• Foreclosure rates •• Housing inventory •• Debt-to-income and mortgage-servicing-costs-to-income ratios

Looking for business or other software? Try Capterra , recommended by a business librarian. You can use the browse feature on the left navigation bar OR search for what you want.

Is the recession over? Unfortunately, no. Are certain aspects of the economy improving? YES! It's Alive! - Consumer spending, the dollar, GDP, and the stock market are all headed higher. The economic story is much more encouraging than it was just one year ago. But that doesn't mean the recovery is complete. Job Market Brightens as U.S. Payrolls Surge in March - The clouds have parted. After more than two years in which more than eight million jobs were lost, the country’s non-farm payrolls surged in March. Employers added 162,000 jobs last month, and employment numbers in the previous two months were revised upward. Nationwide, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent. To many ordinary, out-of-work Americans, the recovery may finally start to feel real. Recession Survival Guide for Small Business - Even the most successful small business will feel the challenges of the rough economic conditions. This guide presents tips, techniques, and experiences from NYS

April 1 is National Census Day and by now we should all have received, completed, and returned our 2010 Census forms. Because just by answering 10 simple questions, we can all directly affect the quality of life, services, and job creation in our communities. To help ensure communities are counted, the U.S. Census Bureau is asking small businesses to voluntarily raise awareness and advocate the importance of the 2010 Census with its 2010 Census Partner Program. READ MORE .

If you like maps, I'd recommend checking of the Department of Environmental Conservation's page of Interactive Online Maps . The DEC offers a variety of mapping tools, including the following: State Lands Interactive Mapper for customized recreational trail maps New York Nature Explorer , a gateway to biodiversity information The Geodata Map Viewer , which allows you to layer a number of geographic features There are also maps for Chronic Wasting Disease, environmental resources, mineral resources, and environmental facilities.

Release Date: March 31, 2010 Contact: Cecelia Taylor (202) 401-3059 Release Number: 10-10 Internet Address: http://www.sba.gov/news/ ************** WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced the award of grants to 10 local SBA Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to increase entrepreneurial assistance to veterans. The grants will provide approximately $1 million to fund programs for veterans that promote business ownership and provide services to small businesses dealing with the deployment of key personnel overseas. Each SBDC receiving funds will promote increased coordination of services to veterans, and will use multimedia tools to connect veterans through distance learning and customized online business counseling by providing services to reach the local veteran business community. Five of the centers were previously awarded grant funds to provide these services, and will now receive a second year of funding. Five centers will receive grant funds for

Yesterday, CNN Money ran a story called " Auditors Crack Down on 'Independent Contractors' ," echoing a similar story that appeared in the New York Times back in February. We've written before on how the IRS differentiates when a person is an employee, or when he or she is considered to be a contractor. Check out the link in that post to an IRS document that spells out the difference between the two. Companies who utilize independent contractors are not obliged to pay unemployment insurance, or worker's comp, or Social Security taxes, or Medicare taxes . . . As these articles mention, at a time where the majority of state unemployment insurance coffers are empty, great interest in auditing companies with significant utilization of contractors has revived. Seven billion dollars is seven billion dollars, which is what the IRS is hoping to generate by conducting these reviews throughout the country. If your business is in the habit of using contractors, mak

I found a link to the number of hunting and fishing licenses broken down by county in New York State which I thought would be helpful for research. The data on this sheet is broken down by year with the amount of revenue obtained from selling the licenses also included in the data. The document is an ftp and the website to get this information is located at ftp://ftp.dec.state.ny.us/dfwmr/licsales . I got this link by going to the website http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/26368.html and looking at the bottom of the page where it provided the website address where the breakdown of counties would be located.

A recent report released from the Small Business Success Index (SBSI) showed that social media adoption by small businesses is, in fact, increasing. Network Solutions and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business sponsored the report and found that over the last year, the number of small businesses using social media has gone from 12 percent to 24 percent. More HERE , including some downsides. The video . *** What Not to Do on Your Business Website

Recently I heard the song The Now Generation by the Black Eyed Peas for the first time. After listening closely to the lyrics, it occurred to me that the lyrics are a good guide to how businesses should handle marketing to the American youth, or in their words, the "Fast Internet, stay connected in a jet Wi-fi, podcast, blasting out an SMS" generation. Actually, I can think of quite a few adults where "Google is my professor Wikipedia, checker Checkin' my account, loggin' in and loggin' out" is as true with them as it is with their children. Check out the resources below for more information on marketing to today's youth. Click with Millennials Through Multiple Channels - The Millennials market is motivated and has money, but offering them genuinely valuable services is key to winning their advocacy. Print is a Youth Market - According to 2007 research from McPheters & Company, the younger generation not only reads digitally, but they also

March 2010 Dear New Yorker, Census forms have arrived at your address, and I am writing to remind you to take 10 minutes to fill-out the 10 questions for each person living in your home, and mail it back today. The Census is safe and confidential. By law, no one other than the Census Bureau staff is allowed to see your questionnaire for 72 years – not even the President. As you know, the census is a count of every person, regardless of citizenship or immigration status, living in the United States and its territories. It is required by the United States Constitution and is the foundation of our representative democracy. The Census is important. Census data will be used to determine everything from how many representatives you get in our political system to how much money our State will receive from the federal government for essential services like education, affordable housing, and health care. The Census is easy. I am asking all New Yorkers to fill out the census form for each