New York SBDC Research Network

In their third annual survey to measure and monitor consumer behaviors that have an impact on the environment, the National Geographic Society and the international polling firm GlobeScan have found that environmentally friendly behavior among consumers in 10 out of 17 countries has increased over the past year. The survey results show that environmentally friendly consumer behavior, as measured by the Greendex, has now increased from 2008 levels in all but one of the 14 countries polled in both 2008 and 2010. By environmentally friendly consumer behavior, we mean people’s transportation patterns, household energy and resource use, consumption of food and everyday consumer goods, and what consumers are doing to minimize the impact these activities have on the environment. Greendex 2010: Consumer Choice and the Environment — A Worldwide Tracking Survey is a comprehensive measure of consumer behavior in 65 areas relating to housing, transportation, food and consumer goods. Greendex 2010

For the commercial organic farmers or any one else who grows fruit, vegetables or runs a dairy: Cornell's Integrated Pest Management Program has released nine new organic production guides . The new guides provide information on how to produce certified organic apples, blueberries, grapes, lettuce, potatoes, spinach, strawberries and cole crops, including cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. The guides cover integrated pest management techniques, with sections on cover crops, resistant varieties, crop rotation, field selection and soil quality.

The Census Bureau is conducting a half-day workshop for data users on the 2007 Economic Census. • New users learn about the range of data about businesses available from the Census Bureau, including both the Economic Census and more frequent data sets. • Experienced users learn about new features of the data, comparability issues, and qualifications of the data. • Attendees gain skills in accessing Economic Census data in American FactFinder. • Attendees have the opportunity to tell others about their own practical applications of the data and learn what others are doing. Albany, NY Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM Cost: FREE Location: College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany CESTM Auditorium, Building 251 257 Fuller Road Albany, NY 12203 Register HERE Directions Additional Workshops in New York State: Additional workshops are planned for New York City (June 10 and 11, 2010) and Syracuse (June 24, 2010). For details about these workshops se

WASHINGTON – With the June 1 start of another Atlantic hurricane season, the U.S. Small Business Administration and Agility Recovery Solutions are launching a new Web site to help small businesses develop an emergency preparedness plan before disaster hits, and reminding homeowners and renters to plan ahead as well. "Regardless of where you live, it’s a good idea to be ready for any kind of crisis," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "Every threat, from wind storms, floods, wildfires and earthquakes, to power outages and computer system failures, reminds us to be proactive when it comes to building strategies to survive a disaster and recover quickly. Recent disaster events demonstrate the need for preparedness to reduce the risk to life and property." Weather experts are predicting this year’s storm season may be the most intense since 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma devastated the Gulf Coast states. In an effort to encourage businesses to plan ahead

Everywhere you look there are articles on how to ensure your privacy on Facebook. With new releases, the default settings change but here is a visual representation of how the default privacy settings on Facebook have evolved over the years. You can check it out here . To ensure you do not get caught up in updates to Facebook that adversely affect your privacy, have a look at this article from Electronic Frontier Foundation that explains the latest changes and what your options are. They have also created a video .

From the SBA PRESS OFFICE Administrator Karen Mills of the U.S. Small Business Administration has written an open letter to small business owners across the United States explaining immediate benefits available to small businesses as part of the Affordable Care Act. The full letter is available at http://www.sba.gov/acaletter/ - content is below: *** Dear Small Business Owner, For decades, access to affordable health insurance has been the number-one concern of small business owners. To help you address that concern and provide quality, affordable coverage for your employees, the new Affordable Care Act gives you a number of new tools and benefits . The most immediate benefit you should know about is the tax credit to help you pay for up to 35 percent of your employee premiums starting this tax year. An estimated 4 million small businesses may qualify for these tax credits, totaling about $40 billion over the next 10 years. Go here to learn more about the tax credit , including new in

WASHINGTON – The Orange County Calif. SCORE Chapter, a New Mexico Women’s Business Center, and a New York Small Business Development Center received national awards today for their outstanding service and assistance to entrepreneurs in their communities. These outstanding resource partners were recognized during a National Small Business Week award event in Washington, D.C., taking place May 23-25. The event, sponsored by Northrop Grumman, also highlighted lender awards from the U.S. Small Business Administration. ‘During national small business week we honor those who stand beside and support small businesses as they create jobs,” said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. “Because of our resource partners we are able to touch the lives of over a million small businesses each year that are the engine of our nation’s economy.” The Entrepreneurial Development Award categories include the National SCORE Chapter of the Year, the Women’s Business Center of Excellence Award, and the Small Busi

On May 17, 2010, the IRS begins the process of revoking tax-exempt status from nonprofits that failed to file three consecutive annual returns (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF). "A large number of these organizations are smaller nonprofits that previously were not required to file an annual return because their gross revenues were $25,000 or less. These nonprofits now must file Form 990-N, which the IRS created in response to the Pension Protection Act" of 2006. Read more about these upcoming changes HERE .

WASHINGTON - Calling small business the backbone of the nation's economy, President Barack Obama stressed his Administration's commitment "to helping small businesses drive our economy toward recovery and long-term growth" in his proclamation of the week of May 23-29 as National Small Business Week. The President's proclamation was issued May 20 prior to the U.S. Small Business Administration's 47th annual observance of National Small Business Week in Washington, D.C. (May 23-25). The event honors the nation's most outstanding entrepreneurs, and features the announcement of the National Small Business Person of the Year for 2010 from among the 53 state small business winners, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. President Obama will meet with Small Business Week award winners at the White House Tuesday. "Small business owners embody the spirit of entrepreneurship and strong work ethic that lie at the heart of the American dream.

When the press release is right, it's right: The Web offers investors a rich trove of information. But it has little value in today's fast-paced business environment if you can't quickly find the nuggets you need. That's why BusinessWeek is launching the Company Insight Center on BusinessWeek.com. The CIC, or Companies Channel, combines our resources with those of Standard & Poor's (MHP) Capital IQ division (like BusinessWeek, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP)) to pull together up to 33 pages of data, charts, profiles, and news stories on each of 42,000 public companies in the U.S. and abroad. The result: an unparalleled array of corporate data. CIC offers easy navigation to get you from, say, stock price charts that you can customize; to earnings reports and estimates; to profiles of chief executives and board members; to a history of their stock trades. Also available are reports on some 320,000 private companies, though since they're private, the

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U. S. Small Business Administration is offering new, free tools for new and established small business exporters to help them grow and succeed in international trade. Small businesses will now have access to six-part podcast series, an introduction to exporting Youtube video and an online training course. SBA is making these new tools available as part of the World Trade Week celebrations taking place May 17-21 nationwide to raise awareness of the increasing importance of international trade to the nation’s economy. "Exporting is a critical strategy for helping small businesses grow and create jobs," said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills. “We’re working every day to help small businesses break into exporting, reach more international markets and be more competitive in the global economy." The podcast series is available online and focuses on Growing Your Business Through Exporting; Developing an Export Strategy; Preparing for Global Markets; C

Tarsus Online Media...announced plans to launch the TSNN DataSite to provide in-depth information about the top trade shows in the U.S. The DataSite will be an online resource representing TSNN’s ten years of data collection on trade shows in North America. The announcement comes a little more than a month after the closing of Tradeshow Week, the industry’s only weekly print publication and publisher of the Tradeshow Week 200 Annual Directory. More info HERE .

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced that a federal court judge has signed a temporary restraining order barring the furlough of state employees. This means that the previously-announced May 21 closure of the Department’s call center will not occur. The call center will be fully staffed and Department employees will not be furloughed on that day.

Real gross domestic product increased at an annualized 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010, its third quarter of positive growth and a sign of continued economic recovery. Mirroring broad economic trends, overall optimism was higher, with small businesses remaining cautious. Unemployment remained high at 9.7 percent in March, but nonfarm payrolls increased by a net 283,000 jobs in the first quarter. Meanwhile, interest rates remained low, and overall inflation appears to be in check. These and other trends are discussed in the latest update of the Quarterly Indicators: The Economy and Small Business. Quarterly Indicators: The Economy and Small Business is located here (PDF) .

From SBA: Recently, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Google announced a new partnership and unveiled "Tools for Online Success," an array of online resources and training designed to help small business owners harness technology to grow their businesses. The site at www.google.com/help/sba , features tutorials, video testimonials, and tips from savvy small business people who have leveraged the web to become more efficient, more cost-effective, and more successful. "The SBA is pleased to partner with Google to put these important tools in the hands of small businesses across the country," said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "As the web evolves and consumers adapt accordingly, we know that more customers are finding traditional ‘Main Street’ businesses online. With these tools for online success, we can ensure these small businesses reach new markets and customers so they can continue to create jobs." "One fifth of searches on Google