New York SBDC Research Network

A nifty source. Tip of the hat to Hill Libraries: Free5500.com contains PDFs of Forms 5500 from companies of all shapes and sizes. What is a Form 5500, you ask? It's a disclosure form required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Depending on the Plan type and other factors, the accompanying schedules may include information such as ESOP (employee stock ownership program) information, financial information, service providers, financial transaction schedule, retirement plan information, and more. Free5500.com requires free registration to access, but registration lets you search by company name, EIN, state, ZIP, area code, plan type or class, assets, and number of participants, and includes up to 10 years of historical forms. You can also print the PDF formatted documents. Note that the free access may limit you to forms that are at least 2 years old or so (a subscription may net you more current data, as well as other perks such as more robust searching). Free5500.com

American FactFinder is the primary tool for accessing data on the 2010 Census, the American Community Survey, Population Estimates and eventually the Economic Census. This link will help you navigate the new version of the American FactFinder page on the Census website. Please take some time to become familiar with the site before it goes live in January 2011.

Here's a link one of our SBDC advisers found. It's from 1997, and you have to wait for the commercial, but it's useful stuff.

Release Date: December 2010 Volume 29, number 8 The Small Business Advocate is a periodic newsletter that details economic developments and regulatory trends related to small business as well as the latest initiatives of the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. In This Issue Broadband Survey Published Chief Counsel Calls for Repeal of 1099 Requirement Where Will the Jobs Come From? FCC Broadband Comments H-2B Program Changes and more

December 2, 2010 letter from Karen Mills, SBA Administrator Dear Small Business Owner, As I’ve traveled the country this year, I have heard from many of you who are looking forward to the new tax credits, health insurance exchanges, and other tools that will help you provide health insurance coverage to your employees as a result of the Affordable Care Act. The most immediate benefit of the new law is a tax credit that will help America’s smallest employers and nonprofit organizations (less than 25 full-time equivalent employees with average annual wages below $50,000) who have been hit hardest by premium increases in recent years. Today, I’m pleased to announce that the Administration is releasing a one-page form and instructions on how to claim this credit for the 2010 tax year . In addition, new guidance released today answers questions that many of you have asked related to: your current contribution arrangements, eligibility for certain religious institutions, and participation by

An estimated 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV, and yet one out of five don’t know it. World AIDS Day (December 1) is an opportunity to take action.

The mortality rate for small businesses is still scary. Approximately seven out of 10 new small businesses survive at least two years, half almost five years, a third more than 10 years, according to the most recent United States census... The reasons for the high mortality rate changes little year-to-year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. High on the list are insufficient funds, poor product or service, unqualified entrepreneurs, and lack of commitment. But the most important, yet seldom discussed, reason most small businesses fail is fear of failure... Read the rest of the Mark Cox article HERE .