New York SBDC Research Network

“Getting Started in New York State Contracting – NYS Contract Reporter” (Webinar #7 in the Procurement Webinar Series) Presented by: Roxanne Mutchler, Government Contracting Coordinator, NYSSBDC Procurement Assistance Center at MVSBDC Topics to be covered: The Contract Reporter is one of the main resources for contract opportunities in New York State. Train your clients to take full advantage of the information available at this website. Date: January 26, 2011 Time: 9:30—10:30 AM How to register: Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/305250977

There are many industries and businesses in New York State that require permits and licensing in order to operate. Restaurants, day cares, liquor stores, contractors, and hotels are just a few of the more popular businesses that our clients start that require permits. In order to find out what NYS requires, the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform provides OPAL - Online Permit Assistance and Licensing. OPAL provides information for all of the state agencies, as well as contact information, fees, and requirements for applying for the permits and licenses. The site also provides pages of "Helpful Information" on a variety of businesses, not just the ones that require permits. There is a keyword search to facilitate easy searching of the database, as well as the option to search by agency. Best of all, there is an option to "Choose Business Type", which will guide the user to personalized results by asking detailed questions about the number of employees, l

Source: Deloitte via Docuticker With a rapidly changing global economy, leaders are urgently seeking an effective method to sustain economic growth. While geography, industry, and technology are important considerations, gender is an imperative factor that cannot be ignored. Talent is critical to staying competitive, but despite the growing number of qualified women in the workforce, the female talent pool continues to remain underutilized... Acknowledging and investing in women can yield a significant return—a return known as the gender dividend. To fully capitalize on the gender dividend, however, countries and organizations must go beyond policies that focus on discrimination and develop solid strategies aimed at integrating women at every level. This will require building a strong, dual-focused business case that considers women as both workers and consumers. The series of papers titled The gender dividend, examines successful models for investing in women. The first installment,

The press release reads: The U.S. Census Bureau debuts a reinvented American FactFinder today, making online access to 2010 Census data -- and many more statistics -- easier than ever. The new American FactFinder offers a fresh look, new tools and easier access to a wide range of Census Bureau statistics. Online today, you will find population estimates for 2008 and earlier years and findings from the 2000 Census. When fully implemented, the new FactFinder is projected to have about 250 billion data cells in more than 40,000 tables. BUT...the note attached to the notification also said: "Please note that very limited data are currently available on this system." Several paragraphs down: Users should note that American Community Survey, 2007 Economic Census and other economic survey data are not in the new version of American FactFinder at the present. These data sets can be accessed from the American FactFinder homepage and will be loaded to the new American FactFin

Also, Taxpayers Impacted by Recent Tax Breaks Can File Starting in Mid- to Late February The Internal Revenue Service announced taxpayers will have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 tax returns and pay any tax due because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in the District of Columbia, falls this year on Friday, April 15. By law, District of Columbia holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do; therefore, all taxpayers will have three extra days to file this year. Taxpayers requesting an extension will have until Oct. 17 to file their 2010 tax returns... The IRS also reminded tax professionals preparing returns for a fee that this is the first year that they must have a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). Tax return preparers should register immediately using the new PTIN sign-up system available through www.IRS.gov/taxpros. Who Must Wait to File For most taxpayers, the 2011 tax filing season starts on schedule. However, tax law changes enact

The James J. Hill Reference Library has once again provided us with a useful resource for small businesses. The 2011 IRS Tax Calender for Small Businesses and the Self-Employed is a 12-month calender with day-to-day instructions on what needs to be done when in regards to business taxes. The "Game Plan for Success" can be printed out in calender form either month-by-month or in the traditional calender layout to remind a business owner when to do what. Each month also highlights a tax topic related to small business; for instance, “Preparation and Setting Up" for January, or “Tips on Wage Reporting” for December. In addition, the calendar also provides Tips for Business Success, a list of Forms and Publications, and a list of online resources and tools available for small businesses.

UN COMTRADE is the pseudonym for United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. Over 170 reporter countries provide the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) with their annual international trade statistics data detailed by commodities and partner countries. These data are subsequently transformed into the United Nations Statistics Division standard format with consistent coding and valuation using the UN/OECD CoprA internal processing system. The UN COMTRADE is the largest depository of international trade data. It contains well over 1.7 billion data records for 45 years and is available on the internet! All commodity values are converted from national currency into US dollars using exchange rates supplied by the reporter countries, or derived from monthly market rates and volume of trade. Quantities, when provided with the reporter country data and when possible, are converted into metric units. Commodities are reported in the current classification and revision (HS2002 in