Posts

New York State Directory of Small Business Programs

This may be a directory to help small business access valuable resources , but it's also a useful tool for those advising small businesses. It includes: *information resources (OPAL, Healthy NY, Guide to Sales Tax in New York, etc.) *technical assistance (environmental ombudperson, Workers' Comp, etc.) *funding incentives (general, environmental, minority/women/disadvantaged, tax incentives) *industry-specific programs *workforce recruitment, development, and benefits *government contracts/market expansion *mandated state filings

Pricing Used Merchandise

A new website is aiming to make it easier to price used merchandise. According to The New York Times, Worth Monkey aims to be the Blue Book for used anything, says co-founder Fred Abler. When a user enters a certain good at the site, the site combs the Web (eBay, Amazon.com, Google) for asking and actual prices for that used good, combines that data with information about broader category trends and statistical analysis and then presents the user with details about a great price, a fair price and an overpriced price for that good as well as pricing information for comparable products. Users can also enter their own thoughts about what the item is worth, which then helps inform future site results. Currently, the site provides such data about millions of products in 10 different industries, including vehicles, electronics and musical instruments. Once users have the fair market value, they can “use that as the basis for negotiation, and we just take a little bit of the friction ou

CCC Copyright Video

Here is Copyright Clearance Center’s new animated video concerning academic copyright . The video educates people, specifically faculty, about copyright laws when distributing materials to students, via course packs or readings uploaded online.

EBRI blog

Employee Benefit Research Institute - "EBRI is the only private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, Washington, DC-based organization committed exclusively to public policy research and education on economic security and employee benefit issues." Here is its blog .

Laws of New York

When searching to rules, regulations, permits, and licensing information, the first place to look is New York State's Online Permit Assistance and Licensing website . Sometimes, the helpful information provided will tell the searcher to look up legislation that is available through Laws of New York . If no information in provided in OPAL, sometimes searching Laws of New York will yield results previously undiscovered. Ultimately, it is always a good idea to search both sites for the most comprehensive results.

Dumb Customer Service, Part 237

My family stayed in a chain hotel in a southern city recently. It was reasonably nice, especially for the price, but a couple things bugged me: 1. There was something called the "business center" which was comprised of one computer, with a printer behind the registration desk that was hit or miss. 2. Checkout was a 12 noon. We went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast, returning about 9 a.m. we packed, then my wife decided to let the daughter have a chance to use the pool. I went to get a cart to haul the luggage. When I got back to the room, around 11:15, my room key didn't work. I thought it somehow got demagnetized, so I went down to get my wife's key; that didn't work, either. So I went to the front desk. Apparently it is a regular issue that the keys time out at some point before the checkout time. This is an absurd system, which wasted a good 10 minutes of my time.

SBA Re-launches Dealer Floor Plan Pilot Loan Program

A pilot loan program aimed at increasing access to inventory financing for auto, boat, RV and other dealerships will be re-launched Tuesday (2/8) and will be effective through Sept. 30, 2013, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced today. The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 included a provision for re-launching SBA’s Dealer Floor Plan (DFP) Pilot Loan program, which first became available in July 2009. The pilot is part of the SBA’s overall 7(a) loan guarantee program. The Jobs Act also increased the maximum size for 7(a) loans to $5 million, up from $2 million, which includes loans made through the DFP pilot program. “As a result of the credit crunch in late 2008 and early 2009, dealerships saw a significant decline in the availability of this type of inventory financing,” SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns said. “SBA’s original DFP pilot program was launched as a way to expand the availability of floor plan financing and the Jobs Act added further enhancements to that pro

The State of Small Business

The 2010 edition of The Small Business Economy documents the 2008 recession’s effects on small business as well as the changing economy at the end of 2009. In 2009, after weathering a deep recession that began in late 2007, the American economy began to stabilize. For small businesses, one of the biggest remaining challenges was the lack of sales adequate to grow employment. Many economic indicators began to show improvement by year’s end. For example, in the first three quarters of 2009, small businesses accounted for almost 60 percent of the net job losses, with the greatest losses in the first quarter. By the third quarter, net small firm job losses were one-third what they had been in the first quarter. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other policy actions added between 1.5 percent and 3.5 percent to real gross domestic product in fourth quarter 2009 and projected an employment increase of 1.0 million to 2.1 million more

Domain Age Tool

Consider using the Domain Age Tool to research that factor when investigating a website. The tool's quite simple to use. Just plug in a URL (or several at a time), click the "submit" button, and you should get back a page showing the site's exact age in months and years. sba.gov 13 years 7 months old nyssbdc.org 11 years 2 months old whitehouse.gov 14 years 1 months old microsoft.com 14 years 3 months old mcdonalds.com 14 years 2 months old pg.com (Proctor and Gamble) 14 years 3 months old timesunion.com 12 years 1 months old nytimes.com 14 years 2 months old Yet there are some, such as ibm.com, walmart.com, and state.ny.us that it is Unable to Determine.

NOVELny Business Resources

For New York State residents, NOVELny provides access to two very useful business databases: Business and Company Resources Center and InfoTrac Custom Newspapers . Access is obtained by logging in with your NYS Driver License or NYS DMV Non-Driver Photo ID Card. Business and Company Resources Center (BCRC) contains company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Thomson Financials' Investext Plus database is fully integrated in this database, which contains detailed data and analysis on publicly traded companies in a wide variety of industries. The information is contained in reports generated by analysts at leading research organizations worldwide. Information provided may include trends, sales and earnings forecasts, market share projects, and research and development expenditures. The database also contains all content found in Business and Company Index. InfoTrac Custom Newspapers offers the full-text of sev

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report

Image
How did it come to pass that in 2008 our nation was forced to choose between two stark and painful alternatives — either risk the collapse of our financial system and economy, or commit trillions of taxpayer dollars to rescue major corporations and our financial markets, as millions of Americans still lost their jobs, their savings, and their homes? The Commission concluded that this crisis was avoidable—the result of human actions, inactions, and misjudgments. Warnings were ignored. “The greatest tragedy would be to accept the refrain that no one could have seen this coming and thus nothing could have been done. If we accept this notion, it will happen again.” Get the Report

Credit/capital markets post-recession

Check out Fitch's latest Credit Outlook , published last week.

Contractor Database Only Available to a "Select Few" Goes Public in April

The General Services Administration plans to open its Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System database to the general public in April. The FAPIIS database tracks contractor performance for the government, and until now, available only to a select group of government officials, legislators and contractors. Under a provision in the wartime supplemental appropriations bill, GSA is required to disclose all information contained in the database except previous performance evaluations. More HERE .

10 marketing trends popping up in 2011

By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY You can say one thing with certainty about new product trends for 2011: They're pretty wacky. That's a good thing. Even then, chief among 2011's consumer-packed good trends are these: Keep it simple. And better for me. And cheap. Read HERE .

3 webinars on tax topics for small business owners

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax” --- Albert Einstein With the holidays behind us, people are now turning their attention to the annual challenge of preparing their tax returns. Although the SBDC isn’t in the business of giving tax advice, it is important for all of us to be knowledgeable about the current tax issues, regulations and schedules that affect small business. The New York State Small Business Development Center has collaborated with the National Association for the Self-Employed to develop and present a series of three webinars addressing tax topics of interest for small business owners. Although there are no prerequisites to attend any of the programs, you are encouraged to register for all three webinars. “Top 5 Tax Questions for the Self-Employed” Presented by: Keith Hall, National Tax Advisor for the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) What’s a person new to self-employment to do? This tax webinar covers these key topics: • W

Getting Started in New York State Contracting webinar

“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

Permit and Licensing Assistance

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

The gender dividend: Making the business case for investing in women

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,

Simpler Path to 2010 Census Data - Eventually

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

IRS 2011 Tax Season Deadline Extended to April 18

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