New York SBDC Research Network

Volume 30, Number 6 [PDF} The July issue of The Small Business Advocate features Advocacy’s regional roundtables on women’s business ownership, the chief counsel’s listening tour of West Coast businesses plus regulatory updates and other regional news In This Issue Message from the Chief Counsel • West Coast Businesses Tell Washington: Let Us Innovate! Regional Update • Regional Roundtables Explore Women’s Business Ownership • Alabama and Florida Coasts Bounce Back from Oil Spill Research Notes • Request for New Research Forthcoming Regulatory News • Gainful Employment Rule Finalized • Ongoing SBREFA Panels

From D&B: Business bankruptcies and failures continued to decline this year ; however, the pace was slower than in Q4 2011. Overall, business bankruptcies and failures are lower this year in the U.S. and around the world. This is a confidence booster for many businesses and the growth in the small business segment - firms with fewer than 500 employees - is another driver of confidence for the U.S. economy.

Here's a numerical listing by publication number of documents addressing particular topics of interest to taxpayers From that list, A Guide to Sales Tax in New York State (PDF) Also, sales tax for specific industries .

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Small Business Administration is urging disaster victims seeking federal aid to be alert to scam artists posing as federal officials and to be cautious about any solicitations for fees to perform services that are available from federal agency staff for free. In the wake of widespread flooding, wildfires and tornados in many areas across the country over the past few months, the SBA is particularly concerned about flyers that have appeared in tornado-damaged areas asking for non-refundable fees of up to $450 to help disaster victims fill out their loan applications and as much as $1,000 to verify losses and file loan applications. Federal agencies involved in disaster recovery will never ask for a fee or payment to file an application for financial assistance or to inspect damaged property. “Historically, natural disasters bring out the very best in people, and there are countless stories of the selfless acts of helpful neighbors and volunteers,” said SBA A

From BNET . Are you your business’s worst enemy? Let’s make sure that’s not the case.

From Step by Step Marketing : Unless you are the owner of a small business technology or communications company, the idea of creating and managing a blog, on top of the need to manage a website just to stay “in the game,” can be a little daunting. And of course, there are lots of kinds of businesses that don’t need to produce a blog at all. But even if you are one of those, read on, there’s some other good advice in here for helping you affordably manage your web presence, whatever that may be.

26 Shockingly Offensive Vintage Ads That Would Never Fly Today from Business Insider.com