New York SBDC Research Network

Check out the Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters. Spanish version now available! This guide is designed to help U.S. companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, learn the basics of trade finance so that they can turn their export opportunities into actual sales and achieve the ultimate goal of getting paid—especially on time—for those sales. Visit this site to download your copy - in English or Spanish!

Editor: Rebecca Krafft The May edition (Vol: 32 , No: 4) of the Small Business Advocate spotlights the chief counsel’s recent visits to Regions II and VII to meet with small businesses, learn about their operations, and hear their concerns firsthand. The Chief Counsel’s message recaps Dr. Sargeant’s testimony on Advocacy’s FY 2014 budget request. The issue also summarizes Advocacy comments on proposed FCC Aviation Communications Rules. And finally, it bids a fond farewell to Jody Wharton, director of information, on her retirement from federal service. Link to newsletter More information about the Office of Advocacy

The U.S. Small Business Administration plans to shift some funding away from basic counseling programs for new and small businesses to help finance advanced training for slightly larger companies, part of the agency’s efforts to nurture the economic recovery even as the government reins in spending... “The existing programs, such as the Small Business Development Centers and SCORE, provide absolutely fantastic services, but they’re different,” Mills recently told the House Small Business Committee, referring to the agency’s network of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) program, both of which provide inexpensive and often free business services. “We want to make sure we reach more entrepreneurs in more places who don’t have access to an intensive entrepreneurship experience.” At a time when federal spending is being held in check, the SBA proposes to finance the new training course by pulling back on funding for some existi

New York State has opened two Sandy assistance centers in Babylon Town - one in Lindenhurst and one in North Babylon. A New York State Small Business Development Center Disaster Recovery Center is now open at 19 West Hoffman Avenue in Lindenhurst for small business owners seeking assistance, according to information posted on the Town of Babylon website . Meanwhile, the Babylon Town Hall Annex, located at 281 Phelps Lane in North Babylon, will serve as a Sandy Help Team Intake Center. It'll provide assistance to those homeowners applying for storm-related assistance. More HERE .

WASHINGTON –An interim final rule published in the Federal Register and effective immediately will amend regulations to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Program allowing for greater access to federal contracting opportunities for women-owned businesses as a result of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA) signed in January. The interim final rule removes the anticipated award price of the contract thresholds for women-owned small businesses (WOSB) and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSB) to allow them greater access to federal contracting opportunities without limitations to the size of the contract. The rule can be accessed HERE and comments can be submitted on or before June 6, 2013, at www.regulations.gov , identified by the following RIN number: RIN 3245-AG55. As a result of the rule change, contracting officers will be able to set aside specific contracts for certified WOSBs and

In 2011, total employment from all U.S. business sectors was 113.4 million, an increase of 1.5 million employees from 2010, according to new statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction sector led the way with a 12.0 percent increase in employment from 2010 to 2011. This year is the first since 2008 in which U.S. businesses reported an increase in employment over the prior year. There were 7.4 million U.S. businesses with paid employees for 2011, a loss of 42,585 establishments from 2010. This is the fourth consecutive year of decline for the number of U.S. businesses. These new findings released today are from County Business Patterns: 2011 , which provides the only detailed annual information on the number of establishments, employees, and quarterly and annual payroll for nearly 1,200 industries covered at the national, state and county levels. The statistics are broken down according to employment-size classes (for example, num

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has`announced that it published a new Web page regarding identity theft. The new Web page spells out what to do next if you think you may be the victim of identity theft. It also provides several links to information, such as the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Taxpayer Guide to Identity Theft, that help taxpayers make identity protection part of their regular routine. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing economic crimes in the nation, but taxpayers often don't realize their information has been stolen until they receive an unexpected notice about their tax account from the Tax Department or the IRS. Once identity theft is reported to the Tax Department, the agency can correct an account by removing any fraudulent returns from the record, and it can cancel bills issued that are related to the fraud. To head-off any additional suspicious activity, the Department will devote extra attention to future return

The U.S. Small Business Administration and the W20 Group, an entrepreneurial ecosystem of digital communications companies, will present Blogging 101, the second topic in the five-topic social media webinar series that will run through June. The webinar will help small business owners create content to connect with their customers and market their products. Blogging is a beneficial tool for small business owners because it is a cost-effective way to communicate their expertise and message directly to a larger audience, expand the company’s web presence and build their brand. The Blogging 101 social media webinar for small businesses will be held on May 8, 2013, at 1 p.m. EDT. To register for the webinar, visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8214259306487899136 . The webinar will highlight topics such as: • What blogging can do for your business; • What to blog about; • What blogging tools are available to you; • Managing your time; and • Other best practices. T

From CBS News MoneyWatch : What do people complain about most? Meetings. What do workers love about working from home? No meetings. Meetings are the bane of the working day, and yet it's hard to do anything without them. These days, recognizing that collaboration tends to be more creative than assembly-line thinking, getting people together is how we make things happen. But meetings are very expensive.

From SmallBusinessNewz : Fear is a major stumbling block for many business owners. It causes them to make decisions, which seriously sabotage their chances of success. Thankfully, the fears that stand between where we are and what we want to achieve, can be overcome.

The availability of capital is crucial for small business startup, survival, and growth. This study investigates how the youngest small firms, especially high-tech firms and firms owned by women and minorities, were financed during the evolving financial environment of the Great Recession. Get the full report or summary . Should you need further information, please feel free to contact Victoria Williams at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics : Durable-goods manufacturing, finance and insurance, and wholesale trade were the leading contributors to U.S. economic growth in 2012, according to advance statistics on the breakout of real gross domestic product (GDP) by industry from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Overall, 19 of 22 industry groups contributed to the 2.2 percent increase in real GDP. Manufacturing real value added—a measure of an industry’s contribution to GDP—rose 6.2 percent in 2012, after increasing 2.5 percent in 2011. Durable-goods manufacturing, the largest contributor to overall growth in the economy for the third consecutive year, increased 9.1 percent, after increasing 6.8 percent in 2011 and 13.3 percent in 2010. The finance and insurance industry group increased 3.6 percent in 2012, after two consecutive years of negative real value added growth. Wholesale trade increased 4.8 percent, after increasing 3.0 percent in 2011.

Terri Ann Lowenthal’s excellent Census Project Blog has a great post about the bill and its implications : Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC-3) [has] just introduced a bill (H.R. 1638) to cancel the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), Economic Census, Census of Governments and every other survey the agency conducts, except the once-a-decade population count. Oh, and bye-bye Census of Agriculture (transferred from Census to the Agriculture Department in 1997). Sayonara, adios — no more data.

The first thing you should know is that there are a series of what are called interchange levels which affect the cost of a charge at every stage, depending on a number of factors—including the type of card presented, specific information contained in the transaction and how/when the transaction is processed. Here are tips on how you can prevent being assessed higher processing fees .

Empire State Development and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced the appointment of Mwisa Chisunka as New York State Business Ombudswoman and Director of Business Tax Services and Education. As New York's first Ombudswoman, Ms. Chisunka will work closely with the business community to provide education about tax law developments, answer questions, and help businesses navigate the issue resolution process. She will also launch pro-business programs as part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's Open for Business initiative. More HERE .