New York SBDC Research Network

smallbizresource.com This is a useful business blog. Actually, it's three blogs: the Balancing Act that a business person must face (Rules About Blogging, Working At Home Not For Everyone); MyTech (virus protection, mobile speech to text); and Thinking Big (patents, preparation). The main page of this site also has helpful information on finance, growth, management, marketing, sales, technology and more.

Clients who do their own research often find reference to very expensive market research reports. Often, these items are not available on the shelves of your local public or university library. (They're certainly beyond the budget for our library, too.) However, there is a site that your clients might consider visiting in these circumstances. It's www.marketresearch.com . This site makes available for sale reports from many market research firms. Of course, they'd rather your clients buy the whole report. However, they also allow them to buy "by the slice". When there, your client can search for a given report. If it's in their database, they can then search within the report for a given word or phrase. They'll then get results that show them the context of the report in which that word or phrase is used. If only one or two instances fit your client's needs, then they can buy just that chapter. It still won't be super cheap, but they'

Before I ever met Mary Beth, I heard her. Specifically, I heard her laugh. She had just been hired, and since I was not on the search committee, I had no information about her, other than the assurances from the librarians who were on the committee that she was "really good." Well, that turned out to be correct; she is a fine librarian. She has the dogged determination and the requisite curiosity of a good researcher. She also is in charge of the SBDC web page, which is more than a design task; it’s asking, sometimes cajoling, newspapers to provide rights to display stories about the NYS SBDC on the site. It’s probably because of the varied experience she had before coming to the SBDC – she had worked at ASCAP, the New York Assembly and Empire State Development. Mary Beth is currently the president of a local branch of a national library association. In fact, it was attending a library conference meeting where MB came up with the idea of the Research Network doing a blog, whi

At the Research Network, we have a book in the collection entitled, "Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants," published back in 1994. Competition can be fierce for small businesses in communities where Wal-Mart set up. Now Wal-Mart is stepping up to remarks of criticism according to a New York Times report by offering "financial grants, training on how to survive with Wal-Mart in town and even free advertising within a Wal-Mart store." Read more about the "Wal-Mart Jobs and Opportunity Zone” initiative .

A source that offers a number of resources to entrepreneurs is the CELCEE website. CELCEE stands for Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship Education, a non-profit add-on to ERIC, the Educational Resources Information Center. They offer articles related to entrepreneurship, as well as conferences, government publications, books, among many other things. There is a simple search function that searches the entire site. Materials are also arranged by year and there is an advanced search feature that allows you to choose the type of record. Some examples are: Native American Gaming and Tribal Economic Development: Myths and Realities By Amy Fann June 2005 DIGEST Number 05-11 Entrepreneurial Opportunities Serving Aging Adults By Jennifer Paek June 2005 DIGEST Number 05-03 July 2004 Women in Agriculture CELCEE Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship Education EDINFO Number 04-07

Beginning Saturday, April 1, a year-round exemption from the four percent New York State sales and use taxes went into effect on the purchase of clothing, footwear, and items to make or repair exempt clothing, costing less than $110 per item or pair. The exemption does not apply to locally imposed sales and use taxes unless the county or city imposing those taxes elected the exemption. To find the local sales tax, if any, on these products, go here .

Sam Kandel from the Mid-Hudson SBDC sent me an e-mail regarding one of his clients. She's an author, and is currently researching and writing a book about improving personal productivity in the workplace. Ideally, this woman would like small business owners to take a brief survey, so that they can add their "voice" on the issue. It's only 17 questions, and most of them are a matter of selecting a rating on a scale. Participants are entitled to an advance copy of the book. The client would be grateful if you could ask your existing small business clients to take the survey. It can be found here .