Energy costs play a big role in how expensive it is to run a business, especially with surging prices in recent years. But what you pay varies by where you live.
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council recently put out its Energy Cost Index 2009, which ranks all 50 states on their energy costs. The report [...]
The United States Air Force will make a concerted effort to buy more products and services from small businesses, according to two Air Force officials.
The Air Force is looking to small businesses to beef up competition between potential vendors, and to provide more innovation, the officials said. “We don’t have enough competition now,” says David [...]
Small businesses seeking financing from venture-capital firms need not worry about writing up a solid business plan, since it doesn’t sway funding decisions anyway, concludes a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.
“Our results are most supportive of the premise that planning documents play, at best, [...]
Entrepreneurship experts talk a lot about how entrepreneurs can get us out of this recession by innovating new products and services and starting companies that hire people. But just how much do start-ups actually contribute to job creation?
The ones that survive create a bevy of new jobs, a new report finds. Yet, many don’t survive.
The [...]
American culture makes a big deal about “fast-growth” companies, trumpeting such achievements as getting on the Inc. 5000 list. But does our future – and the future of the planet - depend on “no growth” companies?
According to one MIT professor, it does.
Jay Forrester, an MIT Sloan School of Management professor emeritus, argues in a [...]
Is there such a thing as a free lunch? These days, some restaurateurs are banking on it.
To attract diners in these tough economic times, a bunch of restaurants, from fast-food chains to small eateries, are going beyond cutting prices. Some are offering free meals, while others are trying a pay-what-you-want option.
Customers of Denny’s [...]
- The Senate votes to give remaining $110 billion or so in TARP funds to be spent to support small businesses. (Some Senators had called for that earlier this week.) [WSJ]
- The Senate confirmed Karen Gordon Mills as new SBA administrator late Thursday. (Read about her confirmation hearing here.) [BizJournals.com]
- A Kauffman Foundation survey finds [...]
A family member who sells Mary Kay cosmetics recently invited me to a product demonstration hosted by another sales rep. I went, and was rather surprised: About half the time was spent trying to convince me and the other attendees to become Mary Kay sales reps. The pitch: The economy is so bad that, even [...]
Is your business hiring? No? Well, what if someone pays you? The state of Georgia is offering. A new proposal in the Peach State offers a $2,400 tax credit to companies that hire someone who’s currently unemployed.
Georgia’s senate approved the measure last week. Under the terms of the bill, the tax break would kick in [...]
The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship unanimously confirmed Karen Gordon Mills, a venture capitalist and Tootsie Roll heiress, as the administrator of the Small Business Administration last night. The full Senate is expected to swiftly confirm President Obama’s nominee for the SBA post, as soon as today.
“Karen Mills is the right person to [...]