2008 Q4 FReepathon. Target: $80,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $32,566
40%  
Woo hoo!! Over 40 percent!! We thank y'all very much!!

Keyword: smallbusiness

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Has anyone seen this bumper sticker?

    10/08/2008 8:43:27 PM PDT · by Parthalan · 15 replies · 467+ views
    I'm looking to find a bumper Sticker that reads something similar to: I'm one of the Small Businesses that Obama wants to tax to death
  • What is a "small business"? (Obama says he won't increase taxes on small businesses)

    10/08/2008 7:47:17 PM PDT · by fightinJAG · 11 replies · 401+ views
    SBA ^ | 2008 | SBA
    A Small Business is one that: is organized for profit; has a place of business in the United States; makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy by paying taxes or using American products, materials or labor; and, does not exceed the numerical size standard for its industry. The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form. There is an SBA small business size standard for every private sector industry in the U.S. Economy. SBA uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to identify the industries. Size Standards (usually stated in number of employees...
  • New Ohio Survey Shows More Than 54% of 'Main Street' Business Owners Will Vote McCain/Palin

    10/07/2008 11:19:18 AM PDT · by Bobkk47 · 25 replies · 767+ views
    Breitbart ^ | 10/7/2008 | Unk.
    Small Business Owners Choose McCain, Even Though 53% Say the Current Administration Has Not Represented Local Business Owners Well LOS ALTOS, Calif., Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- MerchantCircle, the largest social network of local business owners in the nation, today releases results from an Ohio survey of members. Of 338 small business owners surveyed, 54% planned to vote for Senator John McCain to 32% that planned to vote for Senator Barack Obama. Over 51% of Ohio business owners reported a decline in sales and revenue during the past year. The survey was conducted nationally from September 25 to October 6 and...
  • Four Sources of Alternative Funds (Businesses/Start-ups)

    10/02/2008 2:35:38 AM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 299+ views
    The Wall Street Journal ^ | September 17, 2008 | Colleen Debaise
    WHEN SANDY CORSO launched PeacefulCompany, a web site that sells products to soothe the mind, body and spirit, in 2002 her friends and family were skeptical. And so, too, were potential lenders. "The banks thought I was crazy, and they would not give me a loan," says Corso, of Madison, Conn. Now, six years later, Corso's company posts $1.3 million in annual sales (her current best seller is the "neti pot," a container that cleanses sinus cavities), enough to win the respect of her former naysayers. But banks? Still a no-go, which Corso attributes to two factors: the credit crunch,...
  • America Supports You: Group Offers Military Spouses Small-Business Help

    08/29/2008 12:28:47 PM PDT · by SandRat · 3+ views
    America Supports You ^ | Samantha L. Quigley
    WASHINGTON, Aug. 29, 2008 – Starting a business requires cold, hard cash and moral support, both of which are now available to military spouses through a Virginia-based organization. “Military Spouse Business Association will help military spouses with the tangibles of financial and business resources and the intangibles of motivation, encouragement, support and recognition,” said Lanette Lepper, a co-founder of the organization, and a military spouse who owns her own business. The other co-founders, Joanna Williamson and Rebecca Poynter, share the same backgrounds as military spouses and small-business owners. Their idea to create the Military Spouse Business Association stemmed from...
  • Help! I'm looking for a WSJ article

    08/02/2008 2:33:15 PM PDT · by Joiseydude · 10 replies · 9+ views
    That appeared in the journal a few weeks back that has to do with how small businesses will be taxed to death under Obama. Thanks
  • Small Business Administration: Banality of Evil Redux

    08/01/2008 11:51:09 AM PDT · by average american student · 9 replies · 15+ views
    Stiff Right Jab ^ | August 1, 2008 | Diane Alden
    By Diane AldenSYNOPSIS Billions of dollars of federal set asides for Small Business are being gobbled up by multinational corporations. Go to the original source here: 'Small' Business Association.DIANE ALDEN COMMENTARY Was no one paying attention while the US fell apart? Or is it that it was falling apart in so many varied places, we all went into information overload which provided cover for the worst of the crooks and liars to tear the nation apart? At times I am forced to wonder if such corruption and collusion is so wide and deep and constant - that no one pays...
  • McCain Delivers Remarks at the National Small Business Summit ("I will veto every single beer")

    06/11/2008 7:28:16 PM PDT · by Libloather · 24 replies · 5+ views
    McCain Delivers Remarks at the National Small Business SummitCQ Transcriptswire Tuesday, June 10, 2008; 12:50 PM **SNIP** If that authority is entrusted to me, I will use the veto as needed. I will veto every single beer -- bill with earmarks.
  • Branding: Why small businesses should act like big businesses

    04/04/2008 8:38:19 PM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 3 replies · 7+ views
    The Gaston Gazette ^ | April 4, 2008 | Maribeth Jenkins
    Most of us recognize brands we use everyday. Picking coffee at Starbucks, visiting Trader Joe's for groceries or stopping by Home Depot for materials for the weekend home improvement project are things we often do without thinking. Yet the reason we buy something, visit a store or contribute to a particular effort is based on how we know about it, how we understand it, and how we value it - its brand. Even paying attention to something we know nothing about is a conscious decision and could be a rejection of known brands. Most brands we easily identify and use...
  • Teen Millionaire

    03/15/2008 10:13:01 AM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 63 replies · 2,325+ views
    Yahoo! News People of the Web ^ | October 30, 2007 | Kevin Sites
    Ashley Qualls doesn't sound like a typical high school student. Maybe that's because the 17-year-old is the CEO of a million-dollar business. Ashley is the head of whateverlife.com, a website she started when she was just 14 — with eight dollars borrowed from her mother. Now, just three years later, the website grosses more than $1 million a year, providing Ashley and her working class family a sense of security they had never really known. It all started with capitalism 101, the law of supply and demand. Ashley became interested in graphic design just as the online social networking craze...
  • Radio Address by the President to the Nation, 01-19-08

    01/19/2008 9:18:26 AM PST · by Salvation · 9 replies · 23+ views
    WhiteHouse.gov ^ | 01-19-08 | George W. Bush
    For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJanuary 19, 2008 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       In Focus: Economy THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Yesterday, I visited Wright Manufacturing -- a business in Frederick, Maryland that makes commercial lawn mowers. Businesses like Wright are the driving force behind our economic success. They create jobs and opportunities for millions of workers. And entrepreneurs like those at Wright Manufacturing keep our economy growing. This is a challenging period for our economy, and I know many of you listening are concerned about the future. My advisors and many outside experts expect that...
  • Tracing Business Acumen to Dyslexia

    12/08/2007 7:08:55 PM PST · by neverdem · 55 replies · 47+ views
    NY Times ^ | December 6, 2007 | BRENT BOWERS
    It has long been known that dyslexics are drawn to running their own businesses, where they can get around their weaknesses in reading and writing and play on their strengths. But a new study of entrepreneurs in the United States suggests that dyslexia is much more common among small-business owners than even the experts had thought. The report, compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, found that more than a third of the entrepreneurs she had surveyed — 35 percent — identified themselves as dyslexic. The study also concluded that dyslexics were...
  • Presidential Candidate Thompson Discusses Need To Reduce Cost of Entitlement Programs

    10/20/2007 9:27:16 AM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 26 replies · 25+ views
    Republican presidential candidate and former Sen. Fred Thompson (Tenn.) on Wednesday at a Club for Growth event in Washington, D.C., discussed the need to reduce the cost of Medicare and other entitlement programs, the New York Times reports (Bosman, New York Times, 10/18). Thompson said that Medicare could become insolvent without a reduction in the cost of the program.He said, "We have to address the question of whether or not we stick with the same premiums" and deductibles for higher-income Medicare beneficiaries. In a statement, Thompson said that "our country faces ever-rising and unsustainable costs related to meeting this commitment"...
  • Fred Thompson Announces National "Small Business Leaders for Fred Thompson" Chairman

    10/12/2007 8:36:59 PM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 15 replies · 26+ views
    Fred08 ^ | October 10, 2007
    McLean, VA - Senator Fred Thompson announced today that Jack Faris, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, will be the National Chairman of "Small Business Leaders for Fred Thompson." "I am excited to be supporting Senator Thompson, an old friend and fellow Tennessean, because he understands the role that small businesses play in our economy. Senator Thompson's record in the U.S. Senate speaks for itself, long a supporter of lower taxes, which allow Americans to invest more in our economy, and a strong advocate for increased access and flexibility in health care and...
  • New Business Loan Program for Veterans

    10/09/2007 12:19:40 AM PDT · by 2ndDivisionVet · 183+ views
    Military.com ^ | October 08, 2007
    The Small Business Administration (SBA) enlisted banks across the country to participate in a new loan program reserved for military veterans. The program features fast approval times, low interest rates and up to $500,000 to help start a business or expand one. The Patriot Express Loans Program offers rates of 2.25 percent - 4.75 percent over the prime interest rate, depending upon the size and maturity of the loan. The SBA also offers counseling and training for entrepreneurial veterans. For more information, visit the Patriot Express website.
  • Tax structure topic of small business forum

    07/23/2007 2:06:58 PM PDT · by george76 · 2 replies · 188+ views
    The entire Colorado tax structure and its effect on business solvency and growth will be the subject of a forum to be held in Denver ... Aug. 13. Hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business/Colorado, the leading representative group in America for the biggest job generators - small businesses ... The forum is open to all Colorado small-business owners. A panel of guests includes House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and ... "Colorado tax structure is the creation of three often competing entities - citizen initiatives, special interests and the Legislature," Gagliardi said. "This has led to the current crazy quilt...
  • America’s Small Business Owners are Being Taken to the Cleaners by the Trial Lawyers

    05/17/2007 8:59:03 AM PDT · by MrLegalReform · 15 replies · 776+ views
    Institute for Legal Reform ^ | 05/17/07 | Lisa Rickard
    America’s broken lawsuit system is hurting our nation’s small businesses. That statement won’t surprise anyone who has heard the saga of the D.C. judge and his $65 million pants suit. If ever there was a frivolous lawsuit, this is it. But is the Drycleaner case a curious anomaly? Unfortunately, no.
  • Giuliani to Address The Latino Coalition's 2007 Small Business Economic Summit

    04/12/2007 7:04:51 PM PDT · by jdm · 6 replies · 244+ views
    PR Newswire ^ | April 12, 2007
    WASHINGTON, April 12 / PRNewswire -- The Board of Directors of The Latino Coalition announced today that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be a keynote speaker at the 2007 Small Business Economic Summit to be held at the Four Season's Hotel in Washington, D.C. on May 1-2, 2007. "We are honored that Mayor Giuliani will address Latino business and community leaders from across the country at this summit," said TLC Chairman Hector Barreto. "As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani received strong support among Latinos due to his leadership in growing the economy in New York City and resurrecting the...
  • Small firms' job creation plans at near-record high (can you say more tax revenue+lower deficit?)

    02/24/2007 5:39:45 AM PST · by q_an_a · 1 replies · 139+ views
    Biz Journal ^ | 02.23.07 | Kent Hoover Washington Bureau Chief
    Nearly one in four small businesses plans to add more workers in the next three months, according to a monthly survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business. "This is a near-record high reading," says NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg. "December's labor market clouds have dissipated." These job creation plans helped spark a 2.4-point gain to 98.9 in NFIB's monthly index of small business economic indicators. Capital spending plans also were up.
  • Have any FReepers ever started their own small business or home-based business?

    02/08/2007 1:25:23 PM PST · by Momaw Nadon · 36 replies · 680+ views
    My American Dream | Thursday, February 8, 2007 | Momaw Nadon
    I am thinking of starting a small business and am wondering if any other FReepers have done so. To me, starting a business and being your own boss is one of the greatest of American dreams. Financial freedom is possible in America, and I would like to achieve it doing something that I love. I'm looking for advice on getting started and what it takes to succeed. What is the experience like? How did you decide what you wanted to do for a living? What is the most difficult part of the journey? Have you been successful in your pursuit...
  • How a Santa Fe Woman Made the Back-Seat Caddy She Couldn't Buy

    01/18/2007 11:44:34 AM PST · by CedarDave · 51 replies · 2,365+ views
    The Albuquerque Journal ^ | January 18, 2007 | Andrew Webb
    After fruitlessly searching for a way to safely keep her kids' things within their reach in the back seat of the family minivan, Dawn Winters-Rizika of Santa Fe did what a lot of us have probably done. She thought to herself, "I could make something like that." The steps she took next could likely mean the difference between an actual product and the all-too-common fate of so many useful inventions left cooling on the cranial backburner. A year's worth of support from a network of local nonprofits, two trade shows and about $45,000 in home equity loans later, a shipment...
  • Do-gooders crush small establishments' spirits (D.C.)

    09/28/2006 11:21:18 AM PDT · by JZelle · 1 replies · 430+ views
    Washington Times ^ | 9-28-06 | Tom Knott
    All too many denizens of the city instinctively rail against corporate America as an article of their political faith but inevitably undermine the entrepreneurial spirit of the mom-and-pop tavern operators in their neighborhoods. This disconnect is played out in various areas of the city, initiated by civic association groups and the elected officials of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission. Their hubris is surpassed only by their thorough misunderstanding of the marketplace.
  • Transforming the Tax Code: An Examination of the President’s Tax Reform Panel Recommendations

    09/17/2006 7:55:38 PM PDT · by pigdog · 126 replies · 1,228+ views
    Prepared Remarks of Mr. David Burton Americans for Fair Taxation My name is David Burton. I am a partner in the Argus Group, a small public policy firm based in Virginia. I have a particular interest in, and awareness of, the problems of small businesses for a number of reasons. I worked for many years in my family’s furniture and pool table manufacturing business stopping only once I was well into law school. I worked as the CFO and general counsel of a small 80 employee multinational manufacturing company. I also regard small businesses and farmers as the greatest source...
  • The Wide, Wild World of Genetic Testing

    09/14/2006 10:11:28 PM PDT · by neverdem · 4 replies · 289+ views
    NY Times ^ | September 12, 2006 | ANDREW POLLACK
    A MEDICAL journal in March published a study suggesting that drinking coffee can raise the risk of heart attack, but only for people with a gene that makes them slow metabolizers of caffeine. Experts called the finding intriguing, but said it needed to be validated by others and its health implications better understood. Still, Consumer Genetics, a company formed only a month earlier, is already advertising a genetic test that purports to tell consumers whether they can continue to enjoy their morning jolt. That is how fast things can move in the rapidly expanding, chaotic and largely unregulated world of...
  • Angelides, Schwarzenegger vie for small-business vote

    08/19/2006 2:33:09 PM PDT · by NormsRevenge · 10 replies · 392+ views
    San Diego Union - Tribune ^ | 8/19/06 | John Marelius and Philip J. LaVelle
    OCEANSIDE – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Democratic opponent, Phil Angelides, both touted efforts to help small businesses in campaign appearances in San Diego County yesterday. State Treasurer Angelides outlined a plan to provide an estimated $526 million in tax relief to 1.1 million small businesses in California at Pacific Bakery in Oceanside, while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reminded attendees at the California Black Chamber of Commerce convention in Del Mar of administration efforts to help business. Under the Democratic nominee's proposal, small businesses would receive a tax cut of up to $5,000 a year. In addition, he would exempt the...
  • Long Overdue: Minimum Tipping Law

    07/31/2006 1:10:43 PM PDT · by Jack Bull · 64 replies · 2,059+ views
    World Net Daily ^ | 7/31/06 | Rusty Humphries
    Long overdue: Minimum tipping law Congress is working overtime to find a way to increase the minimum wage. On Saturday July 29, House Republicans bravely pushed through the first minimum wage increase in years after tying it to a cut in inheritance taxes on big-dollar estates. OK, the Republicans are being clever in an election year: They take a minimum wage bullet out of the Democrats' ammunition belt, and make a deposit with contributors. Brilliant politics in an election year! In the past, I would have railed against such legislation as unconstitutional and harmful to the very people it is...
  • Russian Young People are Shaking Off the Old Ways

    06/12/2006 11:16:27 AM PDT · by G. Stolyarov II · 194+ views
    PanAsianBiz ^ | June 12, 2006 | Dr. Bill Belew
    "You can never be optimistic about anything in our country because it will likely end up badly," is the sentiment of the old-timers in Russia. Youngsters who do NOT remember the Soviet times do not share this sentiment-- nor do they have the aversion to capitalism that their parents and grandparents no doubt have. Young girls wear spike-heeled boots and tread carefully to keep the mud off. They also manage bank branches that specialize in giving small loans to entrepreneurs. Start-ups were few and far between just a few years ago-- bank portfolios have tripled and clients doubled in some...
  • Running on Empty(Independent Gas Stations)

    06/04/2006 7:24:43 PM PDT · by kellynla · 18 replies · 1,031+ views
    Los Angeles Times ^ | June 4, 2006 | Elizabeth Douglass
    Lured by a discount of 6 cents a gallon, Erin Farrow drove past a Chevron station to pump $50 of no-name gas into her Ford Explorer one day last week. She certainly wasn't drawn by the ambience at O'Brien Station in northern San Diego County. And two weeks earlier, the nurse from nearby San Marcos probably wouldn't have stopped at all because O'Brien's price was 20 cents a gallon higher than at the Chevron and an Exxon outlet not too far away. "I drove this way on purpose," said Farrow, a dedicated bargain hunter who thinks nothing of laying out...
  • Networking: Small firms strugglingb

    05/22/2006 11:42:44 AM PDT · by 2Jim_Brown · 6 replies · 294+ views
    UPI ^ | May j22, 2006 | UPI
    Small and medium-size enterprises are lagging on IT security, and many still utilize first-generation security solutions that are now ineffective against significant threats that may sabotage their networks, experts are telling United Press International's Networking column. A forthcoming survey by The Yankee Group, and the Information Technology Solution Provider Alliance (ITSPA), an advance summary of which was provided to Networking, indicates that smaller firms are "struggling" with basic technology issues, including keeping up to date with technology and effectively using technology already on hand.
  • Big help for small businesses (Bill Frist)

    05/13/2006 9:39:01 PM PDT · by neverdem · 6 replies · 272+ views
    Kansas City Star ^ | May 11, 2006 | BILL FRIST
    Health coverage Missouri’s 450,000 small businesses face a health-care crisis that grows worse every day. Although they provide about half of the state’s employment and add more than $14 billion to the economy, many face serious problems as they struggle to provide health coverage for their workers. In 2005 alone, health-care costs rose three times faster than inflation and even faster for many small businesses. Many small firms had to cut benefits or eliminate health coverage entirely. Some even had to lay off workers. Right now, more than 600,000 Missourians — some 100,000 of them in the Kansas City area...
  • NASA Sued Over Fraudulent Contract Data

    05/08/2006 10:57:38 PM PDT · by anymouse · 4 replies · 252+ views
    Lloyd Chapman, President of the American Small Business League, has filed suit in Federal court against the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in order to obtain the names of firms to which NASA has awarded small business contracts. Efforts by Chapman to obtain the information through FOIA were largely ignored by NASA personnel—no written response was ever received—however, NASA did acknowledge receipt of the requests by telephone. “I believe NASA is falsifying their small business reports to Congress and I believe that they are allowing their contractors to falsify their small business reports....
  • Small-biz owners fuming over ‘plethora’ of rules

    05/07/2006 8:36:03 AM PDT · by Radix · 179 replies · 2,865+ views
    Boston Herald ^ | 7 May 2006 | O’Ryan Johnson
    Peabody businessman Bruce Lerner is joining the fast-growing list of entrepreneurs “frustrated out of business” by strict state and local regulations that small-business advocates say are choking the lifeblood of America’s economy.     “It’s the sheer plethora of regulations,” said Carolyn Logue, a state director with the National Federation of Independent Businesses. “It seems many were just drafted to give someone, somewhere a job to do. Nobody looks at the goals and whether they’re actually accomplishing anything.”     Three weeks ago, the North Shore Tobacco Control Program sent a 17-year-old decoy into Lerner’s Main Street Smoke Shop in Peabody. She made it...
  • A Day in the Life of President Bush (photos): 5.5.06

    05/05/2006 5:49:02 PM PDT · by MJY1288 · 149 replies · 2,429+ views
    Yahoo, Ehite House
    Today President Bush visted a local hardware store in the Capiol Hill area (Frager's Hardware) , after shopping for Barney, he spoke the employees of Frager's Hardwars about the economy and the importance of the small business community. Later today the President accepted the resignation of CIA director, Porter Goss. An announcement of his replacement is expected to be made on Monday
  • Bush goes shopping to underscore health of US small business

    05/05/2006 1:10:27 PM PDT · by gwb43_2004 · 7 replies · 415+ views
    AFP via yahoo ^ | Fri May 5
    WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush hailed the health of the US small business sector, using a neighborhood hardware store a short drive from the White House as a homespun backdrop. The president hailed what he described as a roaring US economy and its healthy jobs growth, after picking up few chew toys for Barney, the White House dog. "I just spent some of my hard-earned money on Barney," the president said during the photo-op at Frager's, an old-fashioned hardware store that he praised as "a good place to shop."
  • Small Business Owner Blasts Perry Tax Scheme in Testimony Before Texas Senate Comittee

    04/28/2006 12:40:53 PM PDT · by Pyro7480 · 38 replies · 620+ views
    Texans for No New Taxes ^ | 4/28/2006 | n/a
    TNT Co-Chairman Steven F. Hotze Blasts Perry Tax Scheme in Testimony Before Texas Senate Finance Committee Houston, Texas—Steven F. Hotze, M.D., co-chairman of TEXANS for NO new TAXE$ (TNT)—formed specifically to oppose the Perry Tax Proposal, and a project of Conservative Republicans of Texas, PAC—testified in front of the Texas Senate Finance Committee today in opposition to expansion of the franchise tax being touted by Gov. Rick Perry (R). Excerpts from Dr. Hotze’s prepared remarks follow: “The Perry Business Tax is the largest tax increase in Texas history. If enacted, it would cripple our state’s economy. It is a liberal...
  • Radio Address by the President to the Nation, 04-15-06

    04/15/2006 8:06:31 AM PDT · by Salvation · 16 replies · 457+ views
    WhiteHouse.gov ^ | 04-15-06 | George W. Bush
      For Immediate ReleaseApril 15, 2006 President's Radio Address       Audio      In Focus: Jobs and Economy      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Monday is Tax Day, and that means many of you are busy finishing up your tax returns. The good news is that this year Americans will once again keep more of their hard-earned dollars because of the tax cuts we passed in 2001 and 2003. An important debate is taking place in Washington over whether to keep these tax cuts in place or to raise your taxes. For the sake of American workers and their families, and for our...
  • Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Back Mitt Romney's Health Plan

    04/08/2006 7:37:28 PM PDT · by maine-iac7 · 79 replies · 867+ views
    NewsMax ^ | April 8 2006 | staff
    Breaking from NewsMax.com In what could be a blow to Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney's presidential aspirations, two Democratic White House hopefuls have offered preliminary endorsements for his health care plan, which would force small businesses to offer health insurance to all uninsured employees. "To come up with a bipartisan plan in this polarized environment is commendable," Sen. Hillary Clinton told the Associated Press on Thursday. The Romney plan, which has already been passed by the Massachusetts legislature and is waiting the governor's signature, mimics in some ways Mrs. Clinton's own Hillarycare proposal, which crashed and burned in 1994 with...
  • Immigrant Issues Are Personal for Bush

    04/02/2006 7:55:32 PM PDT · by RWR8189 · 143 replies · 2,496+ views
    Los Angeles Times ^ | April 2, 2006 | Peter Wallsten
    MIDLAND, Texas — Cecilia Ochoa Levine was a Mexican trying to make it in America. But when she hit upon a promising business opportunity, to make knapsacks south of the border to sell in the United States, she could not get the trade permits she needed. And so Levine asked for help from a longtime friend in Texas, where she had been a legal resident for many years. The friend was George W. Bush. Within a week, Levine was on a plane to Washington for a meeting with trade officials. And soon after, she had the papers to expand her...
  • Small business 'victory' in Jersey tax dispute

    02/28/2006 10:53:09 AM PST · by nickcarraway · 18 replies · 457+ views
    The Register ^ | 28 Feb 2006
    Step towards closing the loophole, SMBs say Owner-managers have claimed a victory over retail industry big guns in an argument about the exploitation of Jersey’s tax loophole. Goods worth less than £18 sold on Jersey are exempt from VAT, a fact that has tempted the likes of Tesco, HMV and Amazon to use the island as a sales base, distributing knockdown CDs, books and DVDs to UK customers. SPONSORED LINKS IT gurus seek Your counsel - Jobsite, The best people for the job At Rackpace Managed Hosting we're passionate about the hosting business and we're here to stay - Click...
  • Small dairyman shakes up milk industry

    02/04/2006 6:31:13 PM PST · by Calpernia · 70 replies · 2,008+ views
    The Wall Street Journal ^ | Thursday, February 02, 2006 | By Ilan Brat
    A lone milkman is delivering misery to the doorstep of the giant dairy industry. Hein Hettinga was once a simple dairy farmer who sold raw milk from his farm in Chino, Calif. Today the Dutch immigrant has expanded his operation so much, so fast, that some of the biggest dairy companies and cooperatives in the U.S. have banded together against him. They are lobbying for federal laws to close loopholes they claim he exploits. Mr. Hettinga counters that the only purpose of the proposed legislation is to kill competition -- and keep milk prices high. "That's not right," says the...
  • Small Business Administration loans info and help needed.(A rare Vanity)

    01/26/2006 11:16:19 AM PST · by freedom4ever · 20 replies · 257+ views
    vanity | 1-26-06 | freedom4ever
    I am wondering if there are any Freepers who ever used the Small Business Administration loan program for starting a small business. Specifically, the 7A loan program, since this is what my son is looking at for starting a body shop and a custom auto shop. He is 21 yrs. old and has an excellent credit rating and the desire to open his own shop. We have found a nice building for the shop. He has started through the process of applying, i.e. getting info packets and talking to his banker and getting info from the SCORE people. I am...
  • Radio Address by the President to the Nation, 01-21-06

    01/21/2006 7:51:19 AM PST · by Salvation · 9 replies · 420+ views
    WhiteHouse.gov ^ | 01-21-06 | George W. Bush
      For Immediate ReleaseJanuary 21, 2006 President's Radio Address      Audio      THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This past Thursday, I visited a thriving company in Loudoun County, Virginia, named JK Moving and Storage. I met with the owners and workers and with small businesspeople from the area, and I discussed my agenda to keep America's economy growing and to help our small businesses stay vibrant and strong. Our agenda for growing the economy and helping small businesses starts with wise tax policy. Our economy grows when American workers and families can keep more of their hard-earned money to spend, save, and...
  • WSJ: Small Business Recovery: Lessons From 9/11 - Private funding helped cut through the red tape.

    09/27/2005 6:24:20 AM PDT · by OESY · 1 replies · 212+ views
    Wall Street Journal ^ | September 27, 2005 | BILL GRINKER
    The personal, commercial and civic desolation left by Hurricane Katrina has inevitably bred comparisons to another scene of unthinkable loss and ruin: lower Manhattan after 9/11. While the recovery effort on the Gulf Coast is unique, one area in which New York's experience provides an example is its support for small business reconstruction. Like Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 attacks destroyed or crippled thousands of the smallest local businesses and nonprofits... the "soft" infrastructure of any commercial or industrial district.... After 9/11, Seedco became the primary organization assisting these businesses. We tailored a specific response to the challenges faced... Our approach...
  • QuickBooks vs. Peachtree

    07/26/2005 5:45:44 PM PDT · by Bear_Slayer · 34 replies · 3,032+ views
    7/26/05 | Bear_Slayer
    While I don't always agree with fellow FReepers, I always respect the trustworthy information I can find here. Having said that, I need to pick a software package for a small business. The business is exclusively "Land development." and must track Purchase price of land Cost of all improvements, Sale price of land. Actual profit realized Miscellaneous expenses Which is a better software package for this: PeachTree or Quickbooks.
  • When small business is big business (SBA Small Business Mentor Program)

    07/24/2005 12:14:02 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 1 replies · 99+ views
    The arizona Republic | Jul. 22, 2005 | Nancy Clark-Puffer
    Launching and running a successful small business is no small task. It's huge. Many entrepreneurs with big dreams soon sink into disillusion when the going gets tough. Volunteer mentors like Dutch Vander Laan hope to change that, giving small-business owners a strategy to get started, or get going instead of giving up. advertisement "Small business is a pretty lonely place. Who's going to listen?" asks Vander Laan, a 67-year-old Tempe resident who has owned four successful businesses. "The rent is paid. The loans are paid. The landlord doesn't want to listen to you. The bank doesn't have the time for...
  • ‘Mompreneurs’ (Women shunning corporate niche, using their unique talents to become ...)

    07/24/2005 12:06:44 PM PDT · by nickcarraway · 6 replies · 634+ views
    Pasadena Star News ^ | Saturday, July 23, 2005 | Evan Pondel
    Jill Schiff’s office is just beyond the kitchen, down the hall from where the dog sleeps and the kids roam when they get home from summer camp. Welcome to Schiff’s corporate annex, the place where she can baste a turkey and run a million-dollar business at the same time. She’s not your average stay-at-home mom. Schiff, 36, is growing a jewelry business and pulling double duty as a mom — or, more accurately, a "mompreneur." "I get a lot of creative energy from my kids. They egg me on. And it’s never like ‘Mom, get off the phone,’ " said...
  • OAKLAND City forces out 2 downtown businesses Action follows high court ruling on eminent domain

    07/02/2005 4:10:16 PM PDT · by pineconeland · 59 replies · 1,881+ views
    San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Saturday, July 2, 2005 | Jim Herron Zamora
    Last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling approving a Connecticut city's plan to take private land by eminent domain may seem far away. But to John Revelli, whose family has operated a tire shop near downtown Oakland for decades, the implications hit home on Friday. A team of contractors hired by the city of Oakland packed the contents of his small auto shop in a moving van and evicted Revelli from the property his family has owned since 1949. "I have the perfect location; my customers who work downtown can drop off their cars and walk back here," said Revelli, 65,...
  • Strangled by red tape Russia's business reality

    06/22/2005 7:43:05 PM PDT · by TigerLikesRooster · 3 replies · 204+ views
    Reuters ^ | 06/23/05 | Christian Lowe
    Strangled by red tape Russia's business reality By Christian Lowe 53 minutes ago MOSCOW (Reuters) - Every time Russian property developer Denis Semykin sells a new apartment, he is required by law to register the deal at a special government office. But there is a snag: the office does not exist. "We ... go to every office that might look like this place so they can put the stamp on the piece of paper but they say: 'Sorry chaps it's not us.' Everyone sits there scratching their heads," said Semykin. Months of newspaper headlines about the Kremlin dismantling oil major...
  • Business Project Watches Its Step in Afghanistan

    06/20/2005 2:32:25 PM PDT · by Lorianne · 1 replies · 157+ views
    Women's eNews ^ | 20 July 2005 | Sheryl Nance-Nash
    After troubles paying Rwandan widows for baskets sold in the U.S., Bpeace has learned some lessons. As it mentors female entrepreneurs in Afghanistan, the nonprofit uses a new playbook and is careful about its business partners. (WOMENSENEWS)--Sometimes you get a second chance in life. This time, the Business Council for Peace--better known as Bpeace--vows to get it right. Founded more than two years ago, Bpeace is a nonprofit coalition of more than 130 business consultants and entrepreneurs who work at companies such as American Express, Bank of America and Citigroup. Members of Bpeace, based in New York City, put their...
  • What's American and Envied by France?

    06/04/2005 10:12:05 AM PDT · by pissant · 79 replies · 1,458+ views
    WaPost ^ | 6/4/05 | Anne Dumas
    Praising America isn't the sort of thing that the French run around doing. When we're not lamenting the metastasizing McDonald's outlets, criticizing Hollywood movies or resisting the Americanisms that are creeping into the French language, we are blasting recent U.S. foreign policy. No wonder a book predicting "the breakdown of the American order" became a bestseller here last year. But there's one area in which France would love to emulate that place across the Atlantic -- the ability to foster small businesses and turn them into big ones. It's not exactly haute culture , but these days this is a...