http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/ 15 en-us Copyright 2008 Fri, 09 May 2008 10:50:45 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Here is the Small Business blog's monthly roundup of legislation, regulation and other government activity affecting small businesses. Both Earth Day and National Small Business Week occurred in April, and much of the activity centered on those events. Legislation The House approved legislation reauthorizing programs that provide federal support for new technologies emerging from private-sector small businesses. H.R. 5819 reauthorizes through 2010 the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Research programs. The House Small Business Committee and its subcommittees in hearings last month examined a number of issues, including the effects of the ailing economy, rising gas prices, credit card lending, hiring a diverse workforce, entrepreneurs and their role in stimulating the economy and the inclusion of small firms in federal contracting programs. It also heard from witnesses about how to maintain public lands for hunting, fishing, ranching and other small business uses. In 2006, more than http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/small_business_on_capitol_hill_4.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/small_business_on_capitol_hill_4.html Regulation Legislation Fri, 09 May 2008 10:50:45 -0400 Check out Tom Heath's latest post over on the WashBiz blog about the Canine Fitness Center, a small business that's all about man's best friend. Entrepreneurs Maury and Lynn Chaput opened the Canine Fitness Center in Crownsville, Md., after their beloved dog Shadow tore a muscle in his leg and needed "swim therapy" as part of his rehabilitation. The couple couldn't find a pool built for dogs nearby, so they opened their own. Read more about how the Chaputs started their business and how they're doing now here. You might want to take your own pup for a swim. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/check_out_tom_heaths_latest.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/check_out_tom_heaths_latest.html Profiles in Entrepreneurship Wed, 07 May 2008 11:35:59 -0400 While most small businesses choose to use e-mail or cell phones for quick communication, those who still use snail mail will soon be feeling the pain in their wallets. The U.S. Postal Service is increasing shipping rates beginning May 12. The cost of sending a first-class letter will go up 1 cent to 42 cents, but the so-called "forever" stamps that currently sell for 41 cents will remain valid after the increase. If you buy any "forever" stamps after May 12, they will cost you 42 cents each. The USPS said it had 5 billion forever stamps on hand in anticipation of high demand for them before the increase. The postal service is increasing some rates for Express Mail by switching to a zone-based pricing system -- that means customers will pay less for nearby destinations, but more for longer distances. Customers can get a 3 percent price reduction by http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/may_is_a_good_month_to_reasses.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/may_is_a_good_month_to_reasses.html Tools and Tips Wed, 07 May 2008 09:55:54 -0400 The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy released a study late last month that examined energy costs. Characterization and Analysis of Small Business Energy Costs explores whether rising energy costs are harming small business growth. The analysis found that small entities in the manufacturing and construction sectors pay higher prices for most, but not all, fuels. The price disparities are most pronounced for electricity and natural gas. Electricity costs for small businesses in the manufacturing sector accounted for the greatest price differential. Companies with fewer than 50 employees pay 35 percent more for electricity than the sector average, while those with 1,000 or more employees pay 17 percent less than the sector average. The report concludes that small manufacturing sector entities that use substantial amounts of electricity are experiencing a significant competitive disadvantage. The study was conducted by E.H. Pechan and Associates of Durham, N.C. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/study_energy_costs_a_challenge.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/study_energy_costs_a_challenge.html Data Points Mon, 05 May 2008 11:36:19 -0400 Women entrepreneurs are key contributors to economic growth in low- and middle-income countries, particularly Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a new report from the Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College. Data gathered for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report on women and entrepreneurs show that women who are employed and have built a social network of entrepreneurs are more likely to become entrepreneurs themselves. It's a surprise that developing countries in Eastern Europe have low rates of women's entrepreneurship, closely resembling their highly developed European neighbors, while countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have rates of women's entrepreneurship two and three times higher, said the study's principal researcher, Babson Professor Elaine Allen, in an interview. Regardless of gender or country group, employment matters to entrepreneurial activity. The likelihood of being involved in entrepreneurial activity is three to four times higher for women who are employed in a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/women_entrepreneurs_spur_econo.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/women_entrepreneurs_spur_econo.html Data Points Fri, 02 May 2008 10:28:31 -0400 Small business advocates are mobilizing to quash a proposal being considered by a powerful Senate panel that would require credit- and debit-card issuers like MasterCard and Visa to report business owners' electronic payment transactions to the IRS. The Senate Committee on Finance is considering the plan as part of a greater effort to increase tax compliance and narrow the "tax gap," which the IRS defines as the difference between the amount of tax that taxpayers should pay for a given year and the amount that is paid voluntarily and on time. The National Association for the Self-Employed wrote to the panel last week, saying that it applauded lawmakers' efforts to encourage compliance, but that it was concerned "that the delicate balance between what is reasonable and what is detrimental has shifted to the latter." The group, which represents 250,000 self-employed individuals and firms that have 10 or fewer employees, said http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/tax_gap_plan_vexes_small_busin.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/05/tax_gap_plan_vexes_small_busin.html Policymakers Thu, 01 May 2008 14:39:12 -0400 MAY 1 Financial and legal issues workshop for an emerging high-tech firm. The event, held at Teqcorner in Tysons Corner, Va., from 6:15 p.m to 9 p.m. is free for MIT Enterprise Forum members and $25 for non-members. The speakers include lawyers, investment bankers and accountants. 2 Sustainable Business Incubator at Fairleigh Dickinson University is hosting, with other entrepreneurial groups, a day-long affair in Madison, N.J. focusing on growing the next generation of green ventures. 2 Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation will host a 12:30 p.m. talk by editor Diana Furchtgott-Roth on the new book Overcoming Barriers to Entrepreneurship. She and her colleagues aim to illustrate how policy and economic environment can hinder business owners and suggest what can be done to help them. The event will be held at Heritage headquarters in Washington and more information can be found online. 4-7 National Business Incubation Association's 22nd annual conference http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/calendar_of_events_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/calendar_of_events_1.html Calendar Events Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:54:52 -0400 Three women who founded businesses focused on babies and children won Yahoo grants for growing their firms, the online media giant announced Tuesday. The women entered the Seeds for Success competition and won $20,000 in cash, $5,000 worth of Web site consulting, and Web site hosting from Yahoo. Pediatric speech pathologist Karla Duncan of Birmingham, Ala., will expand her firm Head2Toe Publications, a developer of toys and educational materials for special needs children. Abby Port of Woodstock, Ga., won for Red Koala, which makes custom home décor with an eye on children's rooms and nurseries. Dana Rubenstein of New York City co-founded Dapple, which will produce earth-friendly and baby-safe cleaning supplies for babies' hands, toys, and feeding tools like bottles and kids cups. The contest received more than 5,500 applications in just three weeks. "We were very impressed, not only by the quality of the ideas, but also the strong http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/three_women_who_founded_busine.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/three_women_who_founded_busine.html Profiles in Entrepreneurship Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:38:38 -0400 The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy today released a study that examines why women are emerging as a fast-growing sector of new small business owners. The study, Human Capital and Women's Business Ownership, which focused on women who were self-employed and held only one job, found that self-employed women have more education and increased their educational attainment at a faster rate compared to other working women. The percentage of self-employed women in managerial occupations exceeded the rate for other working women, and self-employed women worked in different industries than other working women. The study also showed that self-employed minorities were slightly more likely than self-employed whites to have a college degree throughout much of the study period of 1994 to 2006. Data show that the self-employed were likely to be either in the lowest or highest income brackets. Additionally, high percentages of the self-employed were in their 40s or http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/the_small_business_administrat.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/the_small_business_administrat.html Data Points Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:36:40 -0400 The Small Business Administration's second in command is expected to be named acting administrator if agency chief Steven Preston leaves to head the Housing and Urban Development Department, as requested by President Bush. When SBA Deputy Administrator Jovita Carranza was confirmed for her current position in December 2006, she said: "I will bring to the Small Business Administration a goal-oriented management philosophy with a history of successes on two continents." At the time, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship unanimously endorsed her for the deputy administrator position and she was praised by the panel's Republican and Democratic leaders. Carranza was named National Hispanic Woman of the Year by Hispanic Business magazine in 2004 and worked for 30 years at shipping giant United Parcel Service, or UPS. She started at UPS in 1976 as a part-time, night-shift clerk in Los Angeles and worked her way up the corporate http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/sba_deputy_expected_to_be_nomi.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/sba_deputy_expected_to_be_nomi.html Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:05:34 -0400 Experts told the House Small Business Committee yesterday that times are tough for small firms with close ties to the housing market, but they're pretty good for those who have gotten cozy with the tech industry. Small businesses dominate the home building industry, according to Michael Hodgson, the owner of consulting firm ConSol who testified on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders. He noted that 60 percent of the association's members build fewer than 25 homes per year and nearly 90 percent have less than $5 million in annual receipts. While home builders are getting financially walloped in the nation's current economic downturn and housing crisis, Hodgson sees a bright spot that could help turn things around for small home builders -- energy-efficient construction and green building. According to the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing, the majority of green-home builders and manufacturers of green building technologies are http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/experts_told_the_house_small.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/experts_told_the_house_small.html Regulation Legislation Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:42:31 -0400 The House on Wednesday approved legislation reauthorizing programs that provide federal support for new technologies emerging from private-sector small businesses. H.R. 5819 reauthorizes through 2010 the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Research programs. The bill was passed 368-43. "Innovation is crucial for maintaining America's competitive lead in this global economy," said Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.). "SBIR and STTR are good economic stimulus programs that support research and innovation among our country's leading job creators - small businesses." The programs make up the largest source of federal support for private-sector technological innovation, providing more than $2.3 billion annually to small, high-tech entrepreneurial companies that are creating revolutionary new technologies. The legislation updates the programs, including adding the requirement that agencies with SBIR or STTR budgets greater than $50 million create an advisory board to review the program quarterly and recommend improvements. Rep. Steve Chabot of http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/house_passes_bill_supporting_s.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/house_passes_bill_supporting_s.html Regulation Legislation Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:20:10 -0400 The Small Business Administration has named a Virginia entrepreneur as its national small business person of the year. Shawn Boyer founded SnagAJob.com eight years ago and has grown it into a successful Web site for posting and finding hourly and part-time jobs. "Boyer is a perfect example of the creativity and inspiration it takes to become a highly successful entrepreneur," said SBA head Steven Preston during an event celebrating National Small Business Week in Washington. Boyer, 35, was working as an attorney in a D.C. law firm when a friend asked him for help finding a summer internship. Boyer discovered that there weren't a lot of resources for potential interns or workers looking for hourly jobs and so embarked upon his start-up. The firm started with 2 full-time employees working out of a 1,000-square-foot self-storage unit. It now employs 110 full-time workers in a 35,000-square-foot facility in Richmond, Va. The http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/virginian_named_national_small.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/virginian_named_national_small.html Profiles in Entrepreneurship Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:31:11 -0400 Small businesses looking for funding during these tight economic times are finding themselves the unwitting victims of fraud. More small firms are turning to the Internet to find loans and that's been a problem, said Edward Johnson, president and CEO of the Washington chapter of the Better Business Bureau. "This is the tip of the iceberg," he said. "We're seeing an increase in the amount of fraudulent activities due to the current U.S. economy and credit crunch." The fraudsters have been setting up professional-looking Web sites to attract loan candidates, only to ask them for upfront fees to process the loan or for other reasons. "The big problem is that most consumers and businesses don't understand that it's against the law for a lender to charge a fee in advance of actually providing the loan," Johnson said. The Federal Trade Commission's telemarketing sales rule says if someone guarantees or suggests http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/fraudsters_prey_on_small_firms.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/fraudsters_prey_on_small_firms.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:15:06 -0400 Dear Readers: This is the first in an occasional series of articles looking at different tools small businesses are using to help automate their administrative and back-office tasks. These aren't the only tools in their field, but an example of what some small firms are doing to make their daily operations run more smoothly. Sport and Spine, a company offering chiropractic, physical therapy and rehabilitation services, operates seven offices in the Washington area. It has about 50 employees, including part-timers, but started out with just a handful of workers in a Rockville, Md., office in 1994. About two years ago, Jay Greenstein, who is the company CEO and founder, formed a strategic planning committee with employees to discuss the future of the firm. "One thing that we came up with out of those meetings was about making better employees," he said. "Everyone wanted greater employee engagement, and we all thought http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/one_small_business_automates_p.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/small-business/2008/04/one_small_business_automates_p.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:30:33 -0400