Blog

Applying for disaster recovery assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration just got easier thanks to revisions made to its electronic loan application, significantly reducing the number of screens an applicant must read while filling out the form.

“Our goal is to provide support for those rebuilding after a disaster, and we wanted to make the process more user-friendly,” said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills.  “Whether it’s a hurricane, tornado, earthquake or devastating flood, the SBA can step in to help communities get back on their feet by providing access to both...

The U.S. Small Business Administration, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis will hold a series of free workshops on “Uniform Commercial Codes: Bringing Business to Indian Country.”

The Uniform Commercial Codes workshops will help tribal affiliated organizations, tribal governments and Native American businesses understand how adopting a secured transaction code can increase economic development opportunities.

The workshops will demonstrate how to compete in the marketplace; identify roadblocks and solutions to secure...

Establishing a safe and healthful working environment requires every employer -- large and small -- and every worker to make safety and health a top priority. The entire work force -- from the CEO to the most recent hire -- must recognize that worker safety and health is central to the mission and key to the profitability of the American company.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) job is to provide leadership and encouragement to workers and employers to take that responsibility seriously. We continue to help employers and employees focus on reducing injuries...

Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy and while Indonesia’s annual growth slowed down to 4.5% in 2009, it expanded to 6.1% in 2010. Some economists predict that Indonesia’s economic growth may reach 8% in 2011. During the difficult global conditions of 2009, Indonesia’s economy was among the top worldwide performers. Stock market valuation was up 87% in 2009 and 46% in 2010 and from 2000 until 2010, Indonesia’s average annual GDP growth was 5.17% with a stable currency and improved sovereign credit status.

The consumer market continues to grow in the world’s fourth-...

World Trade Month:  Promoting Products Made in the U.S. Abroad

May, designated as World Trade Month, is marked by events across the country to promote U.S. trade relationships and provide resources to U.S. businesses looking to export their goods and services around the world. This year it has particular significance – the Obama Administration and the Commerce Department have made increasing exports and revitalizing America’s manufacturing sector among their top priorities. It makes good business sense to link the two. Both manufacturing and exporting play a...

Joe McClure, District Director
Montana District Office
U.S. Small Business Administration

Your success is our goal – that’s why this month I’m focusing on dispelling the myths of business loans and giving you tips and tools so you are well prepared when applying for a business loan. The Small Business Administration is here to help and give you a leg up on getting a small business loan.

A common misconception is that SBA loans money directly to small businesses. We do not. We do, however, guaranty loans made through local approved lenders. The SBA...

American manufacturers are saying that business is booming, but many of them also say that banks aren’t keen to provide the loans necessary to hire more workers, buy new equipment, and ramp up production. According to Biz2credit, a New York firm that matches borrowers with lenders, a recent analysis found that loan approvals at large banks (those with $10 billion plus in assets) fell in April for the second straight month.

Banks are saying that...

It’s that time of year again.

May is World Trade Month, a time to reaffirm the important role that international trade plays in U.S. economic growth.

In today’s global economy, it is more important than ever for American businesses to tap into the abundance of opportunities overseas.  95 percent of the world’s consumers are located outside our borders; helping companies reach them is key to our nation’s economic success...

When going on a trip, it doesn’t do much good to review a map if you have no idea where you want to go. You seldom plan a trip without knowing how much time you have to get to your destination and how much money you want to spend to get there. If you are like me, it is also helpful to have a map that shows key locations along the way; the number of miles between certain points; and the type of road you will be traveling on.

The same is true in business. Your record keeping system is the map that tells you how far you are, what key points of interest are currently to be found in...

Form W-2 Reporting of Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage

The Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan. Reporting the cost of health care coverage on the Form W-2 does not mean that the coverage is taxable. The value of the employer’s excludable contribution to health coverage continues to be excludable from an employee's income, and it is not taxable. This reporting is for informational purposes only and will provide employees useful and comparable consumer information on the cost of their health care...

Enacted into law as part of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (the Jobs Act), the Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF) is a dedicated investment fund that encourages lending to small businesses by providing capital to qualified community banks¹ and community development loan funds (CDLFs) with assets of less than $10 billion. Through the SBLF, participating Main Street lenders and small businesses can work together to help create jobs and promote economic growth in local communities across the nation.

In total, the SBLF provided more than $4 billion to 332 community...

During President Obama’s January 2012 State of the Union Address, the president discussed progress of the National Export Initiative. The program, begun in 2010, aims to double America’s exports by 2014. To help reach this goal, the Obama administration added 20 percent to the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration budget, which now totals $540 million. The administration also increased the budget of the U.S. Export-Import Bank from $4 billion to $6 billion.

This is a commitment that is important to small businesses. Only about 8 percent of America’s 27.9...

If you hire employees there is information that you need to secure for your records and forms that you must complete.

Eligibility to Work in the United States

You must verify that each new employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. Have the employees you hire fill out Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (PDF).

Employee's Social Security Number (SSN)

You are required to get each employee's name and Social Security Number (SSN) and to enter them on Form W-2. (This...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and U.S. Small Business Administration today announced new resources to support small businesses across the nation.  Acting Chairman Gruenberg and SBAs Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development Michael Chodos released Money Smart for Small Business, a training curriculum for new and aspiring business owners.

Developed in partnership between both agencies, this curriculum is the latest offering in the FDIC’s award-winning Money Smart program.

Money Smart for Small Business provides an introduction...

Greetings!

The Obama Administration and the Department of Commerce are committed to creating a level playing field so that all American businesses have a fair shot at creating the jobs Americans need and exporting the goods and services the rest of the world demands.  At MBDA that commitment translates into giving minority entrepreneurs the tools and resources they need to succeed and opening up opportunities, often in areas where they have had limited success in the past. Winning federal contracts is a great example.

The federal government is the largest purchaser...

There are five commonly-referred to types of business combinations known as mergers: conglomerate merger, horizontal merger, market extension merger, vertical merger and product extension merger. The term chosen to describe the merger depends on the economic function, purpose of the business transaction and relationship between the merging companies.

Conglomerate

A merger between firms that are involved in totally unrelated business activities. There are two types of conglomerate mergers: pure and mixed. Pure conglomerate mergers involve firms with nothing in common, while...

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) unveiled a new web-based intellectual property (IP) Awareness Assessment Tool designed to help manufacturers, businesses, entrepreneurs and independent inventors easily assess their knowledge of intellectual property (IP). 

The IP Awareness Assessment Tool, a web-based tool designed to assess intellectual property knowledge and provide personalized training...

Do you have a small business story to tell? Every business has one. Tell your story to the SBA and your video may appear at National Small Business Week, SBA’s marquee event that attracts hundreds of small business owners, Fortune 500 company executives, Members of Congress and Obama Administration officials.

In celebration of National Small Business Week 2012, SBA is looking for creative videos from small businesses that show how they have been helped by an SBA program or service.  The contest will raise awareness of the importance of SBA programs, and the impact the small...

There are many good reasons for growing your business through an acquisition or merger. These include:

1. Obtaining quality staff or additional skills, knowledge of your industry or sector and other business intelligence. For instance, a business with good management and process systems will be useful to a buyer who wants to improve their own. Ideally, the business you choose should have systems that complement your own and that will adapt to running a larger business.

2. Accessing funds or valuable assets for new development. Better production or distribution

...

Export.gov is a tool created to assist U.S. business in accessing international markets by providing the resources necessary for export

Purpose: Client Resource, Business Assistance

What you should know?

• Offers a wide range of current industry and trade information to help exporters of U.S goods and services find the information they need to compete successfully in overseas markets

• Lists

...

Vietnam is a true emerging market, offering ground floor and growing opportunities for U.S. exporters and investors. Vietnam’s economic growth rate has been among the highest in the world in recent years, expanding at an average about 7.2 percent per year during the period 2001-2010, while industrial production grew at an average of about 12 percent per year during the same period.

Vietnam registered GDP growth rate of 6.7 percent in 2010 and was one of only a handful of countries around the world to experience such levels of economic growth.

Moving forward, inflation...

USA.gov is a free on-line resource for the U.S. Federal Government with expansive index of content and resource for businesses.

Purpose: Find resources on starting and managing a business, selling to and buying from the government, exporting, importing, and much more. Access online government services for businesses.

Who should use USA.gov?

• Any business or individual looking for sources of federal government information and business
...

With business tax-filing deadlines fast approaching, the Internal Revenue Service today encouraged small employers that provide health insurance coverage to their employees to check out the small business health care tax credit and then claim it if they qualify.

The recently-revamped Small Business Health Care Tax Credit page on IRS.gov is packed with information and resources designed to help small employers see if they qualify for the credit and then figure it correctly. These include a step...

In conjunction with the launch of BusinessUSA, the Department of Commerce is challenging app developers to find innovative ways to utilize Commerce and other publicly available data and information to create an application that supports businesses.  Developers may choose the platform that best suits them. Applicants may design for the web, personal computer, mobile handheld device, or any platform broadly accessible to the open Internet. A list of developer-friendly data sets can be found on the Business Data...