Give small businesses access to the capital they need
By Rep. Sam Graves, FoxNews.com, Having grown up on a family farm, I am all too familiar with the effects a drought can have on a crop. Today’s small business owners are facing a drought of a different type – a dearth of capital.
First Fund to help Smallholder farmers with Long-Term Loans
By Microfinance Focus, Incofin Investment Management, Fairtrade International (FLO) and Grameen Foundation will establish a ‘First Fund’ to focus on the unmet demand of smallholder farmers for long-term loans. Starbucks Coffee Company will also join as the fund’s first anchor private investor with a commitment of $ 1.3 Mn. The fund will offer investors both financial and demonstrable social results.
Environment Improving for Small Business?
By Small Business News, Is the environment improving for small businesses? Some say it is. Here are some ideas about how to make the most of current trends and about where we, as small business owners, may be headed. Is your business showing signs of improvement?
By PRWeb, A new survey of small business merchants who turned to cash advances for financing found that many small businesses either didn’t think they’d be able to qualify for financing from traditional lenders or had already been declined.
Claims about the small-business tax cut (Part 1)
By Josh Hicks, The Washington Post, The Small Business Tax Cut Act would provide a 20-percent tax deduction for companies with fewer than 500 employees. The House passed the measure by a vote of 235-173, and it’s up to the Democrat-controlled Senate now to decide whether the legislation should go to the president’s desk.
Business Loans and Hand-Holding, Beer Optional
By Nick Leiber, Business Week, When Jim Koch launched the Boston Beer Co. (SAM) in 1984, he learned that ventures like his shouldn’t waste time trying to get a bank loan. “What one of the bankers said to me was, ‘We’re not in the business of taking risks. We don’t get paid to take risks. Look at our margins.”
Health care, taxes top issues for small business
By Joyce M. Rosenberg, boston.com, As president of the National Federation of Independent Business, the biggest advocacy group representing small business owners in the U.S., Danner helped oversee the organization’s attempt to overturn the health care overhaul. Last month, the NFIB’s lawyers were among those arguing against the law before the Supreme Court.