BRIEF: Small Business Resource Expo is Thursday
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By Jack Katzanek, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.
May 18–Small business owners in various fields can pick up some tips from professional counselors at the annual Small Business Resource Expo scheduled for Thursday, May 24 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Riverside Convention Center.
The event, sponsored by the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, will feature more than 50 exhibitors, including some who could add a local small business to their vendor list. Several free workshops, in areas including finance, technology and social media, are planned.
There is no charge for admission. More information is available from the chamber at 951-683-7100.
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(c)2012 The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.)
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Read More»Application Period Open for SBA Lending Program
By Paula Monarez Diaz, El Paso Times, Texas
May 18–The Intermediary Lending Pilot Program, which provides long-term loans to eligible nonprofit intermediary lenders to finance their lending to small businesses, has opened a second competitive application period.
As a result, small businesses, especially those in underserved markets looking for loans up to $200,000, will soon have access to twice as many community-based funding sources under the U.S. Small Business Administration program.
“Providing small businesses with the financial resources they need to start, grow and succeed is at the core of SBA’s mission,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The first round of the Intermediary Lending Pilot Program showed that we are on the right track, and now we are expanding it. These nonprofit lending institutions are helping small businesses create jobs and strengthen our economy.”
Launched last year under the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, the program is designed to expand access to capital to small businesses and drive growth for the economy and job creation.
Under the program, SBA makes loans of up to $1 million to participating lenders, which use the funds to make smaller loans to help newly established and growing small businesses.
Applications are due no later than May 25. Applicants are encouraged to visit sba.gov/content/intermediary-lending-pilot or email ilpp@sba.gov.
Information: sba.gov or call the El Paso District Office at 834-4600.
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(c)2012 the El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas)
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Read More»S.J. foreclosures fall, following state trend
By The Record, Stockton, Calif.
May 18–Foreclosures in San Joaquin County fell in April, dropping to one notice for every 201 housing units, according to RealtyTrac, which compiles foreclosure data statewide.
In March, the rate was one property in 185 receiving a foreÂclosure notice; in February, the rate was one notice for every 177 properties.
Foreclosures remain highÂest in the south and southwest parts of the county, where propÂerty values reached their highÂest levels during the real estate bubble of the mid-2000s.
Still, owing to its size, StockÂton had the most new foreÂclosure notices — 564 — last month, followed by Tracy, 183; Manteca, 142; and Lodi, 85, ReÂaltyTrac said. California foreclosure activÂity decreased 30 percent from April 2011, but the state still posted the nation’s secondÂhighest foreclosure rate: one in every 351 housing units with a foreclosure filing.
Still, the top 10 foreclosure rates among metropolitan staÂtistical areas with a population of 200,000 or more were all in Nevada, California and Florida. Stockton led the pack, but seven other California cities had foreÂclosure rates in the top 10, along with Las Vegas at No. 7 and MiÂami at No. 9.
Nationwide, April foreclosure activity decreased 5 percent from the previous month and was down 14 percent from April 2011. One in every 698 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month.
“Rising foreclosure activity in many state and local marÂkets in April was masked at the national level by sizable deÂcreases in hard-hit foreclosure states like California, Arizona and Nevada,” RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore said. “Those three states, and several other non-judicial foreclosure states like them, more efficiently proÂcessed foreclosures last year, resulting in fewer catch-up foreÂclosures this year.
“In addition, more distressed loans are being diverted into short sales rather than becomÂing completed foreclosures,” Moore continued. “Our preÂliminary first-quarter sales data shows that pre-foreclosure sales — typically short sales — are on pace to outnumber sales of bank-owned properties durÂing the quarter in California, Arizona and 10 other states.”
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(c)2012 The Record (Stockton, Calif.)
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Read More»Tourism in Myrtle Beach area rebounding from recession
By Dawn Bryant, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
May 18–MYRTLE BEACH — Tourism along the Grand Strand has rebounded from the recession faster than other economic drivers, especially the hard-hit real estate and construction industries, and has almost returned to pre-recession levels, according to a study released Thursday.
Visitor spending in Horry and Georgetown counties for the 2010-11 budget year that ended June 30 is about 95 percent of the average visitor spending between 2006-08, while real estate and construction is only 70 percent of the average between those same years, according to the study by Rob Salvino at Coastal Carolina University for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
It’s not surprising that tourism would outpace real estate, which has been hammered since the housing bust. Real estate locally and nationally has been slow to recover, with foreclosures and short sales causing prices to plummet while some homeowners struggle to pay their mortgages. Special programs across the country have popped up aiming to help underwater and struggling homeowners and get the housing industry headed in the right direction.
Tourism along the Grand Strand has had a much smoother recovery, according to the study.
Visitors to Horry and Georgetown counties spent about $4.3 billion during the 2011 budget year, which officials say has helped the beach’s economy recover since the recession started five years ago. The recession officially ended in 2009 with two consecutive quarters of growth in GDP, though some economists have been hesitant to declare the recession over as the effects of the down economy, including high jobless rates, have lingered.
The local study also showed that tourism continues to supply more than half of all Grand Strand jobs and has generated millions in tax revenues.
“We’ve really come a long way in tourism,” Salvino said. “Tourism has certainly made a tremendous rebound.”
More than half of all workers in Horry and Georgetown counties, about 53 percent of total employment, have jobs tied to tourism, according to the study. Visitor spending generated $433 million in tax revenue, with about $267 million going to the state and $166 million going to local governments, according to the study.
Read More»Retail center at Humboldt Station progressing
By Jim Dino, Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
May 18–Plans are progressing for the construction of a retail center off Interstate 81 in CAN DO’s Humboldt Station.
Adam Hoover, assistant director of operations for the economic development organization, said work has begun to level the land where the Barletta Materials asphalt plant once stood.
“The contractor is mobilizing on the site to do some site excavation work, which includes taking down the berm that is on the front, taking it lower so we can view the property,” Hoover said. “With the grant money that we have left, we will be putting in some sidewalks and additional lighting, planting trees and putting some driveways in to the site.”
Brian Hansbury, CAN DO’s director of economic development, said the organization received a $254,000 state grant to help develop the site.
“We have been doing some environmental cleanup there,” Hansbury said. We’ve also been some excavation grading and utility work at the site.”
A lack of activity in Hunboldt Station has CAN DO looking for a new real estate firm to help market the site, said Joe Lettiere, vice president for marketing.
“We decided it certainly wouldn’t hurt to complete an RFP (request for proposals) and go out for services to see what kind of responses we get back. We wanted to have some companies come in and make presentations to the marketing committee and staff. We have two companies that made presentations we’re going to review.”
The retail center would complement the development already achieved at Humboldt Station — the Residence Inn by Marriott, a Turkey Hill convenience store, and Burger King and Sonic restaurants. Another hotel and several more restaurants are planned for Humboldt Station.
Meanwhile, Lettiere said CAN DO is working with three developers and several manufacturing companies. But projects are taking longer now to bring to fruition.
“There is a lot more delay and a lot more analysis. That’s what we’ve seen over the last six to nine months,” Lettiere said.
CAN DO had 18 contacts over the past two months, he said.
“The continued activity seems to have stabilized over the last couple of months,” he said. “The leasing division is 98 (percent) to 99 percent occupied.”
Read More»We have the freedom to assemble â” but where?
By Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune
May 18–So far, at least, fears that the upcoming NATO summit would produce an ugly, alienating Fortress Chicago have yet to come true.
The city’s parks and plazas remain open. There are more police than normal on downtown streets, but they’re not brandishing riot gear. Though an 8-foot-high security fence rings McCormick Place, where the summit will be held, such precautions are to be expected, especially in the post-9/11 era.
Beneath the relatively tranquil surface, however, there have been skirmishes over Chicago’s renowned public spaces, including Daley Plaza, where a national nurses organization will hold a protest rally Friday.
The conflicts reveal the inherent tension between hosting a military alliance devoted to protecting democracy and permitting protesters to exercise democratic rights, especially free speech. And those tensions could become sharper as the protests play out and security measures are ratcheted up.
In selecting Daley Plaza, National Nurses United, a large union that advocates passage of a “Robin Hood tax” on securities trades, followed a well-trodden path. The plaza is Chicago’s public square par excellence. For decades, it has been the place where protesters vented their rage at everything from American immigration policies to the downing of a Korean Air Lines 747 by the Soviet Union in 1983.
If you can’t rally at Daley Plaza, where can you rally?
Yet the Emanuel administration last week revoked permission for the nurses to march to Daley Plaza, claiming that the demonstration was expected to grow beyond the original crowd estimate of 1,000 people. City officials relented after they came under attack for suppressing free speech — but only after the nurses agreed to drop their plans to march through downtown.
The episode illustrates how the right to protest at even an iconic public space can be contestable and negotiable.
In theory, the public “owns” public space. In reality, our public squares are managed by governments, or real estate companies acting on behalf of governments. And freedom of speech, it turns out, isn’t necessarily free. If you want to hold a rally at Daley Plaza that requires equipment and electrical setup, it’ll set you back anywhere from $250 to $750.
Read More»Virginia Beach police groups also say no to light rail
By Mike Hixenbaugh, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
May 18–VIRGINIA BEACH — Two groups representing the city’s police officers voted Thursday to oppose extending light rail into the city. The vote came a little more than a week after the city’s firefighters union took a similar stance.
“The city is always complaining there isn’t enough money to pay for services or hire additional officers, yet they’re trying to push light rail through,” said Chip Condon, president of the Virginia Beach Police Supervisors Association.
The Police Benevolent Association, which represents the department’s rank and file, joined the supervisors in voting to oppose light rail. Leaders from both groups discussed launching a public awareness campaign and working with the firefighters union to explain to voters their opposition through social media and short videos.
“We feel like now isn’t the time to be taking on additional responsibilities,” Condon said.
Organized opposition among city workers could hurt the city’s efforts to win support for extending The Tide light-rail system from Norfolk. Virginia Beach voters will be asked this fall whether they support extending The Tide into the city. Supporters said the referendum shouldn’t be a choice between trains and public safety.
A consultant estimated that extending the system from Norfolk to the Oceanfront would cost $807 million, but most of that would come from state and federal funding. Mayor Will Sessoms, a light-rail advocate, said he wouldn’t support extending the line if it threatened money for public safety or schools.
Public-school teachers might also take a stance against light rail if the city can’t guarantee the project won’t cut into future education money, said Dominic Melito, president of the Virginia Beach Education Association.
The vote by firefighters last week came a day after the City Council approved a $2 billion budget package that raised the real estate tax rate but did not include raises for city employees. School employees received 2 percent raises.
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(c)2012 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.)
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