Poll: State business owners favor govt. spending cap
By Jan Norman, The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif.
Feb. 22--The vast majority (86%) of California small-business owners support a cap on state government spending, according to a new poll by the National Federation of Independent Business California, the state arm of a national advocacy group.
The four-question poll asked NFIB's 20,000 California members about what stands the group should take of issues significant to business owners in this state. Only 5% oppose a state spending cap that limits increases to inflation and population growth.
"They are very concerned about how their money is spent," said NFIB California Executive Director John Kabateck. "They think that government ought to do what small business has to do every day: stop spending more than it brings in.
"It's telling, but not surprising, how impassioned mom and pop on Main Street are about government responsiveness and accountability."
Other interaction with members has shown that California small-business owners support tax reforms, Kabateck said, adding that none of the tax initiatives currently being circulated for a possible public vote in November includes reforms along with requests for tax increases.
On the poll, NFIB members were even more adamant that labor unions should have written permission from members before using dues for political activities: 94% said yes.
"Small-business owners are concerned that union leadership doesn't reflect the views of union members," Kabateck said.
Poll respondents also favored 59% to 20% a state law to require 25% of state procurement and contract spending go to small businesses (19% were undecided).
On the fourth question -- whether government should give tax incentives and spend public money to promote economic development -- respondents were evenly divided: 45% favored such spending and 44% opposed.
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Read More»Dominion to offset small business electric bills
By Judy Benson, The Day, New London, Conn.
Feb. 22--NEW LONDON -- Small-business owners in the city are being invited to apply for grants of $1,000 to help offset electricity bills, thanks to a $1 million donation from Millstone Power Station owner Dominion.
The grants are intended mainly to help small businesses owned by women and minorities, but any small-business owner is welcome to apply and no one who meets the other criteria will be turned away, said Bob Slate, small business advocate for the nonprofit group administering the project, Operation Fuel.
The new program, called Project Best, is the first time assistance with utility bills has been offered for small businesses through Operation Fuel in its 35-year history, Slate said. Operation Fuel's main program is providing energy assistance to needy families statewide.
Project Best grants are being made available to small businesses in five distressed communities -- Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and New London -- with varying amounts going to each town depending on population.
Slate said the Dominion donation was combined with a $150,000 contribution from Public Service Electric & Gas Co. to create the new program. Thus far about $213,000 has been distributed to 213 businesses in Hartford.
Applications from New London businesses are being received through March 16. Slate expects there will be sufficient funds for 40 to 50 New London businesses. The grants would be distributed sometime this spring.
Nancy Bulkeley, community affairs representative for Dominion, said the company decided to help created Project Best as a way to bolster small businesses, and had already been involved with Operation Fuel as one of its donors. "This goes along with our core values," she said.
One important component of Project Best, she noted, is a requirement that successful applicants attend a workshop on how to reduce utility bills through energy efficiency measures.
The two-hour workshop will consist of presentations by a utility company representative, a contractor who upgrades homes to improve energy efficiency, and a financial expert who will talk about low-interest loans for small businesses. The New London workshop will take place on the last weekend in March.
Read More»Entrepreneurs find success with humanitarian element
By Stacie Spring, East Valley Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.
Feb. 22--Just months after starting their new business, co-founders and Arizona State University students Jeremy Ellens and Dornubary Vizor have collected more than $10,000 in sales.
Yazamo, a business which designs websites, mobile websites and social media marketing campaigns, has seen a large number of clients, in part because the business has a one-for-one model, in the same vein as Toms Shoes, Ellens and Visor said.
For every sale the company makes, some of that money will go toward financing a loan for poor entrepreneurs around the world, Vizor said.
"It's more about financing others rather than making money," he said.
Vizor was born in Africa and spent three years at a United Nations refugee camp before moving to the United States, he said.
"Growing up in Nigeria, I saw poverty first hand and the social problems that come along with it," Vizor said.
With every sale the business makes, they finance a loan through Kiva.com, a website that finances personal and business loans to people living in poverty who otherwise might not be able to secure one.
It's a business model that they believe can become game changing, Vizor said. They are expecting to make $100,000 in sales this year, but it isn't the money that's the driving force for the business idea.
"Imagine if Google had built a company around giving back," Vizor suggested.
Giving back is only a part of it, as the two are also extremely passionate about entrepreneurship, Ellens said.
"I started an app company after my aunt, who is a vet, was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis)," said Ellens, who created a mobile app for vets that assists veterinarians in diagnostics. "It switched the way I see problems. I think a lot of problems can be solved by entrepreneurs."
One of those problems is poverty, and the two believe through entrepreneurship, they can help others.
"We want to help people take control of their own future," Vizor said.
Finding financing for his own business ventures was hard, and Vizor hopes that this makes it easier for those who don't have the same opportunities.
"We can offer, as students, creativity and a return on investment," Ellens said. "We have a 100 percent money back guarantee."
Read More»Geithner: Obama seeks 28 percent corp. tax rate
By JIM KUHNHENN
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says the current corporate tax system is outdated, unfair and inefficient. He is calling for an end to dozens of subsidies and loopholes that he says offer tax breaks to companies that move jobs and profits overseas.
Obama says the current system is "not right and it needs to change."
The Obama administration is proposing cutting corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 28 percent. That is still higher than the 25 percent rate sought by congressional Republicans.
Obama said in a statement Wednesday that his framework lowers the corporate tax rate and broadens the tax base and will increase competitiveness for companies across the U.S.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday the current business tax system is bad for business and for job-creation and argued that President Barack Obama's plan to reduce corporate tax rates to 28 percent would make the tax system more globally competitive.
The Obama administration is proposing to lower the corporate tax rate from the current 35 percent, the highest in the world after Japan. Manufacturers would receive incentives so that their effective tax rate could be even lower.
In turn, corporations would have to give up dozens of loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face an unspecified minimum tax on their foreign earnings.
The proposal outlined by Geithner would also eliminate tax loopholes and subsidies that Geithner called "fundamentally unfair."
Obama also would set a minimum tax on the foreign earning of U.S. companies.
"We want to restore a system in which American businesses succeed or fail based on the products they make and the services they provide, not on the creativity of their tax engineers or the lobbyists they hire," Geithner said.
Chances of accomplishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year dominated mostly with presidential and congressional elections. But for Obama, the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his re-election strategy.
Geithner acknowledged that the debate "will be politically contentious."
Read More»Entrepreneurial initiative helps create friendly places to grow
By Mai Hoang, Yakima Herald-Republic, Wash.
Feb. 19--YAKIMA, Wash. -- For Milt Geffen and Charlie Card, it made sense to locate their new businesses in small towns.
Geffen, who started Milt's Original Gourmet BBQ Pellets last year, said Grandview was ground zero for the byproduct of wine grapes and hops that flavor his pellets.
Card, a rancher, wanted his Prosser-based solar hot water system business to help neighboring dairies use less propane to heat water for their operations.
"I think it's better for a person trying to start a new business in an area he knows and understands," he said.
While it was natural for Card and Geffen to start their businesses in small towns, those communities are developing strategies to find, cultivate and grow even more businesses from the ground up.
In the last few months, those efforts in Grandview, Sunnyside, Zillah and Tieton have been driven by the Entrepreneurial Friendly Cities Initiative, a program of New Vision, Yakima County's economic development arm.
The initiative is part of a larger entrepreneurship strategy that New Vision believes will be key to increase the Yakima Valley's economic base.
New Vision president David McFadden said the organization spent about $10,000 total on the initiative, which included $5,000 in staff hours.
The four cities were chosen based on a clear commitment and support to draw entrepreneurs to their areas.
The initiative was launched in September as a way to mitigate some of the distinctive challenges facing small towns looking to attract and build businesses.
"We have seen businesses come into Zillah in the past five years that have struggled to stay going," said Sandi Fein, a general manager for the Comfort Inn in Zillah who coordinated the initiative in that city. "Many of them have not made it."
Many small cities do not have the infrastructure or the resources to cultivate those businesses, McFadden said.
"If you look at the smaller rural communities, they have less available for entrepreneurs who need a little advice and a little direction," he said.
Yakima, for example, has plenty of SCORE counselors -- current and former business owners who volunteer time to guide people through different aspects of building and growing a business, such as developing a business plan and keeping up with finances.
Read More»Govt eyeing P90B from bond sale
By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez, The Manila Times, Philippines
Feb. 21--THE Aquino administration is expecting to raise at least P90 billion from the sale of retail Treasury bonds (RTBs) starting today in a bid to replenish its Bond Sinking Fund.
Deputy Treasurer Eduardo Mendiola told reporters on Monday that the government is hoping to replenish its P95.4-billion worth of monetary obligations that would fall due also today.
"It [RTBs] should have a high demand [from the market] because we're now paying the public more than P90 billion in terms of maturity. The maturity is tomorrow [Tuesday] for some benchmark bonds and some bills," he said.
"We want to get back at least the same amount of maturities reinvested. It's [P90 billion] not a target. It's a desire. Because it's ideal, those who got bonds that are maturing are able to reinvest," Mendiola added.
The government official said that because of additional liquidity in the market, the government could exceed the P110-billion RTB sale in October last year. About P95.4 billion worth of government securities are to mature also today, of which P88.4 billion are in the form of bonds, while the P7-billion remainder are Treasury bills.
Mendiola said that although the government has more than sufficient funds to meet its maturing obligations through its Bond Sinking Fund, the government is offering RTBs to give the market an investment option.
The government is scheduled to launch its price-setting auction for the 15- and 20-year RTBs also today, which would be offered to the public until next Tuesday. Settlement for the RTBs is on March 1.
For purposes of pricing the RTBs, the government and its underwriters have set a minimum acceptance of P15 billion for each tenor, or P30 billion combined for the two tenors for purposes of pricing the RTBs.
Partial award on T-bills Meanwhile, the government sold only P6.83 billion worth of Treasury bills versus the scheduled P9 billion on Monday.
On the 91-day IOUS, the auction committee sold only P1.768 billion at the rate of 1.947 percent, or 17.9 basis points higher than the last time the same note was offered two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago, the rate for the similar instrument was at 1.768 percent.
At the secondary market, the done deal for the similar instrument was last quoted at 1.8 percent.
Read More»