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.

Want the latest on small business? Text OCRSMALLBIZ to 56654 to get free news alerts for small businesses.

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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."

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.

By Vidhi Choudhary, Mint, New Delhi

Feb. 22--Metro AG, Germany's largest retailer, will invest an additional '560 crore this year to set up eight wholesale stores in India to take advantage of the growth in consumption in Asia's third-largest economy.

The company opened its tenth wholesale store in India in New Delhi on Tuesday, adding to those it operates in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

Metro spent '45 crore to set up the store in Delhi.

Metro Cash and Carry India, the local unit, will focus on opening wholesale stores in tier I and tier II cities this year, with their next store set to open in Jaipur in April.

"The relevance of large-format stores and modern retail has started coming up only in the last five years owing to rising consumption expenditure and multiple needs of consumers," said Rajeev Bakshi, managing director of Metro Cash and Carry India.

Metro opened its first wholesale store in India in 2003 in a country where local law bars overseas retailers such as Metro and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from opening retail stores. India doesn't restrict overseas retailers from opening wholesale stores, which are only allowed to sell to other retailers, restaurants and caterers among some other categories.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attempt to change the law to allow Wal-Mart and other overseas companies to own as much as 51% in local retailers failed earlier this year as the ruling Congress party could not muster support from some of its allies.

But the government has permitted foreign companies to raise ownership to 100% from 51% in stores that sell a single brand, allowing companies such as Starbucks Corp. to open fully owned stores.

Acquiring real estate to set up stores remains a challenge for the industry, said Bakshi.

Sameer Barde, head of retail division, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said all the challenges faced by retailers, such as licensing problems and manpower issues, apply to the wholesale segment as well.

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By Andrew Gomes, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Feb. 22--College students might one day be living above waterfront shops and restaurants at Aloha Tower Marketplace as part of a plan to reinvigorate the struggling shopping center at Honolulu Harbor.

Hawaii Pacific University is negotiating with a developer that recently bought the marketplace to convert the largely vacant second level of the complex into student lofts with 250 beds.

There could even be space at the 165,000-square-foot open-air mall for academic programs or other facilities for the state's largest private university, which is based downtown.

A major emphasis would remain on entertainment-oriented tenants on the marketplace's ground floor, which is anchored by Hooters and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant.

The plan is among a variety of renewal ideas being considered by marketplace owner Hawaii Lifestyle Retail Properties LLC, and would need a rule change from a state Department of Transportation board that owns the land under the marketplace.

But if realized, such a transformation would help HPU achieve part of a major expansion goal while adding new activity and life to the marketplace, which is about 70 percent empty and has suffered chronically high vacancy for most of its existence.

"Hawaii Pacific University is extremely interested in the proposed redevelopment of the Aloha Tower Marketplace," Geoffrey Bannister, president of the nonprofit university, said in a statement. "It would be an ideal opportunity to strengthen our downtown presence, provide students with an optimal living-learning environment, and create the kind of urban campus experience that will be essential to the university's future."

Bannister has explained to university staff that leasing part of the marketplace would help deal with an acute housing need for students, many of whom are from other countries. Adding housing and perhaps additional facilities downtown also would save time and money in trying to expand the school.

HPU announced an expansion master plan for its 135-acre Hawaii Loa campus in Kaneohe in 2008, and this year is asking the Legislature to approve $120 million in special-purpose revenue bond financing. The university has dormitory space for 200 students at the Windward campus and no student housing downtown.

By Amanda Kerr, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.

Feb. 22--YORK -- York County Administrator James McReynolds Tuesday unveiled his proposed 2013 budget, which includes a 5.6 percent, or $6.9 million, increase in the county's general fund budget.

As proposed, the total county budget, which includes all of the county's funds, is $160.32 million, down $1.1 million from the current year. The county's general fund, or operating budget, will increase from $123 million to $129.9 million. The increase puts the general fund at 2009 funding levels.

McReynolds proposes increasing the county's contribution to the York School Division by 10 percent, or $4.6 million. That puts the county's total contribution to the division's operating costs at $49.5 million in addition to $7.8 million in debt service, which equals 46 percent of the county's operating budget.

The increase to the schools comes after Superintendent Eric Williams requested $4.5 million more in county funding to help cover rising costs, including VRS and health insurance payments.

The county's expenditures in the proposed budget are increasing $2.3 million, including a $760,000 increase in the county's contribution to VRS, a $400,000 increase in health insurance premiums and $600,000 for a 1.5 percent raise for county employees.

To cover these expenses, McReynolds proposes a real estate tax rate increase of 11.75 cents, which would generate $6.3 million in tax revenue. The change would increase the tax rate from the current rate of 65.75 cents to 77.5 cents.

The increase to the real estate tax rate is significant, but it is not the highest the rate the county's seen. In 2003, the county's property tax rate was 86 cents.

The county faces a $3.2 million total revenue drop because of the decline in 2012 property assessments as well as the closure of the Yorktown refinery and the Altria plant.

McReynolds said he felt the tax-rate increase is necessary to maintain county services.

"It is my opinion that in order to reduce the budget (to avoid raising the real estate tax rate) in any significant way there would have to be major changes in the level of services," he said.

The only significant cut in the budget is 22 vacant positions which will equal $1 million in savings.

By Lindsey Nair, The Roanoke Times, Va.

Feb. 22--The owners of two popular Roanoke restaurants, Norberto's Italian and The Isaacs Mediterranean, are among the tenants waiting to see how a foreclosure auction next week will affect the leases on their Grandin Village quarters.

The auction of two buildings at 1908 and 1910 Memorial Ave. S.W., along with a neighboring parking lot, comes after the property owners became so mired in debt that they could no longer make payment on more than $800,000 in loans with StellarOne Bank, according to a lawsuit filed in Roanoke Circuit Court in early January.

The lawsuit names Benjamin W. Ward of Heathsville and Apollo Y. Leong, a family practitioner at Primary Care Associates in Salem. Neither Ward nor Leong could be reached for comment.

According to real estate records, Ward and Leong purchased the property for $500,000 in early 2008. The year before, Ward's nephew, Benjamin H. Ward, had opened The Isaacs Mediterranean Restaurant along with a business partner, Martha Taylor.

The younger Ward says that even after an extensive remodeling of The Isaacs in late 2008, the company was in good financial shape and was paying down its debt. Then, they decided to open a second restaurant, Meze World Cafe, in downtown Roanoke in 2009. It lasted barely a year, and it was during that restaurant's decline that the company got behind on taxes.

"I feel like I've ruined my damn family," Benjamin H. Ward said. "My uncle invested in [The Isaacs] because he believed in it. We did Meze because we believed in that, too. I have learned a lot of lessons the hard way."

Although Benjamin H. Ward has never been an owner of the restaurant business or the real estate, he managed The Isaacs until a few months ago and has been held responsible for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes. Under federal law, a penalty may be assessed against anyone who is responsible for paying taxes but willfully fails to pay them.

In addition, even though Taylor left The Isaacs in June 2008, she was named as a defendant in a judgment last year for $13,591 in bills from one of the restaurant's suppliers, U.S. Foodservice. Meze World Cafe owes U.S.Foodservice, as well; a similar judgment has Benjamin H. Ward on the hook for $5,900 in unpaid bills for that establishment.

By Eric Wolff, North County Times, Escondido, Calif.

Feb. 22--Matt Romney dressed up for his interview with the North County Times.

Though Romney and his colleagues at Excel Trust Inc. in Rancho Bernardo dress up for meetings with clients, the son of the front-running Republican presidential candidate takes advantage of his employer's casual dress code, which allows jeans and T-shirts, and he sometimes observes, as one of his colleagues said, "no-shave Mondays."

But this day, Mitt Romney's second son wore brown slacks and a button-down shirt, and made sure to give himself a quick check in his iPhone camera app before being photographed.

Romney lives in 4S Ranch, west of Rancho Bernardo, with his wife of 15 years and four children.

Though he's spent the parts of the last year campaigning with his father, Romney is still nervous around the press, even joking with a colleague, "I guess I'm interesting now."

Romney, 40, and his wife, Laurie, moved to San Diego in 2005. He graduated from Harvard with his MBA in 2003 and went to work for Microsoft afterward. He started real estate investing as a sideline and soon realized he preferred the tangible nature and steady income of real estate to the riskier virtual world of technology.

He works as senior vice president for capital markets for Excel Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in multitenant commercial properties. His brother, Craig, who also lives in 4S Ranch, works in an office in the same building, and he was walking out as a North County Times reporter walked in.

The following is an edited, condensed version of his conversation with the North County Times. To listen to the full recording, visit nctimes.com.

Question: Why move to San Diego?

Answer: My wife and I looked at a map, and we were looking at areas where my family lived, and we wanted to be near family. But not knowing where they'd end up, we decided that we'd pick a nice place where we could attract them to come. My goal -- and they know it -- is to get as many family members as we can living near us as possible. My brother (Craig) just moved out here a year and a half ago, and my folks ended up buying a place here. They're here, but not as much as we'd like. They're kind of busy right now.

Q: Tell me about Excel (Trust).

By Jeff Branscome, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.

Feb. 22--A divided Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night voted to advertise an equalized tax rate of 90 cents per $100 of assessed property value for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

That's 4 cents above the current levy of 86 cents.

The county will have a public hearing on the tax rate at 6:30 p.m. March 29 in Courtland High School's auditorium.

At Tuesday's meeting, Supervisors Ann Heidig, David Ross and Timothy McLaughlin -- who were elected in November on a low-tax platform -- cast the dissenting votes.

Supervisors can approve a rate lower than advertised, but they can't increase it without another public hearing.

Their vote also included advertising a personal property tax rate of $6.65 per $100 of assessed value, which is 39 cents more than the existing levy. That rate is necessary to offset $1.9 million in personal property tax revenue the county would lose in 2011-12 and 2012-13 under the current rate.

"These are worst-case scenarios," said Supervisor Gary Skinner, who voted with the majority. "We can always drop them lower than that."

"This is the very beginning of a very long process," added Supervisor Benjamin Pitts, who also supported the advertised rates.

The equalized tax rate -- calculated after reassessments -- generates the same amount of revenue as the previous year plus 1 percent. Spotsylvania would collect about $1.5 million more in real-estate taxes under the 90-cent equalized rate.

This year's countywide reassessment dropped overall home values by about 2 percent. Commercial values have declined by about 9 percent since 2010.

The equalized rate would increase taxes for 56 percent of residential property owners in 2012-13, though most of their bills wouldn't go up more than $200. Taxes would decline for the rest of those property owners.

The owner of a $169,933 home -- this year's average assessed value for residential property -- would pay $1,529, or $34 more, in real-estate taxes under the equalized rate.

Almost 84 percent of commercial taxpayers would pay the same or less in real-estate taxes.

Ross and McLaughlin said they wanted more time to make an informed decision on what rates to advertise. The county isn't required to advertise proposed rates until late March.

By Steve Patterson, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville

Feb. 22--Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown's pick for the city's next budget officer stayed in contention for the $125,000-a-year job Tuesday because of a last-minute deferral by a City Council panel.

Photo Gallery: Mayor Brown around town -- February 2012

Before then, the Rules Committee seemed ready to reject former Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago executive Glenn Hansen unless he committed to move from St. Marys, Ga.

City law requires new employees to live in Duval County.

"It is sad and unfortunate, but I will not be able to support this," Rules Chairman Bill Bishop said about a waiver that would exempt Hansen from the residency standard.

However, Bishop agreed to postpone the vote for two weeks at the request of Jessica Deal, Brown's council liaison.

After committee members said they felt torn by the choice and had heard from constituents concerned about making an exception, Deal asked for the deferral "to see if we can come up with some sort of compromise."

Hansen said he wanted the job but would lose heavily if he put his house in Georgia up for sale.

"The real estate market is what it is. I can't predict when the housing market is going to come back," he said.

After asking Hansen's address, Councilman Matt Schellenberg did a web search for home values and said he found an estimate of $452,700.

"I've got significantly, significantly more invested," Hansen said.

Records show the Camden County, Ga., Board of Tax Assessors valued his property at $650,000.

steve.patterson@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4263

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