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Is New SBA Chief Really Small Business Oriented?

Startup Spark:
President Bush appointed a new chief of the Small Business Administration (SBA). The thing is, for the third time in a row, the appointed chief, Sandy Baruah, has very little small business experience.
Not only has he never run a company of his own, his closest connection to small business would be a consultant job […]

Local Regulations Hurt Business Start-ups?

U.S. News:
How much do entrepreneurs need to fear regulation? It turns out that you can be punished for being an entrepreneur inadvertently. According story out of the Miami area:
“A man who said he thought he was just helping a woman in need is accused of running an illegal taxi service. Miami-Dade County’s Consumer Services Department […]

Licensing Rules For At-Home Biz

Fortune Small Business:
Q: I have a business on the side. Everything is done from my apartment where I live in South Carolina. I use a computer and audio-editing software to produce commercials for radio stations, and send them via MP3 files. I work alone and have no employees. Do I need a business license for […]

Small Biz Cracking Code For Federal Contracts

Reuters:
In 2006, William Witcher’s company did virtually no business with the federal government. Last year, his Walpole, Massachusetts-based Minuteman Trucks Inc., sold some $1.2 million worth of truck parts to the federal government - primarily the U.S. military - and he expects to more than double its sales in 2008.
“The economy has been slip […]

Gift Certificate Rules Burn Small Biz

FSB Magazine:
With consumers screaming about abuses, more than 30 states have enacted laws banning gift cards and certificates with short expiration periods and requiring issuers to turn over cash from expired cards to the state. Eight states have added such laws in 2007 alone.
Caught on the bad side of good intentions, however, are small businesses […]

Websites May Require Visually Impaired Access

TechCrunch:
California may require websites to provide access to visually impaired users under ruling made in the long running case of the National Federation of the Blind vs Target.
The case centers on Target not providing basic accessibility to vision impaired users via the use of alt tags for images, keyboard options for navigation and missing navigation […]

Committee Approves Small Biz Bills

Inc.:
The House Small Business Committee approved two bills aimed at boosting federal microloans and global trade programs for smaller businesses.
The Microloan Amendments Modernization Act, which offers loans through the Small Business Administration, allows small-business owners to leverage their payment records to establish a credit history with lenders, while offering lines of credit and other micro-lending […]

Hollywood Inventor Protests Patent Bill

Fortune Small Business:
In 45 years, George Margolin has patented 26 inventions, including a front-screen projection system (1964) that Hollywood used for special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the James Bond films and Superman. He patented the folding computer keyboard in 1973, and a new type of anti-stick medical syringe in 1993. Three years ago, […]

States Easing Regulatory Burdens on Small Firms

Inc.:
Texas and Maine recently joined a growing list of states that have enacted legislation to ease regulatory burdens on smaller businesses.
Last week, Texas signed into law a measure requiring assessments of the impact of all new state regulations on small businesses, along with mandatory proposals for alternative means of accomplishing the same objectives.
A similar law […]