This Green Business May Blossom Soon

From the Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg.com The Leyland cypress trees outside Diane and Ted Clark’s Fredericksburg home provided a nice privacy fence. But the trees proved no match for the Feb. 5-6 storm, the second one this winter that dumped more than a foot of snow on the region. The storm knocked down at least six of the Clarks’ cypress trees in addition to some big branches at their Dandridge Street home. The privacy fence is no more. “They just all came down,” Diane Clark said. “We have a clear vision now.” The Clarks will be calling in professional … Read more

Entrepreneurs turn to 401(k)s to fund businesses

From USA Today Read it all here. Don Poffenroth paged through a magazine on a flight several years ago when an article grabbed his attention: Entrepreneurs could use 401(k) savings to start a business without getting hit by taxes and early-withdrawal penalties. He and a partner had drawn up plans for a gin, vodka and whiskey distillery in Spokane, Wash., but they struggled with the best funding options. “Neither of us was rich,” he says. “We didn’t want to have to sell shares in the company to start with. But we both had long corporate careers, and so our 401(k) … Read more

Obama Announces Small Business Lending Fund at New Hampshire Townhall Meeting

Excerpts of President Obama’s Comments in New Hampshire: “… And we’re going to start where most new jobs start — with small businesses.  These are the companies that begin in basements and garages when an entrepreneur takes a chance on his dream, or a worker decides it’s time she becomes her own boss.  They’re companies like ARC Energy, which I just visited before I came here.  It’s a terrific — (applause) — there you go.  A little booster.  (Laughter.) Now, these folks are hard at work on a new manufacturing process for ultra-efficient LED lights that will make them more … Read more

Improving Business-For-Sale Marketplace Despite Difficult 2009

Service businesses and restaurants lead the recovery as business-for-sale closed transaction prices return to levels not seen since mid-2008 San Francisco, CA – January 7, 2010 – According to today’s BizBuySell.com Insight Report, closed business-for-sale transactions declined by 28 percent in 2009, but a recovery that began mid-year continued to gain momentum in the Fourth Quarter. BizBuySell.com is the Internet’s largest marketplace for buying or selling a small business. The company releases its BizBuySell.com Insight Report on a quarterly basis, reporting changes in closed transaction rates, valuation multiples and other economic indicators for the small business transaction market. Closed transactions … Read more

SBA Incentives Extended … at least through February

The Senate approved Saturday a bill extending the increase in the guaranteed portion of many SBA-guaranteed loans from 75% to 90% and waiving guaranty fees through February.  This provision is included in the Defense Appropriation bill.   An additional proposal to extend these incentives through September is pending in the House-passed Jobs for Main Street Act. The incentives, originally included in the Recovery Act in February 2009, are generally credited with convincing banks to re-enter the small-business lending market.  After the SBA announced that the funds were running out in November, there was an avalanche of loan approvals by SBA-lenders.  … Read more