Small Business

Thousands Of Small Businesses Call On Congress To Pass CRA Resolution To Restore Net Neutrality

May 2, 2018 Staff, Fightforthefuture.org Resist! Congress, FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality, Small Business

It’s national Small Business Week, and nearly 6,000 small businesses, ranging from construction companies to tech startups are planning to deliver an open letter to Congress tomorrow Wednesday, May 2nd calling on lawmakers to support the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to block the FCC’s repeal. Small business owners will host delivery events at congressional offices across the country, where they will deliver the letter and host a short press conference about the impact of losing net neutrality on small businesses.

Supreme Court Decision On Sales Tax Potential Big Impact On Local Businesses

April 21, 2018 Olivia Lavecchia, Ilsr.org Create! Small Business, Supreme Court, Taxes

On April 17, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case on sales tax collection that could — long after online commerce has transformed the retail sector in the United States — finally give states the authority to require online retailers to collect sales tax. For years, state and local governments have watched as sales tax revenues have declined, and local retailers have watched as their online competitors have been allowed to play by a different set of rules. States’ options, however, have been limited by a 1992 Supreme Court decision — and subsequent inaction from Congress — that ruled that states can only require businesses with a physical presence in the state to collect state and local sales taxes.

Strategies To Encourage Locally-Owned, Independent Businesses

March 30, 2018 Olivia Lavecchia, Ilsr.org Create! Development, New Economy, Small Business

In many U.S. cities, finding and keeping an affordable location has become a major challenge for independent businesses. Two years ago, we took an in-depth look at the issue in our report, Affordable Space: How Rising Commercial Rents Are Threatening Independent Businesses, and What Cities Are Doing About It. We examined what’s causing the problem — from real estate financing that compels developers to exclude independent businesses, to the declining supply of small spaces — and also outlined six strategies that cities were beginning to use to address it. Now, one of those strategies is catching on: Set-asides for local businesses in new development. It’s a strategy that requires developers to reserve, or “set aside,” space for small or local businesses in new construction, and it can help ensure that a built environment that’s suited to small businesses isn’t replaced with one designed for chains.

Locally-Owned Businesses Fight Back Against Subsidies To National Chains

January 20, 2018 By Fran Korten, Yesmagazine.org Create! Capitalism, New Economy, Small Business, Subsidies

Lanning is widely recognized for her work. Even though she finds traditional economic development planners to be frequent adversaries, in 2014 the International Economic Development Council awarded her a Citizen Leader of the Year Award. She considers that a turning point in planners’ recognition of the value of local businesses. Arizona Business Magazine named her one of the 50 most influential women in Arizona, and the American Planning Association named her Distinguished Citizen Planner for her work on the reuse of old buildings. In November, at a conference of the nonprofit Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, for which Lanning is an incoming co-chair, Lanning told me of the sources of her passion for local business.

Our Opportunity To Build Wealth, Economy, And Culture

December 16, 2017 Melissa Hoover, institute.coop Create! Economics, Small Business, Wealth

Entrepreneurship can be a powerful force for prosperity. Business ownership gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to earn more money and create jobs. But this pathway to self-made success is mostly an option for the wealthy and for white households with access to capital and connections. Latino or African American households are historically less likely to start a business than white households, contributing to a persistent racial wealth gap. The business asset gap has notable impacts for women—in fact, women of all ethnic backgrounds and races: women business owners have household incomes 56 percent higher than other women working full-time. Making it easier for all people to become business owners will increase the wealth opportunities in our neighborhoods, cities, and the national economy.

500# Small Businesses Urge FCC To Protect Net Neutrality

September 1, 2017 Staff, www.keepthewebopenforbusiness.com Resist! FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality, Small Business

By Staff of FIght For Our Future - We are a group of businesses empowered by unencumbered access to an open Internet. We are deeply concerned with the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to roll back its existing strong net neutrality rules based on Title II of the Communications Act. We urge you to maintain the existing rules instead. Today, broadband is vital to American enterprise; connectivity is absolutely essential to businesses. We also depend on a strong competitive framework and legal foundation to ensure that Internet service providers (ISPs) cannot discriminate against websites, services, and apps, or impose new fees that harm small businesses. The open Internet has made it possible for us to rely on a free market where each of us has the chance to bring our best business ideas to the world without interference or seeking permission from any gatekeeper first. This is possible because the principle of net neutrality ensures that everyone has unimpeded access to the Internet. The Commission’s long-standing commitment and actions undertaken to protect the open Internet are a central reason why the Internet remains an engine of entrepreneurship and economic growth.

How Cities Can Save Small Shops

August 19, 2017 Karen Loew, www.citylab.com Create! Capitalism, New Economy, Small Business

By Karen Loew for Citylab - Over its two decades in business, Jane’s Exchange, a secondhand children’s and maternity clothing shop in Manhattan’s East Village, has clothed generations of diverse New Yorkers and served as a de facto resource center, water cooler, and play spot. When she’s not running Jane’s Exchange, the co-owner Gayle Raskin, who also lives nearby, is usually active elsewhere in the community. Especially on this island of the empty storefront, her shop is a textbook example of why shopping local matters: The store fills a need, employs local residents, re-invests locally, supplies warmth and personality to a city block, and supports neighborhood connections and institutions, which support it back. Shops like this one are disappearing fast from city streets, particularly in Manhattan, where they're often left empty—leading to so-called high-rent blight—or else replaced by chain stores. According to the Small Business Congress, at least 1,200 small businesses close every month in New York City. Even if that number is correct, some are replaced by new small businesses. But the immense scale of the problem is clear: “This is the number one issue in Manhattan,” Borough President Gale Brewer told the City Council at a hearing last September.

How Cities Can Create A Built Environment Where Local Businesses Thrive

May 24, 2017 Olivia LaVecchia, www.ilsr.org Create! Small Business

By Olivia LaVecchia for ILSR - Cities are changing to become increasingly inhospitable to locally owned businesses. As older buildings get replaced by new development, commercial real estate prices soar, and national chains seek new markets, independent businesses are struggling to find space that’s appropriate and affordable for their needs. The result is that longtime businesses are getting priced out of the neighborhoods they’ve been serving for years, and entrepreneurs are facing higher barriers to starting new businesses. When this happens, local business owners lose, but so do cities and the people who live in them. ILSR’s Olivia LaVecchia recently joined with policymakers and advocates at Hopeful Economics, a summit co-hosted by the City of Vancouver and Simon Fraser University, to explore this issue. In this 20-minute talk, Olivia discusses what’s causing the problem, why it matters — and six policy strategies that cities are using to address it.

Kill Net Neutrality And You’ll Kill Us, Say 800 US Startups

April 28, 2017 James Vincent, www.theverge.com Educate! Net Neutrality, Small Business

By James Vincent for The Verge - Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission announced the first step in its plan to kill net neutrality — reversing the Title II classification of internet service providers. Doing so will remove many regulations placed on big cable companies, allowing them to erect barriers and tolls that impede the free movement of data around the internet. You won’t hear Comcast or Verizon complaining, of course — this benefits them. But young tech companies who need a level playing field on the internet to succeed are up in arms. After FCC chairman Ajit Pai made yesterday’s announcement, a group of more than 800 startupssent him a letter objecting to the plans. You can read the letter in full here, but the core argument is this: “The success of America’s startup ecosystem depends on more than improved broadband speeds. We also depend on an open Internet — including enforceable net neutrality rules that ensure big cable companies can’t discriminate against people like us. We’re deeply concerned with your intention to undo the existing legal framework...

HSBC Closes 45,000 Small Business Accounts

December 12, 2013 Staff, www.freelancersunion.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Small Business

Last week, when self-employed author and speaker Brent King was driving home from the airport, he tried to use the debit card connected to his HSBC business account. To his surprise, it was declined. Thinking there was some incident of fraud, he contacted HSBC, who told him that there was no problem with his card. It was simply that his small business account had been closed. This was certainly news to Brent, who told his story in Huffington Post this week. He said he received no message in his personal banking system. No email. No snail mail (they supposedly tried).

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