Save the Date-National Small Business Week, June 16-22

The U.S. Small Business Administration is proud to announce
that National Small Business Week will be held June 17-21, 2013. 
National Small Business Week is a time to honor the 28 million small businesses that
drive America's economy. Small businesses create two out of every three
new jobs – and half the people who work in the U.S. own or work for a small
business.

For more information, visit the official National Small Business Week website at www.sba.gov/smallbusinessweek.

You can also follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #SBW2013.

Online Tools to Help You Find and Price Small Business Health Care Insurance Options

by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator

We all have questions about the Affordable Care Act, whether it's deciphering facts from myths or trying to understand what your options for health care coverage are now and in the future.

As small business owners, getting the right information from a credible resource is critical. One new tool is the U.S. Small Business Administration's health care web page, www.sba.gov/healthcare, dedicated to educating small business owners about the Affordable Care Act. The site is a gateway for small businesses connecting them with information provided by SBA's federal partners responsible for implementing the law, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

HHS's web portal – Healthcare.gov – is another valuable resource that provides information and tools to help individuals and employers understand how the Affordable Care Act will impact them.

The site also aims to make comparison shopping for health insurance a whole lot easier, using basic personalization features that help you determine plan options, pricing information and eligibility.

Here's a breakdown of some of the tools and features that you can find at Healthcare.gov.

Understand the Affordable Care Act as a Small Business Owner

What does the health care law mean to you? Check out these resources that explain the key provisions of the law plus an overview of what is changing and when.

For a clear overview of how the law impacts small businesses, the Small Businesses and the Affordable Care Act guide breaks down the top things you need to know, including information about the following:

• The Small Business Tax Credit and your eligibility to claim it.
• Affordable Insurance Marketplaces, known as the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), will open on January 1, 2014 and give small employers buying power—similar to what large businesses have to get better choices and lower prices. The SHOP Marketplaces will work with new insurance reforms and tax credits provided by the Affordable Care Act to help lower barriers to offering health insurance that small employers face. Visit Healthcare.gov's small business landing page for the latest information on SHOP, and review the get-ready checklist for small business owners. Enrollment in SHOP begins on October 1, 2013.

This useful Small Business Q&A also helps you understand your rights and responsibilities as a small business owner.

Find Healthcare Insurance Options for Your Small Business

Looking for insurance for yourself or your employees? Healthcare.gov's Insurance Finder organizes and presents information and pricing collected from insurers to help you better understand your options. Enter some basic data and the tool will filter your options accordingly.

Assess and Compare Quality of Care

Healthcare.gov also lets you compare the quality of care provided by the institutions that administer healthcare prevention and treatment services using the Compare Care Providers tool.

Stay Connected

Additionally, small business owners can sign up for marketplace enrollment updates at signup.healthcare.gov.

Top Three Things Small Businesses Should Know About the Affordable Care Act

by Meredith Olafson, Community Moderator

The Affordable Care Act will help small businesses by lowering premium cost growth and increasing access to quality, affordable health insurance. Depending on whether you're a small employer or a larger employer, different provisions of the Affordable Care Act may apply to you as described below.

1. Businesses with Fewer than 25 Employees- Small Business Tax Credits

The Affordable Care Act does not require that businesses provide health insurance, but it offers tax credits for eligible small businesses that choose to provide insurance to their employees. To qualify for a small business tax credit of up to 35% (up to 25% for non-profits), you must have:

• Fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees
• Pay average annual wages below $50,000
• Contribute 50% or more toward employee health insurance premiums

Beginning in 2014, this tax credit goes up to 50% (35% for non-profits) and is available to qualified small businesses who participate in the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchanges.

2. Businesses with 50 or Fewer Employees- Affordable Insurance Marketplaces

The Affordable Care Act does not require that businesses provide health insurance, but beginning in 2014, small businesses with generally 50 or fewer employees will be able to purchase coverage through SHOP , competitive marketplaces where small employers can go to find health coverage from a selection of providers. The SHOP Marketplaces and Individual Marketplaces for those who are self-employed open on January 1, 2014. Open enrollment begins on October 1, 2013. SHOP will offer small businesses increased purchasing power similar to that of large businesses.

3. Businesses with 50 or More Employees- Employer Shared Responsibility Provisions

Under the Affordable Care Act, the Federal government, State governments, insurers, employers, and individuals share the responsibility to reform and improve the availability, quality, and affordability of health insurance coverage in the United States. Employers are not required to provide coverage to their employees under the Affordable Care Act. However, beginning in 2014, businesses with 50 or more full-time employees (or full-time equivalents) that do not offer affordable health insurance that provides a minimum level of coverage to substantially all of their full-time employees (and their dependents) may be subject to an employer shared responsibility payment if at least one of their full-time employees receives a premium tax credit to purchase coverage in an insurance Marketplace. A full-time employee is generally one who is employed an average of 30 or more hours per week.

If you meet or are close to this threshold level of full-time employees, it's important to understand how these rules may apply to you and how the employer shared responsibility payments could be triggered. For more guidance on the employer shared responsibility payments, refer to this FAQ from the IRS.

by James Rivera, SBA Official

A month after Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast, homeowners, renters and businesses are dealing with the challenging task of rebuilding their homes, businesses and communities.

There's a lot of information out there about different forms of federal assistance, and a lot of confusion about the U.S. Small Business Administration's role in helping homeowners, renters and businesses recover. The SBA is committed to the long-term recovery of the people and businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Don't let misinformation keep you from getting an SBA disaster loan! Here are the facts:

1.You don’t have to be a business owner to apply for an SBA disaster loan.

SBA makes low-interest loans to homeowners of up to $200,000 to repair or replace the residence. Renters and homeowners are also eligible to apply for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged personal property – like furniture, cars, appliances – that isn’t fully covered by insurance.

2. Most business disaster loans approved by SBA are made at the 4 percent interest rate.

 There is no sliding or variable interest rate scale. Businesses that have additional assets, cash flow and higher credit scores that enable them to qualify elsewhere for credit can still get an SBA loan, but at a higher interest rate of 6 percent.

3. A notice about the Coastal Barrier Resources Act – which prohibits residents and businesses in Coastal Barrier areas from receiving federal disaster assistance – was included in disaster loan packets.

 If your property is on a coastal area, don’t assume you aren’t eligible to apply for an SBA disaster loan. Once we get the application, we can make the decision to process the loan application.

4. Even if you don’t have insurance, you can still apply for SBA disaster assistance.

And if you do have insurance, don’t wait to receive a settlement before you apply for an SBA disaster loan. We don’t want you to miss the application deadline.

5. Your important documents – like property records, financial information – were probably lost in the storm. No worries – the SBA has resources available to help you complete the disaster loan application anyway. 

There are several ways to apply:

• Apply online at https://disasterloan.sba.gov.
• Visit a Disaster Recovery Center in your area: http://www.fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers
• For information about the disaster loan process, or to have an application mailed to you, email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or call 1-800-659-2955. Those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired can call 1-800-877-8339.
• To download an application, click: www.sba.gov/disaster.

To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, register online at www.disasterassistance.gov or use your mobile device at http://m.fema.gov.  

SBA Unveils New Learning Portal for Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs

 by Michael Chodos, SBA Official

Global Entrepreneurship Week is an opportunity to celebrate innovative entrepreneurs and small business owners. In the U.S. alone there are 28 million small business owners and they create two out of every three new jobs in America. But, there are so many more people with the entrepreneurial spirit and I have the great fortune of meeting many of them through my travels. Global Entrepreneurship Week is a time to ensure America’s budding small business owners have more tools to help them turn their passion into business or turn that great idea into a new venture.

Often times, small business owners will share stories about how SBA’s resources have been vital or how they are in need of finding the right help. This is one of the reasons why SBA continually strives to ensure that small business entrepreneurs have access to the resources they need for their business, including information on startup how to’s, marketing, financing, contracting and more.

We’ve learned valuable feedback from entrepreneurs who rely on our website to educate themselves about small business ownership and listened to what they said. We acknowledged that the user experience to access online resources needed to be easy, efficient and engaging. Today I am pleased to share that SBA is launching a new online learning center.

The learning center is a redesigned, online learning portal for small business entrepreneurs. It has a streamlined, searchable catalog of small business educational resources including self-paced courses, videos and web sessions. The resources may be sorted by topic, making it easier to quickly locate helpful information. For instance, if you want to take a course on how to write your business plan, the learning center is a one-stop destination to find the course as well as other supporting content.

We know that your time is precious, and the Learning Center’s design significantly reduces the number of site pages that users have to visit to find a video or online course.

The learning center’s features include:

• Information available everywhere at any time for small business entrepreneurs
• Improved navigation that gives users one-click access to small business courses, videos or web chat sessions
• A quick snapshot of each form of media, including a brief description and system requirements
• Free online courses on topics such as How to Write a Business Plan, Essential Guide to Starting Your Own Business for Young Entrepreneurs, Government Contracting 101, Green Business Opportunities and Encore Entrepreneurs: An Introduction to Starting Your Own Business
• Recommended courses, videos or web sessions based on selections that the user makes while navigating

I also encourage entrepreneurs to connect with SBA’s mentor network for further assistance. Local Assistance, a location-based map, allows you to connect to your nearest SBA District Office, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), SCORE Chapters, Veteran’s Business Outreach Centers and Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), where you can receive helpful counseling, training and mentoring from any of these resources for starting, growing and managing your small business. You may simply enter your zip code to get access to descriptive information about each SBA resource and narrow your search based where you would like to go for assistance. It’s that easy.

SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurial Development, in collaboration with our entire communications team, is continually exploring other ways to offer engaging materials to help keep your entrepreneurial enthusiasm going.

Hurricane Sandy Update 2: SBA Standing Ready to Help Businesses, Homeowners and Renters Recover

 by James Rivera, SBA Official

 Many business owners, homeowners, and renters along the East Coast are coming back to find physical damage to their buildings and property as a result of Hurricane Sandy. In addition, thousands of businesses are dealing with the economic blow caused by power outages, damaged inventory, and lost profits from being closed down.

The Small Business Administration stands ready to help.

How does SBA help businesses, homeowners and renters recover? Three main ways:

1. Businesses and nonprofit organizations of any size can apply for a low-interest disaster loan of up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged real estate or inventory.

2. Small businesses and nonprofit organizations of any size can apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, also up to $2 million. With all of the power outages and evacuations, we know that many small businesses made it through the storm, but they’ve lost significant amounts of business. In many cases, these businesses will be eligible for EIDL loans to help cover their working capital needs, regardless of whether the business suffered property damage.

3. Finally, homeowners can apply for loans of up to $200,000 to repair damaged real estate. Homeowners and renters can also apply to borrow up to $40,000 to repair or replace personal property damaged by the storm. In addition, we can sometimes increase a loan by up to 20 percent to make structural improvements that lessen the risk of property damage by future disasters of the same kind.

Once the disaster declaration is made for your area, there are several ways to apply:

• Apply online at https://disasterloan.sba.gov
• Visit a Disaster Recovery Center in your area: http://www.fema.gov/disaster-recovery-centers
• For information about the disaster loan process, or to have an application mailed to you, you can either email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov or call 1-800-659-2955. Those who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired can call 1-800-877-8339.
• To download an application, go here: www.sba.gov/disaster

As of last night, more than 292,607 disaster survivors from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have applied for federal disaster assistance, and more than $277 million in Individual Assistance has been approved.

 If you are a survivor, it’s important to take that the first step is to register with FEMA, by calling 1-800-621-FEMA or going online to www.disasterassistance.gov on your computer or mobile device.

Already, we have disaster recovery personnel conducting damage assessments and many more disaster reservists ready to mobilize. In addition, business owners can get free help completing applications and creating plans to rebuild at our local Small Business Development Centers. To find the location nearest you, visit www.sba.gov/local-assistance.

Our commitment at SBA and throughout the Administration is that we will be there until we get the job done – and we will get it done right. For more about the government-wide response to Sandy, visit www.usa.gov/sandy.

Washington, DC – Please join Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), US Small Business Administration (SBA) and State of Connecticut senior officials for a conference call on the federal government's efforts to help small businesses and homeowners recover from Hurricane Sandy. Officials will provide updates and answer questions about assistance and support to states affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, ensuring the federal family and its public and private partners continue to provide all available resources to support state, local, territorial and tribal communities in affected areas.

WHAT: FEMA and SBA senior officials update call with local business owners and officials on Sandy relief efforts

WHEN: Friday, November 9 at 2pm ET

Loan Briefing For Small Businesses in Need of Capital

(One hour Seminars)

November 8, 15, 22, 29, 2012

Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Interested in finding out about the Small Business Administration Guaranty Loan Programs available to finance your business? Mark your calendar and make plans to attend one of our upcoming executive briefings that will provide you with the information and contacts you need to explore these important options. Brought to you by the U.S. Small Business Administration, you'll hear directly from the experts, and will have the opportunity to get your questions answered. Presentations by the U.S. Small Business Administration and an SBA local lender. You can attend in person or, you can watch this event on your computer via a live webinar broadcast.

Here are the details:The briefing will be held at Anchorage U.S. Small Business Administration Conference Room (420 L Street, Suite 300)

To Join the Briefing by Phone: Dial toll free 1-888-858-2144.

Enter the access code 6119714, followed by the # key.

To Join by Internet: Click here or you can use: https://www.teleconference.att.com/servlet/ATTClogin  
The meeting # is: 18888582144
Code #: 6119714

Choose "Web Participant" You Can Also Participate in Person:To RSVP contact: Yolanda Lassiter at 907-271-4022 - yolanda.lassiter@sba.gov or Nelida Irvine at 907-271-4027 – nelida.irvine@sba.gov

 FEMA AND SBA TO LEAD CALL ON SANDY RELIEF EFFORTS FOR NJ SMALL BUSINESSES

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Please join Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and State of New Jersey senior officials for a conference call on the federal government’s efforts to help small businesses and homeowners recover from Hurricane Sandy. Officials will provide updates and answer questions about assistance and support to states affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, ensuring the federal family and its public and private partners continue to provide all available resources to support state, local, territorial and tribal communities in affected areas.

WHAT: FEMA and SBA senior officials update call with local business owners and officials on Sandy relief efforts

WHEN: Thursday, November 8 at 2 p.m. ET

DIAL IN: Dial-in: 1-888-621-9649 Event ID: 411483

 View the San Francisco SBA online calendar at: http://web.sba.gov/calendar/public/index.cfm?rc=0912 Registration for all our classes is required.

 To ensure a printed handout for review along with the instructor during the class or to be notified if the class is cancelled, please register at the SF Small Business Development Center registration site: http://sbatraining.eventbrite.com/ unless otherwise indicated.

Events: June 11th to 29th, 2012

Restaurant Series: Learn the Basics in Marketing Your Restaurant for Success 6/11 – Monday 2:30 PM – 4:30 PMHear what some of the top pros in the restaurant industry and media have to say about distinguishing your restaurant. $35 Registration Fee. Presented by the SF SBDC

 Running and Operating a Green Business 6/11 – Monday 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM Want to learn easy ways to improve your brand image, identify new markets, lower operating costs, and help the planet? This class teaches you how to be a green business and gives you simple steps to implement right away. Learn how to get certified for free by the Bay Area Green Business Program and find the resources you need for your business. $25 registration fee.Presented by the SF SBDC.

 ***Public Relations Made Easy: Understanding the Framework 6/11 – Monday 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM State Payroll Tax Workshop6/12 – Tuesday 9:00AM – 3:00PM This workshop provides participants with hands practice on how to calculate state taxes and complete state payroll tax forms. The workshop is recommended for those who have previously attended a Federal/State Basic Payroll Tax Seminar or for those familiar with state payroll tax reporting but who would like additional practice. Presented by the California EDD Tax Office. For Information Visit: http://www.edd.ca.gov/Payroll_Tax_Seminars/ or Call 866 873-6083.

Less Emails, More Productivity 6/12 – Tuesday 6:00 PM – 8:30 PMLearn ways to improve productivity in you workplace with SharePoint and options beyond emails/phone to collaborate with within an industry.

For more information and to find out how to live stream the Conference, click here.

The participating state small business winners represent a broad range of business products, services and innovations, including a gourmet food maker from Maine, a North Carolina microbrewery, a bus-builder from Nevada, a Wisconsin dental clinic, a machine parts miller from Iowa, a trade show producer from New Mexico and 47 others from across the country.

While in D.C., the winners will have opportunities to meet with top administration officials, congressional representatives and national business leaders. The highlight of the celebration will come when one of them is named National Small Business Person of the Year.

National Small Business Week is cosponsored by the SCORE Association as well as numerous corporate and trade sponsors to be announced.

Events on the three-day schedule will be available for viewing virtually through SBA’s free, live webcasting, which will be accessible at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/. Interested parties can register online at the same site, where additional information (updated weekly) is available regarding registration, awards ceremonies, small business forums and educational and matchmaking sessions. The event also will be webcast live at the web site.

Participants also will be recognized for their involvement in disaster recovery, government contracting, and their support for small businesses and entrepreneurship, and awards will be presented to SBA partners in financial and entrepreneurial development, including the year’s top SCORE Chapter, Small Business Development Center and Women’s Business Center.

The National Small Business Week award events will include the following individuals and groups (Others can be found at the National Small Business Week website at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com

The National Small Business Person of the Year, selected from the State Small Business Persons of the Year.

SBA Small Business Awards

The Champion Awards, recognizing both individuals and organizations for their achievements on behalf of small business, including minority, women and veteran-owned small businesses.

The Phoenix Awards, recognizing a public official, a business owner and a volunteer whose efforts have helped their businesses or communities recover successfully from a disaster.

The Lenders of the Year, honoring financial institutions, including those that provide financing for small business exporters and inner city businesses.

The Entrepreneurial Development Awards honoring Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers and the National SCORE Chapter of the Year for their innovation and excellence in assistance to entrepreneurs and small businesses, plus awards for SCORE, SBDC and Women’s Business Center counselors of the year.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence, recognizing large prime contractors who have excelled in their utilization of small businesses as suppliers and subcontractors.

The Gold Star Award, recognizing exemplary performance of federal staff who manage the aggressive goals and strategic initiatives that help ensure a role for small business in the federal marketplace.

The Frances Perkins Vanguard Award, honoring industry for excellence in the use of women-owned small businesses as prime contractors and subcontractors.

The Small Business Prime Contractors and Small Business Subcontractor of the Years, honoring small businesses that have provided government and industry with outstanding goods and services as prime or subcontractors.

NOTE: A complete list of all award winners will be available on the National Small Business Week Web site at http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com

Small Business Week 2012 sponsors and cosponsors include: the Association of Small Business Development Centers, the InterContinental Hotel Group, Lockheed Martin, the National Association of Development Companies, the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, the National Association for the Self-Employed, Northrup Grumman, Office Depot, Paychex, Raytheon, SCORE, the Small Business Investor Alliance, VISA, and Women Impacting Public Policy.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s participation in this cosponsored activity does not constitute an express or implied endorsement of any cosponsor’s, donor’s, grantee’s, contractor’s or participant’s opinions, products, or services. All SBA programs and cosponsored programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least 2 weeks in advance, by contacting sbw@sba.gov. Cosponsorship Authorization #SBW2012.

The event will give small businesses from across the country gathered for National Small Business Week an opportunity to have face-to-face meetings with prime contractors and federal agencies to learn about specific contracting and subcontracting opportunities. This is part of SBA's Procurement Day which will also feature federal contracting panels on gaining access to federal prime contracting and subcontracting opportunities.

The business matchmaking sessions are open to small businesses that register for National Small Business Week. Small businesses must have a DUNS number, which can be obtained by going to the DUNS official Web site at ( www.dnb.com/us ), and must be registered in Central Contractor Registration ( www.ccr.gov ), the federal government's official database of small businesses wishing to secure federal contracts.

The face-to-face matchmaking meetings will be 15 minutes, matching approximately 150 businesses and 20 buyers based on their compatibility and the buying needs of the federal agencies and corporations. Small business owners interested in participating must first register for National Small Business Week at www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com.

Once registered, they will receive a code to allow them to complete their business matchmaking registration at: https://nsbw.mybusinessmatches.com. Registration for the event will close on May 18, 2012. One session will be held on May 22 from 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and the second session will be held from 3:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.

During the forums, small businesses will learn how to market themselves to the federal government and go after government contracting opportunities. Once small business owners register for the workshops, they will have the option of attending any of three sessions:

· Government Contracting 101: Small Business Contracting Programs (10:00-11)

· Insights into Federal Contracting Opportunities with Federal Agency Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBUs) (10:00 a.m.-11)

· Improving your Business through Subcontracting Opportunities (11:30 a.m.-12)

For more information about the Matchmaking event, visit: https://nsbw.mybusinessmatches.com and National Small Business Week http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com

Small Business Week 2012 sponsors and cosponsors include: AARP, Association of Small Business Development Companies, AT&T, Dun & Bradstreet, InterContinental Hotels Group, International Franchise Association, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, National Association of Development Companies, National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, National Association for the Self-Employed, National Small Business Association, Neustar, Northrop Grumman, Office Depot, Paychex, Inc., Prudential, Raytheon, Sage Software, Inc., Salesgenie, SCORE, Small Business Investor Alliance, T-Mobile, VISA, Wall Street Journal and Women Impacting Public Policy.

The U.S. Small Business Administration's participation in this cosponsored activity does not constitute an express or implied endorsement of any cosponsor's, donor's, grantee's, contractor's or participant's opinions, products, or services. All SBA programs and cosponsored programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested at least 2 weeks in advance, by contacting sbw@sba.gov.

Contact: Tiffani Clements (202) 401-0035 (http://www.sba.gov/news)

SOURCE U.S. Small Business Administration

For more information on the National Small Business Week Conference, including a list of speakers, a schedule of events, and how to register to attend this free, week-long event, visit the Small Business Week website at: www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com.

The week of May 20th, our nation’s entrepreneurs will come together online and in Washington, DC for National Small Business Week.

Learn more about the event

Participate Online

Sign up to view the live webcastof the free educational panels. We'll send you a reminder.

With a strong focus on how small businesses can take advantage of economic opportunities and new marketing trends, topics for the educational forums this year include:

• Strategies and resources fortaking your small business global throughexporting

• Tips and best practices forputting social media to work for your business

• An open discussion on how small businesses can better position themselves towin federal government contracts

Check out the full conference schedule here

...or you can follow along on Twitter with the event hashtag #SBW2012.

Attend In Person

Small business owners are invited to attend the free seminars and network with other entrepreneurs at the Washington, DC conference.

Visit the National Small Business Week site to register

Small Business Week Video Contest

Do you have two minutes and a video camera? Share your business' success story by entering our video contest. Three winning videos will be featured during National Small Business Week and shown during a Google+ Hangout hosted by SBA and the White House on May 23. The deadline for video submissions is May 11.

Enter your submission now

According to the Office of Advocacy, Incorporation By Reference is a potentially valuable tool for federal agencies to reduce the time and effort needed to engage in rulemaking. However, there are potential concerns with the practice beyond the issue of "reasonably available,” such as whether the standard setting processes themselves are sufficiently representative, open, and transparent.

Background on "Incorporation By Reference”: Incorporation By Reference refers to federal agencies adopting private consensus standards published elsewhere into their federal regulations. The National Technology Transfer Act Advancement Act (NTTAA) (see, http://standards.gov/nttaa.cfm) encourages federal agencies to use Incorporation By Reference, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued implementing guidance in the form of OMB Circular A-119 (see, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a119), which addresses a number of important issues associated with this practice.

The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) recently adopted a "Recommendation” on the issue of "Incorporation By Reference” (see, http://www.acus.gov/acus-recommendations/incorporation-by-reference/). During ACUS’ discussion of Incorporation By Reference, one of the key issues considered was that of standard setting bodies changing a fee for access to their standards (which are frequently copyrighted materials), even when these standards are being incorporated into federal regulation. Office of Federal Register regulations require that materials incorporated by reference be "reasonable available” to the public, although that term is not defined.

Following the adoption of ACUS’ Recommendation on Incorporation By Reference, a group of legal scholars associated with ACUS, concerned about the public "having to pay to know what the law is,” petitioned the Office of the Federal Register to define the term "reasonably available.” The Office of Federal Register published the petition for public comment in the Federal Register on February 27, 2012 (see, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-27/pdf/2012-4399.pdf) , and subsequently extended the comment period until June 1, 2012 (see, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-02-27/pdf/2012-4399.pdf).

To Attend: If you would like to attend the Small Business Roundtable on Incorporation By Reference on May 9th, please RSVP to me by reply email.To Bruce Lundegren, Assistant Chief Counsel, Office of Advocacy at bruce.lundegren@sba.gov. (A call in option will also be available upon request.) A final Agenda for the Roundtable will be developed and circulated prior to the meeting.

Questions: Please feel free to contact Assistant Chief Counsel Lundegren if you have any questions or require additional information.

Click here to learn more.

Invite you to a special

Women’s History Month Conference Call

for

Women Small Business Owners

featuring

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis

and

SBA Deputy Administrator Marie C. Johns

Wednesday, March 28^th, 2012

2:30 PM ET/1:30 PM CT/11:30 AM PT

•

Conference Call Number: 888-790-3523

Passcode: Women

The U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Labor invite you to participate in a special Women’s History Month conference call for women small business owners. The discussion will focus on SBA and DOL initiatives for America’s women workers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.

In order to ensure there are enough lines, pre-registration is required. Please RSVP at

http://webapps.dol.gov/DOLEvents/Event/View/68/DOL-and-SBA-Women-Small-Business-Owners-Conference-Call.

Please send any questions or concerns to A’shanti Gholar at Gholar.Ashanti.F@dol.gov.

The conference call is off the record and not for press purposes.

Supplier Connection, created by the IBM Foundation, is part of the Obama Administration’s American Supplier Initiative and is designed to help bridge the gap between small, nimble businesses looking for new opportunities and large corporations looking for innovative new ideas and diversity in their supply chains.

"The American Supplier Initiative is part of a comprehensive solution to grow small businesses, create jobs and to ensure that America has a strong, deep and diverse supply chain,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "While it is clear that becoming a corporate supplier can lead to business growth, breaking in can be a challenge for small businesses. The Supplier Connection will be one tool to help small businesses connect with corporate buyers. Tools like this help to ensure that more small businesses are part of commercial supply chains, which adds additional revenue streams. This is a proven formula for job creation.”

Mills today sent letters about Supplier Connection, a new tool to help small businesses access private sector supply chains, to more than 50,000 small businesses that currently participate in small business federal procurement programs. Studies have shown that small businesses that are part of large corporations’ supply chains experience increased revenues and employment. SBA is committed to helping small businesses identify new tools and resources to become part of these supply chains.

Supplier Connection is a free, online portal created by the IBM Foundation that allows small businesses to send information about their products and services to 15 large private sector companies. The 15 companies participating in Supplier Connection are: AMD, AT&T, Bank of America, Caterpillar, Citi Group, Dell, Facebook, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, John Deere, Kellogg’s, Office Depot, Pfizer, UPS and Wells Fargo. Together, these 15 companies have a combined purchasing power of $300 billion and now they will have full access to the profiles of small businesses that have registered for Supplier Connection.

The American Supplier Initiative is a call-to-action to the private sector to invest in their supply chains through small businesses. The initiative aims to address four key areas in which small business need help in order to become successful suppliers in the private sector: access to mentorship and counseling services, increased market and revenue opportunities, ready sources of capital to fund their growth, and a highly skilled workforce.

To date, several American Supplier Initiative announcements have already been made:

• SBA’s International Trade Loan expansion – This program provides small businesses with capital to finance their fixed assets, including real estate, and working capital needs. This program offers private lenders a 90 percent guarantee on loans up to $5 million as an incentive to encourage lending to growing small businesses. Small businesses may use the ITL program to on-shore and help bring jobs back to the U.S.

• Export-Import Bank’s Global Credit Express Product – This product is specially designed to deliver short-term working capital loans directly to creditworthy small business exporters. Through this new program, exporters may be eligible for a 6- or 12-month revolving line of credit of up to $500,000.

• CAPLines – SBA’s CAPLines program was recently revamped to help small businesses meet their short-term and cyclical working capital needs.

Identifying ways to strengthen small and medium-sized manufacturers is a priority for the administration and additional announcements under the American Supplier Initiative are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks and months.

For more information on Supplier Connection, please visit: https://www.supplier-connection.net.

During the forums, small businesses will learn how to market themselves to the federal government and go after government contracting opportunities. They will also get an overview of the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program – a tool of the SBA’s 8(a) program that encourages mentors to team with a protégé or smaller firm to help them with management and technical assistance, financial assistance and access to joint ventures and federal contracting opportunities.

"Although we are encouraged by the economic indicators trending upward, we are still facing challenging economic times,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. "That’s why it’s important that we make sure that more federal contracts get into the hands of small businesses that drive the nation’s economy and create jobs. These forums will go a long way in making sure that small businesses know how to leverage their companies and team with viable partners to take their businesses to the next level.”

The forums will also feature a discussion of strategic alliance and joint venture opportunities, a Q&A session and face-to-face and virtual business matchmaking sessions with larger businesses and companies that have graduated from the 8(a) program.

Small disadvantaged businesses and 8(a) firms interested in attending must register at: http://sba.mybusinessmatches.com/buyers/generalinfo. Approximately 300 small businesses will be matched prior to their meetings based on their compatibility.

The first four matchmaking conferences took place in Washington, D.C., in January; in Atlanta, Ga., and Orlando, Fla., in February and in Los Angeles in March. The list of the remaining cities scheduled is as follows:

• Houston, Texas (March 27)

• San Antonio, Texas (March 29)

• Chicago, Ill. (April 5)

• Denver, Colo. (April 11)

• Boston, Mass. (May 10)

• Newark, N.J. (May 23)

• Seattle, Wash. (June 7)

• Kansas City, Mo. (June 21)

• Sacramento, Calif. (July 24)

• Cleveland, Ohio (August 7)

For more information about the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program, visit: www.sba.gov/content/mentor-protégé-program and to learn more about the Mentor-Protégé Matchmaking Conference, visit: http://sba.mybusinessmatches.com/buyers/generalinfo.

WHAT:

The U.S. Small Business Administration will host a series of webinars in recognition of the sixth annual National Entrepreneurship Week. The emphasis will be on financial empowerment and building the entrepreneurship skills of the next generation of small business owners, using business basics, social networking and business strategizing.

WHEN:

February 21-24, 2012, daily at 3:00 p.m. (ET)

WHO:

Webinar topics and presenters are

Felipe Wright, CEO
Intelligent Information Technology Solutions
Topic: Entrepreneurship Empowers Everyone
Tuesday, February 21 at 3:00 p.m.

Joseph Clarke, Chapter Chair
Washington, D.C. SCORE
Topic: The Things an Entrepreneur Needs to Know
Wednesday, February 22 at 3:00 p.m.

Melanie Lamar-Hancock, President
Right at Home, Washington, D.C.
Topic: Building Your Team
Thursday, February 23 at 3:00 p.m.

Jennifer Kushell, Founder and CEO
YSN.com
Topic: Entrepreneurship & Networking
Friday, February 24 at 3:00 p.m.

HOW:

Audio Conference Login Instructions

1. Dial the AT&T Connect Teleconference Toll-Free Number – 1-888-858-2144
2. Enter your AT&T Access Code – 4259370 (press the # key)

Web Conference Login Instructions

1. Login at www.connectmeeting.att.com
2. Enter "Meeting Number” 1-888-858-2144
3. Enter "Access Code” 4259370
4. Enter "Email Address, First and Last name”
5. Click Submit
6. Click Participant
7. Click Participant Application (Recommended)
8. Click "Enter” Event
9. Click Dial-In/Already Connected by Phone (Close the Telephone Connection Instructions pop-up box)

System Requirements:

*To set up the AT&T Connect Participant application, a user's PC must run either Windows 2000, Windows XP (SP1, SP2, SP3 are supported), or Vista with either Internet Explorer 6.0 (or higher) supported. AT&T Connect does support the Mozilla or Firefox browser.

*Separate telephone line is needed for the audio portion

Note: For assistance with AT&T Connect Web Conference Service, contact AT&T Connect Customer Care at 1-888-796-6118.

The final rule will increase 37 of the revenue-based size standards in 34 industries and three sub-industries in the "Professional, Scientific and Technical Services” sector. It will also increase one size standard in the "Other Services” sector.

As part of an ongoing review of all size standards, the SBA evaluated all of the revenue-based size standards in these sectors to determine whether to revise the existing size standards. SBA took into account the structural characteristics within individual industries, including average firm size, the degree of competition, and federal government contracting trends to ensure that size definitions reflect current economic conditions within those industries. Under provisions in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, SBA will continue its comprehensive review of all size standards for the next several years.

After receiving numerous public comments to the proposed rule published in The Federal Register on March 16, 2011, the SBA determined that increasing the size standards in these industries:

• will enable more small businesses to retain their small business status; and
• will give federal agencies a larger selection of small businesses to choose from for small business procurement opportunities.

SBA estimates as many as 8,350 additional firms will become eligible for SBA programs as a result of these revisions.

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

2:00 pm ET / 1:00 pm CT / 11:00 am PT

Conference Call Number: 888-790-2030

Passcode: SBA

The U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Labor invite you to participate in a special Black History Month conference call for African American small business owners featuring officials from the SBA and DOL who will provide an update on their agencies work for the African American community and small business owners.

RSVP to the Call:

Click Here to RSVP

Contact Email:

Gholar.Ashanti.F@dol.gov

This conference call is off the record and not for press purposes.