By Mark Drajem, Bloomberg
Members of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet plan to travel across the U.S. this year seeking to persuade small businesses to engage in more international trade as part of the administration’s drive to double exports.
“For America to win the future, more small and medium- sized businesses must export,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement. More… Read more »
By Justin Lahart, Wall Street Journal
Husband-and-wife business partners Matt and Rene Greff are on track to open the first out-of-state branch of their Michigan brewpub later this year—in Bangalore, India.
At Peter Frykman's Palo Alto, Calif., irrigation-equipment company, seven of the 20 employees are located outside the U.S., in China and India, while Gangesh Ganesan's… Read more »
By Robb Mandelbaum, New York Times "You're the Boss" Blog
Last week, President Obama signaled that he was ready to make the process of writing regulations friendlier to businesses, especially small businesses — and advocates for the nation’s small businesses are ready with suggestions.
Small-business lobbyists — from organizations that exclusively represent small concerns, as well as… Read more »
By Melanie Trottman; Wall Street Journal
The Labor Department Tuesday withdrew a proposal that would require companies to more carefully log workplace muscle sprains and strains, the latest result of the Obama administration's effort to respond to business concerns about federal regulation.
Employer groups had widely opposed the proposed recordkeeping change, saying it would put their… Read more »
By Paul Downs; New York Times "You're the Boss" Blog
Now that 2010 is complete, I can see what kind of help Obamacare — sorry, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — will give me with my health insurance bills. I mentioned in a previous post that my insurance rates for 2011 were a little lower than they had been in 2010 (although I expect them to resume their regular upward… Read more »
By Jonathan Alter; Bloomberg Business Week
We all know that small business is the engine of the U.S. economy. It accounts for almost two- thirds of all jobs created in the past decade.
But nowadays small business is recovering more slowly than big business. While capital spending at small firms is up, according to a PNC Bank survey, 60 percent of small-business owners are delaying… Read more »
By Ken Amaro; First Coast News
Alex Bryant owns Weld Direct Corporation and was counting on a new federal tax credit to ease his ever-rising health insurance costs.
But Bryant said while he thought the 35 percent tax credit would help, when he started investigating the benefits, the results surprised him.
Bryant employs 17 workers at an average salary of $41,000 a year; he spends a… Read more »
By Elizabeth Williamson; Wall Street Journal
President Obama plans a government-wide review of federal regulations, aiming to eliminate rules that stymie economic growth. Jerry Seib has details. Plus, what is Apple's succession plan?
In an article published in the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Obama said he intends to issue an executive order initiating a review to… Read more »
By Brian Riedl; Washington Times
Federal spending has expanded by $726 billion over the past three years, and now exceeds $30,000 per household. Yet if history is any guide, lawmakers looking to rein in spending and deficits will hear the following four fallacious objections:
Myth 1: Large entitlements cannot be reformed.
Stale conventional wisdom has long held that the public will… Read more »
