Megan will Represent Region in Washington DC

Megan Henderson is one of 25 regional development practitioners from across the country invited to participate in a CEDS Innovation Forum held next week by the National Association of Development Organizations. The CEDS is the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy required of each Economic Development District.

Part of the event's activities will be an interactive dialogue among Obama administration and agency officials, including EDA Assistant Secretary John Fernandez, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Doug O'Brien, Shelley Poticha, Director of HUD's Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, and representatives from the White House, Appalachian Regional Commission, EPA, and U.S. Department of Transportation.

Megan has been asked to give a presentation on the Texas CEDS Project, the $400,000 project funded by an EDA grant that will pay for interactive web sites with CEDS components, GIS, and data features for each of the 24 regional councils in Texas. She advanced this project as president of the Texas Association of Regional Councils' Community and Economic Development Staff Association.

The 3/50 Project

Good afternoon! The following information is from the Agurban's Boomtown USA.

"We received a great email this week from Frankie Gilliam, CEcD and Community and Economic Development Specialist at ASU Delta Center for Economic Development in Jonesboro, Arkansas, introducing us to Cinda Baxter and the 3/50 Project movement. Below are the key points of The 3/50 Project, as outlined on their home page.
3 - What three independently owned businesses would you miss if they disappeared? Stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keeps those businesses around.
50 - If half the employed population spent $50 each month in locally owned businesses, it would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. Imagine the positive impact if ¾ of the employed population did that.
68 - For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays local. Spend it online and nothing comes home.
1 - The number of people it takes to start the trend - you!"

Trade Shows

According to recent LinkedIn threads, economic developers across the country are tightening their trade show budgets in these lean times. It's more important than ever to get the biggest bang for your buck.

Here are some tips from Anya Codack. Her company, YFactor, is currently working on a GIS-based, data-rich web site for the HOTEDD which should roll out early this spring. She says:
--when going to a trade show, focus on pre-marketing and post-marketing
--collect business cards, but also work the entire delegate list for potential contacts
--use all those contacts in an ongoing social-media communications strategy.

Thanks, Anya!

The 20 Most Important Questions In Business

by Christopher Steiner and Brett Nelson
(I got this from an email called "The Agurban," and they sourced this material from Forbes Magazine.)
Entrepreneurs can't completely inoculate their businesses from the vagaries of the market. What they can do is wrestle with the fundamental questions that govern the fate of any enterprise. We've done our best to compile the 20 most important ones...
1. What is your value proposition?
2. Does your product address a viable market?
3. What differentiates your product from the competition?
4. Does the business scale?
5. How committed are you to making this happen?
6. What are your strengths?
7. What are your weaknesses?
8. What price will your customers pay?
9. How much power do your buyers have?
10. How much power do your suppliers have?
11. How should you sell your product?
12. How should you market your product?
13. How big is the threat of new entrants:
14. How do you protect your intellectual property?
15. How much start-up capital do you need?
16. How will you finance the business?
17. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
18. What are your financial projections?
19. How do you keep the help happy?
20. What is your end game?
For more information, see Forbes at http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/17/most-important-questions-in-business-entrepreneurs-management-small-business_slide_2.html

Final Installment: SBA Information about Tax Relief to Help Small Businesses

New Law Provides $12 Billion in Tax Relief to Help Small Businesses Invest in their Firms, Create Jobs
• Extension, Expansion of Tax Cuts – 8 Tax Cuts
1. The highest small business expensing limit ever, of $500,000
2. Carry-back provisions on net operating losses of up to 5 years
3. Accelerated/bonus depreciation
4. Zero capital gains taxes for those who invest in small businesses
5. Increased deductions for start-ups
6. Deductions for employer-provided cell phones
7. Deductions for health insurance costs for the self-employed
8. Limitations on penalties for errors in tax reporting that disproportionately affect small business

Beyond SBA:
• Small Business Lending Fund – $30 billion (administered by Treasury)
o The law will provide smaller community banks with low cost capital (as low as 1%) if they go above and beyond 2009 small business lending levels.
• Establishes State Small Business Credit Initiative (administered by Treasury)
o The law will provide up to $1.5 billion to States to support state run small business lending programs

More SBA Information - 3 of 4 Posts

New Law Promotes Small Business Exporting, Building on the President’s National Export Initiative
• Export Express Pilot Becomes Permanent
o The law turns the Export Express pilot loan program into a permanent program with 90% guarantees for loans up to $350,000 and 75% for loans between $350,000 and $500,000.
• State Trade and Export Promotion Grants Pilot
o The law provides $60 million in competitive grants over next three years for states to help small business owners with exporting.
• Increased Staff and Strengthened Export Counseling Resources.

Law Expands Training and Counseling:
• Major Investment in Counseling and Training
o The law provides $50 million in grants available to Small Business Development Centers.
• More Opportunities in Export Counseling (see above)

More SBA Information About New Legislation

New Law Strengthens Small Businesses’ Ability to Compete for Contracts, Including Recommendations from the President’s Task Force on Federal Contracting Opportunities for Small Business
• Equal Treatment across Federal Contracting Programs
o The law reaffirms “parity” among federal small business contracting programs. Contracting officers will be free to choose among businesses owned by women and service-disabled veterans, as well as those participating in HUBZone and 8(a) programs, and soon the women’s contracting program when conducting contracts that are set-aside for small business.
• Better Playing Field for Small Businesses – more accountability, integrity, transparency
o The law gives agency procurement officers more ability to provide both large prime contracts and mircocontracts to small businesses. The law makes it harder for agencies to “bundle” contracts, a practice that often takes opportunities away from small business. The law also has stronger enforcement so agencies will be held more accountable for reaching small business goals.
o The law enforces stronger subcontracting plan requirements for large prime contractors to ensure small businesses are utilized in subcontracting. It also discourages late payments to small subcontractors.
o The law enforces SBA’s continuing efforts to combat fraud, waste, and abuse. Federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, will have more ability to vigorously pursue companies that win contracts by misrepresenting their small business status.
• Small Business Teaming Opportunities
o The law provides $10 million for a new pilot that provides grants that will help small businesses team up with each other to compete for larger and more complex federal government contracts.