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Unpacking the Stimulus Package: National Small Business Association Report Shows Small Businesses Struggling Despite Stimulus Help

Brooks Rainey Pearson — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:49:31 +0000

Unpacking the Stimulus Package, Vol. 8

The National Small Business Association’s (NSBA) Mid-Year Economic Report, released today, indicates that small businesses are struggling despite stimulus help, with decreases in three key indicators of a healthy business – revenues, profits and employee size. Despite Small Business Administration’s “ARC” loan program (America’s Capital Recovery) and expanded 7(a) loan program, small businesses say that access to capital is still one of their biggest challenges. 80% of businesses surveyed in July 2009 say they have been negatively impacted by the credit crunch, up from 69% in December 2008. The NSBA report shows that only three percent of small businesses have seen a positive impact from the stimulus bill. Of that three percent, 72% say the positive impact has come from customers spending more, with only 14% reporting a positive impact as a result of access to lending programs. The full report can be found here.

Unpacking the Stimulus Package: Troubled Asset Relief for Small Businesses?

Brooks Rainey Pearson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:53:41 +0000

Unpacking the Stimulus Package, Vol. 7
Treasury Department officials are considering a plan to help small businesses by diverting some of the billions of dollars approved for bank bailouts to small businesses, but stress that “any consideration of this idea is extremely preliminary.” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner showed support for the proposal at a White House meeting last week between the Treasury Department, the Small Business Administration, and the President’s National Economic Council, but did not specifically endorse the approach. Under the proposed plan, part of the $700 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (“TARP”) funding would be shifted to millions of smaller firms via the expansion of existing Small Business Administration loan programs. The debate comes amidst rising concerns about job losses and allegations that the stimulus package has not done enough for small businesses, which employ 60-80% of the nation’s workers.

Unpacking the Stimulus Package: Consumer Energy Tax Incentives

Brooks Rainey Pearson — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:26:13 +0000

Unpacking the Stimulus Package, Vol. 6

The stimulus package expanded consumer tax incentives for homeowners who make energy efficient home improvements and for individuals and businesses that purchase or lease hybrid vehicles. These consumer tax benefits, initially introduced in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), have been extended through 2010. In addition, the total available tax credit has been tripled (from $500 to $1,500), the available tax credit has been increased to 30 percent of the cost of each qualified energy efficiency improvement, and the cap on geothermal heat pumps and solar water heaters has been removed. In addition to federal tax incentives, consumers may also be eligible for state or utility sponsored rebates and state tax incentives. More information can be found at the United States Department of Energy and the Alliance to Save Energy.

Unpacking the Stimulus Package: Where Is the Stimulus Money Going?

Brooks Rainey Pearson — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:50:48 +0000

Unpacking the Stimulus Package, Vol. 5

Oneiva, a Seattle-based company that tracks government spending, has launched a website to track all Stimulus Act spending by federal, state and local government agencies. The goal of www.recovery.org is to ensure that small and medium businesses have the same access to RFPs and bids for projects associated with the recovery efforts as larger businesses. The website is designed to be user friendly, with a map of the United States that can be narrowed down by state and county with the click of a mouse. Funding can be further filtered by city and project type.

In an interview with GreenBiz, Oneiva’s Chief Information Officer Eric Gillespie noted that the majority of the spending thus far has been in transportation due to the nature of the bill, which allocated 50% of the funds in the first 120 days to “shovel ready” projects. Gillespie expects to see a larger number of IT, renewable energy, and water projects funded in the coming months.