Free Republic

President Bush unveiled a new initiative to support minority entrepreneurship at his address to the National Urban League. Sadly, it appears that this announcement got lost in the politics of the day by a media uninterested in any of the real substantial public policy differences in this race. Imagine that. The media ignored a major substantive initiative introduced by the Bush administration. What makes this particularly troublesome is that this is a program that tackles the problems of minority economic development with a self-sustaining approach, bringing together existing non-profits with the private sector. It creates a network to provide education,...

How did the Kerry cookies crumble? By Sam Dealey To hear Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) tell it, his brief foray into the cookie business in the late 1970s gives him a leg up on the concerns of small-business owners. Earlier this month, the Democratic presidential candidate introduced his small-business program with vignettes from his own cookie-making experience. Yet all that experience kind of, well, crumbles, in the mind of David Liederman, another cookie entrepreneur. Liederman, the founder of the David’s Cookies chain, claims Kerry ripped off the idea from him. “The bottom line is he just stole it from me,”...

<p>JOHN Kerry has found a theme for Super Tuesday: the economy. The Dem front- runner is targeting voters in New York's struggling Upstate communities with a new pitch - "State of New York Under Bush: Bad for Workers and Families." His campaign will hit Upstate this weekend with custom-made statistics and purported solutions - but the candidate's proposed economic fixes don't withstand much scrutiny. On Tuesday, Kerry threw a bunch of numbers up on his Web site to prove that President Bush is squeezing the Empire State. While Bush resolutely doles out "tax cuts for the wealthy" and toils at "sending jobs overseas," says Kerry, New Yorkers are suffering.</p>

Overseas deployments are always tough on families. Naturally, the initial focus falls upon the emotional cost of separation. But, for Guardsmen and reservists who own small businesses, the cost involved in a deployment takes on a whole new meaning. For the past two years, the U.S. Small Business Administration's Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan program has provided loans to eligible small businesses to cover operating costs that can't be met after a key employee is called to active duty in the reserves or National Guard. Often the "key employee" is the business owner, whose family left behind depends on...

Snowe Unveils 'SMART Act': A Wide-Ranging Bill to Aid Manufacturing Sector, Spur Job Growth 11/25/03 4:03:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Craig Orfield of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 202-224-5175; Web site: http://sbc.senate.gov WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today unveiled a wide-ranging, comprehensive bill to uplift the nation's troubled manufacturing sector and help small manufacturers hard hit by foreign competition and trade barriers to get back on their feet. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) has signed on as an original co-sponsor of the legislation, the "Small Manufacturers Assistance, Recovery...

SBA Sets 50-Year Record in Loans to Small Businesses, Registers 29 Percent Increase in FY 2003; Loans to Minorities Up 38 Percent 10/10/03 4:39:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Sue Hensley of SBA, 202-205-6444; web: http://www.sba.gov/news/ WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A record number of small businesses turned for credit assistance to the U.S. Small Business Administration over the past year, producing a 29 percent increase in the total number of loans backed by the agency in FY 2003, including sharp jumps in the number of loans to women, minorities and veterans. During the fiscal year ending...

SBA, Hispanic Business Roundtable Agreement to Promote SBA Programs Among Hispanic-Owned Businesses 9/19/03 4:56:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National and Business Desks Contact: David J. Hall of the U.S. Small Business Administration, 202-205-6679; http://www.sba.gov/news/indexheadline.html WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Small Business Administration has signed a strategic alliance memorandum with the Hispanic Business Roundtable designed to increase the participation of Hispanic-owned businesses in SBA programs. The SBA and HBR intend to focus on communications at national and local levels in order to meet the program objectives established in the agreement. "As the Hispanic-owned business sector expands, so does our...

SBA Spanish Language Web Site Offers Online Course for Entrepreneurs 9/16/03 10:50:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National and Business Desks Contact: Raul E. Cisneros of the U.S. Small Business Administration, 202-205-7654; http://www.sba.gov/opc WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering an interactive online course for Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs on its Spanish language Web site, http://www.negocios.gov. The 9-session interactive course -- titled "My Own Business" -- was developed by My Own Business, Inc., a nonprofit firm founded in 1992 by a successful entrepreneur to develop and provide educational materials on entrepreneurship. The courses cover such topics as...