The largest retail group in the country says it expects consumers to spend more this holiday season, but the growth in sales will be slower than last year.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) said its 2024 forecast shows winter holiday spending is expected to grow between 2.5% and 3.5% over 2023.
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American small business uncertainty hit an all-time high and optimism remains low just weeks before Election Day, according to the latest survey.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses on Monday released the survey, which showed small business uncertainty rose last month to the highest level ever recorded by NFIB.
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Tom Zawistowski, president of the We the People Convention, said he believes Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Ohio, will emerge victorious over incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in the November 5 general election.
While Brown has consistently led Moreno in previous polling taken over the last several months, a poll released Wednesday by the Napolitan News Service shows Moreno leading Brown by two percentage points (48 percent – 46 percent) among likely voters.
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Alfredo Ortiz, CEO of the Job Creators Network, said the new filing requirement for certain small businesses created under the Corporate Transparency Act is “ridiculous” and urged Americans to push back on the measure.
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An Arizona man and three associates have been charged in a scheme to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration of at least $178 million in loans meant to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Eric Karnezis, 43, from Sedona, Arizona, has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a 23-count indictment. His co-defendants are Lynisha Wells, 47, and Nikkia Bennett, 43, both from Chula Vista, California, and Fredrico Williams, 48, from San Diego.
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Small businesses cite inflation as their number one concern, according to new survey data.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released the survey results Tuesday, which show that 21% of small business owners cite inflation as “the single most important problem in operating their business,” more than any other issue.
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The King County Council has approved an ordinance that will increase the minimum wage in unincorporated parts of King County.
The legislation increases minimum wage to a high of $20.29, which ties the cities of Tukwila and Renton for the highest minimum wage in the nation.
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A recent survey conducted by RedBalloon and PublicSquare found that a majority of small businesses believe colleges are failing to prepare Gen Z for the workforce and that nearly half of small businesses said that a college degree has zero value in their hiring decisions.
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One-third of small-business owners say increased crime is cutting into their earnings, and 7 in 10 grade President Joe Biden’s performance negatively in terms of helping small businesses, a new poll finds.
Pollsters John McLaughlin and Scott Rasmussen conducted the survey, along with the Job Creators Network Foundation in March, among 400 small-business owners. When asked about their sentiments regarding the state of the economy, 46% of small-business owners said the economy is getting worse, while just 27% said it’s getting better.
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Not since Prohibition has the federal government sought to ban a product as popular as the internal combustion engine.
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final emissions standards rule, requiring that 70% of new vehicle sales be pure battery-powered electric or hybrids by 2032.
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Nearly one-third of small business employers in January said that crime has raised everyday business costs, according to a Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF) poll obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Around 31% of small businesses surveyed in January said that neighborhood crime has increased business costs through added expenses associated with extra security or stolen inventory, with employers in the western U.S. being the most likely to say they were affected at 35%, according to the poll. Businesses with $100,000 to $250,000 in revenue in a year were the most likely to say that neighborhood crime has increased business costs, with 53% saying yes, followed by businesses with less than $100,000 in revenue at 47%.
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Some 99% of American companies are small businesses, and 100% of businesses started out small, but a recently finalized rule from the Biden administration’s Labor Department will make it harder for small businesses to start, grow and succeed.
As of last May 1, a White House news release pointed out, “Young firms, which often start small with few employees, are a driving force in job creation.” That’s been particularly true since the COVID-19 pandemic, as small businesses with fewer than 50 employees have accounted for a growing share of new jobs.
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A coalition of small businesses, U.S. senators and representatives sent a letter to the Biden administration calling for a one-year delay in a new rule requiring businesses with as few as 20 employees to report financial information about the business’ beneficial owners.
Under the rule, small businesses will be required to report personal information about their owners, board members, senior management and legal representation and could face civil or even criminal penalties for failure to do so.
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Small business owners are pessimistic about the future of the economy, according to a new poll.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released the polling data Tuesday, which shows that the group’s “Small Businesses Optimism Index” decreased slightly in November to 90.1, its 23rd straight month below the historical average of small business optimism.
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The labor market continues to soften, with 199,000 jobs created last month, well below the recent average. Real job creation is far lower than this topline number suggests. Nearly 50,000 jobs were unproductive government jobs, continuing the trend of disproportionately high government job growth. The return of striking auto workers accounted for about 30,000 jobs. And 77,000 jobs were created in healthcare, which is a quasi-government industry. That leaves only about 40,000 jobs created in the real economy.
Real wages continue to stagnate, growing at the same rate as core inflation following significant declines in the first two years of Biden’s presidency. As usual, job creation in previous months was revised down in today’s report. Nearly one million more Americans are unemployed since April.
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Newly released survey data shows that small businesses are pessimistic about their retail sales going into the holiday season.
The Main Street Merchant Report released Tuesday by Alignable, a network of thousands of small businesses, are not optimistic about their sales for small businesses this weekend.
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A new survey says Michigan’s small businesses mostly oppose a mandated paid family leave program of up to 15 weeks per employee funded by a new tax.
A Small Business Association of Michigan survey found small businesses expect increased costs associated with the program Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed in August.
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Small business owners are feeling the pain of inflation-driven interest rate hikes, another difficulty for those owners to overcome as they continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic-era shutdowns.
A rash of federal spending and an increase in the money supply in recent years have fueled inflationary pressures. Prices soared during the beginning of the Biden administration, making it hard for Americans to make ends meet.
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A lifelong dream to have his own place hasn’t exactly gone as planned for Kent Bergmann behind Campanelle in Lino Lakes.
“The name of the restaurant is nothing more than a noodle. We make those noodles fresh every single morning. It’s a Campanelle noodle is what it’s called. It’s like baked mac and cheese on steroids,” Bergmann explained.
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According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, generating 44 percent of all business activity. Take them out of the equation, and the economy collapses. But that is exactly what’s happening. The cards are stacked against small businesses in America today, and nowhere is it worse than in the state of California.
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Minnesota has the third-highest small business rent delinquency rate, according to a new report.
Alignable.com, a referral network for small businesses in North America that has more than 8 million members, released the state-by-state report this week. The network surveyed 4,424 randomly selected small businesses from May 6 to 30.
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A newly released survey of small businesses shows that nearly half are having trouble filling job openings.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released the survey, which found that 44% of small business owners report being unable to fill current job openings, a full 20 points higher than the average reading over the last 49 years.
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There was no disagreement among DFLers and Republicans on the Senate floor Monday over whether Minnesota workers across all industries want and need expanded access to paid family and medical leave benefits.
To what degree the state should provide those benefits is where the differences between caucuses were stark and along party lines, as senators debated the highly controversial HF2 for more than six hours before the DFL’s one-vote majority held together to pass the bill.
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Small businesses are less optimistic about the future, a newly released survey shows.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released survey results showing their small business optimism index decreased in March, “marking the 15th consecutive month below the 49-year average of 98.”
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The Badger State’s home-based businesses are facing a bureaucratic nightmare of red tape, according to a new report by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
WILL’s new policy report, “Wisconsin: A Broken Home for Home-Based Businesses,” analyzes the relative burden of regulations on the businesses in the state’s 20 most populous communities.
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Despite a historically tight labor market, small business owners reported that hiring difficulties had eased in December, markedly improving compared to November, according to a poll conducted by Vistage Worldwide for the Wall Street Journal published Friday.
Of the roughly 650 small business owners polled, almost 25% reported that hiring was easier in December than at the start of the year, while just 20% said it was harder, according to the WSJ. In November, those numbers were 18% and 25% respectively, and some small business owners reported success thanks to pay raises and hiring freezes or layoffs at larger firms.
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Small businesses around the country still see inflation as a top concern this Christmas season.
Goldman Sachs released survey data that found that 52% of surveyed small business owners say that their profitability “has not met expectations. Even while an overwhelming 79% have increased prices compared to last year.”
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More than 40% of U.S. small business owners say they couldn’t pay rent on time or in full for the month of November, the highest this year.
The small business network group Alignable released the survey, which found that the hardship varies by industry. A notable 57% of beauty salons said they couldn’t make rent as well as 45% of gyms, 44% of retail and 44% of restaurants.
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Newly released small business survey data shows that an alarming number of businesses are unable to pay rent.
Alignable released its monthly small business report for October which showed 37% of American small business owners were unable to pay rent on time or in full last month. That is up from 30% who said the same the month before.
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Newly released polling data shows inflation is a top concern for small businesses as prices continue to rise.
The National Federation of Independent Business released the survey, which shows that 30% of owners named inflation as the single-most important problem in running their business.
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The rent delinquency rate decreased in Minnesota in September compared to August, Alignable reported.
From Sept. 16 to Sept. 29, the online referral network for small businesses polled 4,232 randomly selected small business owners across the country.
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Maricopa County announced Monday that the Board of Supervisors approved a new Small Business Advocacy Program (SBAP), which aims to provide these local enterprises with a larger share of county business.
“The program is about making sure that small and local businesses are being given a chance to sell goods and services to the county. The county buys everything from baby diapers to xenon light bulbs, we buy dentists and landscapers, plumbers and engineers – you name it – we probably buy it. It is a Board priority to support small and local businesses, when it makes sense, for purchases that are under $100,000 and not covered under an existing contract,” said the Maricopa County Office of Procurement (MCOP) in an email to the Arizona Sun Times.
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Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Job Creators Network’s CEO Alfred Ortiz to the newsmaker line to discuss the American Small Business Prosperity Plan and reversing course in 2024.
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A small business advocacy group has partnered with former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich to announce a plan on Wednesday to boost small businesses, fix the economy and provide opportunities for all Americans. The group announced the plan at Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill Club with a variety of speakers, including Gingrich who appeared live from a virtual location.
The Job Creators Network says the purpose of their American Small Business Prosperity Plan is to give members of Congress and their midterm challengers specific policies that would move America toward a positive, pro-growth economic agenda.
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Small businesses are increasingly unwilling to hire because they can’t afford to take on new costs, according to a newly released survey.
The small business network company Alignable released the survey Wednesday. It found that 63% report putting hiring on hold “because they can’t afford to add staff, and 10% of that group is laying off workers.”
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Health insurance premiums offered under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), colloquially known as Obamacare, will rise next year, hitting small businesses particularly hard and potentially pressuring them to drop out of the program.
While recent provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act have provided additional subsidies for individual consumers that will likely offset the increased cost of premiums, no such support was granted to small business owners, according to the Wall Street Journal. Insurers are proposing median premium increases of 10%, but some are proposing increases as high as 20%.
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Republican candidate for Connecticut governor Bob Stefanowski pledged last week to cease collection of the hundreds of licensing and regulatory fees small businesses and entrepreneurs are forced to pay prior to their repeal by the next legislature.
“Now I know everybody’s gonna jump up and down, you can’t do that, OK,” Stefanowski said Tuesday, according to CT Mirror. “I’m going to tell [the tax commissioner] to do it.”
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Nearly half of small business owners are not willing to hire because of labor costs and “skyrocketing inflation,” a newly released small business report shows.
The small business network Alignable released its July Hiring report which found that “45% of small businesses (SMBs) are halting their hiring, largely because they say they can’t afford to add staff.
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The National Federation of Independent Business, which represents thousands of small businesses in Ohio, opted to endorse JD Vance in the race for U.S. Senate.
The group, known as the “voice of small business, backed the Republican over Democrat nominee Tim Ryan.
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More than a third of small businesses can’t pay rent, newly released data shows.
The small business network Alignable released new survey results that found that 35% of U.S. small business owners “could not pay their rent in full or on time in June.”
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America’s top financial regulator issued climate disclosure rules that are more burdensome for smaller companies than large companies, according to the agency’s own analysis.
While the rules would cost large corporations $640,000 at first and $530,000 in subsequent years, they would cost smaller publicly-traded companies $490,000 initially and $420,000 in following years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in its proposal. The regulator’s analysis suggests that smaller companies would feel a relatively larger financial burden as a result of the proposed disclosure rules.
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Small business owners are increasingly pessimistic about U.S. economic conditions and overwhelmingly support an expansion of domestic fossil fuel infrastructure, the latest polling data showed.
Just 27% of small business owners agreed the economy was in “good” or “excellent” condition, according to a Job Creators Network Foundation poll released Friday and shared with The Daily Caller News Foundation. The figure represented the lowest rating of the current economic situation among small business owners since the group began the poll a year ago.
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Gov. Brian Kemp signed a trio of bills he says will help small businesses in the state, including a measure that allows food trucks to operate in more than one county without needing multiple permits.
“As a small business owner for more than 35 years, I have always applied a pro-business approach to governing, helping to cut red tape and ensure we have an environment that allows good Georgia companies to thrive and serve their customers,” Kemp said in an announcement.
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While Connecticut’s gas tax holiday is saving residents at the pump, the savings just isn’t enough, one industry expert says.
Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, said the tax holiday that expires June 30 is viewed very highly from consumers.
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Small businesses worry about the power of larger corporations in the marketplace, but they’re also unhappy with the subsidies and tax breaks big businesses get from the government.
A survey of independent small businesses published by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance showed that small businesses perceive a business climate that favors bigger companies. A majority of respondents were retailers, and businesses had an average size of 15 employees.
Survey respondents suggested a handful of policy changes they’d like to see:
Ending subsidies and tax breaks for big businesses.
Breaking up and/or regulating Amazon.
Investing in downtowns and neighborhood business districts.
Strengthening antitrust policy and enforcement.
Capping credit card swipe fees.
With Virginia’s 2022 legislative session underway, a small business association is asking lawmakers to consider tax relief, lower regulation and other policies to help the commonwealth’s business community.
The National Federation of Independent Business announced its Small Business Recovery Plan, which includes four legislation principles they hope lawmakers consider during the session. The NFIB plan includes lower taxes, repealing some regulations, financial assistance and unemployment insurance reform, which the group believes will help businesses that are still struggling from their pandemic-era losses, a labor shortage and skyrocketing inflation rates.
“Virginia’s small businesses have had a rough couple of years, starting with the pandemic and continuing with the labor shortage and disruptions to the supply chain,” NFIB State Director Julia Hammond said in a statement. “Our ‘Small Business Recovery Plan’ is a set of legislative principles that outlines the issues of greatest concern to Virginia’s small businesses. Legislators should keep these principles in mind while crafting bills during this year’s session of the General Assembly.”
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Michigan lawmakers in both the House and the Senate overwhelmingly approved a measure that aims to ease the tax burden on small businesses in the state.
When filing federal taxes, large corporations are allowed unlimited state and local tax (SALT) deductions. However, small business, considered flow-through entities, deductions are capped at $10,000.
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Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill into law Wednesday that supporters say eliminates the double standard for different Ohio businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies.
The Business Fairness Act addresses issues from DeWine’s initial stay-at-home orders that many said allowed large, national stores to remain open while mom-and-pop small businesses were forced to close.
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The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board said that a Democratic effort to crack down on tax cheating would give the Treasury Department access to almost every American’s bank account.
The Thursday op-ed focused on a proposal that would require financial institutions to report individual accounts containing at least $10,000 to the IRS. That effort, the board wrote, would affect the vast majority of Americans who did not exclusively use cash to make purchases and pay bills.
“The details are murky, but most Americans could still get ensnared in this dragnet unless they pay bills and buy goods in cash,” the editorial board wrote. “Democrats say banks will only have to report total annual inflows and outflows, not discrete transactions. But nearly all Americans spend more than $10,000 a year.”
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Most IRS guidance documents make for poor pleasure reading. Then again, most IRS guidance doesn’t effectively impose a retroactive tax on small business owners merely for having a family. IRS Notice 2021-49, issued on August 4, includes a bizarre interpretation of the law that will effectively raise taxes for business owners with close relatives, even if their family members have no involvement in the company.
A core goal of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed early on in the pandemic was to assist businesses in keeping employees on their payroll even as they dealt with the economic effects of lockdowns. Part of the plan was the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), which provides a tax credit against employer payroll tax liabilities.
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