A new report from Intuit shows Arizona is among national leaders in small business job growth in March.

The Intuit Small Business Employment Index found that nationwide, small businesses added about 50,000 jobs in March for a monthly growth rate of 0.2 percent. In Arizona, that rate was higher, at 0.4 percent.

The index is based on figures from the country’s smallest businesses that use Intuit Online Payroll, of which there are more than 1,000 in Arizona.

The report also found that nationwide, small business hourly employees worked an average of 107.7 hours in February, translating to a 24.9-hour work week. That’s a 0.1 percent increase from the revised February figure of 107.6 hours.

Average monthly pay for all small business employees was $2,614 per month in March, or just $1 less than the previous month. This translates to wages of about $31,400 per year, which is part-time work for many employees.

“There is no sign of any pressure on small businesses to pay people more,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the index. “This should not be a surprise given the high unemployment rate, especially among unskilled workers.”

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Bank of America Corporation (BAC – Analyst Report) recently stated that the company has hired 110 small business bankers in the Greater Los Angeles area. This is a part of the companys previously announced plan to hire more than 1,000 small business bankers across the country this year.

Additionally, BofA also commented that more 70 small business bankers will be hired in Southern California and 21 in the San Fernando Valley by the end of this year. Los Angeles, Dallas and the Baltimore-Washington, DC area were the first three markets where hiring started.

To oversee and manage the hiring, BofA appointed Lynn Fernandez as Small Business Banker executive for the Pacific Southwest region, including Los Angeles. In this role, she will supervise the small business banker sales force.

There are more than 49,000 small businesses throughout the Los Angeles region, according to the California Employment Development Department. These small business owners often face unique and complex financial demands. Hence, these demands require customized guidance and attention from a small business banker, who can understand their unique needs. Therefore, BofA is hiring small business bankers in order to tap the huge demand for personalized help in the region.

Through a relation with BofAs small business banker, a small business owner will be able to access local expertise and a dedicated resource who properly understands its exclusive needs. The small business banker will evaluate the business owners credit, deposits and cash management needs besides providing guidance. This will enable these businesses to manage their finances in a better way and run their business more efficiently.

During 2010, BofA extended credit worth $18 billion to small businesses compared with $16.5 billion in 2009. This is a part of the ongoing commitment made by the company. Since August 2010, the company has provided $10 million in grants to nonprofit lenders to access federal micro lending capital.

In June last year, BofA had announced that it will increase its spending on small and medium-sized and diverse businesses. The company pledged to buy $10 billion of product and services from these companies over the next half-decade, with a 5% increase in spending every year.

Apart from these, BofAs efforts to help small businesses include improvements in the companys small business credit cards (such as no penalty rate hike) and development of the Advisor AllianceTM retirement plan platform (serving more than 900,000 people from about 40,000 businesses).

Apart from BofA, JPMorgan Chase amp; Co. (JPM – Analyst Report) is also committed to help small businesses. During 2010, the company continued to contribute to the economic recovery of small businesses. The efforts included more than $10 billion of credit provided to over 250,000 small businesses, an increase of more than 50% over 2009.

Though BofA is poised to benefit from its large scale operations, prudent capital management, non-core asset shedding and improving credit quality, concerns related to rising expenses, pressure on net interest yield and limited claim experience for non- government-sponsored enterprise (GSEs) will resist bottom-line expansion in the near term. However, the latest hiring spree will enable the company to provide assistance to these small businesses and would enable the company to improve its top line.

Currently, BofA retains a Zacks # 5 Rank, which translates into a short-term lsquo;Strong Sell rating.

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The bill requires employers to create a work area for non-smokers, and to create physical barriers and ventilation systems to protect them from areas where smoking is permitted.

When Connecticut passed the workplace smoking ban in 2003, businesses with less than five employees were exempted as a concession to small businesses who said that this ban would hurt them, said Patricia J. Checko, chairwoman of Mobilizing Against Tobacco for Connecticuts Health, one of the groups supporting the bill. But according to data provided by the Small Business Administration, there are 75,000 employees subjected to smoke in the workplace. We dont see a reason for them to have any less protection than employees of larger companies.

The bill covers a single person who is self-employed working in rented space, regardless of whether another employee was working with that person. Checko said this was necessary because clients often visit workplaces and could be affected by second-hand smoke, and many self-employed people also work in space shared by other self-employed workers.

Republicans on the committee objected to this provision, saying that it was too intrusive and impossible to enforce.

Government should not protect us from ourselves, said Sen. Robert J. Kane, R-Watertown, the deputy minority leader of the state Senate. If you choose to smoke alone or jump out of an airplane, thats up to you. This is just another case of government trying to get inside our lives and overstepping its bounds.

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Local interest in a new round of federal cash to boost small-business lending has surged, with a range of banks considering it despite lingering concerns about murky requirements.

The initial application deadline for the US Treasury’s $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund is March 31, and several Middle Tennessee banks — from publicly traded institutions to private, rural lenders — are applying or at least considering it.

“In today’s world, capital is very, very important,” said Richard Herrington, president of Franklin Synergy Bank, which plans to apply. “When the economy strengthens we’re going to see that there are a lot …

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#x020;SCORE Miami-Dade and Constant Contact, the leading email-marketing provider to US small businesses, will host a Small Business Summit Miami from 8:30 am to 4 pm on Saturday at the Miami Museum of Science, 3280 S. Miami Ave., in Miami.

The free all-day event will feature a morning program dedicated to finding funding resources for your business and learning how to sell your proposal to a lender. The presenters will discuss all the critical steps to qualifying for a loan, including cleaning up your credit. SCORE Miami-Dade counselors will also provide an insider#x2019;s look into the loan process.

The afternoon program is focused on email marketing with Constant Contact, HR outsourcing, and designing affordable communications networks for small businesses.

The featured speaker is Althea Harris, assistant marketing director of Small Business Administration South Florida, speaking on SBA programs for small business.

Other topics on the day#x2019;s agenda include: SBA Programs for Start Up Businesses; Improving your Credit Score; Available Financing Options; Preparing a Personal Financial Statement; Cash Flow Projections; Insider#x2019;s tips about the Loan Process; Using Constant Contact to Create and Access your Customer Base; and Internet and Telecommunications.

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Al Titone, the new director for the Small Business Administration New Jersey Division, hopes to prod and poke smaller, community banks to continue the growth in lending to small businesses that has taken place over the last year.

I would like to see them do more, said Titone on Monday, his first day as director. Its not going to be a sea change, but if we see small lenders do more loans a month, we could see a change for Jersey businesses.

Titone, 54, served as the acting district director for the New York district office, which covered the states 14 southernmost counties. Before joining the SBA in 2008, he was the regional director for the York College Small Business Development Center in Queens.

Titone takes over an agency where the number of loans to small businesses increased last year, according to SBA data. Banks in fiscal 2010 issued 1,198 loans for $455 million – an 18.7 percent increase in loans and a 35.5 percent increase in the amount of those loans over 2009.

This year, banks are on pace to top last years numbers.

Still, Titone said he hopes to continue the work of his predecessor – James A. Kocsi, who retired last December – in creating more awareness for small business programs and urging more loans from banks.

A lot of it is reaching out, making sure we stay in touch with groups and make sure lenders are lending, Titone said. I cant really make them lend, but I can try to talk them into it.

The Small Business Administration does not loan money directly to businesses, but instead guarantees up to 90 percent of bank loans to businesses looking to expand, and allows the borrower to pay a smaller down payment.

E-mail: macinnes@northjersey.com

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Growing Export Sales Help Company Add More Than 70 Jobs Since 2008

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Wallquest Inc., a wallpaper designer headquartered in Wayne, Pa., is to receive the 2011 Small Business Exporter of the Year award from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) at the Banks 36th Annual Conference — Government at the Speed of Business — in Washington, DC, on March 31.

A user of Ex-Im Banks working capital loan guarantee since 2008, with PNC Bank as the guaranteed lender, Wallquest has seen its exports soar 76 percent to over $17 million in 2010 alone. Since 2008, the family-owned companys workforce has grown from 80 to more than 150 people at facilities in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey.

Wallquest demonstrates the enormous opportunities awaiting small businesses that reach beyond US borders, where 95 percent of the worlds consumers are, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. We hope this innovative companys example will lead many more US small businesses to tap government resources to expand globally while supporting American jobs.

Wallquest, established in 1975, exports to approximately 90 foreign buyers in over 50 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Brazil, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Almost all of our growth since 2008 has been in the export market, said Wallquest Vice President Jack Collins, son of owner John Collins. The way Ex-Im Bank helps us has been immense. The Bank takes the concern out of financing exports. It has been a seamless process for us because of the relationship between Ex-Im Bank and PNC. They have really helped us expand our global business.

Wallquest uses a variety of printing techniques to produce innovative wallcovering designs in an environmentally conscious manner. Its facilities use only water-based inks, and all of its papers are sourced from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified sources.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal agency that helps create and maintain US jobs by filling gaps in private sector export financing at no cost to American taxpayers. The Bank provides a variety of financing products, including working capital guarantees, export-credit insurance, and financing to help foreign buyers purchase US capital goods and services.

By charging fees and interest on all loan related transactions, Ex-Im Bank is self-sustaining. It is able to cover all operation costs and potential losses while also producing revenue. The Bank has generated $3.4 billion for US taxpayers over the past 5 years.

SOURCE Export-Import Bank of the United States

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http://www.exim.gov

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Defense Dept. reaches out to small businesses

Melissa Burden / The Detroit News

Detroit The US Department of Defense wants to increase its contracts with small businesses to more than 23 percent this year from 21.9 percent, federal officials told nearly 600 people gathered here today for a procurement summit at Cobo Center.

Each year, the Department of Defense spends $150 billion to $200 billion with small businesses, Ashton B. Carter, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said during a break at the Detroit Small Business Defense Procurement Summit. This event is the first of several summits planned nationwide to help reach small businesses interested in doing work with the government and the defense industry.

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WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–An Office of Advocacy study released today examines the supply of small
business lending from depository lenders over the 2003-2010 period. Lending
by Depository Lenders to Small Businesses, 2003 to 2010, finds that
small business lending peaked in 2008, when depository institutions in
the United States held more than $711 billion in small business loans.
By 2010 small business lending totaled $652 billion.

Over the last two years, dollars for small business loans have declined
across all sizes of lending institutions

“Over the last two years, dollars for small business loans have declined
across all sizes of lending institutions,” said Chief Counsel for
Advocacy Winslow Sargeant. “We expect to see many of these trend lines
moving up as more small businesses begin to be able to access the
capital they need.”

The study looks at small business lending by loan and lender size over
the 2003 to 2010 period. These data are provided by Call Reports from
lending institutions to their regulating agencies. This study uses five
performance measures: small business aggregate loan volume, numbers of
loans, average loan sizes, and ratios of small business loans to total
assets and of small business loans to total business loans.

In 2010 the smallest banks devoted 87 percent of their total business
loan portfolios to small business loans (loans under $1 million). This
compares with 26 percent in the largest lenders. Nevertheless, small
businesses continued to rely heavily on large banks for capital. The
largest lenders, with more than $50 billion in assets, increased their
market share of small business lending from 28.7 percent to 38.7 percent
in 2003 and 2010, respectively.

The study also includes brief analyses of small business lending by
smaller “community banks” with assets under $10 billion for each of the
ten Small Business Administration regions. (Note that the study does not
focus on loans made under SBA lending programs.)

The Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration
(SBA) is an independent voice for small business within the federal
government. The presidentially appointed Chief Counsel for
Advocacy advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business
before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and
state policymakers. For more information, visit www.sba.gov/advocacy,
or call (202) 205-6533.

SBA Number: 11-17 ADV

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The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development announced Thursday that 14 high-tech companies in the state, including Bexion Pharmaceuticals LLC of Covington, will receive more than $4.2 million in state funds as part of Kentucky’s SBIR-STTR Matching Funds program.

The program matches federal Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants awarded to Kentucky companies or companies willing to relocate to Kentucky. The awards supplement more than $8.7 million in federal funding that has been awarded to the Kentucky firms by federal agencies, according to a news release.

“Kentucky’s unique matching awards program is the envy of the nation as it helps support our high-tech firms and create hundreds of new high-tech jobs across the commonwealth,” Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said in the release. “The Kentucky companies receiving our matching state funds have already had their research reviewed by federal experts and were found to have very promising technologies with excellent opportunities for commercialization.”

To date, the state’s SBIR-STTR Matching Funds program has provided 106 awards to 57 Kentucky high-tech companies. The combined $24.7 million in state investments have leveraged more than $42 million in federal funds and have helped bring 12 high-tech, startup businesses to Kentucky.

The following firms were awarded matching funds in the most recent round of grants:

o Bexion Pharmaceuticals LLC, of Covington, Ky., received matching funds of $500,000 to support development of a treatment to target and eliminate an aggressive type of brain tumor in humans.

o CustomKYnetics Inc., of Versailles, Ky., received matching funds of $147,783 to support development of an electrical-stimulation device for use by people undergoing orthopedic rehabilitation and those with neuromotor disorders resulting from spinal cord injury or stroke.

o MC3 Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., will establish operations in Kentucky under the name Exatherm. The company will receive matching funds of $500,000 to support development of a medical device that can apply heat to localized areas on patients to treat lung, colon, pancreatic and other forms of cancer.

o InfoBeyond Technology LLC, of Louisville, received matching funds of $99,000 to help develop a means of increasing the network capacity of airborne fighter systems by 10 percent by incorporating mathematical algorithms into the software used in airborne networks, without the need for hardware updates.

o NuForm Materials LLC, of Sadieville, Ky., received matching funds of $149,996 to support development of polyurethane foam insulating materials containing ceramics derived from coal ash. The company uses its patented process to recycle coal ash into ceramic materials that can reduce the need for expensive polymers in composite materials, while also improving the foam’s performance in automotive and aerospace applications.

o Paratechs Corp., of Lexington, received matching funds of $111,002 to support development of a device to facilitate a nonsurgical, assisted reproductive procedure for laboratory animals.

o SureGene LLC, of Louisville, received matching funds of $365,579 to support development of a multi-gene genetic test, called the AssureGene Array, to predict how effective treatments will be in specific patients being treated for neuropsychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia.

o Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, received matching funds of $499,936 to support development of a method of removing the genome of laboratory rats to facilitate use by researchers to mimic human diseases in the animals.

o Advanced Energy Materials LLC, of Louisville, received matching funds of $150,000 to support developing nanomaterials for use in the anodes of automotive batteries and large-scale lithium ion batteries, as well as in solar cells and other photocatalyst applications.

o Alcomed Inc., of Lexington, received matching funds of $150,000 to support developing a nasally delivered pharmaceutical for the emergency treatment by medical personnel of patients experiencing an opioid overdose.

o Alkymos Inc., of Lexington, received matching funds of $500,000 to support development of a method to prevent aluminum contamination in the intravenous fluid used to feed infants born prematurely.

o Global Quality Corp., of Cincinnati, is relocating to Northern Kentucky to receive matching funds of $364,990 to support development of a software-based warning system to alert personnel when there is contamination in drinking water.

o Louisville Biosciences Inc., of Louisville, received matching funds of $249,913 to support development of a diagnostic test to help detect as many as six autoimmune diseases, including lupis, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma, polymyositis and Lyme disease.

o Scout Diagnostics LLC, of Lexington, received matching funds of $435,600 to support development of a laboratory test to detect and confirm Alzheimer’s disease in early stages of the disease.

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