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Week of August 15 - August 19, 2005Welcome to the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship, an initiative of the Public Forum Institute made possible by a grant from the Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City. Through NDE-news, we bring you short summaries and analyses of various trends driving the innovation economy. Subscribe now to receive your weekly copy. Archived issues are available online. Links to the day's entrepreneurship stories from across the nation and around the world are posted each weekday on the NDE main page - bookmark it and stay informed about the latest entrepreneurship news. |
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The National Federation of
Independent Business (NFIB) released its monthly Small Business Economic
Trends report last week and it appears that economic confidence is
slowly returning for small business owners. The report’s Small Business
Optimism Index showed an increase in the number of owners who planned to
increase employment and build their inventories. But while expectations
of higher real sales increased, fewer respondents expected the economy
as a whole to improve. It also appears that the housing industry isn’t
buying into the theory of its alleged bubble bursting – 23 percent of
construction firms plan hiring increases while 40 percent of those in
finance, insurance and real estate plan to hire as well. |
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Eminent Domain & the Entrepreneur
TA number of states
throughout the country are weighing in on the topic of eminent domain
this year – thanks to the Supreme Court’s recent judgment (in Kelo v.
City of New London) that state and local governments can seize land not
only for “public use” but for private development as well. The decision
cleared the way for the Connecticut city to appropriate the property of
a group of home owners in order to make room for a mixed-use development
in the waterfront neighborhood. The decision has spurred outrage in the
blogosphere and even united opposite ends of the political spectrum
calling for the simultaneous protection of property rights and the
interests of the poor. State legislatures in Alabama, Delaware, Nevada,
Oregon, Texas and Utah have already acted to limit the impact, while
other states will certainly take up the issue in the months ahead.
Congress is currently in recess, but legislation has already been
introduced and the issue should see some increased attention in the
months ahead. What are your thoughts on the Kelo decision? Weigh in now on the Forum boards. |
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Chance for Input on Sarbanes-Oxley The Sarbanes-Oxley Act was instated in 2002 to clean up corporate governance. However, it also seems to be discouraging high-growth entrepreneurship through what some are calling the “burdensome” costs of compliance. According to a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers' study, approximately 30% of fast-growing private companies have either adopted Sarbanes-Oxley regulations or plan to. But with an annual price tag averaging $138,000, many small businesses are questioning whether the benefits of compliance are worth the costs. In order to improve the current regulatory system for smaller companies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking for direct input from small business CEOs. The SEC’s Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies has posted a survey on its website to hear first-hand experiences with the existing regulatory framework. Responses to the web survey have already resulted in one recommendation – extending the compliance date for certain companies to meet SOX requirements. You can answer the survey – until August 31 – online at http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/acspc-questions |
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SBA’s Second Web Chat to Focus on Health Care
Last month, the Small
Business Administration launched Your Small Business Voice, a series of
online chats on relevant business issues with successful entrepreneurs
and industry leaders. The second chat, titled “Health Care and Your
Small Business”, will look at a few possible solutions – including
Association Health Plans (AHPs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) – to
the increasing challenge of providing affordable health coverage to
employees. The hour-long chat will feature Karen Kerrigan, founder of
the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council and J.P. Wieske,
director of State Affairs for the Council for Affordable Health
Insurance (CAHI). |
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