http://blog.nsbdc.org A Weblog by the Nevada Small Business Development Center Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:02:57 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en By Jeanne H. Yamamura, University of Nevada, Reno Recently an office manager for a local veterinary surgeon was sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement. She stole more than $200,000 over a four-year period. During that time, she took lavish vacations, remodeled her home, and bought herself expensive gifts. During ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/07/12/embezzlement_fraud/ Since the passage of legislative efforts like Proposition 13 in California and the “tax-shift” legislation in Nevada in the 1970’s, local governments have become increasingly reliant on tourism and, more specifically, sales tax revenue to fund a growing demand for public services.  A shrinking tax base means that local governments, ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/06/21/local-government-economic-development-efforts-crushed-by-a-mountain-of-debt/ by Bryan McNutt Summary: The Affordable Care Act formulates quite a few changes to make insurance more affordable for smaller companies (up to 25 employees).  Five billion dollars has been appropriated to the new tax credits, available to small companies, offering their employees insurance, until the end of 2013.  On ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/06/11/the-affordable-care-act/ On May 29th, 2010, the Reno Gazette Journal republished an article originally printed by USA Today titled, “More Older Americans Start Own Business”.  Citing several different studies, including one produced by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and another by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor organization, individuals 55 years or older are ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/06/10/the-changing-face-of-small-business-owners-and-entrepreneurs-nationwide/ SBA Administrator Karen Mills explains the Affordable Care Act, a federal statute enacted in March 2010 as a product of the congressional health care reform, as it relates to the small business owner. Read her letter here and let us know what you think. http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/06/08/sba-affordable-care-act/ Today the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Google announced a new partnership and unveiled "Tools for Online Success," an array of online resources and training designed to help small business owners harness technology to grow their businesses. The "Tools for Online Success" site (http://www.google.com/help/sba) features tutorials, video testimonials, and tips ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/05/05/sba_google_tools/ by Tracy McKenzie, Esq. Nevada state minimum wage is going up.  The Nevada Labor Commissioner issued a State of Nevada Minimum Wage Annual Bulletin on April 1, 2010, announcing the increased state minimum wage rates as follows: For employees to whom qualifying health benefits have ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/05/04/minimum_wage/ I’ve had some free time to catch up on my reading and two books that I’ve recently finished I recommend to anyone interested in larger economic development issues.  Both of these books, “The Other America:  Poverty in the United States” written by Michael Harrington and first published in 1962 and ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/04/09/%e2%80%9cthe-other-america-poverty-in-the-united-states%e2%80%9d-and-%e2%80%9cthe-post-american-world%e2%80%9d-two-books-i-highly-recommend/ Back on March 19th I outlined the general theory behind neighborhood and community based economic development strategies.  Now, after a few short diversions, I’d like to return to the topic of neighborhood and community development by outlining some specific strategies. The first specific neighborhood and community based economic development strategy is ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/04/03/neighborhood-and-community-development-specific-strategies/ Earlier this morning (April 1, 2010) at the Downtown Improvement Association’s (http://www.renodowntown.com/) monthly membership meeting, Nevada Secretary of State, Mr. Ross Miller, made a presentation about the 2010 Census and various economic development services and resources available through the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office.  Here are a few highlights from ... http://blog.nsbdc.org/2010/04/01/census-2010-and-the-nevada-secretary-of-state%e2%80%99s-office-%e2%80%93-two-important-economic-development-issues-and-resources/