Tag Archives: Small Business

National Women’s Business Council Releases its Annual Report

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NWBC
The National Women’s Business Council has released its Annual Report, “10 Million Strong – The Tipping Point for Women’s Entrepreneurship,“ and the number of women looking to be entrepreneurs is at an all time high. Women ‘s entrepreneurship has gone from being a trend to a huge growth factor to the economy of this country. According to the report, women-led businesses are predicted to increase by more than 50% over the next five years – women are launching roughly 1,200 new businesses per day.

 

Better resources and opportunities have created an opening for women to grow their brands and build larger networks to support their products and businesses, crowdfunding being one of the best resources. Though women are still far behind men in financing their businesses, they are receiving more funds today than ever before.

 

In 2016 the Council is looking to keep the growth momentum going and will continue to research and support women business owners. Click here to view the full report online.

From the Hill: Small Contractors Make Big Gains in New Legislation

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By: Jake Clabaugh WIPP Government Relations

 

ChabotThe House Small Business Committee is leading off 2016 by continuing its
efforts to make federal contracting more accessible to small businesses. Committee Chair Steve Chabot’s (R-OH) legislation, Defending America’s Small Contractors Act of 2016, makes an array of changes to procurement policy.

Although impossible to summarize all of the changes in a few paragraphs, which is why we have the link to the bill above, here are the highlights. The bill tackles transparency by rewriting – in plain English – the requirements for small business procurements. Since getting past performance is an obstacle for contractors getting started in federal contracting, the bill establishes a pilot program that enables them to get a past performance rating by submitting a request to the contracting officer and prime contractor. Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBUs) will now have increased authority to recommend which small business set-aside programs are most appropriate for each contract at their agency. The Act even touches the Department of Defense (DOD) by requiring that Mentor-Protégé plans in DOD’s program be approved by SBA – an update aimed at adding consistency to Mentor-Protégé Programs government-wide – but controversial since the last time we looked the Defense Department does not generally defer to SBA.

If some of these changes sound familiar, it’s because Anne Crossman, a member of WIPP’s Leadership Advisory Council, proposed several of these improvements during a Subcommittee hearing last fall.  Specifically, Anne noted WIPP’s “if you list us, use us” policy for prime contractors’ subcontracting plans and in her testimony she advocated for prime contractors to be accountable to the subcontractors listed on their plans. This bill incorporates Anne’s recommendations by requiring commercial market representatives (CMRs) assist prime contractors in identifying small business subcontractors and assess the prime’s compliance with their subcontracting plans.

The intent of the legislation is to assist federal agencies in meeting their small business contracting goals. The goal for women owned companies of 5% has never been met. A continued push for data transparency surfaces in the bill as well, requiring agencies to do a better job of reporting the contracting dollars awarded to small businesses.

The Committee is expected to hold a markup to consider this legislation during the week of January 11.  The WIPP Government Relations team will continue to provide updates as the bill moves through Congress.

AT&T Announces Plans to Connect Everything We Own to Everywhere We Go

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By Lynn Bunim, WIPP Membership & Special Programs Director

ATTAt its Developer Conference running in Las Vegas parallel to the Consumer Electronics Showcase, AT&T spent time talking up the potential of reaching its 132 million wireless customers and 45 million video customers. The change in the tenor, from showing off its newest phones or touting the latest upgrade that speeds up its wireless network, speaks to how AT&T plans to be a part of its customers new, more connected life. The carrier recognizes it is no longer enough to power your smartphone or home DSL connection. It wants to be the link that connects your car, the health devices that monitor your body and even the infrastructure in your city.

“This is a new AT&T,” Ralph de la Vega, CEO of the company’s mobility and enterprise business, said in his keynote address. The push is part of the Internet of Things trend. The idea is that every device — whether it’s a refrigerator or glucose monitor — talks to each other to better serve you, with AT&T angling to become the bridge between things. Those connections are going in everywhere, including coolers built by Red Bull that enable the company to track their location, state and temperature.

AT&T offered new information about its smart cities initiative, through which it promises to bring everything from traffic monitoring to electric grid management to gunfire detection into one comprehensive ecosystem. The program’s initial cities will be Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago, and it involves a huge range of partnerships, with giants including Cisco, Ericsson, GE, IBM, and Qualcomm. “We are going to go up the stack,” says AT&T Mobility CEO Glenn Lurie. “We are going to bring things that are complete solutions.”

WIPP’s membership and WIPP’s Coalition Partners comprise thousands of entrepreneurs and women owned small businesses, all of whom are on the move all the time.  Improved connectivity could bring improved productivity for this important segment of the business community.

Resources:

 

More Than Cheer In Congressional Stocking

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Women business owners enter the holiday season with a gift from Congress — more money for important women’s entrepreneurship programs.

Just when it seemed like Members of Congress would have to delay their Holiday break, the House and Senate passed two key bills to conclude the legislative year. After funding the government with stopgap measures for over two months, Congress agreed on a spending bill thru September 2016. Accompanying the yearlong spending bill is a bipartisan agreement to extend expiring tax rules for businesses and families. Both bills give women-owned businesses reason to celebrate during the Holiday season.

The $1.1 trillion funding bill sets spending levels for all government programs through September 30, 2016. Congress increased funding for many of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) lending and entrepreneurial development programs. The chart below highlights WIPP’s priorities and the programs import to women entrepreneurs:

  FY2016 WIPP’s Request FY2015
Women’s Business Centers $17 million $16 million $15 million
National Women’s Business Council $1.5 million $1 million $1 million
Microloan Program Lending $35 million $35 million $25 million
Microloan Program Technical Assistance $25 million $25 million $22.3 million
PRIME Program $5 million $5 million $5 million
Office of Advocacy $9.1 million $9.1 million $8.45 million

WIPP advocated throughout 2015 on behalf of women-owned businesses and entrepreneurs and WIPP’s efforts culminated in full and increased funding levels for vital programs. Congress gave a huge boost to the microloan program- a primary capital access vehicle for women-owned businesses – by expanding lending authority by 40% to $35 million. Women’s business Centers (WBCs) will receive an increase of $2 million, which will enable the WBC program to provide additional grants for entrepreneurial development training for women entrepreneurs. Not only did WIPP advocate for increased funding for the WBC program, WIPP supported The Women’s Small Business Ownership Act of 2015. This bill would increase the WBC program’s authorization to $21.75 million, increase awards to Centers from $150,000 to $250,000, and provide modernizations to the program’s granting and approval process.

Congress’ tax “extenders” bill, an annual extension of certain tax credits and deductions, provides certainty for businesses and valuable incentives for research and investment. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act will expand and make permanent small business expensing rules and the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit. Lawmakers permanently extended the small business expensing limitation of $500,000 that was in effect from 2010 to 2014.  Had this rule not been extended, businesses would only have been allowed to deduct a maximum of $200,000 for machinery and equipment investments.

The bill also makes permanent the R&D credit, making it easier for start-ups and small businesses to receive tax deductions for innovative projects. According to WIPP’s 2015 Survey of Women Business Owners, tax burdens were the prime concern of women-owned firms. Specifically, women business owners cited uncertainty in tax credits and deductions as an annual concern. This bill helps alleviate some of the uncertainty.

As we wrap up 2015, Congress’s end of the year legislation provides full funding and certainty for programs important to women entrepreneurs.  We are looking forward to a productive and successful 2016.

Shop Small This Holiday Season and Through the Year

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Shop Small Graphic - Get Connected CP Newsletter - 10-30-14We hope you all were able to participate in Small Business Saturday on November 28th, and support your local small businesses by doing some holiday shopping.

Small Business Saturday was founded with a simple goal, to help small businesses by providing what they need most — more customers — and with a simple purpose — when small business thrive, communities thrive.  Since 2011 Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) has been proud to lead the Small Business Saturday Coalition, and this year’s results tell an amazing success story:

  • According to the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey, total spending among U.S. consumers who were aware of Small Business Saturday reached $16.2 billion at independent retailers and restaurants on the day, an increase of 14 percent from $14.3 billion in 2014. 
  • Among those who shopped on Small Business Saturday, 31 percent attended a community event on the day and 81 percent encouraged family and friends to support their local small businesses.
  • There were 85 million social media engagements in support of Small Business Saturday.

WIPP’s work with the Coalition provides the foundation for Small Business Saturday.  Our efforts resulted in the following:

  • Engaging over 425 organizations and community groups in supporting and amplifying the message;
  • In rallying over 275 Congressional and Administration officials — including President Obama;
  • In helping coordinate over 4,100 community events;
  • Over 80 city economic development offices;
  • 551 Mayoral offices in issuing proclamations;
  • The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating November 28th, 2015 as Small Business Saturday; and
  • 14 Public Service Announcements encouraging the public to “Shop Small” were recorded by government officials across the nation.

Please take a moment to watch and share the 2015 Small Business Saturday video shot with WIPP’s San Francisco office team: https://youtu.be/3W-8dsb-LuM

We could not be more proud of WIPP’s role in leading the Small Business Saturday Coalition and the hard work of WIPP’s team in their dedicated effort to make the day a success.  A special thank you goes to our partners, members and friends for their support of Small Business Saturday and local business.

As we enter December and 2016, we encourage everyone to Shop Small this holiday season and into the coming year.  In addition, we ask that you seek out other women-owned firms to partner with and do business with in the year ahead.  So add to your new year’s resolutions that this year you will make an extra effort to seek out other women-owned small business because “when women support each other, incredible things can happen.”

WIPP Testifies to Congress on Challenges Facing Small Contractors

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Anne Crossman

The House Small Business Committee hearing last week focused on one of WIPP’s key priorities: ongoing issues affecting small companies trying to do work with the federal government. Anne Crossman, a member of WIPP’s Leadership Advisory Council, used her expertise in subcontracting to testify before the Committee regarding the challenges faced by small subcontractors.

 

In particular, many WIPP members have questioned to what extent subcontracting plans are enforced. WIPP has long advocated for a policy of “if you list us, use us” and it is still unclear if prime contractors are being held to these plans.

 

Subcontracting is a staple of many small contractors and facilitates the flow of federal contract dollars into small businesses, which provide jobs and boosts local economies. Agencies have subcontracting goals to ensure that small firms get a fair shot at contracting dollars.

 

The Committee delved into these and many other challenges facing small subcontractors. The hearing can be found in full here.

3 Ways Employee Policies Can Protect Your Business

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K Prinz

By Kristen Prinz, Founder and Managing Partner of The Prinz Law Firm

A study by specialty insurer Hiscox was recently published finding that U.S.-based companies have at least an 11.7 percent chance of facing an employment law charge. The study claims that the average cost for small and mid-sized businesses to defend these claims is $125,000. That’s a lot of money. It makes having effective employee policies all the more important.

On November 16, 2015, at 1:00 pm CST, I will be presenting the webinar 10 Employee Policies that Minimize Business Risk for WIPP and the WBDC. Participants will learn about 10 policies that can help businesses avoid the $125,000 average. Here are three ways that these polices can help protect your business:

  1. Address claims before they become lawsuits.

Employee policies can provide employees with an internal method to resolve a potential claim. Businesses can use policies to encourage and require that concerns about discrimination, harassment or even wage issues be reported. Knowing the concerns of your employees puts an organization in a much better position to swiftly resolve an issue that could otherwise become a lawsuit.

  1. Show the government your business is committed to compliance.

Having anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies shows the EEOC that your business has taken a stance against discrimination and retaliation. Similarly, an effective time keeping policy can show the DOL that your business is taking appropriate steps to comply with wage laws. These policies can bolster a defense when an agency audits your business or investigates a claim.

  1. Create a positive workplace culture.

Your business shouldn’t just have policies; it should abide by them and enforce them. Having well publicized policies that demonstrate your business’s dedication to a positive workplace is one of the best ways to deter employment law claims. Employees are far less likely to sue an employer they believe supports and values them.

To learn about the 10 policies that can help your business (i) address claims before they become lawsuits, (ii) show the government your business is committed to compliance, and (iii) create a positive workplace culture, register now for the WIPP and WBDC webinar 10 Employee Policies that Minimize Business Risk.

Small and Medium-Sized Companies in the Focus of Exporting News

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Small and medium-sized exporting companies had several reasons for good spirit in the last couple of weeks – especially Trans-Pacific Partnership and Export-Import Bank supporters.

The final agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) got a substantial coverage across the news, as it is the largest regional trade accord in history. As covered a few weeks ago, it encompasses USA together with 11 Pacific Rim nations and addresses many complex issues – from reducing tariffs and quotas, to imposing rigorous environmental, labor and intellectual property standards on partners, easing cross-border data flows, establishing an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, to free trade in services, and imposing competitive neutrality on state-operated businesses.

There is one particularly important area, which deserves a separate attention – focus of TPP on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Last week, National Small Business Association hosted a webinar where Andrew Quin, Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, among other described new chapter of the TPP deal focused on SMEs. The chapter aims to tide together all different elements that benefit SMEs and he highlighted 2 major areas:

  1. Creation of dedicated website for SME exporters by every member country. The websites should pull out all provisions which are particularly relevant to SMEs such as customs, taxation or intellectual property protection topics to make it better understandable and easier to follow in day-to-day exporting trade deals.
  1. Creation of SME committee to continue consultations with SMEs and collect feedback on what works, if benefits are being generated, and on how to continue maximizing benefits to SMEs. The committee will consist of government representatives, however promises to take inputs from SMEs on private sector provisions.

All of the above claims to suggest that TPP is more beneficial to SMEs than any previous trade agreement. Mr. Quin also reassured that TPP will not have any impact on Minority-Owned Small Businesses set aside programs (including the one WOSB program for women).

Another topic that came out after few weeks is the reauthorization of Export-Import Bank (EXIM). As Mr. Quin stated, it is a separate initiative but important piece to allow a full benefit of TPP. EXIM is providing loans, guarantees, and insurance to U.S. exporters and has made SMEs exports the top category supported last year (source) when $10.7 billion of total $27.5 billion worth of U.S. exports went to U.S. small businesses.

EXIM

Many SMEs publicly supported EXIM reauthorization, and they all have now a hope that it might be successful after all. A rare procedural move brought EXIM to the House floor and got a surprising support in the 313-118 vote to renew, including from 127 Republicans.

However, now the supporters will have to secure passage in the Senate but they seem to have a chance through its attachment to another vehicle, such as legislation to renew highway funding (source).

Overall, current news seem to suggest that it is a good time to be an exporter and according to the latest annual report Profile of U.S. Importing and Exporting Companies released by Census Bureau, many SMEs have already realized that as they accounted for 98 percent of the number of U.S. exporters in 2013 and $471 billion in known value of goods exports.

New Requirements for Credit Card Processing Requirements – How will they affect your business?

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cc chip

Merchants of all sizes were required to upgrade their credit card processing technology to avoid liability for fraudulent charges by October 1st. The House Committee on Small Business held a two-part hearing series on implementation of new credit card technology designed to increase security and prevent fraud. This industry-led changeover will require all businesses to use the Europay – MasterCard – Visa (EMV) chip system to process credit card transactions. To affect this change, financial services providers will no longer be liable for instances of fraud if the merchant has not upgraded to the EMV chip system

The hearings offered interesting, and often contrasting, perspectives on this issue. At the first hearing, representatives from the financial industry praised the upgrades and highlighted the protections that the EMV chip system offers. The second hearing, featuring small business owners that need to implement these changes, revealed a much more complex situation. While witnesses at both hearings and the Committee members generally agreed that the EMV system offers more sophisticated fraud protections, implementing these modifications is a significant burden for small businesses.

Despite the outreach efforts of financial firms, small business owners are generally not aware of these changes. According to a recent study about preparedness for this changeover, less than half of small businesses were aware of the October 1st changeover deadline and liability shift.

Small businesses will have to purchase equipment to process sales using the new chips, but the required upgrades do not stop there. Integrating the new technology with point-of-sale terminals, inventory management tools, and other systems could exponentially inflate costs. Given integration, software upgrades, training, and ongoing maintenance, a quick and easy changeover is unlikely.

Please see the links below for several resources for small businesses to prepare them for the change:

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8264-credit-card-processing-changes.html

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/emv-faq-chip-cards-answers-1264.php

http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/02/06/october-2015-the-end-of-the-swipe-and-sign-credit-card/

WIPP National Partner of the Month – October 2015: Lynlee Altman

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Lynlee

WIPP National Partner of the Month – October 2015

LynLee Altman, President and Founder of Pinnacle Construction Development Group, Inc. – Cleveland, OH

 

We sat down with Lynlee to hear a little more about her company and her relationship with WIPP…

 

Tell us a little about your company and its mission.

Pinnacle Construction is a general contractor specializing in unique, complex, and safety-critical construction.  As a full-service design-build company, Pinnacle delivers one-of-a-kind projects nationwide, including anything from recreating the surface of Mars to blastproof access control points.  We have successfully tackled numerous high profile projects that would intimidate most other construction firms.  Accelerated timelines, hazardous environments, atypical engineering specifications, environmental sensitivities and historic preservation are all par for the course for Pinnacle, where failure is not an option.

Have you always been an entrepreneur?  If not, what, or who, inspired you to take this leap?

Unlike the typical entrepreneur who grew up with a lemonade stand or selling girl scout cookies, I would consider myself to be an accidental entrepreneur. I cut my teeth working for larger businesses and my small business began as more of a night-job.  Eventually, it became clear that my night job was really where my passion lied, and I made the decision to devote all of my time to Pinnacle.

What has been your biggest lesson learned in working with the Federal Government? 

Teaming with other businesses is the key to growth. I call it Co-op-etition, a combination of cooperating and competition.  Rather than viewing other companies as competitors, there is tremendous opportunity in building them up.  Pinnacle’s very first client is Pinnacle’s largest subcontractor today.   Over the years, we have built trust and a strong history of performance with our teaming partners, and that relationship has enabled us to complete things together that we didn’t have the capabilities to complete alone.

Do you have a contracting success story that you are proud of? 

As a firm believer in the capabilities of small business, I am most proud when Pinnacle competes against large businesses and triumphs.  The personal attention and true teaming nature that we can give to clients sets us apart from a large business working on hundreds of jobs across the country simultaneously.  Our clients understand that they have our full attention, and they are, at that moment, our most important project.   The clients and agencies that embrace that differentiating factor, are the people that we enjoy working with the most.

Tell us about your experience as a WIPP Member? What resources/value has WIPP provided that has been helpful to you and your company?

WIPP has been instrumental in introducing me to the right people.  In the federal marketplace, there are a select group of individuals who are committed to building small businesses. These amazing people, all of whom are known by WIPP, recognize the importance of small businesses to the health of our country and economic policies, and many of them have dedicated their lives to the cause.  These individuals have truly impacted the federal market place, and if you are willing to match their time and efforts, they will help you build a strong business.