BTW News Briefs

SBA Unveils New Website Featuring SBA Direct

On Tuesday, December 21, SBA Administrator Karen Mills unveiled a newly re-designed SBA website, featuring SBA Direct, a tool that offers personalization features to help small businesses start, succeed, and grow.

“While the SBA website has traditionally been an information-rich site, we wanted to make it easier for small business owners to navigate,” said Mills. “With the new improved SBA.gov, business owners can access the answers they need, specific to their business profile, in an instant – it truly presents the face of the future of SBA.”

The centerpiece of the redesigned site is SBA Direct, which allows visitors to personalize their browsing experience according to their business type, geography, and needs, and then delivers relevant and targeted information on all aspects of running a business. It also provides information on available SBA programs, including financial assistance, exporting and government contracting opportunities, counseling, and training.

Other new features include:

• SBA’s small business search that improves the accuracy and relevancy of search results.
• Improved navigation that gives users one-click access to the information they need.
• Integration of Business.gov content, including a variety of guides and tools that collate information from across government agencies to help business owners comply with laws and regulations and take advantage of government programs.
• Interactive, location-based maps that allow users to quickly find small business resources in their area, including local SBA offices and other sources of training and support.
• User-rated content gives visitors to the site direct control in determining the most useful and relevant information to feature by small business topic.

New Rules Project Looks at What Economic Census Data Reveals About Indie Retailers

Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher for the New Rules Project and author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses (Beacon Press), examines what the latest U.S. Economic Census data reveals about the state of independent retail in the December 15 issue of the Hometown Advantage Bulletin.

Among her findings:

• Overall sales at independent retailers grew by about four percent, after adjusting for inflation, between 2002 and 2007.
• Though chains grew faster and independents still lost market share, falling from 31 to 28 percent of consumer retail spending, the decline in market share was considerably slower than in the preceding 20 years.
• The number of retail firms in every employment size category declined, except for the smallest firms, those with fewer than five employees. Their numbers grew by 10,453.
• Employees of independent retailers earned more per year than employees of national chains (an average of $27,451 vs. $20,313), but whether this reflects a higher hourly rate or more hours worked is not discernable from the data. (Learn more.)