With Few Options, Rural Businesses Forced to Find Their Own Internet Access: “It comes down to population density,” said Josh Holbrook, an analyst with the Yankee Group, a research firm based in Boston. The smaller the population that would benefit from DSL, the less likely a service provider will invest the money into DSL equipment….
Supreme Court Mulls Definition of ‘Small Business’: “”There’s a lot of federal laws that don’t kick in unless a business has a certain number of employees,” Harned said. “So deciding who counts is crucial.”” Those laws include the Americans with Disabilities Act, Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, etc. Each one has…
If you are in an oil and gas region, you probably remember this bumper sticker:“Just one more oil boom, Lord. I promise I won’t piss this one away.” Twenty years later, here it is. Regional producers see ‘boom’ conditions for oil, gas in the future. “World demand has increased significantly, both for oil and natural…
Apparently insurance is not enough. So you read the admonitions after the hurricanes, but did you actually change anything to protect your business or to speed rebuilding? Technorati tags: small business, disasters
Oklahoma is trying to sell more ag products to Cuba. Because Cuba is a subject of continuing controversy, this is a jumping off point for a few questions. Are any sales good sales? As long as we inject more money into our local economy, does it matter where it comes from? How do you feel…
In my corner of the state, a new organization, the Northwest Oklahoma Alliance, is trying to reverse the trends of decline. The stated goals are: Slow out-bound migrationDevelop employment opportunitiesIncrease employee earningsIncrease populationBuild of the “niche” of Northwest OklahomaExpand opportunities for Northwest Oklahoma Value Added businessesPromote Northwest Oklahoma to potential employers Sounds very good. The…
Ed Morrison, publisher of the EDPro Weblog, frequently covers Small Biz Survival issues, as well as a whole range of economic development issues. In a post on Saturday, he boiled it down to this: “…a major timebomb: an aging workforce, a brain drain of bright college graduates and in-migration of too few workers….” He was…
It may be possible to build a growing small business in the midst of a declining small town. If so, it will be because we worked together. The defining characteristics are: A small business, In a rural or small town setting, In a flat or shrinking economy and population. The challenges include: Pressure from competitors…
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