small business

The Buffalo Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York report indicates small businesses bearing a critical role to the regional economies of upstate New York must overcome several barriers to growth if they are to enjoy future success. The report identifies the chief barriers to growth of more than 4,000 small businesses in western and central New York State.

The study found that the smallest firms benefited the most from being online: 35 percent gained 10 to 99 percent of their current sales directly or indirectly from their websites.

This study estimates the small business shares of industries using the new North American Industrial Classification System. Changes from the Standard Industrial Classification system to the new system affected the overall shares from sector to sector, according to the report.

The study released by the Arizona Department of Commerce and the Arizona State Universitys Center for the Advancement of Small Business indicates that 98 percent of Arizonas businesses qualify as small businesses with fewer than 100 employees.

The report by the U.S. General Accounting Office addresses the issues posed by the Small Business Administrations current organizational alignment. Such issues, including ineffective lines of communication and confusion over the mission of district offices, are said "to impede the efforts of SBA staff to effectively deliver services." The GAO report does not make recommendations to SBA; however, the report calls the restructuring efforts of other federal agencies "a framework and a set of steps and considerations that may prove useful to SBA."

This study measured the impact of small businesses on the overall economy. Findings indicate that the share of private, nonfarm GDP produced by small businesses has remained about 50 percent over the past two decades.

The report by Innovation Associates for the Small Business Administrations Office of Advocacy tells the San Diego story with supporting statistics of how the region turned things around through technology-based economic development. The report uses San Diego as a case study to explain to other communities, universities, and the private sector how to develop a high-technology economy.

This paper provides a critique of the Performance Measurement Framework within a broader discussion of the role of evaluation, particularly in terms of its use as a tool that managers can use to improve the performance of their own business development services organizations.