What kind of problems will small businesses face in 2010? Will small businesses continue to see lending difficulties? How will the health care legislation hurt and help small companies? These are just some of the questions answered by MSNBC.com, as they have an open dialogue with the Chief Economist of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) William Dunkelburg, CEO of SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business Ken Yancey, Senior Editor of INC. Magazine Rod Kurtz and author of “Pay Back Time” Phil Town about the future holds for small businesses in 2010.

Take a look at the http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34620817#34499621 video clip to see what these professionals had to say and let NSSEA know your thoughts!

On December 18, 2009, the Consumer Product and Safety Commission (CPSC) released a new guidance on component testing for lead paint and lead content and the CPSC announced how it would deal with the stay of enforcement on third-party testing and certification issued last February.

The CPSC issued a document entitled “Consumer Product Safety Act: Notice of Commission Action on the Stay of Enforcement of Testing and Certification Requirements” that explains the actions of the CPSC regarding the stay. Under the CPSC issued document, the CPSC notes that there are two separate testing and certification schemes under the CPSIA and these schemes include: third-party testing of children’s products, manufacturer/importer certification based on that testing and General Certification of Conformity (GCC) for non-children’s products based on either a test of the individual product or a “reasonable testing program.”

Extended Stays

On December 17, 2009, the CPSC took action to extend the testing and certification requirement for the lead content requirement that applies to children’s products for one year, until February 10, 2011. Even though CPSC extended the stay, they made it clear that children’s products must still have less than 300 ppm lead.

The CPSC also extended the stay for third-party testing and certification of a number of other consumer products. These products include:

• Children’s toys and child care items with phthalates,
• Children’s toys subject to ASTM’s F-963 toy safety standard,
• Caps and toy guns,
• Clacker balls,
• Baby walkers,
• Bath seats,
• Other durable infant products,
• Electrically operated toys,
• Youth ATVs,
• Bicycles,
• Carpets and rugs,
• Vinyl plastic film,
• Wearing apparel, and
• Children’s sleepwear.

For more information about the stay and statements from CPSC, visit http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml10/10083.html and let NSSEA know your thoughts!

Gene Schulist, School-Pak, Inc

It’s getting a little rough out here as a small business.

First we have to fight off the big guys, Wal-Mart, KMart, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, etc. You know you’re not getting the same prices as these guys. Plus, being a small business, you have no clout with insurance companies, elected officials, banks, government bodies, etc.

We just have to weather the storms and keep doing our best because, usually, it’s much better than the big guys.

But here comes one more way to get us.

Have you taken a look lately at what your bank is charging for processing your credit cards? Those rates are way out of line.

Someone used a Visa card? OK, how about 2.4 percent of the sale going back to the credit card company. Wait a minute. They actually used a “Rewards” card? OK, how about 2.55 percent of the purchase price. No, they used a “Rewards” card with their dog’s picture on it. How about 2.62 percent?

Get the picture?

Not only do they charge the customer up to 29 percent interest for their purchase, but they charge you too! So you lose even more on your “sale” price you went to so you could compete against Wal-Mart. Do you think they pay the same rate? Are there aliens walking around Roswell?

Dealing with schools are even harder. 68 percent of every dollar spent at a local store stays in the community. Only 32 percent of dollars spent at Wal-Mart (or other big chain stores) stay in the community. The other 36 percent are on the train to Wal-Mart offices in Arkansas.

The Obama administration is looking at ways to help small businesses. Perhaps finding a way that all businesses are treated equally. I know that people are treated that way under the Constitution (or at least are supposed to be). Shouldn’t small business people be treated that way as well?

That means the same tax breaks, employment laws, purchasing power, price protection, free shipping, etc. should come to us as it does to KMart or Target. I’d love to compete on a level playing ground. How about you?

Jeff Pett, Fleetwood Group, Inc

‘Twas the week before Christmas, when all through the land
Not a teacher was buying, no dollars on hand.
Sales Reps stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that school buyers soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of new school products danced in their heads.
We’d been counting our blessings that new cars we’re not selling,
When the bottom fell out; you should’ve heard the yelling!
When out of D.C. there arose such a clatter

We sprang to our TV’s to see what was the matter.
We clicked the remote, from FOX to CSPAN,
Hoping to find out just what was the plan.
When what to our wondering eyes should appear
But politicians of all leanings running about in fear.
Then the cameras moved up the street adding some scope
From the director of plans, from the director of hope.
He said we’ve got to spend more, let me be perfectly clear
We’ll spend our way out of trouble, we’ll spend our way out of fear.
Then his minions lined up, well most of them did;
They began passing bills, they took off the lid.
And while they were at it, these wise leaders all,
They told businesses who to hire, and who should take a fall.
The stimulus was passed many months ago now;
So where’s the good effect? Where’d the money go, and how?

School boards were quite puzzled to see their funding decrease;
They ordered spending curtailed, they ordered it to cease!
That brings us to today, to the end of quite a year,
One where schools have been moved by lost-funding fear.
But our hopes are still high that we’ll soon see the end
Of our school funding foul-ups so schools once again spend.
Let’s continue to serve schools in the best we can,
Despite all of the grief of an ill-conceived plan.
We can be thankful we live in the U S of A
Where we still enjoy freedoms, where we still have a say.
And next fall after school starts let’s be sure to remember
To vote the bums out when it comes to November.

According to an eSchoolNews.com article entitled, “Duncan: Schools Need to be More Creative,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan held a town hall meeting on December 15, 2009 and urged education leaders to close the digital gap and allow all students the opportunity access to the best technology in the world.

Duncan mentions that students around the world are out numbering American students in their use of new technologies. He made it clear that the reason why students in other countries are doing better is because they are in school longer, more specifically students in other countries are in school 25 to 30 percent longer than American students. He also reiterated that college and career readiness is one of the Department of Education’s main education priorities.

Read the article, “Duncan: Schools Need to be More Creative” and let NSSEA know your thoughts!

According to an Edweek.org article titled, “Congress OKs Budget with Increase for Education,” the House of Representatives approved a bill on December 9, 2009 that would finance programs in the U.S. Department of Education for about $63.7 billion, which is a 0.7 percent decrease from what President Barack Obama originally proposed. President Obama proposed about $64.2 billion for fiscal year 2010. The House of Representatives voted 221-202.

The Senate approved the measure on December 13, 2009 with a vote of 57-35 and both the House and the Senate’s compromise includes $14.5 billion for Title I grants to help districts cover the cost of educating disadvantaged students.

Read the article, “Congress OKs Budget with Increase for Education” and let NSSEA know your thoughts!

On December 10, 2009, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls on state legislators to take an active roll and become the leaders of the school reform movement. Duncan asked legislators to take a hard look at their education codes and identify where state laws are hindering reform.

While speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Duncan mentioned that state legislators have a great power to write laws that will induce reform and improve student achievement across the board.

Duncan specifically called on state legislators to accomplish these four things when rewriting state laws:

1) Ensure that students, especially disadvantaged students, are taught by an effective teacher and that all policies related to the teaching profession promote effective teaching;

2) Offer high-quality alternative certification routes to becoming teachers for military veterans and career changers;

3) Give districts the ability to increase learning time by extending the school day or school year; and

4) Expand the number of charter schools and to increase accountability so bad charter schools are shut down.

He also mentions that Louisiana is leading the efforts in measuring the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs. He commends state leaders for improving student achievement by tracking the graduates’ success. For more information, visit www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/12/12102009a.html.

An article on MSNBC.com entitled “Entrepreneurs Find Profit in Solving Problems” highlights three entrepreneurs who had a dilemma and noticed that others like them had the same problem. These entrepreneurs found a way to solve their problems while making a profit in the process. The article highlights Michael Ziman, the creator of ReadTheWords.com, an educational website that helps auditory learners. According to the article, as a child, Ziman had a hard time learning written information and he was labeled an auditory learner.

During his school days, he would make recordings of his classroom lectures and notes and he would listen to them when studying for tests. The article mentions that he was at a business seminar and realized that other people had the same learning style as he did and that is how he came up with the idea. The article also mentions two other companies who have turned their problems into solutions.

Read the article “Entrepreneurs Find Profit in Solving Problems” and let NSSEA know your thoughts.

A recent article on Businessweek.com looks at the growing dilemma between banks and small businesses. Banks are reluctant to loan to small businesses and therefore small businesses are unable to find necessary capital to keep their businesses afloat. According to the article, borrowers were tapping sources of funding other than banks because either credit interest rates where too high or banks reduced or stopped lending to small businesses all together. Home equity loans are a popular source of funding for small businesses, but those are becoming scarce. According to the article, some factors small company owners should look into before deciding how much equity and or credit is right for their company is:

• The stage in which your business is in
• Industry norms for assets, inventory, and receivables
• Forms and Financing
• Your goals for your business
• When equity investors offer more than cash
• Size of monthly loan payments

How is your company finding capital? Read the article “Raising Capital: Equity vs. Debt” and let NSSEA know your thoughts!

A national test called the “Trial Urban District Assessment” administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) finds that over the last two years, fourth and eighth graders in the country’s large cities have made progress in mathematics. On the other hand, some schools in urban districts maintained sluggish progression and fell behind other school districts drastically.

In 2009, scores were higher for fourth graders in Boston, the District of Columbia and for eighth graders in Austin and San Diego. Other school districts that saw much improvement in math scores are Miami-Dade and New York City, which were higher at the fourth grade level.

According to the national test, the school districts that did not see any improvement in Math NAEP scores were school districts in Atlanta, Baltimore City, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Fresno, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. All school districted named earlier had lower scores at both the fourth and eighth grade levels.

For more information about the national test “Trial Urban District Assessment,” visit http://nationsreportcard.gov/math_2009/district_summ.asp?tab_id=tab2&subtab_id=Tab_1#chart and let NSSEA know your thoughts.