If you want to start a business and you happen to be in Austin, then your odds are better for succeeding. For the third consecutive year, Austin topped The Business Journals’ On Numbers analysis as the best ...

Institutions taking part in the government’s Small Business Lending Fund increased loans in the last quarter of 2011 by $1.3 billion over the prior quarter — for a total of $4.8 billion more than the average ...

A national measure of small business optimism dropped in March after six months of increases, with hiring plans and expected sales growth leading the decline. The Small-Business Optimism Index fell by almost 2 points ...

A brighter outlook on sales will prompt nearly one in three U.S. small business owners to hire new employees over the next six months, with optimism returning to pre-Great Recession levels, according to a survey ...

With the help of focus group sessions held in three U.S. cities, the Small Business Administration has initiated online strategies that have increased participation in SBA loan programs and driven higher visitor ...

It may be struggling in the digital age, but the U.S. Postal Service still has direct mail as a tool for growth, as it pushes a new campaign with rates starting at 14.5 cents-per-piece directed at small businesses. This ...

The chief executive officers of major U.S. companies are feeling much more optimistic about the economy’s recovery, with sharply more CEOs expecting improvement in sales, capital investments and hiring in the ...

Consumer confidence pulled back slightly in March after jumping the previous month, mostly driven by a less optimistic economic outlook over the short term, according to a private, widely-cited index. The Conference ...

Democratic lawmakers unveiled their own tax cut plan for small businesses and blasted the GOP’s proposal announced last week as “camouflaged handouts” to the wealthy. Senate Democrats said their $26 billion ...

House Republicans have proposed a 20 percent tax cut for one year for small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. The Small Business Tax Cut Act allows qualified small businesses to take a tax deduction equal ...