Small Business Classes at the Chamber of Commerce

Small Business Basics 2012

Paris, TN – The Paris-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, in cooperation with the USDA, will offer “Small Business Basics,” six classes designed to serve as a guide to small business development and entrepreneurship. The classes will be open to anyone interested in small business and entrepreneurship, including startups and existing businesses.

Sam Mahan, FirstBank, and Jennifer Hayden, Hamilton-Ryker, will serve as co-chairs and facilitators for the sessions. Mahan said “Last year’s classes were a tremendous success. We had sixteen graduates, equally divided between start-ups and existing businesses.” [Read more]

Health reform one year later: The haves and have-nots—so far

Written by Nancy Metcalf
Senior Program Editor

Yonkers, NY – Americans don’t know much more about the Affordable Care Act today than they did when when President Obama signed into law a year ago, on March 23rd, 2010. A Kaiser health-tracking poll released last week found that 52 percent of the public admits to not knowing enough about the law to assess how it affects them personally—compared with 56 percent who said that a year ago in the same poll.

So in honor of the law’s first birthday, we decided to provide a rough scorecard of who’s been helped so far by the law, and who hasn’t. [Read more]

House Passes Small Business Capital Bill

Initiative Would Reinvigorate Investment in Small Businesses

Washington, DC — The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed the “Small Business Lending Fund (SBLF) Act,” H.R. 5297, by a vote of 241-182. The legislation will aid small businesses in securing capital through new community bank incentives, support for state lending initiatives and by opening venture capital markets to small businesses.

“As our most prolific job creators, small businesses will be central to the recovery of the U.S. economy,” said Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez, the Chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business. “However, for entrepreneurs to expand and create jobs, they need access to financing. The measure we approved today will make both credit and equity capital available for small firms.” [Read more]

U.S. Rep. John Tanner speaks on economic recovery

U.S. Rep. John Tanner said in a district-wide radio address that the current economic crisis is negatively impacting thousands of 8th District families and that Congressional action is necessary to help economic recovery. The House Friday passed the final version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with Congressman Tanner’s support. This is a transcript of his radio broadcast:

This is John Tanner. I wanted to talk to you a minute about this recovery act that was voted on in the House. This is truly a very, very hard vote for me, given my record of financial responsibility, and trying to do what I can with the other Blue Dogs here and others about the financial unsustainability of our federal government. I think this is an economic crisis that I have not seen in my 60+ years. The recession is far deeper and wider than any that I have ever lived through or witnessed, probably since the Great Depression. [Read more]