According to a press release dated June 28, 2007 the SBA has begun accepting applications from lenders on behalf of military community entrepreneurs. The Patriot Express program was designed to provide assistance to service men or women who wish to start or expand businesses. Patriot Express is available to military community members including veterans, service-disabled veterans, service members leaving active duty, Reservists and National Guard members, current spouses of any of the above, and the widowed spouse of a service member or veteran who died during service, or of a service-connected disability.

Interest from the lending community is strong. More than 150 banks have already been approved to participate in Patriot Express, including many of SBA’s largest lenders, even though the program was announced only two weeks ago. SBA has many more lenders in the approval process and continues to receive more applications from lenders to participate every day. Loans are available up to $500,000 and qualify for SBA’s maximum guaranty of up to 85 percent for loans of $150,000 or less and up to 75 percent for loans over $150,000 up to $500,000. For loans above $350,000, lenders are required to take all available collateral to secure the loan and may obtain collateral for smaller loans depending upon individual bank requirements. Interest rate maximums for Patriot Express loans are the same as those for regular 7

(a) loans: a maximum of prime + 2.25 percent for maturities under 7 years; prime + 2.75 percent for 7 years or more. Interest rates can be higher by
2 percent for loans of $25,000 or less; and 1 percent for loans between $25,000 and $50,000.

Lets hope this program actually helps our veterans who deserve our support and help for the sacrifices they make for all of us.

Jim

In a very recent report published by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy it was determined that people/households that owned small businesses were much more likely to be high income earners and high wealth holders than people not owning businesses. The report takes a good hard look at the question of; How did these households fare from 1989 – 2004? There is a huge amount of good information in this 50+ page report that everyone considering an entreprenurial venture should read.   Click here for more.

Changing jobs can be one of the most stressful events in life, but it also can be an exciting opportunity to pursue one’s dreams and ambitions. If you are a baby boomer, how do you know if a second career might be right for you? Take this Second Career Test that was published in an article on Newsweek’s online magazine to see if a second career is right for you.  Navigate to the link below and click the “Launch” button in the bottom left corner of the picture.

June 11, 2006 – Starting Fresh

For many boomers, retirement will be the perfect time to begin a second career. Some of the most popular fields, according to a recent survey:

27% – Consultant

20% – Teacher or Professor

15% – Customer Greeter

13% – Tour Guide

13% – Retail Sales Clerk

10% – Auditor or Bookkeeper

10% – Home Handyman

9% – B& B Owner/Manager

8% – Security Screener

7% – Real Estate Agent

Source:  2006 Merrill Lynch New Retirement Study

Excerpted from paper by Derek Bosworth titled: “The Importance O Trademarks To Capital Raising and Financial Performance”

Important information on whether or not to establish a trademark, valuing your trademark, tax and accounting issues associated with trademarks.

The following argument then became common in the literature on brands and intangible assets,

“The brand is arguably one of a company’s greatest assets – yet the majority of organisations are failing to take it seriously … As has been proven time and time again, damage to the name and image can have a dire impact on the bottom line.”

Now, today, more and more companies are now placing equal importance on managing their intangible assets as managing their tangible assets (Blackett, 1997, p. x).

“Brand management can no longer be viewed as the sole purpose or responsibility of the marketing department. It makes little sense to hand over responsibility for what are often the ‘corporate jewels’ to a junior brand manager. It is for this reason that chief executive officers are increasingly assuming the charge and challenge of being brand stewards…”. (Runkel and Brymer, 1997, p. 7)