Press Releases

Biz Tech Magazine recently compiled a solid list of experts, entrepreneurs, trend watchers and policy influencers for its 2020 list of “Small Business IT Influencers to Follow.”  SBE Council president & CEO Karen Kerrigan is among the list of terrific experts including our longtime friends and supporters: Smart Hustle’s Ramon Ray, Small Biz Daily’s Rieva […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Housing continues as a bright spot for the economy and small business, according to the latest report from the U.S. Census Bureau. Housing starts (at a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate) were up by 4.9 percent in October 2020 over September. Starts also were by 14.2 percent compared to a year earlier. Single-family […]

by Raymond J. Keating- As the economy was heading into the Christmas holiday shopping season, the recovery in retail sales largely hit the brakes in October. The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that retail and food services sales in October were effectively unchanged compared to September, rising by only 0.25 percent. Source: Federal Reserve Bank […]

by Raymond J. Keating – High inflation is a nefarious economic ill. It reduces the value of the currency; diminishes consumers’ buying power; slashes away at the value of savings and investments; hikes taxes in an assortment of ways, such as by increasing the real capital gains tax; and jacks up uncertainty, which translates into […]

NEWS Immediate Release Washington, D.C. –  The Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program has been a bust for small businesses, and billions of additional dollars are sitting idle in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) due to its expiration. Still, Main Street businesses across America are in desperate need of capital to readapt, operate effectively, or […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The latest “Job Openings” report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for September 2020 reinforced the idea that the economy is working to slowly recover from the brunt of the pandemic and government shutdowns. There’s much to still be concerned about, but at least one indicator seemed to signal some […]

by Raymond J. Keating- The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics pointed to October being a strong month in the journey of trying to restore millions of lost American jobs due to the pandemic and related government shutdowns. Whenever we look at this monthly BLS report, it has to be understood […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Labor productivity – that is, output per hour – is important because ultimately labor compensation is tied to labor productivity. For good measure, the more productive that workers are, the more profitable, generally, businesses will be. So, increases in labor productivity are win-wins that make clear that workers and business owners […]

by Raymond J. Keating- Two measures of manufacturing activity served up some good news for October. First, the Institute for Supply Management reported that the manufacturing sector grew in October, indicating that the economy had expanded for the sixth straight month. Also, with the October ISM Manufacturing PMI coming in at 59.3 percent, it matched […]