Business in America News

Introducing BusinessUSA

Today, as part of the Administration’s ongoing effort to support and strengthen American businesses, we officially launched BusinessUSA – a new online platform that will make it easier for businesses to access the services and information they need to help them grow, hire and export.

BusinessUSA is specifically designed to help meet the President’s goal of streamlining business-related agencies to better meet the needs of America’s businesses in the 21^st Century global economy.  For too long, entrepreneurs – and especially small business owners – have been forced to navigate a confusing maze of government agencies to get the support and resources they need. The President has made clear that this is unacceptable.  As he said in his State of the Union Address, we need to give U.S. businesses every opportunity and tool to succeed so that they can grow and hire right here in America – and that’s what today’s launch is all about.

BusinessUSA isn’t just another website. It’s a virtual one stop shop that gives businesses access to the full range of resources they need at every stage of their development – providing assistance getting patents, loans to grow and hire, information on contracting opportunities, and help breaking into new markets overseas. The sitetakes a “No Wrong Door” approach that creates a common platform to match businesses with the services relevant to them, regardless of where the information is located or which agency’s website, call center, or office they go to for help. With a simple click of a mouse, BusinessUSA’s search function puts a wealth of valuable and relevant information at users’ fingertips.

Expanding the Healthcare Tax Credit for Small Businesses

Ed. Note: This was originally posted on Open for Business, the U.S. Small Business Administration blog.  

Right now, small businesses across America pay an average of 18 percent more to provide health insurance than large businesses.  While the insurance exchanges included in the Affordable Care Act will bring these costs down starting in 2014, we need to make it easier for small business owners to provide insurance to their employees right now. One important part of President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget proposal expands a tax credit that does exactly that.

The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit has benefited hundreds of thousands of small businesses since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.  After listening to business owners around the country, the President is proposing to make the tax credit available to more businesses and easier to claim. The budget increases the maximum size of eligible companies from 25 employees to 50, proposes more generous phase-out provisions and simplifies the credit, making it easier to claim. It is estimated that if the President’s proposal were enacted, the tax credit will benefit about half a million employers who provide healthcare to 4 million workers in 2012 alone. Over the next decade, this proposal would provide an additional $14 billion in tax credits to small employers across the country.

These changes will help small business owners hire more employees and create an economy built to last. Take for example, Mark Hodesh, who owns Downtown Home and Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  He started offering healthcare about 15 years ago to attract and retain talented employees so that he could compete with bigger stores and to help address skyrocketing healthcare costs his employees were facing. 

In 2010, after qualifying for the small business healthcare tax credit, he got back nearly $9,000, almost 30 percent of his costs, for offering coverage to 11 full-time employees. The money he saved helped him hire a new employee, and now, with 12 employees, his tax credit could be go up to about $10,000 if the President’s proposal to expand the tax credit is adopted by Congress. 

Joining Forces to Hire America’s Veterans – Idaho Style

A Boise-based billboard company has put up 32 billboards in Idaho to awareness around veteran unemployment

Driving down the interstate in Idaho, you may be surprised by the new billboards you pass. Instead of being greeted by ads for fast-food restaurants and chain hotels, billboards that encourage the hiring of veterans grace the sides of the road. 

“Let’s Join Forces And Hire A Veteran,” the signs proclaim. This call to action comes from Lamar Advertising, a Boise-based billboard company that has put up 32 billboards in Idaho to get the word out about hiring our nation’s veterans. These huge billboards encourage Americans to view veterans as assets and to give them the chance to demonstrate their skills and talents through meaningful employment. 

Lamar has teamed with Joining Forces in this public service campaign. Efforts like Lamar’s are helping to answer the President’s call to hire and/or train 100,000 veterans or their spouses by the end of 2013, a goal which we are moving closer toward every day.    

This donation from Lamar Advertising is exactly what the First Lady had in mind when she launched Joining Forces with Dr. Jill Biden, asking every American to do what they do best in support of our veterans and their families. Lamar is taking on that challenge. A leading advertising firm that specializes in billboard ads, Lamar is making a difference in Idaho by raising awareness of veteran unemployment. This awareness will ultimately lead to jobs for men and women who have taken an oath to protect and defend our country. Today, only 1 percent of Americans serve our nation as military members, taking care of the other 99 percent of citizens. With companies like Lamar, we are supporting those who support us.

The Employment Situation in January

Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the economic policies that are helping us to dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the recession that began at the end of 2007. Most importantly, we need to extend the payroll tax cut and continue to provide emergency unemployment benefits through the end of this year, and take the additional steps that President Obama proposed in his State of the Union address to create an economy built to last.

The unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage point to 8.3%, from a high of 10% in October 2009. The drop in unemployment over the month was entirely due to employment growth, as the labor force participation rate remained constant, once new population weights are taken into account.  The unemployment rate has fallen by 0.8 percentage point in the last 12 months. Private sector payrolls increased by 257,000 jobs and overall payroll employment rose by 243,000 jobs in January. Despite adverse shocks that have created headwinds for economic growth, the economy has added private sector jobs for 23 straight months, for a total of 3.7 million payroll jobs over that period. In the last 12 months, 2.2 million private sector jobs were added on net.  Nonetheless, we need faster growth to put more Americans back to work.

Sectors with net job increases in December included professional and business services (+70,000), manufacturing (+50,000), leisure and hospitality (+44,000), health care and social assistance (+29,700), and construction (+21,000).  Government lost 14,000 jobs.

The monthly employment and unemployment numbers can be volatile, and employment estimates can be subject to substantial revision. Therefore, as the Administration always stresses, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report; nevertheless, the trend in job market indicators over recent months is an encouraging sign.

A Legislative Agenda to Startup America

Today, Startup America celebrates its first birthday, and President Obama is sending Congress a set of proposals to help boost the startups and small businesses that create so many jobs in this country.

President Obama has already cut taxes for businesses 17 times. Now, he's asking lawmakers to create four new tax cuts. He's proposing a new 10 percent income tax credit on new payroll for small businesses; a permanent extension of a tax cut he signed in 2010 that eliminates taxes on capital gains in key investments for small businesses; a doubling of the amount that entrepreneurs can deduct from their taxes for start-up expenses, and a 100 percent extension of first-year depreciation of qualified property for one year.

To help businesses find more investors, the President is calling for a national framework that allows entrepreneurs to raise money through "crowdfunding." Currently, the most a small business can raise through a round of "Regulation A" mini-funding is $5 million -- but President Obama wants to boost that limit to $50 million, coupled with strong protections for investors. He's calling for changes in how securities laws and regulations are phased in for small companies in their first year after going public. And the President wants to increase the Small Business Investment Company program to to allow for up to $4 billion in annual support.

President Obama is also calling on Congress to relieve the backlog of immigrant visas. To do that, he wants lawmakers to eliminate the country-specific caps for certain immigrant visas to attract more high skilled foreign workers, particularly entrepreneurs.

To learn more about all these proposals, go here.

Celebrating Startups in the State of the Union

Ed note: In honor of the one year anniversary of Startup America, we invited Mike Krieger, the co-founder of Instagram, to contribute a post to WhiteHouse.gov. Instagram is the fastest growing social mobile startup in the U.S. today, and exemplifies President Obama's belief that "entrepreneurs embody the promise of America: the idea that if you have a good idea and are willing to work hard and see it through, you can succeed in this country. And in fulfilling this promise, entrepreneurs also play a critical role in expanding our economy and creating jobs." Mr. Krieger moved from Brazil to California to attend Stanford University, where he studied computer science and cognitive science. In 2010, he and a partner founded Instagram, which now employs a talented, growing team of designers and engineers. After graduation, Mr. Krieger worked for a year on his student F-1 visa, later applying for and receiving an H-1B visa as a high-skill worker. Mr. Krieger wants to permanently stay in the U.S. and has applied for a green card.

I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and from an early age was interested in technology and engineering. When I came to the United States in 2004 to attend university at Stanford, I was instantly inspired by the stories and advice from startup leaders in Silicon Valley and beyond, who had endeavoured to create new opportunities and improve lives around the world. I was drawn to the idea of one day helping to create a startup, and last year, I was fortunate to be given the chance. In May of 2010, I joined Kevin Systrom, my co-founder, and we created Instagram, a mobile social network that today has over 15 million users. What began as a small, two-person startup working out of a pier in San Francisco has grown to a dozen employees, and our plan is to at least double that this year. There are few better sights than walking into an office full of talented, hard-working folks, working together to build a great company from the ground up.

Weekly Address: President’s Blueprint Includes Renewal of American Values

In his weekly address, President Obama discusses the blueprint he put forward this week in the State of the Union Address for creating an economy built to last.  After focusing on American manufacturing, American energy, and skills for American workers during each of the last three days, he used his weekly address to highlight his commitment to a renewal of American values. The President is challenging leaders in Washington, DC to follow the model set by our men and women in the military, end the gridlock and start tackling the issues that matter – without regard for personal ambition.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

Learn more

• Watch the enhanced version of the 2012 State of the Union Address
• Read President Obama's Blueprint for an America Built to Last
• Take a deep dive into the data behind the President’s plan
• Find out how you can talk to Obama Administration officials about the President's plan
• Everything you need to know about President Obama's Blueprint for American-made energy
• Everything you need to know about President Obama's Blueprint for manufacturing

Vice President Biden: "America Is Coming Back"

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Albany Engineered Composites during event on manufacturing in Rochester, NH, Jan 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

Yesterday, Vice President Biden visited Rochester, New Hampshire to highlight the Administration’s plan to help businesses bring manufacturing jobs back to America. He made one central message clear: “America is coming back.”

As the Vice President emphasized, the policies the Obama Administration has put in place in its first three years are beginning to pay off—especially in manufacturing. The economy added 334,000 manufacturing jobs in the last two years, making it the strongest period of manufacturing job growth since the late 1990s. And now, instead of hearing about outsourcing, we’re finally starting to hear about insourcing as more and more companies realize that it makes real business sense to bring jobs back to America. 

Manufacturers are coming back because, while costs in China are rising rapidly, “American workers are the most productive workers in the world,” the Vice President said. And to reinforce that advantage, we need more partnerships between businesses and community colleges to train workers with the specialized skills employers need. 

Vice President Biden had the opportunity to see such a partnership in action in New Hampshire yesterday—a partnership that is reviving advanced manufacturing and bringing jobs back to the state. 

State of the Union Deep Dive

Americans who watched an online broadcast of President Obama's 2012 State of the Union address saw something a little different: a side by side display of charts, graphs and other visual representations of why the President's policies are so important for our country and our economy. You can see the slides here, or download them at slideshare