Small Businesses

Pandemic’s Impacts on How People Live and Work May Change City Centers for Decades

Barbershops, restaurants and other businesses that have long concentrated in traditional business districts may need to follow workers to suburbs or smaller cities to survive, new research shows.

  • By Andrii Parkhomenko  and Eunjee Kwon, The Conversation

How a Small City Pushed Ahead with its Downtown Revival, Despite the Pandemic

Lorain, Ohio Mayor Jack Bradley describes how he worked to keep momentum going during the past two years with a downtown “renaissance.”

  • By Andre Claudio

Women-owned Businesses More Adversely Impacted By Pandemic

Covid-19 affected women-headed firms disproportionally mainly because stay-at-home orders and school and day care closures resulted in “unpaid” jobs at home, a new paper shows.

  • By Andre Claudio

Surviving Small Restaurants Push Forward as Pandemic Ebbs

At least 10 states introduced or passed bills this session to help restaurants.

  • By Aallyah Wright, Stateline

Pandemic Led to More Black-owned Businesses but Exacerbated Their Challenges

A new report says that state and local governments must commit to creating more opportunities for Black-run firms, including through the infrastructure act.

  • By Andre Claudio

Entrepreneurship Provides Economic and Social Stability for Communities

The National League of Cities Monday said small firms generate two-thirds of all new jobs and outlined the challenges Black and Brown people face starting and growing a business.

  • By Andre Claudio

At-home Businesses Are Growing. Women and People of Color Benefit the Most

The pandemic has fueled the passage of new ordinances in cities and states allowing entrepreneurs to set up businesses from home — a boon for women and people of color who face systemic barriers.

  • By Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th

Pandemic Sweetens Lure of Smaller Cities’ Relocation Incentives

Communities in 24 states are trying to attract new residents with incentives.

  • By Tim Henderson, Stateline

Top States for Businesses

Virginia ranks as the top state for businesses while Alaska ranks as the worst based on 10 categories, including the cost of doing business and a high-quality workforce, according to a recent report.

  • By Andre Claudio

4 Things to Know About Local Government Fiscal Conditions

Despite fiscal challenges over the past 18 months, cities have demonstrated greater resilience than expected through the pandemic, according to a report.

  • By Andre Claudio

Pandemic Prompts Officials to Relax Rules on Home Businesses

Americans filed more than 4.3 million new business applications in 2020.

  • By Caitlin Dewey, Stateline

Using Federal Relief Funds to Ensure Equitable Recovery for Small Businesses

Governments can leverage American Rescue Plan dollars to help local companies impacted by the pandemic, including those owned by women and minorities.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram
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Gov. Greg Abbott Signs Bill to Punish Businesses that Require Proof of Covid-19 Vaccination

Abbott's signature means that businesses that require so-called vaccine passports can't get state contracts and could lose state licenses or operating permits.

  • By Karen Brooks Harper, The Texas Tribune

The Government Is Here to Help Small Businesses — Unless They’re Cooperatives

The Small Business Administration’s rules prevent it from helping most employee- and consumer-owned cooperatives, even though Congress specifically asked it to. The result? Co-ops are largely cut out of the mainstream financial system.

  • By Lydia DePillis, ProPublica

SBA’s Navigator Program Offering Grants up to $5M for Governments

The Small Business Administration will provide a total of $100 million to eligible organizations, including state and local governments, to assist underserved businesses.

  • By Andrea Noble

An Overlooked Economic Powerhouse for Small Cities

Small-scale manufacturers are well-positioned to compete in the digital economy, but also fill storefronts and contribute to a thriving downtown or business district.

  • By Ilana Preuss, Next City

Hundreds of PPP Loans Went to Fake Farms in Absurd Places

An online lending platform called Kabbage sent 378 pandemic loans worth $7 million to fake companies (mostly farms) with names like “Deely Nuts” and “Beefy King.”

  • By Derek Willis and Lydia DePillis, ProPublica

‘I Feel like I’m Drowning’: Women Business Owners Keep Hitting New Barriers to Federal Loan Aid

Women, especially women of color, are driving small-business growth during a pandemic in which they’ve been hit particularly hard — and missed out on help.

  • By Mariel Padilla, The 19th

The Federal Government Will Now Give PPP Loans to Borrowers in Bankruptcy

Thousands of companies working their way out of bankruptcy are now eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program after ProPublica reported that the Small Business Administration had been excluding them.

  • By Lydia DePillis, ProPublica

Small Business Owners Can’t Find Qualified Workers, Survey Finds

The National Federation of Independent Business says the pandemic and increased unemployment benefits are keeping people out of the labor market.

  • By Brent Woodie

The Wide Gaps Between Minority and White Business Ownership in America’s Cities

A new data tool offers ways to gauge the disparities with businesses in the nation’s largest metro areas. It also includes information on women-owned firms.

  • By Bill Lucia