Most small business owners consider healthcare issues key in determining their vote for the 2008 presidential election, according to a recent survey conducted by online payroll service SurePayroll. The survey found that small business owners are looking to the government to address the rising costs of providing plans

The U.S. Small Business Administration has launched a new free online training resource for budding entrepreneurs. The Small Business Primer is a self-paced assessment tool to help owners determine their business readiness, provide an overview of basic small business principles and introduce them to SBA counseling and training resources. To learn more, visit http://www.sba.gov.

More than half of small business owners believe that being their own boss enables greater work-life balance compared to other workers, according to a new MasterCard Worldwide survey. Surprisingly, 83% say they rarely or never miss important personal events because of work. The survey polled 503 U.S. small business owners with 100 employees or fewer between April 10 and April 29.

Small business systems provider WebplusInc. is now offering e-commerce Web hosting, including Web+Shop shopping cart software. For information, e-mail [email protected].

PostcardMania has begun providing customers financing through TermsPlus, a revolving credit program. For more information, visit http://www.postcardmania.com.

Senator John Kerry (D-MA.) has called upon the Bush Administration to implement the Women’s Procurement Program, created in 2000. This follows a recent study showing lagging participation in federal contracting by women-owned small businesses. Kerry said that despite repeated promises, the administration has failed to implement the program, costing Massachusetts women- owned firms $165 million in lost contracts a year.

Microsoft Corp. has unveiled a small-business Internet protocol phone system, code-named Response Point. The new system supports both VoIP and traditional phone lines, and includes a voice-activated user interface. For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/responsepoint.

Annual commercial spending in the U.S. grew 6.7% to $17.3 trillion in 2006 with small business spending reaching $4.88 trillion. This is a 4.3% increase over the prior year, according to Visa’s commercial consumption expenditure index. The index defines small businesses as those with $25 million or less in annual revenue. The index also projects continued growth in business-to-business spending through 2010, when it is expected to eclipse $20 trillion, including $5.7 trillion in small business spending.

Meteor, an Irish mobile service provider, has tapped Visto Corp. to help it launch Meteor Mobile Email, a service designed to foster mass-market adoption among small businesses and enterprises throughout the country. To learn more, click on http://www.visto.com.

Microsoft Corp. and CompUSA have unveiled a referral program for small business customers. The new program directs small business sales referrals from CompUSA stores to Microsoft’s small business specialist community. The companies hope this will help increase visibility in the market, strengthen customer relationships and drive revenue. For more information, go to https://partner.microsoft.com/us/techpro.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has debuted “Delivering Success,” an online video that chronicles the experiences of successful entrepreneurs from around the country. The video is available at http://sba.gov/deliveringsuccess.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $2.52 million in contracts to 36 small businesses to develop new technologies to protect human health and the environment. Recipients of these awards will research issues ranging from protecting the Great Lakes to homeland security to nanotechnology and more. From March 15 to May 23, the EPA will again be requesting applications for the development of new environmental technologies

The Women’s Employment Opportunity Project (WEOP) and Mothers’ Voices Georgia have joined forces to celebrate Women’s History Month at the inaugural “From A Women’s Perspective” symposium. More than 300 individuals are expected to attend the event on Friday, March 30 at Atlanta Technical College.

Marketing Max has unveiled a new solution designed to help small business owners and operators to market their products and services to the masses, even if they are operating on a shoestring budget. To learn more, visit http://www.marketingmax.com/smallbiz.

The majority of small- and medium-sized businesses believe an information technology security breach would be detrimental to their enterprise. However, few are overtly proactive in their fight against infringements due to resource restrictions, according to McAfee Inc. and MessageLabs. Specifically, the firms found that 80% of IT decision makers feared an IT security threat such as an e-mail virus. But as senior small business IT professionals are more entrenched in a company’s day-to-day business than CIOs in larger firms, they are less able to decisively take on security threats.

Executives running very small businesses display different online behavior compared to other online users and small-business executives, according to a report by JupiterResearch. For example, they spend a median of 17 hours a week online, compared with 14 hours a week spent watching television. “They are also great candidates for behavioral and contextual targeting,” said analyst Sonal Gandhi. more information, go to http://www.jupiterkagan.com.

AT&T Inc. has unveiled a number of resources geared to small business owners including free advice, online courses and special offers. For information, visit http://att.com/OnwardSMallBiz/.

Verizon Online has added a new toolbar to its Business Center portal designed specifically for small-business broadband customers. The new toolbar provides access to a variety of online business content, search functions and resources. For more go to http://business.verizon.net.

Online payroll service SurePayroll has launched a new service to help small business owners manage their human resource issues, from hiring to termination. To learn more, click http://www.surepayroll.com.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has lost an 18-month legal battle with California-based American Small Business League. This forces NASA to provide detailed information proving the agency had exaggerated its small business contracting statistics for 2002, 2003 and 2004. The ASBL monitors existing policies and proposed policy changes by the Small Business Administration and other federal agencies that affect its members. More information can be found at http://www.asbl.com.

The Small Business Administration has named Chase it’s top bank for lending to small businesses in Illinois. Last year, Chase (http://www.chase.com) lent more than $53 million to small businesses in the state. The bank made 822 SBA loans statewide in 2006, an increase of 244%. The SBA’s guarantee allow banks to make loans to small businesses that lack the collateral banks traditionally require from borrowers.

The State of Pennsylvania is planning to open two new Small Business Development Center locations at Shippensburg and Widener Universities. The centers provide one-on-one business management consulting, information and educational programs that build small firms’ capacity to compete effectively in domestic and international markets. To learn more, go to http://www.pasbdc.org/shippensburg or http://www.pasbdc.org/widener.

EMC has launched a new series of products aimed at providing networked storage solutions for small to medium sized businesses. The Insignia brand of hardware and software includes the Clariion AX100 storage disk array, with a capacity of between 750GB and 6TB. For more information, visit http://www.emc.com.

Linksys (http://www.linksys.com) had introduced an entry-level networked attach storage solution, the Network Storage System with two Bays (NAS200). The system enables users to share, use and secure data over their networks. It includes two 3.5-inch SATA drive bays and two USB slots for additional storage capacity.

MerchantCircle has launched Web IdentityManager, a software package designed to help local business owners manage their online reputation by aggregating company listings, reviews and online ratings from local search sites. The software also enables businesses to build their online presence by establishing a local business network; creating and distributing online coupons, blogs and newsletters; and providing search engine optimization for specific listings free of charge. For more information, visit http://www.merchantcircle.com.

A consortium of data storage companies, IT managers, professional development organizations, and distributors have created the National Data Awareness Project, an educational initiative aimed at helping businesses of all sizes improve the way they protect their operations against catastrophic data loss. To learn more, contact Jon Toigo at [email protected].

Deltek, a provider of enterprise management software, has debuted a new channel strategy that utilizes both domestic and international distributors to target small to mid-sized businesses in the architectural/engineering, management and IT consulting industries. More information can be found at http://www.deltek.com/partners.

Small to mid-sized companies say they prefer to buy communications services from a single provider. However, many find the higher costs and lack of bundled services gives them few options but to go with multiple vendors. According to new studies from Forrester Research Inc., small business owners who use bundled services are okay with their communications costs and their vendors. But when businesses grow by a couple hundred employees, the proposition is much different. The reports found that there’s a huge gap between what the midsized customer wants and what vendors are offering. As a result, many cost-sensitive midsized firms use multiple vendors in order to get the best price, regardless of the hassle.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is testing a new program aimed at increasing contracting opportunities for Oregon small businesses. In partnership with small business community leaders, American Council of Engineering Companies and other stakeholders, ODOT plans to boost the participation of the state’s businesses in transportation projects, eventually on a statewide basis. For more information, visit http://www.oregon.gov/odot.

Small businesses turned to the U.S. Small Business Administration for commercial financing in droves during fiscal 2006, setting records for both the number of loans and the dollars loaned. The SBA backed a net 100,197 loans totaling $19.1 billion under its two primary small business loan programs during the 12 months ending on Sept. 30. The previous records were set last year, when SBA provided a net 94,554 loans worth $18.1 billion under the same two programs. A third of the loans in FY 2006 went to minority borrowers, 32% to start-ups, 22% to businesses owned by women and 21% to firms in rural areas. Increases were recorded in loans to African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Native Americans. For details, click on http://www.sba.gov.

The Small Business Administration has launched podcasts for small business owners. The podcasts will feature information and advice for new and established entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting, expanding and financing a small business, as well as business protection. To find out more, click on http://www.sba.gov/training.

Sixty-three percent of small business decision-makers are concerned about their company’s ability to provide a benefits package that will attract and retain employees, according to a survey from Aflac. To that end, the insurance provider is making available a booklet called “Attracting and Retaining Excellent Employees” on its small business-focused Web site, http://www.aflacsb.com.

The U.S. Small Business Administration will kick off the National Minority Enterprise Development Week conference by selecting one of 10 minority small business operators to be this year’s national Minority Small Business Person of the Year. The national winner is selected from among 10 entries representing Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Texas, Missouri, Colorado, California and Washington. The regional award winning businesses offer services including corporate consulting; seminars and workshops on marriage and parenting; and engineering and design of the Black Hawk aircraft for the U.S. armed forces. The 24th annual conference will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept.1 in Washington, D.C., and coincide with the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

* The State of West Virginia has teamed with the nonprofit group Mission West Virginia to launch a new program providing training in e-commerce applications for small business and entrepreneurs throughout the state. Four hundred and fifty participants in the program will receive new computers to assist them during the training and help them complete course requirements Classes are tentatively scheduled to begin later this month in Beckley, WV. Training will be provided statewide, using Mission West Virginia

Moneris Solutions, Inc., an electronic transaction processor, has launched a gift card program tailored to small business. To learn more, visit http://www.monerisusa.com.

BellSouth has introduced data file backup and remote access applications for small businesses. Online Backup from BellSouth allows small business customers to choose the data files they wish to protect and send them securely to a remote server where they are encrypted and updated daily. In the event of a PC failure, customers can visit a designated BellSouth Web site to choose the files they need restored. Online backup packages begin at $19.95 per month per user and vary depending on the amount of data stored. For more information, click on http://smallbusiness.bellsouth.com/internet/index.asp.

Kaiser Permanente is launching a new product for California small businesses that lets employees choose between seven different company health-plan options. The new Choice package is available to California businesses with two to 50 employees. It offers two health maintenance organization (HMO) co-payment plans, an HMO deductible plan, two point-of-service plans, a participating provider option (PPO) plan and an indemnity plan. To find out more, go to http://www.kaiserpermanente.org.

ConnectMeVoice, a provider of small business phone system solutions, has relaunched its Web site. The company’s offerings range from hosted PBX solutions to voice mail products.

MESSAGEbuzz.com has released a Web-based system to enable small-to-medium sized business owners gain access to text message marketing. A free trial is offered at www.messagebuzz.com

Comerica Bank has opened a full-service Small Business Banking office in downtown San Diego at 701 B Street, Suite 600.