Open Avenues Builds New Headquarters With Assistance of New Market Tax Credits

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Open Avenues, a 501(c) that fosters independent living and work skills for disabled adults, has constructed a new headquarters in Rogers, AR with the assistance of the Heartland Renaissance Fund (HRF) and the New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Program. The new building serves as the headquarters as well as the life skills facility for Open Avenues. [Read more…]

Advantage Loan Initiatives from the SBA

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In an effort to stimulate economic growth and job creation in underserved communities, the SBA introduced two new initiatives this past February. The new Advantage Loan Initiatives offer a “streamlined application process for SBA 7(a) up to $250,000.” These programs are an effort to increase lower dollar loans as studies have shown that such loans are instrumental to growth in underserved communities and to new business formation. The chart below shows the comparison between a Small Loan Advantage and Community Advantage: [Read more…]

John Brown University Sweeps Tri-State Undergraduate Finals

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John Brown University swept the Undergraduate Finals in the fourth-annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Tri-State business plan competition in Las Vegas, and a team from the University of Arkansas earned Second Place in Graduate Finals. The Arkansas teams were awarded First and Second Places in Undergraduate Finals and Second Place in Graduate Finals, which included cash prizes that can be used as funds to start their businesses. Faculty advisers also received cash awards of $2,500. Top honors at Tri-State went to:  [Read more…]

National Small Business Week Kicks Off Today!

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The U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week gets started today in Washington, D.C. On Friday, the Small Business Person of the year will be announced, but not before three days of festivities recognizing the nation’s top entrepreneurs. This year’s theme is “Empowering Entrepreneurs” That’s our slogan! While they may not have gotten the idea from us, we sure do think it is a powerful theme and a worthwhile mission. [Read more…]

504 Rates Have Fallen – Great News for Business Owners!

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The debenture rate for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 loan product has dropped for the month of May. The 20 year debenture was at 5.9% in April; the 20 year debenture is now at 5.64%! The 10 year debenture is currently 4.59%, down from 4.89% in March. What does that mean for business owners? For a 20 year, $500,000 loan, a business owner could save well over $7,000 in interest over the life of the loan.

John Brown University Teams Dominate 2011 Governor’s Cup

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Students from John Brown University in Siloam Springs won four of six top prizes Wednesday at the 11th annual Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup college business plan competition. JBU swept the top three spots in the overall undergraduate division and took third place overall in the graduate division. JBU is a private, Christian university in Siloam Springs with roughly 2,100 students. Teams from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, won first and second place in the graduate division. [Read more…]

Firms Born from UA Patents Called Key

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Five employees hunched behind desks at an office in the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in Fayetteville to finish paperwork for a grant proposal to help their new company keep operating. “It’s all up to us to make it happen,” said Douglas Hutchings, chief executive officer of Silicon Solar Solutions. The company has landed some $400,000 in grants and attracted private investment but is not yet profitable. Hutchings projects the company will be in the black in 2012, he said. [Read more…]

Silicon Solar Solutions Making Headlines

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Five employees hunched behind desks at an office in the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in Fayetteville to finish paperwork for a grant proposal to help their new company keep operating. “It’s all up to us to make it happen,” said Douglas Hutchings, chief executive officer of Silicon Solar Solutions. The company has landed some $400,000 in grants and attracted private investment but is not yet profitable. Hutchings projects the company will be in the black in 2012, he said. Silicon Solar Solutions licensed a patent from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for solar technology that costs 30 percent less and does not use hazardous material like some other solar panels, Hutchings said. The company is working to refine the product, market it and identify manufacturers who are interested in using it with their own production facilities, Hutchings said. [Read more…]