small business administration. the small business administration covers not only san francisco proper but the bay area. the severed his third district is responsible for a business loan portfolio of 12,000 loans worth $4.2 billion. in 2009, the sba approved $500 million in lending. next, we have the executive director of the san francisco small business office. she was in san francisco in 1986 to open the buffalo exchange limited store, and in the 13 years she worked for buffalo exchange, tennis district manager, she held her open the company from four to 11 stores. in 2009, the mayor appointed her as executive director to the office of small businesses. next, we have the ceo of opportunity funds. he has combined his background as a community organizer with an education from stanford to develop an innovative, not-for- profit financial incision that uses market principles to affect systemic change. it operates one of the nation's largest individual development, programs, a leading provider of micro loans in californ

pledge to shop small on small business saturday, it will help support your community. and that is a big deal. it's pretty big. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. at juno baby store... allen's boots... samy's camera... tag's hardware. you don't have to buy the whole store. make the pledge to shop small. please. on small business saturday. >>> independence is practically in the blood of every native vermonter. nonindependent chain stores forced a group of business people to bind together for survival. they are working to get those together to celebrate small business saturday every day. they are a piece of amare kana. >> they are all fun to walk into and explore. >> the vermont country store. most were built in the 1800s when industry made its way up to the mountains. they sold all the necessities to those living in the country. >> when this store was built, there were no cars. >> because it's a rural place, this store is the heart of the town. it's where people come together. >> today, their numb

getting customers to think small. that's all coming up next on "your business." >> small businesses are revitalizing the economy, and american express open is here to help. that's why we are proud to present "your business," on msnbc. >>> hi, there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. and welcome to "your business" where we give you tips and advice to help your business grow. on november 26th, tucked between black friday and cyber monday is the second annual small business saturday. it's a day dedicated to shopping and supporting your local small businesses. the initiative is once again being spearheaded by american express, which underwrites this program. small business saturday was officially kicked off by a shop small pop-up mall in new york city this week, where 21 local businesses gathered to launch the holiday shopping season. >> it is the most exciting day of the year for my business, actually. i have a small website, where i sell handbags and personal accessories. and i have been spreading the word about small busines

[laughter] ♪ small business, why not have a small business? cannot live my life without you take my dreams i know you will use them and money, i know you will never money lose them, a business that shines i know you will make lots of dimes. and i know you will always do good, the part, it take my business cards, and take this and go all of the way ♪ and ♪ stand tall in your small business i know you are going to make it big time, and i want you to stand tall, in your small business will not fall, and you will make business though great now, and you can, business, stand tall in your business, small make it, and you will have in all ♪ thanks. president o'brien: thank you. next speaker. >> hello, my name is michael. i am a gay bar lager -- a gay blogger, and i am here about the problems of property. the harvey milk flag is on public property. unfortunately, it is controlled by a bully. the bully is the head of the merchants of upper market. this bully recently it stopped us from having a meeting with amy brown. she is the interim city administrat

pledge to shop small on small business saturday, it will help support your community. a big deal. it's pretty big. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. at juno baby store... allen's boots... samy's camera... tag's hardware. you don't have to buy the whole store. make the pledge to shop small. please. on small business saturday. >>> one of our next guests, were it not for the resource of wood, the piano wouldn't exist. so it should come as no surprise that tree farming strikes a chord with one rock star environmentalist. chuck leavell is a highly respected piano player with the distinction of being a member in two of rock 'n' roll's greatest bands. he's a longtime key boardist for the rolling stones and he was a member of the allman brothers band during the height of their popularities. chuck also doubles as an entrepreneur and an environmentalist. he is co-founder of the environmental news and information website, the mother nature network. chuck is also author of the new book "growing a better am

on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase. one purchase is all it takes. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. allen's boots... at juno baby store. make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday. >>> have you ever tried to read a restaurant menu by the light of the small candle on your table? it can be tough. today's elevator picture came up with a way to save your appetite and eyesight. >> good morning. >> nice to meet you. >> good morning. as j.j. said, most of us have experienced in low lit venues, difficulty reading the menu or the check. this is a rechargeable l.e.d. product, the only application able to illuminate the pages. it's secure and unlocks with our little key and fits into our charger. it charges about every two to four months. the market with over 1 million u.s. full-service restaurants and bars alone is obviously wide open. then we are endorsed by the largest wine and spirits distributor in the u

these are prime contractors that work with the small firms, small contractors. again, they will sign an agreement. at times, the same small businesses outbid the prime that mentored them. we've had a number of examples of those. it's a very robust program that we have with the association of general contractors. we've signed an agreement with them and we do have the numbers there. eight construction companies and mentors that are participating in that program. it's a very good program and i'm thankful to a.g.c. for working with us and participating in that aspect of our work. >> as i mentioned, and as was mentioned earlier, we cover not just the san francisco county, but the entire nine counties of bay area, and we cover a lot of projects in our region. 155 contracts,. but any contracting that we do, this chart shows the type of work that we do to make sure that we're providing access to those contracts. we have a number of partners. a lot of money comes from the feds to us that supports our entire capital program. and we make sure that we do training. we make s

i'm the director of the office of small business. i would like to thank supervisor mirkarimi for his additional legislation and your legislation to open up and examining the complex definitions a round restaurants and giving direction and guidance to your staff. i would like to thank them for the work they have done. the commission met on monday, july 11th and following the presentation, the commission voted 6-0 to recommend adding to you to approve the restaurant consolidation and simplification as drafted. as i noted the commission previously heard supervisor mirkarimi's proposal. there has been an additional outreach about the proposed changes and we have noticed in our bulletin and in july we made it a headline banner island -- banner item. this was the highest highest sef our bulletin. i wanted to highlight that as well. in reference to my letter i submitted to you on behalf of the commission, the restaurant the zoning regulations, as noted by the video, are difficult and cumbersome for san francisco's small businesses. as in th

small businesses. we have more nonprofits that are funded through micro lending here in the city from sba programs. some are expected to be looked at for budget cuts. some will continue. but we have more of those programs in san francisco, really, in any other city in california. we also have a small business commission. that is unique. the folks who are here, who have been supporting small business for many years are the reasons why san francisco's small business community has a voice in ways that other cities and businesses in those cities do not. i think we have, in san francisco, the benefit of a lot of good resources here, some of which are here because of federal funds, some of which because folks in this room have been an advocate for small business. we are hoping the impact of tight budgets all levels still allows us to have the tools we have been able to use for small business. it is an important piece. >> [inaudible] >> there have been a cut in the budget. he wanted to know how that would cut

an update on the report of small business. update on departmentment programs and make announcements regarding small business activities. special item. >> commissioners, i will submit to you in writing mostly the directors report, just a couple of things to just note. one, i did want to say, i also wanted to thank you for your leadership and guidance. that helped staff greatly when we, you know, get direction as well from you. so the one thing i did want to address in my directors report in regards to health care ordinance and will i think this is probably a -- whether this falls under policy or under outreach and economic. but with the affordable care act going into implementation, those phases, there is going to be reporting of amounts that businesses are going to have to do. for small businesses, i don't think that kicks in until -- you know, after 2014, but it is going to have -- they are going to have to report on their w-2's the amount of expenditure they pay for an employee's health care. and i participated in the webina

guest: pretty small. you have heard some screaming and yelling from conservatives that were angry about this deal. this set spending for the year, or put a cap on it. conservatives are more interested on $1.09 trillion. some people are still upset about funding the government at those levels, and also some disaster funding they are not too thrilled with. it likely will see some yelling and screaming. that was the point of the debt limit deal, that you keep the government funding for the rest of the year and a stable level -- at a stable level. i think house republicans do not want to be dealing with this all year long. i think they found last year they got back up with a lot of these budget issues and it had the result of a hamstring the agenda. host: november 23 is the day. this is what mark warner had to say, democrat from virginia. he was part of the gang of six. >> we have tried this congressional process. we want that super committee to be successful. we think the simpson-bowles approach, that to get

pledge to shop small on small business saturday, it will help support your community.nd that is a big deal. it's pretty big. so, pick your favorite local business... and join the movement. i pledge to shop small at big top candy shop. at juno baby store... allen's boots... samy's camera... tag's hardware. you don't have to buy the whole store. make the pledge to shop small. please. on small business saturday. >>> one of our next guests says were it not for the resources of wood, the piano would not exist. it should come as no surprise tree farming strikes a chord. chuck leavell is a piano player with the distinction of being a member of two rock and roll bands. he's a pianist for the stones. he doubles as an entrepreneur and environment list. he's co-founder of the environmental news website, the mother nature network. he's author of "growing a better america, smart, strong and stable" joel is here with us, too. thanks for joining us. this is the week for us. green is universal. we are talking of all the things to do to be green. we have a lot of small businesses sayin

for a small business. half of the economy. two out of every three new private sector jobs created in our economy come from a small business. we're focused on providing access to capital to small businesses, access to the counseling and technical assistance they need to grow and access to federal contracting if that's part of their business plan. >> we already have black friday. we already have cyber monday. we have thanksgiving which has become a shopping day. what's the payoff for consumers to support the moms and pops on small business saturday? >> i'm looking forward to joining local officials on small business saturday in adams morgan, one of our great small business retail corridors and so we're going to celebrate the small businesses, draw attention to the great services and products that they provide and for consumers, the small business is really a way of spending money in your neighborhood and knowing that that money is going to help build the economy, help create jobs right where you live. >> sou

make the pledge to shop small. please. shop small on small business saturday.es. yup, yup. this feels great. that one. that one's softer. [ female announcer ] actually, it's the same t-shirt. really? but this one was washed in downy. really? that's why it was softer. it has a real soft velvety feeling. let me try again. [ female announcer ] it's like an upgrade in a bottle. divine. why spend a lot of money when you can just use downy? [ female announcer ] new ultra downy with silktouch, it's an upgrade in a bottle. it's all crossed out... it's 'cause i got everything on it. boom! thank you! [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. if you find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, smal l buyou find a lower price on a local print ad before christmas, sinesses are the smal lifeblood of our communities. on november 26th you can make a huge impact by shopping small on small business saturday. one purchase.

our small business owners. the regulatory flexibility improvements act, h r. 527, provides -- h.r. 527 provides much needed help to businesses facing an onslaught of federal regulations. it has been 15 years since congress last updated the regular willer to flexibility act of 1980. during that time, we have seen that there are weaknesses in the regulatory process that federal agencies have exploited at the determinant of small business and job creators. this bill ensures federal agencies can no longer ignore the r.f.a. job creators are the key to economic recovery. and the small businesses are america's job creators. overregulation requires the diversion of scarce capital from job creation to create regulatory compliance. i said earlier, mr. speaker, north carolina's unemployment rate is now 10.4%. this is not a statistic, this is a catastrophe. mr. chairman, mr. speaker, thank you so much for this opportunity tonight and i yield to my colleague. mr. king: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and especially than

the program is focused specifically on small business owners. the company's donated $5 million in seed money and it's soliciting donations from customers and employees. this will help fund small companies through a partnership with the opportunity finance network, a group of community development financial institutions that focus on underserved markets. i sat down with starbucks' ceo howard schultz to learn more about the campaign. thank you so much for joining us today. i'm so excited about this opportunity, and i can't wait for you to tell us a little bit more about this. you can see, i got my bracelet. >> love it. >> so tell me how you're going to be helping small businesses. and as a result, create jobs. >> well, i think before i answer that specifically, can i frame the problem for you? >> absolutely. >> it's been reported that we have 9.1% unemployment in america. that's bad enough. but the fact is, it's almost double that in the hispanic and the african-american community. in addition to that, what we've learned is that the engine for job

contract one it shows we are reaching 63% of achievement in our small businesses. 38% small businesses in contract two, which is a major $20 million utility relocation contract that was going across the presidio. our third contract is a larger bridge contract. we are meeting 35% of our goal. not as much as we want, but still we are doing good on that major job. and then the last one, we are at about 93 respect of our goal on contract four, which is a ton of contracts. those four contracts basically finish off the first half of the project. the second phase of the project, which is another $473 million, is being done under a new authority that we received, which is public-private partnership. in that public-private partnership we have hntb doing the work, and then another company with the construction, the design build, we have meridian, and the entire group is golden gate link, which is a consortium of all the outfits. flat iron are the ones you want to be watching and connecting to. those are the ones that will be doing the construction. so any support that you can provide to them, th

to shop small, to shop local. you know, black friday is the day for all the big stores, you know, for the major sales that are going on. but saturday is going to be about shopping small and supporting local businesses. >> tom: is this a good business for transactions for american express, has this been good for your transactional business? >> last year we did it for the first time and in about three weeks we were able to make about 40% of americans aware of small business saturday. and american express did make an offer to our card members that if you shop and spend $25 at a local, independently owned merchant, we'll give you a $25 credit. we're doing that again this year. last year, with american express card members we saw their spending at small businesses go up 28% on the day. so we do think we can en current our customers to shop small, and we're giving them an incentive to do just that. >> tom: as you know there's been a big debate on the regulatory side of things of interchange fees, and you speak about giv

next speaker. >> small business owner.ome to support supervisor chiu's legislation with supervisor cohen's amendment. quite frankly, small business sees 24 months as a long time, but in the interest of trying to find a compromise, the small business community has come together and supported that. we abhor those that are making surcharges and not giving back to their employees. we are as offended as everyone is by those, but we do think this addresses those issues. it is a balance. it provides notification. it provides a 24-month rollover, and we think back -- that this is something that will be good for the employees' health and keep money in the economy so we can create jobs. thank you. supervisor chiu: thank you. next speaker. >> julie fisher. i live and work in san francisco. i have worked at the same place the last 26 years. i had the good fortune to half affordable health care, and i applaud the efforts that have gone on so far to make this available to more members, working people of the city. you're supposed to toda

so today we will have greater transparency, we will have a small business -- small -- we will have small businesses in a position to use crowd funding, to fund their efforts. and also we give persons who cannot invest in a large way an opportunity to invest in a small way and hopefully enter into the capital markets for equity purposes. with this said, i thank you again and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from texas yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from north carolina. the gentleman from colorado. mr. perlmutter: i yield three minutes to mrs. maloney. the chair: the gentlelady from new york for three minutes. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentleman for yielding and his outstanding work on this bill and so many others. i first of all want to thank ranking member waters and ranking member frank for their hard work on this bill and to commend ranking member frank for his outstanding leadership on the dodd-frank regulatory reform bill. i also applaud the leadership of chairman bachus and chairman garrett and my colleague, mr. mchenry, from the grea

a store this weekend, small or large?'ll do a little shopping. buy something. >> how about that cyber monday? >> cyber monday, i might not do anything with that. i'll live a life after that. we'll try to contribute to the economy. >> fantastic. eric amado, great to see you. you can get more information from eric by going to amadoconsultingllc.com bp. >> if you're floong do most of your shopping on cyber monday, there's an important warning for your,000 protect your self and your money coming up in the newsroom. also coming up, the finish line. u.s. soldiers in iraq start crossing it into kuwait. nice, huh? yeah. you know what else is nice is all the savings you can get on cruze and traverse over there. oh! that's my beard. [ chuckles ] it's amazing. ♪ [ male announcer ] this holiday, chevy's giving more. now very well qualified lessees can sign and drive a 2012 cruze ls for around $199 a month. ♪ so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a scienc

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