uschamber.com Magazine July 2005

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• Cover Story: Accessing Capital and Credit: Study Finds Women, Minorities Face Obstacles
  A U.S. Chamber study on small business funding indicates that women and minority business owners continue to face obstacles in the critical process of acquiring credit and capital for their ventures.
• Your Voice Counts: Speak Out
  How is the economy affecting your business? Do you offer your employees health care benefits, and if so, how much are your premiums increasing? We want to know.
• In Your Backyard
  News across the nation.
• Face-Off: OSHA and Small Businesses: How Can the Relationship Be Improved?
  Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Mark Pryor debate the relationship between OSHA and small business.
• In Your Corner: Small Businesses: Engines of Growth: Chamber Chair Brings New Energy
  Recently I had the opportunity to address a hotel ballroom full of small business owners in Washington, D.C., at the Small Business Administration’s Annual Expo. I always try to energize my audiences, but in this case, my audience energized me.
• The Power of HSAs: Chamber Members Explain How They Save
  Year after year, health care costs continue to rise, forcing employers to search for options to provide affordable coverage. One cost-saving option is a High-Deductible Health Plan in coordination with a Health Savings Account (HDHP/HSA).
• U.S. Chamber Challenges Fax Ban
  If new regulations governing faxes go into effect, it could spell trouble for Lisa A. Post. As president of Edward J. Post, a New Jersey- based surety bonds insurance provider and family-owned small business, Post regularly faxes contracts back and forth.
• Maura Donahue Elected Chamber Chair: Louisiana Small Business Contractor to Focus on Health Care
  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce at its June 2005 board meeting elected a small business owner from the New Orleans area to serve as its volunteer chair until June 2006. Maura W. Donahue is a partner in a family-owned general contracting company.
• Save Time with Our Online Toolkits: Find Solutions to Your Business Challenges -- Fast!
  If you had one place to quickly access all the information you need to run a more profitable and efficient business, wouldn’t you take advantage of it?
• Legal Reform Sweeps Through States: ILR Leading Efforts in ‘Jackpot Jurisdictions’
  You’re probably aware that President Bush recently signed into law the Class Action Fairness Act--the culmination of five years of intensive lobbying by the U.S. Chamber and its members.
• Readers Respond To uschamber.com Survey
  A record 1,800 readers responded to the uschamber.com survey published in the April issue. What did they have to say? We’re pleased to report that 89% of the respondents rate uschamber.com as a valuable part of their membership.
• Success Insight: A Chamber Member’s Story: Master Communicator
  Small businesses in the advanced technology sector face a special challenge: communicating the value-added benefits of their technology to potential customers with little or no technical background.
• ECON 101: Housing: On the Bubble?
  Throughout the recent economic downturn and the early stages of the recovery, housing remained one of the true bright spots on the economic landscape.
• Small Business Matters: Replace Worry With Performance: 'Some Things Remember Themselves’
  In his book Blue Highways, William "Least Heat-Moon" Trogdon reported that his Osage Indian grandfather, William Heat-Moon, taught him this about worrying: "Some things don’t have to be remembered; they remember themselves."
• Tech Tools: Protect Customer Information: Data Security Should Be Standard
  On June 1, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a new rule under the existing Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA) that requires businesses--small and large--and individuals to dispose of sensitive information.
• Working For You: Sparking an Interest in Energy
  "Nothing ignites concern about energy like filling up at the pump," says Ron Eidshaug, director of Congressional and Public Affairs at the U.S. Chamber and an expert on energy policy.