Here are the weekly updates affecting small and medium sized businesses (SMB’S).
QuickBooks takes a shot at rival Microsoft in an effort to gain market share. Recently Intuit, (makers of QuickBooks) announced that they will allow users of their QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions software access to servers running Linux open-source. In the past users of Linux had to have a separate Windows based server to house the QBE database. By allowing the QBE dbase to run on Linux, IT professionals can cut costs in their SMB’s. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft counters this punch from Intuit.
In Congressional news, Senator John Kerry and Maria Cantwell are looking for solutions for small business owners suffering from the increase in gas prices. They will introduce legislation to establish a fuel emergency program for small firms struggling to cope with rising gas costs. Kerry and Cantwell's bill, the Small Business Emergency Fuel Assistance Act, will be offered as an amendment to H.R. 6, the CLEAN Energy Act. Their proposal would create a grant program within the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Agency that authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to issue grants to states to provide assistance for fuel-dependent small businesses in the wake of a Presidential fuel emergency declaration. Small firms and farms demonstrating need and a plan toward becoming more energy efficient would be eligible for these grants.
This will definitely be a step in the right direction for SMB’s to relieve their costs and hopefully not pass the fuel increases on to their customers. Hopefully this bill will pass.
For more information regarding these developments visit:
www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=24503
U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Keeping your Business N Synergy
www.thebricogroup.com
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