Economic Development


World Bank Turns To Aiding Small Companies

Oct 1, 1981

When the World Bank lends money at favorable interest rates, it usually goes to support massive industrial, hydroelectric, or agricultural projects. Now,...  Read story

Washington Report: The Eda Loan Sell-off

Mar 1, 1983

Small businesspeople often applaud when Reagan Administration officials talk about "privatizing" parts of the federal government, bureaucratese for return...  Read story

Community Development Corporations

Community development corporations (CDCs) are locally based nonprofit organizations that work to help the residents of impoverished areas to improve their...  Read story

U.S. Department of Commerce

The Department of Commerce, which was established in 1903, is one of the main government agencies intended to assist businesses—large and small—and re...  Read story

Getting It Together

By Edward F. Morrison |  Aug 1, 1985

In "Unlimited Partners," Joel Kotkin identifies an important facet of the strategy for companies that compete in increasingly volatile and sophisticated m...  Read story

Goernment Taketh;

By Ellen Wojahn |  Sep 1, 1986

CAN A LOCAL GOVERNMENT USE its eminent domain power to crush a business deal and keep jobs from leaving town? For better than 30 years, eminent doma...  Read story

Bootstrap Banking

By DAVID OSBORNE |  Aug 1, 1987

For decades, the federal government has tried in vain to bring entrepreneurship to the poor. Now, a small Chicago bank may have found the answer in -- of all...  Read story

A Little Help from the Government

By Bruce G. Posner |  Jul 1, 1991

Types of government financing and tips on how to find them.  Read story

Tapping the 'Microlenders'

By Bruce G. Posner |  Nov 1, 1992

New Small Business Administration pilot program helps business owners with restricted access to capital.  Read story

Seed Capital, Part II: More Microlending

By Alessandra Bianchi |  Dec 1, 1993

Nonprofits organizations are providing microloans through a SBA program geared to qualified entrepreneurs.  Read story

Behind the Boom in Microloans

By Bruce G. Posner |  Apr 1, 1994

What are microloans and who's making them? Information on SBA's microlending program and a microenterprise directory.  Read story

QA: The Lowdown on Microloans

By Jill Andresky Fraser |  Feb 1, 1996

Two microloan experts answer some often asked questions about microloans.  Read story

2005 Budget Axes Funding for Microloans

By Jessalyn Swindoll

April 2004 -- The Bush administration's budget for 2005 does not include funding for the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Micro...  Read story

Microlending Offers Opportunity for Financial Start-ups

By Michael Aneiro

Dec. 14, 2004 --As microfinance continues to emerge as a means of alleviating poverty in developing countries, it has also become an attra...  Read story

Foreign Investment Hits Record High

By Max Chafkin |  Jun 27, 2005

June 27, 2005 --American investment in foreign economies skyrocketed in 2004, as U.S. companies looked to opportunities in developing coun...  Read story

Singapore, New Zealand, U.S. Top World Business Rankings

By Leslie Taylor |  Sep 12, 2006

A new World Bank report ranks nations based on ease of starting a business and other factors.  Read story

Entrepreneurs Boost Economies in Developing World

Sep 14, 2007

A recent survey of 84 countries conducted by the World Bank found a significant relationship between economic development and entrepreneurial activity aro...  Read story

Dossier: Trade Secrets

By Emily Barker |  Aug 1, 2002

Stephanie Black's film Life and Debt challenges a political position that many CEOs support.  Read story

Entrepreneurs to Benefit from Buffett Windfall

By Ryan McCarthy |  Aug 1, 2006

Warren Buffett's blockbuster gift of about $31 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is great news for aspiring business owners in the developin...  Read story

Concrete Tips for Urban Pioneers

By Bobbie Gossage |  May 1, 2004

What to keep in mind if you do business in the inner city.  Read story

High-Risk Loans--From a Nonprofit

By Elaine Appleton Grant |  Jun 1, 2007

Community funds are filling a gap.  Read story

Let the (Political) Games Begin

By Norm Brodsky |  Jun 1, 2005

What do you do when the government wants to replace your business with a big swimming pool?  Read story

World Bank Blues

By Darren Dahl |  Mar 1, 2006

Bernard van der Lande built his business on getting World Bank contracts. Then the rules seemed to change.  Read story

How to Shake Djibouti

By Rod Kurtz |  Nov 1, 2003

The U.N. declares that nation- and business-building are related.  Read story

How to Secure a Microloan

By Elizabeth Wasserman |  Nov 1, 2009

Advice for small businesses on what to expect when applying for a microloan, including finding a microlender, document preparation, and loan repayment.   Read story

Report Casts Doubt on Giving Small Loans to Poor Entrepreneurs

By Angus Loten |  Jul 6, 2007

Global microfinance programs may not help reduce overall poverty in the developing world, new research shows.  Read story

Republican Richard Thornburgh

Jul 1, 1987

A popular governor worries that while his party feuds over ideological concerns, Democrats will steal away with the issues of economic growth  Read story

Why Loans Won't Save the Poor

By L. Servon |  Apr 1, 1996

Two labor and urban affairs experts explain why microlending programs don't solve all the problems of the disadvantaged.  Read story

Lawmakers Assail SBA's Proposed Budget

By Angus Loten |  Feb 9, 2007

Democrats contend that President Bush is shortchanging the Small Business Administration.  Read story

State Of Emergency

By Julia Homer |  Oct 1, 1984

What Washington needed was swift, dramatic action. What it got was a commission.  Read story

Banking: The Microloan Alternative

By Jill Andresky Fraser |  Feb 1, 1996

A small-business owner explains how she received a microloan and what it took to secure it.  Read story

Capitol Ideas

By Joel Kotkin and Greg Critser |  Oct 1, 1985

Entrepreneurs take note: When it comes to economic development, the serious business isn't getting done in Washington, D.C., these days.  Read story

Resources

By Inc Staff |  May 15, 1997

A guide to more information on subjects covered in the Inc. magazine special issue: The State of Small Business 1997.  Read story

Fed Halts Interest-Rate Hikes

Aug 8, 2006

To help stave off inflation, the Federal Reserve voted against an increase for the first time in two years.  Read story

The Greening Of New Mexico

By Sharon Frederick |  Apr 1, 1982

Small business diversity could be the key to fast but sensible growth for the "Land of Enchantment" in the '80s.  Read story

Fast Lane

By Kenneth B. Lucas |  Jun 1, 1987

David L. Birch's "The Q Factor" ("Metro Report," April) ignores the importance of ground transportation to economic growth. Birch mistakenly claims that T...  Read story

Preparing for a Financial Crisis

By Roberto Newell |  Jul 1, 2002

Companies can do much to avoid falling victim to sudden national financial emergencies. Although the tally of such events is rising, many businesses remain u...  Read story

Eminent Domain Ruling Sparks Debate

By Matthew Phan |  Jul 12, 2005

July 12, 2005 --A backlash of legislation from both the House and the Senate related to the topic of eminent domain highlights the opposin...  Read story

Economic Growth Slows to Four-Year Low

Apr 27, 2007

April 27, 2007 -- A weaker housing market kept economic growth over the first quarter to its slowest pace in nearly four years, the Comme...  Read story

Private Sector Teams Up

By Sue Doroff |  Apr 1, 1986

We read with interest your article on state governments replacing the federal government in promoting and advancing economic development efforts ("Capitol...  Read story