Small Business News #4

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It’s difficult to keep track of small business news, as you have a business to run yourself.  That’s why we compile some of the biggest small business news stories from all over the web, allowing you to easily and conveniently stay updated.

How New Health Care Plan Could Affect Your Business

According to an Inc.com report, “The healthcare reform…will bring drastic changes to the way small businesses buy and supply health insurance.”  Below are some key points from the report.

• By 2014, states must set up Small Business Health Options Programs, essentially purchasing pools where small businesses can club together to buy insurance.

-          Companies that outgrow the size limit will be grandfathered in.

• Companies with fewer than 50 workers won’t face penalties if they don’t offer insurance.
• Companies with 25 or fewer employees and a work force with an average pay of up to $40,000, can get tax credits to help buy insurance.
• Full credits will be available for the smallest firms with the lowest-paid workers (10 or fewer employees and average yearly wages of less than $25,000).
• Most of the provisions of the $940 billion legislation won’t kick in until 2014.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans Increase in Popularity

An Employee Stock Ownership Plan is a plan that allows employees to own stock in the company they work for.  According to BusinessWeek, this method has increased in popularity, mostly as a result of the recession. “ESOPs have become a more appealing way for owners to cash out their equity because the downturn has lowered what most companies would fetch in a merger or acquisition,” said Jude Anne Carluccio, a partner in the Minneapolis law office of Barnes & Thornburg and chairwoman of the firm’s ESOP Practice Group (BusinessWeek).

*There were 11,400 ESOPs in the U.S. in early 2009, up about 400 over 2008 and 800 over 2007 (National Center for Employee Ownership).

What’s Your News?

What’s new with your small business?  Feel free to leave a comment below.