The government wants to create new jobs. Most new jobs come from small businesses. Logic might suggest that the government should support small businesses, yet that’s proven hard to do in practice. Why? And, are there better ways for the government to encourage businesses to hire more people?

Anthony Fraccia hoped that offering a job in Michigan at his small business — a part-time position that would become full-time depending on performance — he'd get plenty of applicants. But one potential employee who called told him they wouldn't take the job because "I make more on unemployment." It took a minute for it all to sink in, but it left Fraccia wondering if extending unemployment benefits was actually bad for business.

Are small businesses hiring again? Detroit Power and Light owner Will Laneski is, and he explains why.

Stocks surged on Monday, following an announcement from the National Bureau for Economic Research that the recession has been over since June of 2009. 

You can be forgiven if this comes as news to you — it's come as news to many people, not least the small business owners who've been struggling to survive in an economy where credit is tight, health care costs are high, and consumers and investors remain skittish.

The small business bill championed by President Obama and Democratic legislators is — after months of languishing in the Senate — moving through Congress. Expected to be easily passed by the House, the aid package includes $12 billion in tax breaks as well as $30 billion in government-backed loans for small businesses. Proponents estimate it may create as many as 500,000 jobs.

Census Data from the years 2002 - 2007 show that the number of minority owned businesses in the US rose by 46 percent during those five years, to about 5.8 million. That's nearly twice the national rate for all businesses during that time.

Retail giant Sam's Club will begin offering loans of up to $25,000 to members who are small business owners. The division of Wal-Mart Store Inc. is teaming up with Superior Financial Group, one of 13 federally licensed nonbank lenders for the program. Already, nearly half of Sam's Club members are small-business owners who account for more than half of the store's revenue. The store says that 15 percent of those members say they have been denied loans from other lenders in the past. 

The White House is taking steps to help small businesses secure loans, but while they wait, those businesses are finding creative ways to stay afloat. The White House recently launched a $21 million program this week to help banks make loans to small businesses. This comes more than a year after President Obama proposed to allocate $15 billion (with a 'b') from the federal bailout specifically for this purpose. Getting even this relatively small amount of money out the door proved a struggle for the White House, as the administration tries to pass more legislation to help small businesses.

Today, we take our inspiration from the Girl Scouts. Across much of the country, Girl Scout cookie selling (and for some, eating) season is winding down. And if you’re like us, that means you’ve stockpiled boxes and boxes of Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, and Samoas.

Watch a video of the girl scout cookie smackdown!

Have you ever thought of turning your daydreams into a business? The economic climate may be stormy, but now might be the perfect time to do it − depending on where your interests lie. Justin Jones-Fosu, leadership trainer and host of WEAA's "Listen Up!" explains.

UPDATED: 8:35 p.m. 

Alex Goldmark here on the holiday night shift. 

Tomorrow we'll continue our ongoing effort to understand as many ripple effects of the Haitian earthquake as possible. We will hear from two doctors, one of them Haitian-American, about the strains and stresses on the medical community and the medical workers administering necessary care in the battered country. 

On an uplifting note, it is Mardi Gras time. We'll get Grammy award winning musician Terence Blanchard to tell us about his favorite carnival time music. Good listening will abound. 

 

In his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed to spend $30 billion to help small businesses weather the tough economy. This is the latest move by the administration to support small business owners, but has any of these plans materialized into practical help? We put the question to small business owners in different parts of the country.

At last week's White House Jobs Summit, small business owners from across the country pressed President Obama on dozens of issues related to the economic downturn. Credit, though, was a central issue: The credit crunch has prevented thousands of businesses from obtaining loans to expand, shift gears, or even just fund day-to-day operations. Today, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley will unveil a strategy intended to help small business owners get credit. One such business owner, Dawn P. Jackson, is the owner of NuDawn Marketing Group in Maryland and president of Women Business Owners of Prince George's Country. Dawn hoped to expand her small marketing business, but she has been discouraged from applying for credit after several banks told her that she was unlikely to get any. Maryland's Secretary of Commerce, Christian Johannson, joins us with a preview of what the governor's plan entails.

Today, on what's marketed as “the biggest shopping day of the year,” we check in with two small business owners facing their first Black Friday: Michael Sclafani, who operates the Park Delicatessen skateboard, flower, and dry goods store in Brooklyn, New York; and Julie Lapier, who owns a Dresscode, a consignment shop in Plattsburgh, New York.

We also chat with Spencer Ante, Businessweek writer and author of "Creative Capital," about the the rise of entrepreneurship in a recession.

A wave of obesity blamed (at least in part) on kids slurping cheap slushies and scarfing chips from local convenience stores has the Los Angeles City Council considering an unusual proposal: limiting the development of new corner stores in South L.A. Is the council's proposed moratorium a smart way to address a public health epidemic? Or is it an unfair attack on the convenient storefronts that serve low-income neighborhoods, where big chain grocery stores don't dare to enter?

We speak to public health expert Dr. Deborah Cohen; Lark Galloway-Gilliam, the executive director of a nonprofit health policy and education organization in South Los Angeles; and Jeff Lenard, the spokesperson for the National Association of Convenience Stores.

One of the largest lenders in the country to small businesses, CIT Group, may be headed for collapse. CIT is working to present restructuring plans to federal regulators by the end of today. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story joins us with the details.

With so much talk about the ailing economy, it may not seem like the best time to start a new business,  but in our weekly work segment we look at some reasons why it might make sense to do it now. Takeaway contributor Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance In Your Twenties and Thirties, joins us with two entrepreneurs who are doing well in the recession: Marva Allen, co-owner of Hue-Man Bookstore in New York, and Jo-Ellen Stammen, who runs her own design business. ...(continue reading)

This week we’re marking our one-year anniversary by checking in the people who have helped us understand the lives behind the numbers on the news. Real people with real stories about every issue from the Presidential campaign to the impact of the housing crisis to the state of the economy. Laura Richards is one of the voices we heard earlier this year. She owns two California Tortilla restaurant franchises in Maryland. We met her in October when small businesses were the canaries in the economic coalmine. At the time Ms. Richards was hoping to expand her franchise, just as credit was freezing. She joins us from Annapolis with an update.

The Takeaway is looking at the economy through the eyes, webcams and cell phones of Americans. Watch the stories and add your own.

This week we’re marking The Takeaway's one-year anniversary by checking in the people who have been, in many ways, the backbone of the show. We’re not talking about the newsmakers, we’re talking about the folks who have been living the news. From the plummeting economy to the Presidential election, we’re returning to those who gave these big national headlines a very real and personal voice. We’re kicking off the conversation with entrepreneur Jim Svetz. We first met him last September. He was the CEO of Muddy Cup, a small coffee house franchise in upstate New York. He was dealing with hostile bankers, an uneasy partner, and customers who had financial jitters. And back then economists weren’t even confident that we were in a recession. Jim joins us from Beacon, New York with an update.

We also are checking back with Jesse Acosta, a student in the Class of 2009 at the Yale School of Management. As a veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars he is used to surviving in tough times. And all his hard work has paid off, because he has a job lined up for next year. He joins us with his take on the mood on campus.

The Takeaway is looking at the economy through the eyes, webcams and cell phones of Americans. Watch the stories and add your own.

In order to save a few bucks, we've all tried our hands at Do It Yourself projects and in these trying economic times we will all probably try again. These DIY projects may be helping prop up the economy, but now how you might expect. Teresa Guidet says that failed DIY projects booster her thriving business. Guidet runs an upholstery business in Barry County Michigan, where, from time to time, she ends up taking over the abandoned projects of well-intentioned do-it-yourself-ers, who try reupholstering their old couches and dining room chairs instead of buying news ones.