First QTR

New SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler Outlines Priorities The Small Business Administration will empower small businesses and fuel economic growth, says Kelly Loeffler, new SBA Administrator.... more Honeywell Survey Looks at Retail AI Plans A recent survey concludes that most retailers believe AI will help their business stay competitive by improving employee job satisfaction and the customer experience.... more Meta Introduces Ads in Threads Meta announces testing the addition of ads to its Threads platform, enabling consumers to have a personalized experience, and businesses to manage brand safety.... more Shopify Gets Many Updates To help businesses focus on sales, customers, and innovation, Shopify announces 150 new updates, including to account features, product bundles, and financial management.... more Kelly Loeffler Picked to Lead Small Business Administration Former Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler is nominated by President-Elect Trump to be the 29th Administrator of the Small Business Administration and is expected to be confirmed soon.... more With 78% of SMBs Embracing AI, Picsart Launches New Logo Maker With its survey finding that 80 percent of business owners says branding is critical to their growth, Picsart launches a new AI- powered logo maker for small businesses.... more

Second QTR

SBA Launches Onshoring Portal A new tool to help small businesses identify US manufacturers and producers is launched by the SBA with its free Onshoring Portal.... more Zoom Announces Workplace for Frontline to Support Mobile-First Shift Workers Zoom Workplace for Frontline unlocks agentic Zoom AI Companion skills for frontline workers and managers which includes features for on-shift communications and work management.... more SBA Announces Measures to Stop Fraud The SBA announces new citizenship and date-of-birth verification methods to prevent fraudulent loan recipients, and to ensure that loans only go to eligible US small businesses.... more SBA Announces Made in America Manufacturing Initiative The Small Business Administration announces a new manufacturing initiative to empower small businesses by restoring US economic dominance and national security.... more Verizon Business Announces GenAI Assistant for Small Businesses A new AI tool from Verizon helps small businesses offer faster and more efficient customer interactions by providing instant text responses and by learning and improving over time.... more BrightLocal Study Looks at How Online Reviews Impact Consumer Decisions A recent survey shows that even if consumers do not feel like sharing their own reviews, they read both positive and negative online reviews to form their opinions.... more

Third QTR

Shopify Launches Summer Upgrades With new product launches and feature updates, Shopify allows apps and agents to search real-time product data and display relevant products for businesses of all sizes.... more

First QTR

Slack Survey: Many Owners Think This Is a Make or Break... With inflation and economic conditions continuing to worry small business owners in 2024, a survey shows that many hope their 2023 improvements will continue to pay off.... more SBA Announces ‘Empower to Grow’ to Aid Small Disadvantaged Businesses with... The SBA announces improvements to its 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program to update its core services and advance equity in federal procurement.... more Yelp Updates Aim to Enhance Connections between Consumers and Local Businesses Celebrating its 20th year, Yelp announces new AI powered business summaries to help consumer decision-making and AI powered smart budgets to optimize business ad spending.... more Paychex Survey: Small Business Wage Growth Continues Downward Trend A recent survey finds that the rate of hourly earnings growth continued to decline at U.S. small businesses in 2023, although the number of jobs continued to grow.... more Software Advice Survey: Sixty-Eight Percent of Small Business Retailers See Above... A recent survey shows retail shrink is increasing due to theft and other factors, and businesses need to address it with increased technology for inventory management and security.... more SBA Shares Progress in Small Business Lending With lending increases in its microloan, 7(a), and Section 504 loan programs, the SBA heralds its progress in assisting small and minority-owned businesses.... more

Second QTR

Faire Survey- Americans Willing to Spend Extra $2K This Year on... Also, the majority of Gen Z and millennials want to support their local independent businesses and help them thrive by shopping there more, spending more, and even traveling further.... more Slack Survey Looks at Accelerating AI Use in the Workplace As AI usage increases in the workplace, businesses have still not implemented instructional guidelines because of concerns about data security and accuracy.... more SBA Launches Investing in America Small Business Hub SBA announces a new Hub to help small businesses connect to resources, funding opportunities, and support in the new Investing in America agenda.... more Meta Adds More Ways to Reach Customers Facebook parent, Meta, adds more video options and AI tools to its Advantage Suite for businesses, increasing the capability to personalize ads and optimize sales performance.... more GoDaddy Survey: 75% of Entrepreneurs Believe Generative AI Gives Them an... Entrepreneurs increasingly embrace GenAI, foreseeing competitive advantages. GoDaddy’s survey reveals rapid adoption and optimism for AI’s potential in small businesses.... more GoDaddy Launches New AI tool to Save Small Business Owners Time With its new artificial intelligence tool, Airo, GoDaddy will help small businesses establish their online presences and appeal to new customers.... more

Third QTR

SBA to Host Small Business Cyber Summit The SBA announces its third annual summit, designed to equip small businesses with tools and resources to combat cybersecurity risks.... more SBA Launches Business Resilience Guide Advice and resources for disaster preparation by small businesses, including best practices and template forms, are offered in a new Business Resilience Guide from the SBA.... more Alignable: Business Owners Struggle with Rent A recent study shows that small business owners are struggling with revenue losses and high interest rates, resulting in record rental delinquency rates, despite the reported decline in inflation.... more Allstate/ US Chamber of Commerce Study Finds Investing in Resilience Saves... A recent study shows how prior investments in disaster resiliency programs and resources can result in substantial economic savings and enable local economies to rebound... more Salesforce Adds Lists Feature to Slack for Project and Task Management Salesforce integrates project and task management into Slack with new Lists feature, streamlining collaboration and boosting productivity in teams.... more Zoom Looks to Improve Team Productivity and Collaboration with AI With the availability of its new AI Companion, Zoom provides users with additional communications features that can be used in the office, at home, or on the go.... more

Fourth QTR

CNBC and SurveyMonkey Survey Looks at Small Business Confidence Post- Election Small business confidence reaches its highest level since 2018, according to a post-election survey.... more Okta: Two-thirds of U.S. SMBs Cite Financial Loss, Trust Damage as... Cyberattacks, outranked only by inflation and interest rates as a concern of small businesses, are having a big impact on the mental health and morale of owners and their employees.... more Dropbox Launches AI Search Tool Dash for Business Dropbox announces its new AI-powered search tool, designed to make it easier for business employees to search and share content from across connected apps.... more SBA Finalizes Rule to Lower Costs for Small Businesses The SBA adopts a new rule easing debt refinancing under the 504 Loan program, allowing small business owners to access more affordable capital for expansion or to grow their business.... more Nationwide Finds One Quarter of Small Business Owners Have Been Targeted... A survey shows that small business owners are underestimating the cost and impact of cyberattacks, even as more admit to having experienced threats from generative AI scams.... more Google Says New Updates Can Help Businesses with Holiday Shopping Season Users of Google’s new Merchant Center can now see shopping trends ranked by popularity, and organized by topic and product, along with insight summaries and custom data sets.... more