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My experience at VerticalNet back in 2000 and 2001 taught me that a stronghold in a niche market does not guarantee business success. Although there may be a fat market operating in an old-fashioned mode there is no easy way to get enough of the market participants to join an online marketplace and create some needed critical mass.

The idea makes sense and no doubt their technology is awesome. But, success will hinge on whether or not they can attract a number of key industry players to the online marketplace to conduct business with it.

Having been married for over a quarter century now (you may recall seeing Walter Cronkite’s special report about us getting married before we were teenagers…) I haven’t found the need to throw my heart out there in a digital format in the hopes that I might find someone worth getting to know better. But, if I were single and looking for friendship, or perhaps love, I think I’d try Plenty of Fish.

Plenty of Fish is free. That makes it an attractive option as you can kick the tires and if you’re smart enough to be even slightly cautious with your personal details it is virtually risk-free.

This “free-ness” has led a lot of singles to register and post their digital selves. In  fact, there are more than 10 million members. This is more than the 5 largest paid dating sites combined.

If you’re single check it out. Plenty of Fish

Good luck to you in finding someone special to spend time with!

WASHINGTON – Starting today, June 15, SBA will begin accepting loans for a temporary new program called America’s Recovery Capital.  “ARC” loans of up to $35,000 are designed to provide a “bridge” for viable small businesses with immediate financial hardship – to keep their doors open until they get back on track.

“These ARC loans are another tool in the SBA toolkit which will provide critical support to small businesses struggling to make it through these tough economic times,” said Administrator Karen G. Mills.

ARC loans are deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000, available to established, viable, for-profit small busin sses that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing and qualifying business
debt. ARC loans are 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA and have no SBA fees associated with them.

ARC loans will be disbursed over a period of up to six months and will provide funds to be used for payments of principal and interest for existing, qualifying small business debt including mortgages, term and revolving lines of credit, capital leases, credit card obligations and notes payable to vendors, suppliers
and utilities. SBA will pay the interest on ARC loans to the lenders at the variable rate of Prime plus two percent.

Repayment will not begin until 12 months after the final disbursement.  After the 12-month deferral period, borrowers will pay back the loan principal over a period of five years.

ARC loans will be made by commercial lenders, not SBA directly.  For more information on ARC loans, visit www.sba.gov

For more information about all of the SBA’s programs for small businesses, call
the SBA Answer Desk at 1-800 U ASK SBA or TDD 704-344-6640, or visit the
SBA’s Web site at http://www.sba.gov.

Follow SBA announcements on twitter at http://twitter.com/smallbusinessad

The SBA (U.S. Small Business Administration) will present FREE webinars for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs through ReadyTalk. These sessions will provide information pertinent to small business owners and will share the new developments on SBA’s programs related to The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  The series is scheduled to run on selected Tuesdays at 10:00 and should last about 40 minutes with a Q & A at the end of the program.

The ReadyTalk system is a call-in and web site login system which provides an audio presentation over the phone and a video presentation over the internet.   All that is needed to participate is a computer with internet access and a phone to call a toll free number.

Select sessions include featured presenters which will include the Internal Revenue Service Officials to discuss tax incentives, Economic and Community Development Institute to discuss the Microloan Program and
KeyBank to discuss lending and vital Key programs.

• June 09, 2009 – SBA Programs – will share updates on SBA’s programs
• June 16, 2009 – Economic & Community Development Institute – discuss the Microloan Program
• June 23, 2009 – SBA Programs – will share updates on SBA’s programs
• July 07, 2009 – KeyBank – will discuss lending and Key Programs
• July 14, 2009 – SBA Programs – will share updates on SBA’s programs
• July 21, 2009 – Internal Revenue Service – will share tax incentives affecting small business

These Webinars are FREE, but you will need to make a reservation by sending an e-
mail to Shannon.Feucht[at]sba.gov . Be sure to mention which session you are
interested in attending.

Links:

• Small Business Administration Website
• Follow SBA news & announcements on Twitter: SBA
• SBA Loan Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fifteen small business owners and leaders of small
business support organizations were hailed today by the U.S. Small Business
Administration for their outstanding support of entrepreneurs.  The 15
Champion Awards were presented today in Washington, D.C., as part of the
annual observance of National Small Business Week.

The Champion Awards were presented at the Champion Award Winners
Luncheon.

“The SBA is proud to honor these men and women as true champions of small
business, whose tireless efforts have provided tangible and significant support
to small businesses and to their communities,” said SBA Administrator Karen G.
Mills.  “They provide the counseling, advice and support that small business
owners need, and foster an environment in which the spirit of entrepreneurship
can flourish.”

This year’s Champion Awards recognize winners from Arizona, Maryland,
Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin. For more detailed
information on all the winners please go to
http://www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com/ and click on Winners

The winners are:
2009 National Financial Services Champion
Marilyn Landis
President & CEO
Basic Business Concepts, Inc.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2009 National SBA Young Entrepreneurs
Stephen C. Voudouris
Christopher R. Francy
Andrew S. Voudouris
Owners
Xoxide, Inc.
Malvern, Pennsylvania

2009 National Veteran Champion
Charles M. Baker
President & CEO
MCB Lighting & Electrical & Government Logistics Solutions
Owings, Maryland

2009 National Exporter of the Year
Andrew Kruse
Executive Vice President for
Business Development
Southwest Wind Power
Flagstaff, Arizona

2009 Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year
Timothy S. Parker
President
Harbor Industries, Inc.
Grand Haven, Michigan

2009 National Home Based Business Champion
Nancy Reading, Jenny Cox
Barb McGann, Kris Simeona
Founders
Small Business Incubation Center
Cedar Edge Medical, LLC
Blanding, Utah

2009 National Small Business Journalist
Joanne Quinn Smith
President
Dreamweaver Marketing
Positively Pittsburgh Live Magazine
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2009 National Minority Champion
Eddie G. Davis
Principal
DaLite & Associates, LLC
St. Louis, Missouri

2009 National Women in Business Champion
Laurie Benson
CEO & Co-Founder
Inacom Information Systems
Madison, Wisconsin

2009 Entrepreneurial Success
Avinash Rachmale
President & CEO
Lakeshore Engineering Services, Inc.
Detroit, Michigan

For more information on Small Business Week 2009, including a schedule of events and information on all award winners, visit
www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com.

SBA: www.sba.gov

SBA on twitter: @smallbusinessad

This incident raises a few questions for me…

1 – How does ANY restaurant prevent asses from doing something like this to the food we order and assume will at least be safe to eat?

2 – How does a restaurant prevent asses like these from pulling off a similar stunt that could have a seriously adverse impact on their sales and workforce?

3 – And finally (for now) what should a company do to prevent this sort of thing from happening and if they should be attacked what should they do to recover?

My solution would be to install video cameras in their kitchens and make the video publicly available via the internet. This may go a long way towards preventing this from happening again.

Lawmakers should also draft legislation that would make tampering with food a seri0us felony, if it isn’t already, and treat violators more like terrorists than pranksters.

Please support Dominos by ordering some pizza. They didn’t deserve this.

Their are local groups in cities around the world. Making up the groups are Web developers, urban planners, sustainability designers, students, government workers. DIYcity members collaborate to help invent new ways of applying free and open technology to problems facing our urban areas today. Their aim is to reinvent their cities as places that are more efficient, more cost-effective, more sustainable, and simply more livable places to be.

This collective brainpower is channeled into three areas on DIYcity:

1. discussions, where people exchange thoughts and come up with ideas for products,
2. design, where people boil these discussions down into actual products, and
3. development, where teams of programmers build and launch DIYcity products.

The result is an open source suite of tools that residents of any city, anywhere, can plug into and use to make their area better. This toolset, as it grows, becomes an initial version of a city/resident interface. This interface is the ultimate product, and the ultimate goal, of DIYcity.

A lofty goal, but worthwhile goal indeed.

The group recently gained attention when 35 members of the Summit Series project met with the White House to discuss the economy with senior members of the Obama administration.

Earlier today they announced their Aspen Summit 2009 retreat would take place in Aspen Colorado April 2-5 with 115 attendees expected. Their focus will be on educating attendees on the power of contributing resources and idea capital to philanthropic organizations.

Guest speakers from several charities will describe their missions and strategies in an effort to stimulate some innovative thinking that can lead to greater success. Tapping into some of the sharpest entrepreneurial minds makes great sense and something that should be standard practice for nonprofits trying to rise above the noise and succeed.

For more information: Summit Series Announces Aspen Summit ‘09