Small Business

At $10.74 an hour, San Francisco already has the nation's highest big city minimum wage. But it could soon have company, as labor and community activists in cities from Richmond to Sunnyvale push wage increases that could turn the Bay Area into a high-wage hub.

A group of small business owners and politicians gathered at the Cullman, Alabama, Area Chamber of Commerce Friday to hear Governor Robert Bentley's pledge to bring more assistance to locally owned shops.

Network Management Group, Inc. provides consulting, technology solutions, systems and related services to public and private sector clients throughout the United States. The MSP Mentor 200 award is annually identified by Nine Lives Media's North America edition.

Competition for talent, capital and economic clout drives cities to build and maintain resilient urban communities.

The Marcum Commercial Construction Index for the first quarter of 2014 shows that extreme winter weather conditions suppressed nonresidential construction activity during the period, with spending declines in all three months of the period. The index predicts a return to expansion during the remainder of the year, however.

Small business optimism increased in April, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The group's April index rose 1.8 points to a post-recession high of 95.2. The economy continues to perform modestly and April’s index followed suit as it crossed the 95 marker for the first time since 2007. Seven Index components improved, one was unchanged and 2 fell.

Burning the candle at both ends, an Oregon couple is now experiencing the sweet smell of success. Husband-and-wife team Billy Taylor and Brook Harvey-Taylor, the founders of Portland, Ore. based company – Pacifica, have been named today this year’s National Small Business Persons of the Year at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), National Small Business Week awards ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Intuit announced late Wednesday that it has acquired Invitco. The Australia-based company is the developer of Invitbox, an online system for managing accounts payable. Intuit is the company behind QuickBooks, TurboTax, Quicken, Mint and many other small business and financial management systems.