Okay, once again, I’ve dropped the ball on my monthly posts of the bills passed by the White House. The purpose for this post is to inform you of the new laws and acts enacted by Congress and President Obama. With the advent of the Internet it’s gotten easier to watch every step our government takes. And President Obama is making some nice moves to make what they do more transparent to the American people. We elect them, so we need to make sure they are doing their job. The laws I list are posted at govtrack.us, which is a nice site for checking laws in any stage their in. As always feel free to leave any additional comments.

On Jan 22, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
H.R. 4462: Small Business Act Temporary Extension. To accelerate the income tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for the relief of victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

On Jan 27, 2010, the President signed the following bill(s) into law:
S. 2949: Emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act. A bill to amend section 1113 of the Social Security Act to provide authority for increased fiscal year 2010 payments for temporary assistance to United States citizens returned from foreign countries, to provide necessary funding to avoid shortfalls in the Medicare cost-sharing program for low-income qualifying individuals, and for other purposes.

Reiterating once again his commitment to small business as the engine of our economy, the President urges Congress to move forward immediately on steps to help them expand and create jobs.  These proposals include using $30 billion in TARP funds to create a new Small Business Lending Fund to provide capital to community banks to increase lending to small businesses, offering a new tax credit for over one million small businesses that hire new workers or raise wages, and providing targeted support for the most innovative small businesses with the potential to export new goods and products.

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As the President continues to work on immediate job creation, he discusses his proposal for a new fee on the largest financial institutions to ensure that every cent of taxpayer assistance gets paid back. Saying that, “we’re not going to let Wall Street take the money and run,” he then discusses the ongoing push to make sure banks can never put our economy at risk again.

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Scholarship Name: NAACP – Earl G. Graves Scholarship – 2010

Scholarship Value: up to $ 5000

Classifications: College Junior, College Sophomore, Graduate Student

Minimum GPA: 2.5

For more scholarship opportunities, visit blackstudents.com

Eligible Majors: Business, International Business

Eligible Schools: Open for 4 Year Colleges Only

Application Deadline: Sunday, March 07, 2010

How to Apply : Apply Online

Scholarship Detail:

This competition opens on Jan 4, 2010.

Applicants must be sophomores or juniors at the time of application, enrolled in accredited colleges or universities majoring in Business or graduate studenst enrolled or accepted to a master’s or doctoral program within a Business school in an accredited college or university in the United States (Applicants may apply during their sophomore year).

Applicant must currently be in good academic standing and making satisfactory progress toward and undergraduate or graduate degree.

Applicant must be in the top 20% of his/her class. Applicants do not need to demonstrate financial need.

Required Materials:

1. Three letters of recommendations (one personal, two academic references from the business school of the accredited college.) Letters of recommendations must be written on official letterheadand – must be directly uploaded to the online application by the recommenders.
2. Recent official transcript and evidence of fulltime enrollment – must be mailed to UNCF by the program deadline.
3. Essay – must be directly uploaded to the online application by the applicants.

**Please also open and read the attached document above for more instructions and information about the NAACP scholarship applications.

Members of the National NAACP Board of Directors, SCF Trustees, National Youth Work Committee, the NAACP Scholarship Selection Committee, employees and their spouses or families to the first degree of consanguinity are not eligible to apply for or receive this scholarship.

It’s hard to believe it’s already 2010. But we’re here and there are still new things in store for this blog. When I started blogging, the main goal was to share information and hopefully open up dialogue on issues that affect the black community. I think I did that in some way this year, but it wasn’t to the extent that I’d done in previous years.

The goal for this year is to continue on the track of keeping the site informative. I plan on opening it up to others who are interested in sharing their point of view with the readers of this site. There are some talented, well-written people out there and I want to showcase them and get some real discussions going.

Late in the year, when I got swamped with projects for work, I fell off the blogging scene for a couple of weeks. Blogging can be a daunting task and coming up with things to write about can be time consuming (especially when it isn’t one of my strengths). So this year, I’m going to solicit your help. If you or someone you know are interested in blogging, but don’t want to manage their own site, email me at info @ theotalks.net. I’m always in need of someone to write and it usually turns out to be a win-win situation for both parties.

This year, I also want to focus more on minority small businesses. In these turbulent economic times, a lot of people are turning to owning their own business. I think that’s great, so I decided to start a list of some of my favorite small businesses. I’ll be highlighting small business owners throughout the year, so contact me if you’re interested in participating.

Finally, here are some websites that you need to keep an eye on for 2010. I’ll be blogging a lot about them and hope to be visible on most of them as time permits. Check them out when you get the chance:

• Liberate Magazine
• Tech Relations Firm
• Dallas South News
• Barter My Biz

Have a Happy New Year and God Bless!

I received this in an email, so I’m not sure how good it will be. But it does sound pretty interesting.

The IRS is changing the rules and raising the fees… so we just want to give you one last chance to register for Kill the Myths & Make Money Pursuing Your Passion:  How & Why to Build a Thriving Nonprofit Organization.  This is the last opportunity for this webinar before the IRS makes its move!  Don’t miss it!

- Do you want to start a nonprofit organization but think it means you can’t make money?

- Do you have a passion to serve the community but don’t know how to turn your ideas into profits?

- Do you want to know where the money is and how to get it?

- Want to know how to build a thriving 501(c)(3) organization?

Nonprofit DOES NOT MEAN no money!

Learn the nuts, bolts and much, much more, including:

- What is the difference between a not-for-profit corporation, a tax-exempt organization, and a limited liability company (LLC)?

- What are the funding source?

- How to build wealth in a tax-exempt organization?

- How to turn your community service passion into profits?

- Where is the money to fund your ideas?

Despite our current economic environment, there is still money out there to fund your organization… you just have to know how and where to find it!

We will dispel the myths, misconceptions and mindsets that hinder you from succeeding and building a thriving organization (“We can’t do that as a nonprofit…”).  Whether you lead a nonprofit, are thinking about starting one, or work for one… this webinar is for you.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST

Sign Up Here

It’s been a long time coming, but I finally got around to setting up my own personal business directory. Small businesses are the backbone of this country and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to keep it alive. The list of businesses I’ve compiled are ones that I’ve used or know the owner. I also look at customer service and quality of product/service because that’s what determines whether or not I want to continue to do business with them.

For those instances where I haven’t been able to use their service, I usually know the owner in some way and base it on how I’ve seen them manage  their company. I try to keep it professional and add only those I know are serious about their business. I don’t receive any free products or kickbacks from this. It’s all about showing some love to a hard-working business owner, no strings attached. We need more of this and I hope this list in some way inspires other to do something similar. I will continue to add to the list and would like to hear comments from those who use them.

If you are a business owner and would like to showcase your business, I’d recommend you check out Liberate Magazine. It’s an online magazine for entrepreneurs that allows them  to “tell their stories” and present the vast opportunities in life to create independent living through entrepreneurship. To get started, submit your answers to The Liberate 10 questions and the editors will get back to you if your request is approved.

The President explains that while he continues to focus on jobs, it is also profoundly important to address the problems that created this economic mess in the first place. He commends the House of Representatives for passing reforms to our financial system, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and blasts Republican Leaders and financial industry lobbyists for their joint “pep rally” to defeat it.

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UNCF Social Entrepreneurship (USE) is a new leadership and talent development initiative aimed at providing dynamic programs to equip young high-achieving African Americans with the skills and resources to make on-going and expanding social impact through entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurs are society’s change agents. They use entrepreneurial and business principles and an innovative spirit to seize opportunities others miss to improve systems, invent new approaches and create data-driven, outcomes-based solutions to overcome large social problems. Where a business entrepreneur looks for profit as the ultimate goal, a social entrepreneur’s bottom line is to solve social challenges.

The first USE program is the:
UNCF/The Walton Family Foundation Social Entrepreneurship K-12 Education Fellows Program

PAID BUSINESS INTERNSHIPS IN SOCIAL ENTREPRISE
UP TO $10,000 IN POST-GRADUATION FINANCIAL AID

The USE K-12 Education Fellows Program is aimed at building a robust pipeline of African Americans engaged in K-12 educational entrepreneurship. Fellows will learn about the inner workings of some of the nation’s leading educational organizations, including Teach for America, by working on meaningful projects in growth strategy, development, human assets, marketing, public affairs and diversity, among others. Fellows will be placed in organizations located in Boston, New York or Washington.

Apply now to become a USE Fellow!
Deadline: December 15, 2009

While there is nothing to celebrate until job numbers turn around, the President cites the recent dramatic turnaround in gross domestic product as a sign of better things to come. He also applauds the fact that the Recovery Act has now created or saved more than a million jobs.

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