Small Business Strategies & Ideas That Work!Business Know-how Blog.

  CrowdStreet is a leading online real estate investing platform. To date, we've launched more than 470 deals, including both individual assets and funds. Some of the world's largest sponsors, including Greystar and Harbor Group International, have used CrowdStreet to raise capital. Since 2014, our investor community has committed more than $1.65 billion in investments and earned nearly $200 million in distributions.    SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW Real estate is a valuable part of any well-diversified investment strategy and commercial real estate (CRE) offers unique value to investors. Through our Marketplace, accredited investors have access to institutional-quality real estate investment opportunities across every asset class and risk profile, allowing them to build a portfolio tailored to their goals. Just like they can pick individual stocks and bonds, investors can pick individual deals on the CrowdStreet Marketplace. A dire...

  Inflation and employment remain well below the Federal Reserve’s goals, meaning easy monetary policy is likely to stay in place, central bank Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday. SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW Despite a sharp rise this year in bond yields that has accompanied heightened concern over inflation, Powell said price pressures remain mostly muted and the economic outlook is still “highly uncertain.” “The economy is a long way from our employment and inflation goals, and it is likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved,” the Fed chief said in prepared remarks for the Senate Banking Committee. He added that the Fed is “committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy and to help ensure that the recovery from this difficult period will be as robust as possible.” SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW Markets pared losses after the release of Powell’s remarks though major averages remained negative across the board. Treasury y...

  Studies have found that the field is plagued by a singular problem of gender bias. The latest evidence comes from the types of questions posed at seminars. SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW A few years ago, the economists Alicia Sasser Modestino and Justin Wolfers sat at the back of a professional conference and watched Rebecca Diamond, a rising star in their field, present her latest research on inequality. Or at least she was meant to present it — moments after she began her talk, the audience began peppering her with questions. “She must have gotten 15 questions in the first five minutes, including, ‘Are you going to show us the data?’” Dr. Modestino recalled. It was an odd, even demeaning question — the session was in the data-heavy field of applied microeconomics. of course  she was going to show her data. SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW Later that morning, Dr. Modestino and Dr. Wolfers watched as another prominent economist, Arindrajit Dube, presented a paper on th...

The city of Seattle is accepting applications through the end of the month for $4 million in a new round of Small Business Stabilization Fund grants. Demand is sure to be high. This spring, when the fund was launched to make $10,000 grants to small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, more than 9,000 businesses applied, and the Office of Economic Development awarded grants through drawings. To date the city provided 469 small businesses with grants, and one recipient, Belltown art gallery Phylogeny Contemporary at 2718 Elliott Ave., has really benefited, said owner Lori Johns. On Tuesday as she was preparing for the gallery's next exhibition, "The Land of Dissenting Boundaries," by La Vaughn Belle. Johns said she used the grant money to buy supplies for the show, which opens Nov. 28. "This money is not only going into my business, it's going into other local businesses," Johns said. Small businesses are the backbone of Seattle, Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a s...

The J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study reveals it is at a record high during the pandemic. This is taking place even though customers are having less access to branch offices, a remote workforce, and the administration of the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by banks. SIGN UP ON AMAZON WEDDING LIST NOW Overall, the study says the performance in the small business sector is strong. However, there is a  gap between the satisfaction of smaller businesses and their larger small business associates. The J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study reveals it is at a record high during the pandemic. This is taking place even though customers are having less access to branch offices, a remote workforce, and the administration of the $669 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by banks. Overall, the study says the performance in the small business sector is strong. However, there is a gap...

  According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Quarterly Survey of Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations, mortgage loan originations were 47 percent lower in the third quarter compared to a year ago, and increased 12 percent from the second quarter of 2020. "Borrowing and lending backed by commercial and multifamily mortgages remained subdued during the third quarter," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research. "Every major property type and capital source recorded a decline compared to last year's third quarter. Originations backed by industrial and multifamily properties saw smaller declines than other property types, with multifamily lending buoyed by loans made for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA." ORIGINATIONS DECREASE 47 PERCENT IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 2020 All property types showed a decline in the third quarter in commercial/multifamily lending volumes when compared to the third quarter of ...

The Dutch government says it wants to impose a curfew as part of beefed-up restrictions to rein in the spread of a new more contagious coronavirus variant that already accounts for at least one in 10 Dutch infections. THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government wants to impose a curfew as part of beefed-up restrictions to rein in the spread of a new more contagious virus variant that already accounts for at least one in 10 Dutch infections.   Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Wednesday that his government also will ban flights from the U.K., South Africa and South America beginning Saturday for a month. With Rutte's administration in caretaker mode since resigning last week, it will have to convince skeptical lawmakers to back the 8:30 p.m.-to-4:30 a.m. curfew before it can be enforced. A debate is expected Thursday and Rutte appealed for support, saying “we are at a crucial moment for our security, for our national public health.” Rutte's four-party coalition resigned Frid...