Here are some highlights on two new tax credits available to small businesses:

Job Creation Tax Credit
• $2,500 tax credit on withholding tax for employers with 50 or fewer employees who hire new, full-time Illinois employees during the 12-month period beginning July 1, 2010.
• To qualify, a job must pay at least $25,000 per year.
• A particular individual employee need not be retained for one year - the new, full-time job must be created and sustained for one year.
• New businesses hiring their first employee may qualify.
• The credit may be claimed for an hourly employee working an average of at lest 35 hours per week.
• Partners and independent contractors do not qualify. Visit the DCEO web site for more information.

Health Care Credit
• To qualify, an employer must cover at least 50% of the cost of health care coverage for some of its workers based on the single rate.
• Employer must have less than the equivalent of 25 full time workers (an employer with fewer than 50 half-time workers may be eligible).
• Employer must pay average annual wages below $50,000
• The credit is available to both taxable and tax-exempt firms.
• The credit is worth up to 35% of a small business' premium costs in 2010, and 50% in 2014 (35% for tax exempt employers.)

Visit the IRS web site for frequently asked questions and a video explaining the details of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit.

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This Week's Report

The Key to a Successful Business?  It's in the Numbers.

It's a fact that many small business owners are not good with numbers.  If your eyes cross at the mention of financial statements, or you dread even the thought of bookkeeping tasks, you are not alone.

However, if you own a business, or are thinking about starting one, the numbers are the most fundamental part of your business.  They are key to all your business decisions, from pricing your product or service, to deciding on what marketing activities to pursue, to determining what customers to engage or disengage, or if you should hire a new employee.

When I see a business struggle or fail, it is often because the owner did not implement basic bookkeeping and accounting practices from the start.  Many businesses are doomed to fail because the entrepreneur does not thoroughly and critically analyze the numbers as part of the business planning process.

If you are numbers challenged, the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee Community College can help!  All you need to do is call us and say, "I need help with my numbers."  We can:

• Provide you with templates and help you create a financial forecast
• Explain accounting basics
• Show you how to read and understand financial statements and forecasts
• Help you interpret your financial statements and make better management decisions with the information
• Show you how your business compares to other businesses of the same size in your industry
• Show you how to calculate your break-even point when expanding your business
• Offer you classes to help you learn
• Refer you to a reputable QuickBooks expert and/or accountant for professional advice

We understand that your financial data is sensitive and proprietary, and must remain confidential at all times.  Our service starts with a confidentiality document that our counselors sign to ensure that confidentiality.

Our objective is to help you become confident in working with the financial facts of your business so that you can be in the best position possible to make your business a success.  Give us a call at (630) 906-4143 to get started.

Small business lending activity is a hot topic these days. Credit markets are tight, and there is a lot of news and discussion surrounding the topic of access to capital for small business. If you want to keep abreast of this subject, you can read current news reports here, or sign up to receive the Small Business Lending Newsletter.

On October 23, 2009, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a new "EEO is the Law" poster which includes information on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).

The poster is being updated to include information about GINA, specifically that employers are prohibited from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of genetic information or genetic testing.

Our Mandatory Employment Posters are being revised to meet compulsory federal guidelines and we are now taking orders. All covered employers are required to post this new poster with and the other required posters. Covered employers are all private employers with 15 or more employees and public sector employers.

These compliance posters must be posted by November 17, 2009.

The Illinois Chamber is taking orders now. Contact Ken Mitchell, Director of Publication Sales, and he will expedite your order.

Posters contain these required topics:

• GINA << new!
• FMLA
• USERRA
• OSHA
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• FLSA/minimum wage – Illinois Department of Labor
• Workers' Compensation Notice
• Unemployment Compensation Notice
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act
• No Smoking Notice
• IL Dept of Labor Workplace Safety & Health Posting

Want to gain online visibility for your business, but don't have the money for a Web site? Why not create a FREE business listing using Google's Local Business Center?

Your Local Business Center listing can easily be found on Google.com and Google Maps, and you can make it your own by things such as adding photos, videos and even coupons for your products/services.

Visit www.google.com/localbusinesscenter now to create your listing!

The new community map of Sugar Grove, Illinois published for the Sugar Grove Chamber of Commerce & Industry is now online at www.villageprofile.com/illinois/sugargrove.

The map was produced in cooperation with Village Profile™, the nation's leading Chamber publisher. The Village Profile™ Mobile Map Publishing Program™ is the only one of its kind available to Chambers of Commerce. It provides thousands of print copies; in addition, the map and all advertisements are online at the Village Profile™ Community Profile Network® website, www.villageprofile.com.

The community map is interactive -- wirelessly accessible at www.vpmobile.us via PDAs, smart phones, web-enabled cellphones, and most other mobile devices, and allows users to link directly to advertisers' websites, as well as direct-dial advertisers in real time. Users can access the online map and advertiser directory via their computers at the Village Profile™ website.

Internet users can tour Sugar Grove on the Community Profile Network® at www.villageprofile.com, home of the Internet's largest, most comprehensive community website.

Starting August 1, 2009, millions of small businesses that extend credit or defer payments for goods and services will be subject to a new set of rules under the Fair and Accurate Transaction Act aimed at helping curb identity theft. The new rules -- known as the FACTA Red Flags Rules -- are federally mandated precautions certain businesses must take to protect customers from identity theft crimes.

Many small businesses are unaware of this regulatory issue. The upcoming FACTA Red Flags Rules require covered businesses to create a process for detecting so-called "Red Flags" in identity verification, such as:

• discrepancies in address history
• fraud alerts on credit reports
• suspicious use of SSN
• inactive accounts that suddenly become active
• credit-freeze notifications
• credit reports with suspicious activity patterns
• notices from identity theft victims or law agencies, among others.

For more information on the FTC's Red Flags Rules, go to the FTC Web site.

Effective August 24, 2009, Public Act 96-0635 amends the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA) by changing Sections 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 40 of the Act.

Prior to Public Act 96-0635, the Act applied to employers with at least 50 employees. Now, “Employer” is redefined as (A) the State or any agency of the State; (B) any unit of local government or school district; or (C) any person that employs at least 15 employees. For employees with a family or household member who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, the definition of “Family or household member” has been expanded to include persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage and persons who share a relationship through a son or daughter. The Act continues to cover a spouse, parent, son, daughter and persons residing in the same household.

The Act also provides that an employee working for an employer with at least 15, but not more than 49 employees, shall be entitled to a total of 8 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period. Employees working for an employer with at least 50 employees are still entitled to a total of 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period. The total number of workweeks to which an employee is entitled shall not decrease during the relevant 12-month period.

VESSA now explicitly states that employers may not require employees to substitute available paid or unpaid leave for the leave permitted under VESSA.

Other changes concerning legislative findings; definitions of “domestic violence,” “electronic communications,” “employment benefits,” and “stalking”; purposes of the Act; notice to an employer of an employee’s intention to take leave; victims’ employment sustainability, prohibited discriminatory acts; and notification to employees, as well as a full-text version of the amendments, may be found at: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/96/PDF/096-0635.pdf

For further information about the Act or if you have any questions regarding these changes, please call (312) 793-6797.

As part of our public outreach efforts at the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL), we strive to provide ongoing educational seminars to employers and employees of Illinois. Due to the recent legislative changes to the Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act (VESSA), IDOL will be conducting informational sessions across the state. I invite you to contact us for a information sharing session. If you are interested in scheduling an IDOL presentation in your area or would like further details, please contact us toll-free at 1-866-372-4365 or wanda.andrews@illinois.gov.

SBA guarantees America's Recovery Capital (ARC) loans. ARC loans are deferred-payment loans of up to $35,000 available to established, viable for-profit small businesses that need short-term help to make their principal and interest payments on existing qualifying debt. ARC loans are interest-free to the borrower, 100 percent guaranteed by the SBA, and have no SBA fees associated with them.

ARC loans will be disbursed within 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. Repayment will not begin until 12 months after the final disbursement. Borrowers don't have to pay interest on ARC loans. After the 12-month deferral period, borrowers will pay back the loan principal over a period of five years.

ARC loans will be offered by some SBA lenders for as long as funding is available or until September 30, 2010, whichever comes first.  
For more information on ARC loans, visit http://www.sba.gov/recovery/arcloanprogram/index.html

The Illinois Secretary of State's office warns that a non-governmental firm called "Illinois Corporate Compliance" is contacting Illinois businesses in an attempt to collect a $150 fee to file corporate meeting minutes. Please be aware that corporations are NOT required by law to file minutes with any government or private entity. It is recommended that corporations DO NOT reply to this solicitation.