The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector

The Guidestar June 2010 economic survey, which measured the impact of these difficult economic times on the nonprofit sector. Among respondents, nearly half were CEOs, executive directors, or presidents—our leaders in the nonprofit industry. The results are compelling:
• Some 40 percent of participants reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier.
• Eight percent indicated that their organizations were in imminent danger of closing.
• Sixty-three percent reported a total increase in demand for their organization's services between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year prior.

Summertime Child Care Arrangements Vary

Children are less likely to have regular child care arrangements during the school break in the summer — about 55 percent of preschoolers and 58 percent of grade-schoolers were not in a regular child care placement during the summer of 2006. According to a new U.S. Census Bureau report, those children who do have regular arrangements typically spend more hours in child care during the summer than the rest of the year.

It's soda. No, it's pop.

I was at a wedding recently and the discussion evolved to what one calls carbonated beverages. It turns out that there is a website called Pop Vs Soda that addresses this very important issue. There is even a county-by-county map delineating the data. Western New York is pop territory while the rest of the state is soda country.

Women's Earnings in 2009

Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2009, U.S. Department of Labor/U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2010, Report 1025 is part of the Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.

Census Bureau to Update Employment Numbers

During the week of Aug. 15, 2010, nearly 2,000 Census Bureau field representatives will interview about 72,000 households across the nation for the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS).

The CPS is co-sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau

Before the survey is conducted, households selected in the nationwide sample will receive an informational letter from the Census Bureau director. Some participants are interviewed by telephone and others are interviewed in person by field representatives who carry official identification.

Every month, Census Bureau field representatives ask selected households questions relevant to the U.S. labor force, such as their employment status, hours worked, earnings, age, sex, race, marital status, educational attainment, occupation and industry. From these answers come estimates of the unemployment rate released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

State government employment drops below level at start of recession

Total employment by state governments has dipped below its level at the start of the recent recession for the first time, a new “Data Alert” from the Rockefeller Institute of Government shows. After rising for eight consecutive months after the recession began in December 2007, state and local government employment has declined for 17 of the last 23 months as states have experienced record declines in revenue. An extension of extraordinary federal aid to states, expected to be approved by Congress, “would likely dampen but not eliminate pressure for additional cuts in state and local government employment,” Institute researchers Donald J. Boyd and Lucy Dadayan write.
Click here for the Data Alert.

Green Power Partnership Top 50

The Green Power Partnership works with a wide variety of leading organizations — from Fortune 500 companies to local, state and federal governments, and a growing number of colleges and universities. The following Top Partner Rankings highlight the annual green power purchases of leading organizations within the United States and across individual industry sectors.

These green power purchases help reduce the environmental impacts of electricity use and support the development of new renewable generation capacity nationwide. Purchase amounts reflect U.S. operations only and are sourced from U.S.-based green power resources. Organizations can meet EPA purchase requirements using any combination of three different product options (1) Renewable Energy Certificates, (2) On-site generation, and (3) Utility green power products.

Will the 2010 Census Surprise Us?

In contrast to censuses past, the results of the 2010 census are not likely to surprise us. In fact, the overwhelming response could be a collective yawn. What was all the fuss about? Didn't we already know that?
At the national level, yes we did know. The Census Bureau's estimates and surveys do a good job of keeping us up to date on the size and characteristics of the U.S. population. But the census does much more, providing population counts and demographic profiles for the entire country down to the neighborhood level. Nothing but a census can do that. So when census results begin to emerge, stifle the yawn and appreciate the depth of the information.
The 2010 census asked only 10 questions, and three of them were administrative... The most interesting socioeconomic questions (such as where our money comes from) have been siphoned off by the annual American Community Survey...

Which answer will surprise us the most? The biggest surprise may be household size. For decades, household size has been declining as smaller families became the norm and more people lived alone. In 2009, however, the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey recorded a tiny blip upwards (from 2.56 to 2.57 people in the average household) as the Great Recession forced Americans to double up. The 2010 census may show that the doubling up has been even greater than suspected. Other data sources hint that this may the case: housing vacancies are at a record high and many middle-aged parents are reporting that their adult children have moved back home.

By Cheryl Russell, editorial director, New Strategist Publications. If you have any questions or comments about the above Q & A, e-mail New Strategist at demographics@newstrategist.com.

Holiday

So, you want to know, for business or cultural reasons, what holidays are celebrated in various countries? Here are some suggestions:

Time and Date lets you choose a date until 2015 and choose the country.

CountryReports is also useful. Though you need to scroll through the months to see the holidays, you can choose a country or region.

My favorite may be Earth Calendar, a "daybook of holidays and celebrations around the world. For the purpose of this web site a 'holiday' is any day that recognizes a cultural event, and not necessarily a day when businesses are closed.
***
Madonna - Holiday
The Bee Gees- Holiday

The Nonprofit Sector May Shrink 25%

On May 17, 2010, the IRS began revoking tax-exempt status from nonprofits that failed to file three consecutive annual returns (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF). As a result, as many as 300,000 nonprofits may lose their tax-exempt status, effectively shrinking the nonprofit sector by 25%.
What do YOU need to know?
• Which nonprofits are at risk?
• What happens to a nonprofit that loses its exemption?
• What happens if a donor gives to a charity that has lost its exemption?


GuideStar's new report, Automatic Revocation of Nonprofits' Tax-Exempt Status: What Nonprofits, Grantmakers, and Donors Need to Know, answers all of these questions, and more. Written by Linda M. Lampkin of ERI Economic Research Institute, it is a no-nonsense overview of the impact of this earthshaking development in the nonprofit world.

HHS Poverty Guidelines 2010

Recent legislation prohibited publication of 2010 poverty guidelines before May 31, 2010, and required that the 2009 poverty guidelines remain in effect until publication of updated guidelines. Legislation to further delay publication of the 2010 guidelines did not pass. The procedure for updating the 2010 guidelines was modified to take into account the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for the period for which their publication was delayed. As a result, the poverty guideline figures for the remainder of 2010 showed no change from the 2009 poverty guideline figures.

Wellness

All consumers participate in the World of Wellness. In fact, 19% of all monthly spending is reserved for products with a wellness halo.

This infographic...explores what wellness spending means to consumers as they redefine healthy living.

The WorkingPoint blog

I've been checking out the blog put out by WorkingPoint, an "online, small business solution." They have been putting out some interesting articles such as Essential Ingredients for Small Business Success and 19 Ways to Drive a Steady Stream of Traffic to Your Website. It's fun site - periodically, you'll come across the Botpreneur, who is ready for (business) action.

WorkingPoint offers free invoicing, bill & expense management and bookkeeping, with additional services for $10 per month. This article explains that the founders of WorkingPoint "worked for Intuit and were behind the creation of QuickBooks and Quicken. They believed Quickbooks had become too complicated and that the small business software segment was ripe for SaaS-based innovation."

Largest Companies Operating in Canada

The Globe and Mail ranks the top 1000 public companies in Canada, as well as the top 350 private companies.

STAT-USA is going away

After more than 25 years of operation, STAT-USA is closing its doors.

USA Trade Online will continue, provided by the Foreign Trade Division of the Census Bureau—a key source of STAT-USA data. All USA Trade Online subscription accounts will be handled directly by that agency, with no interruption to the customer.

STAT-USA/Internet (which includes all State of the Nation and GLOBUS & NTDB databases) and our syndication services will cease September 30, 2010.

CBP

CB10-114 --Census Bureau Reports Number of U.S. Businesses Declines by Nearly 104,000 in 2008, based on County Business Patterns: 2008.

Asian, Black Population in the U.S.

The Asian Population in the United States: 2007 and 2008

The Black Population in the United States: 2007 and 2008

A series of detailed tables with data on a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the specified population. Topics covered include marital status, educational attainment, nativity and citizenship status, labor force and employment status, occupation, earnings, poverty and housing tenure.

America's Laziest States 2010

Businessweek.com ranked the country's laziest states based on five years (2004-08) of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey, which averages the time spent each day on various activities across the population ages 15 and older, including people who did not do the activity at all. We evaluated the amount of leisure time spent on physically inactive pursuits, such as sleeping, watching television, relaxing, thinking, socializing, playing board games, and surfing the Internet (the U.S. average is 12 hours, 58 minutes). We considered these metrics against factors such as time spent exercising and playing sports in each state (the national average is 17 minutes), time spent working, and the state's median age. The final ranking only includes states where residents spend more free time doing sedentary activities than the U.S. average.

New York made the list.

Is work overrated?

Just 3 Days Left to Ensure You Are Included in 2010 Census

The U.S. Census Bureau reminds the nation that on Friday, July 30, it will shut down its toll-free telephone assistance line. More than 130,000 interviews have been completed via the toll free line. Friday is the last day for callers who feel they may have been overlooked in the census to complete their 2010 questionnaire quickly over the phone.

ACS and Federal funding

Brookings' analysis of the federal funding programs that use data from the American Community Survey in their allocation formulas or eligibility requirements.

2007 SAHIE Release

The 2007 Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) is scheduled to be released today (Tuesday, July 27). The 2007 estimates show the demographic characteristics of people with and without health insurance coverage for every state and county in the nation.

The Census Tip Sheet link

Don't Fear the Blog

Easy steps to get you blogging like a pro

In recent years, blogs have become a popular online lead generation and brand-building tool for thousands of companies. But many growing business owners have three big fears about blogging: they won't have time to blog regularly; their blog won't get enough exposure; and their blog won't be interesting enough. Well, take a deep breath because it isn't all that scary! Here are some steps to get you confidently striding down the path to big-time blogging.

Heath brothers

The authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die and Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard have made some related resources available on their website heathbrothers.com.


Free with registration, the tools available here are probably most useful if you have read the corresponding book(s), but are helpful even without that additional context.

There is a framework and first chapter available for each title, plus a podcast series, a guide for creating successful (“sticky”) presentations, and more.

(Tip o the hat to hillsearch.org)

ADA Turns 20

The US Department is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act this week. I find this to be exciting; at the same time, it seems as though some people seem to find ADA difficult and punitive. While I'm sure that one can find bad outcomes of good intentions in any bureaucracy, the core message of the Act is to make goods and services more accessible to a population that is nearly one in five Americans, and growing.


As the Reaching Out to Customers with Disabilities section indicates that "The ADA asks public accommodations to take steps that are 'readily achievable' or are 'reasonable' or that do not constitute an 'undue burden' to enable people with disabilities to be their customers and clients."

I was at a business conference a few years ago, and a representative laid out some examples about how a business could become more customer friendly. A dry cleaner had a three-step walk up to the entrance. Not only would a ramp been expensive, it would not have been practical, because the angle would have been too steep. The solution: setting up a buzzer at the bottom of the stairs for an employee to come out to the customer and pick up or deliver the dry cleaning.

I was struck by the conversation I had with someone at my former church. There was a debate before I had gotten there as to whether they should build a ramp. Some folks indicated that there were no current parishioners who needed a ramp. The response: "Yes, and if we don't build the ramp, we never will." Subsequently, folks with walkers and wheelchairs and others for whom the few steps were a burden have made good use of that ramp.

Accessibility is not just a matter of "fairness" or "justice"; it's good business sense.
***
Info about the Disability website and blog; the latter features some great stories.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA

While Disability.gov is useful in connecting "the Disability Community to Information and Opportunities", it has been its Disability Blog, about the "latest disability news, information and trends", that has been most intriguing.

In anticipation of the countdown to the anniversary of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act this week, several guest bloggers have written personal essays about how the ADA has literally changed their lives for the better.

Give My Regards to Broadway

I went to see CATS this past weekend. It was the second-longest musical in Broadway history, surpasered only by another Andrew Lloyd Webber piece, Phantom of the Opera. Whoever maintainds the Wikipedia site for the longest-running Broadway shows is doing a stellar job, updating every week. And where are they getting their numbers? Why the Internet Broadway Database.

The Geography of Bliss

Do democracies promote happiness or are happy places are more likely to be democratic? Molly Mayfield Barbee explores this and more in her review of Eric Weiner’s 2008 account of his travels and research on subjective well-being, or “SWB,” the scientific term for the field of happiness studies. The Geography of Bliss is an expansive, humorous, and slightly dark account of the influence government policies and mechanisms can have on happiness.

What Would You Do With an Extra Hour?

Americans Are Spending More Time Watching TV and Sleeping as Unemployment Rises, Survey Finds

The average American aged 15 or older spent three hours, 11 minutes a day working in 2009, according to the American Time Use Survey released by the Labor Department... That's 17 minutes less time a day engaged in work than in 2007, before the recession hit. While 17 minutes might not seem a lot, when it's averaged over the entire population, including employed people, those who have lost a job and retirees, it represents a significant amount.

What did people do with that extra time? Mainly they slept and watched TV. Time spent in front of the television rose by 12 minutes, to two hours, 49 minutes a day in the two years through 2009. Sleep was the next big gainer, increasing by six minutes to eight hours, 40 minutes a day.

The data also show what Americans aren't doing with their extra time: There was virtually no change between 2007 and 2009 in the time devoted to volunteering, religious activities, exercise or education. In sum, time people might have used productively is instead being squandered...

A Taste for Hotter, Mintier, Fruitier

The Increased Craving for Intense Flavors Suggests That the American Palate is Changing from WSJ, May 26, 2010

The buttery taste found in packaged foods isn't just butter flavor anymore. Increasingly, it is browned-butter flavor, formulated to taste deeper and more savory than plain butter, says International Flavors and Fragrances, one of the leading laboratories for developing flavors used by food companies.
...
Food companies describe some of their efforts as adding "umami," a Japanese word that, roughly translated, means "good flavor." What it describes, however, is the pleasant savory flavor found in protein-heavy foods and increasingly viewed as one of the five basic tastes (in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter). It isn't exactly a flavor, food executives say, but an experience—an explosion of flavor.
...
As people crave intensity in flavor, some traditionalists are wondering if diners will become desensitized to natural flavors. Regular mangoes may taste bland when eaten next to mango-flavored gum or a mango energy drink, they say.
...
New flavors used to originate in fine dining kitchens and work their way down, but now they come just as often from the Food Network or from ethnic or international sources.

Newspaper circulation

Looking for newspaper circulation?

You can find data about the collective industry or the top newspapers by circulation or the top markets.

But for the most comprehensive list, I'd go with the Audit Bureau of Circulation; you can search by daily, weekly or total circulation, in descending order.

RestoreTheGulf.gov -- Federal Response and Recovery Portal

RestoreTheGulf.gov is the new, official federal portal for the Deepwater BP oil spill response and recovery. The site provides information on current operations, how to file a claim and obtain other assistance, and links to federal, state, and local partners.
RestoreTheGulf.gov will replace Deepwater Horizon Response, the old response site about the BP oil spill.

NEW: Transportation and finance

Data for the state(s) and Economic Census Sector(s) listed below have recently been released on the Census Bureau's American FactFinder web site.
• NAICS sector 48-49, Transportation and warehousing Get Data
o New York (Released 07/09/2010)
• NAICS sector 52, Finance and insurance Get Data
o New York (Released 07/09/2010)
To access selected key data for these states/sectors in the Economy-Wide Key Statistics data file, click here.

A Graphical, Inside View of Government Spending.

The Center for Governmental Research has launched a new website, Govistics™, that can be used to access, in an interestingly visual way, information about spending by state and local governments. CGR is using the 2007 Census of Government data and will be adding data mash ups. There is free info, and also more extensive data available for a fee.

The Rochester Business Journal wrote an article about the service: Web tool enables access to government spending info.

Census Bureau Launches New Tool for Hurricane Planning

The U.S. Census Bureau, in cooperation with the National Weather Service, announces the launch of OnTheMap for Emergency Management: Hurricanes, a Web-based tool that provides real-time workforce information when a hurricane strikes land in the United States.

http://lehdmap4.did.census.gov/themap4/em/index.html OnTheMap for Emergency Management: Hurricanes is an easy-to-use tool that provides a live feed from the National Hurricane Center. When a storm’s leading winds make landfall, the application will allow users to view the characteristics of the local workforce, such as the affected industries, the ages of workers and workers’ earnings with a simple click of the link.

“OnTheMap technology has been providing useful data for emergency preparedness for some time, but this new tool doesn’t require any specialized training,” said Jeremy Wu, chief of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Local Employment Dynamics Partnership. “It puts valuable information directly into the hands of emergency planners and local officials.”

OnTheMap for Emergency Management: Hurricanes provides users with:

• Access to the most recent workforce data for the area impacted by a hurricane.
• An easy-to-use, Web-based interface for visualizing hurricanes and jobs data, including historical results and downloadable reports.
• The most recent storm location information as provided by a direct link to the National Hurricane Center.

OnTheMap for Emergency Management: Hurricanes, is a product of OnTheMap, an online mapping and reporting application that shows the relationship between where people work and where they live, as well as the characteristics of the workforce. It allows users to create, print and download workforce related maps, profiles and underlying data down to the block level.

OnTheMap comes from the Census Bureau’s Local Employment Dynamics Partnership.

Recent Governments Division Data Releases

Quarterly Tax - 1st Quarter 2010. Tax revenue grows for the 2nd quarter in a row.

Public Education Finances - 2008. Sources of funding and expenditures.

State Tax Collection - 2009. Tax collections decline from 2008.

State and Local Government Employee Retirement - 2008. Public Employee Retirement System assets drop nearly $180 Billion in 2008.

Quarterly Retirement - 4th Quarter 2009. Public Employee Retirement Systems show first year over year increase in two years.

Newseum - Today's Front Pages

From JJ Hill


The Newseum is a bricks-and-mortar museum in Washington, DC, devoted to journalism and the media. Each day, the Newseum displays the front page of over 750 newspapers from 80 countries on its website.

This allows you to get a feel for what’s first and foremost on the minds of a community’s members right now, whether you’re travelling on business, about to make a conference call, or have other business dealings with a community outside your own – or simply curious to see what’s going on around the world!

In the Gallery, papers are sorted alphabetically by state and city. Alternatively, you can “Sort by Region,” which allows you to quickly jump to newspapers on a specific continent. But check out the Map view, which lets you more easily focus in on a certain geographic area.

You can print each front page or download in PDF. Once the page full view opens in a new window, you can also link out to that newspaper’s website.

Census aims to (finally) move into the future

From USA Today:
...
As hundreds of thousands of workers knock on doors this summer to collect information for the 2010 Census, momentum is mounting to drag future Censuses into the 21st century.
This year's Census may be the last to be filled out completely by hand and conducted primarily through mailings and home visits.
Almost certain for 2020: many people logging onto a secured Census website and filling out the form with a few keystrokes instead of pen, paper and a pre-addressed envelope.
...
Every change and every dollar spent on the Census requires approval from Congress — a reality that creates political tussling every 10 years.

The Census Bureau answers to the Commerce Department, which is headed by presidential appointees who can change after elections every four years — often in the middle of a 10-year Census cycle, when new strategies are being studied.

Census 2010 Quality Assurance PSA

This link provides a PSA for the 2010 Census Quality Assurance
operation. This operation involves a census enumerator phoning or visiting a
small sample of households to double-check on the accuracy of the data they
provided and make sure that the Census Bureau is getting a complete picture of everyone living in the household.

I Go Swimming

Heat wave on the East Coast this week. Even as you listen to I Go Swimming by Peter Gabriel, you might want to consider this graphic:

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Swimming Pool Costs at Fixr

FindtheBest.com

Here's some data compiled on New York through a new website called FindtheBest.com. The website organizes data from nyc.gov, New York City Data Mine, and elsewhere and makes it easy to sort through and filter to get what you are looking for. Here are some examples that you can check out:
**NYC Hiking Trails.
** NYC Dog Runs.
** NYC Restaurant Inspections.

The New USA.gov

In honor of its 10th anniversary, announcing the new and improved USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov.
The new look is based on best practices, usability testing, and suggestions received through the online public dialog, "Your Voice Matters."
Among the new features are:
• Look and Feel: a new, clean look that reduces the feeling of clutter and creates an open, focused interface.
• Enhanced Search: With a new search that is up to 9 times faster and more accurate, search is featured prominently on the pages and the 5 most popular search terms are now displayed daily.
• Government Apps Gallery: Some of the most innovative apps and mobile-friendly websites from across the federal government are showcased.
• Popular Content in English and Spanish: All of the most popular content like Online Services, Contact Your Government, and the A-Z index of government agencies have been kept. Now accessible through mega-dropdown menus that appear on every page, this content is easier to find through search engines or entry points other than the homepage.
This new design should make it easier for you to access the government information and services you need.
Have a safe and fun 4th of July weekend!

FDR, TR Top Siena Presidential Poll

Siena Research Institute’s 2010 Presidential Expert Poll ranked Franklin Delano Roosevelt No. 1, followed by his cousin and fellow New Yorker Theodore Roosevelt. The poll has generated a healthy debate on the online pages of the Times Union.

Lincoln, my #1 pick, ranked third.

It's County Fair Season in New York!

New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets Commissioner Patrick Hooker has announced that the county fair season kicks off on July 1. Fifty-four county and youth fairs are held during the summer months and through October 3. In addition, the Great New York State Fair is held in Syracuse from August 26 - September 6.

Information about county and youth fairs in New York, including locations and dates, can be found online HERE. Information about the Great New York State Fair can be found online HERE.

Data, interrupted

One of my colleagues was looking for disability info for a county in New York State. She went to the 2006-2008 data in the American Community Survey, but found absolutely nothing. Curious, I peaked at the 2008 data and found table B18001 and successive information that was totally skipped in the 3-year data. Why WAS that?

The Census Bureau changed the questions on disability. As the state Department of Health notes: "These changes were significant enough that 2008 disability estimates are NOT comparable with previous [ones]. To ensure that there are no comparisons, the Bureau has elected to delete the old table numbers and add new table numbers. The new tables will also contain a footnote that states that the data should not be compared to previous years’ data."

Three-year data on disability will once again be available from the 2008-2010 ACS, when Census has gathered three years of data with the new questions. The five-year data on these questions will cover 2008-2012.

I guess data users just need to be very aware of breaks in various data series.

How to Use the Data: Comparing 2006-2008 ACS 3-Year Data.

Teen Assessment Program

At the last Affiliate meeting, Dale presented a fascinating program about a Teen Assessment Project. The link to the actual pdf for the Herkimer County version from 2009 is HERE.

If you wanted to see the older versions you could visit HERE.

National Resource Directory for Military, Veteran Communities

The U.S. Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs, as part of their continued commitment to our Nation’s Service Members, Veterans, and their families, launched a new and improved National Resource Directory.

This free online tool provides access to thousands of services, programs and resources at the national, state and community level. The Web site has a fresh look with many key features that include an improved search engine, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) news feeds, subscriptions to e-mail updates, and new subject areas such as “Homeless Assistance.”

The National Resource Directory is designed to serve a broad base of users including transitioning Service Members, Veterans, Wounded Warriors, and their families and caregivers. In addition, it is a useful tool for service providers who support Veterans and Service Members, such as Department of Defense Recovery Care Coordinators and AW2 Advocates, Veterans Affairs Federal Recovery Coordinators, health care providers and case managers at Veterans Service Organizations.

The new features allow the Military and Veteran community to identify and stay informed about the thousands of resources that are available to them as well as browse for information they may not have known about it the past. Additionally, a faster, more accurate search engine provides the tools to sort results by subject area, audience and government or non-government resources to ensure users locate exactly what they want, without having to sort through thousands of links themselves.

For more than a year, the National Resource Directory has provided Wounded Warriors, transitioning Service Members and Veterans, and those who support them with quick and easy access to resources they need. Resources on the National Resource Directory are vetted and must meet the participation policy standards before being added. This ensures that all the posted resources are relevant and from reputable sources.

The new National Resource Directory is simple, easy-to-navigate and even more relevant to the needs of the Wounded Warrior, Veteran and caregiver communities. It also contains “In the News” and “Spotlight” features to highlight important news and updates. To tell friends and family about the new National Resource Directory, use the “Bookmark and Share” function to post updates on more than 200 social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter.

ACS release schedule

Here is the rough time schedule for the release of the 2009-based American Community Survey products. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A CHANGE IN ORDER OF THE PRODUCTS FOR THIS YEAR – THE 5-YEAR DATA WILL BE RELEASED BEFORE THE 3-YEAR DATA.

• Late September 2010 – 1-year (2009) ACS data
• November or December 2010 – 5-year (2005-2009) ACS data
• Early 2011 – 3-year (2007-2009) ACS data

The 5-year PUMS and Summary Files will be released after the data are on AFF.

Personal Income Tax: Analysis of 2007 Personal Income Tax Returns

This report describes the prominent features of New York's personal income tax, with particular emphasis on the 2007 tax year. It also includes taxpayer profiles consisting of number of taxable returns, sources of income, federal adjustments, New York modifications, deductions, dependent exemptions, tax liability and credits by NYAGI class, filing status and=20 return type. In addition, it includes separate sections on income, itemized deduction amounts, exemptions, available credits and information on refundable credits. Finally, it compares statistics for 2007 with those from the prior year for most of these items.

Accompanying this report are statistical tables that cover resident, part-year resident, and nonresident returns. The report also includes a description and statistical information from returns filed by fiduciaries of estates and trusts.

Directory of Social Enterprises

"Social enterprise" is the new buzzword within both the nonprofit and for-profit world, encompassing an organization or individual who wish to do well while doing good – that is, achieving the "triple bottom line" of people, planet, profit (that is, having social, environmental, and economic goals).

Presented in partnership with Community Wealth Ventures and the Social Enterprise Alliance, this is a free, searchable directory of nonprofit social enterprises.

Search by keyword, type of organization (think interest/activity area), budget, type of venture, legal status, and/or state. Your search results typically include basic contact information, stated mission, and any specific enterprise or partner venture(s).

New Employment Firm Size Data

U.S. Census Bureau employment size of firm data (partially funded by the Office of Advocacy) has been updated for 2007. The data list the number of firms, establishments, employment, annual payroll and receipts by firm size for regions by industry. The data is now available for a twenty-year period covering a few business cycles, making time series analysis a possibility.
Additions to the data for this year include county figures and more industry detail for states (going back to 1998.) Historic county figures are a future priority.

In 2007, similar to 2001, small firm (fewer than 500 employees) employment fell below large firm employment. If employment patterns after the 2001 downturn hold, small firm employment will pass large firm employment when the economy expands. With 2007 being an Economic Census year, receipts are available. Small firm receipts for 2007 were $11.4 trillion, representing 38 percent of private-sector receipts (similar to 2002's 39 percent.)

Data on firm turnover (starts and stops) and job churn by firm size will be available for 2006 to 2007 at a later date.

Should you need further information, please feel free to contact the Office of Advocacy at (202) 205-6533 or advocacy@sba.gov.

Census Bureau Releases 2009 City Population Estimates

The U.S. Census Bureau released July 1, 2009, population estimates for each of the nation's incorporated places, including cities, boroughs and villages and minor civil divisions, such as towns and townships. The new estimates are not 2010 Census population counts. They are, however, the last estimates to use 2000 Census results as a base.

The city estimates are based on 2000 Census data updated to reflect legal boundary changes, housing unit estimates updated to reflect inputs such as building permits, and county population estimates. The county population estimates are produced by using administrative records — namely births, deaths, and domestic and international migration. The resulting county population estimates are then distributed to the areas within each county by using the updated housing unit estimates.

For more info, go here.

Data.gov

Data.gov is leading the way in democratizing public sector data and driving innovation. The data is being surfaced from many locations making the Government data stores available to researchers to perform their own analysis. Developers are finding good uses for the datasets, providing interesting and useful applications that allow for new views and public analysis. This is a work in progress, but this movement is spreading to cities, states, and other countries.

For instance, type in the word migration, and you'll get 2007-2008 State-to-State AND County-to-county Migration Inflow AND Outflow, along with the source of that data, which is the IRS.

Enter the term business and find Business Employment Dynamics, Licenses and Permits Search, and Loans Search.

The Shocking Disparities of Labor Cost

Have you ever wondered how long does it take overseas to make the equivalent of US minimum wage?

See for yourself:Click the image to enlarge

Source: FixR

EWG's 2010 Sunscreen Guide

The Environmental Working Group's 4th annual analysis of sunscreens includes safety and effectiveness ratings for 1,400 SPF products, including sunscreens and SPF-labeled lip balm, makeup, and moisturizer. Our ratings are based on an in-house compilation of standard industry, government and academic data sources and models that we have constructed over the past six years, and on a thorough review of the technical literature for sunscreen. We have incorporated sunscreen ratings from this investigation into our Skin Deep cosmetic safety database, an online consumer tool available at www.cosmeticdatabase.com.

You'll have to register, but it asks only for your e-mail and your ZIP Code.

Map: Where Americans Are Moving

From Forbes:

More than 10 million Americans moved from one county to another during 2008. The MAP visualizes those moves. Click on any county to see comings and goings: black lines indicate net inward movement, red lines net outward movement.

Pensions of State and Local Retirees Posted Online

A searchable database of pension allowances for 342,543 retired New York state and local government employees was posted this week on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center's government transparency web site.

The database includes the names, retirement dates and, in most cases, the most recent employer for all individuals collecting pension benefits as of April 13 from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS), which includes the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) and Employee Retirement System (ERS). Among employees who retired in 2009, the average annual pension allowance was $62,208 for PFRS members and $25,947 for ERS members, according to data from NYSLRS.

The full text of this press release is available here.

Contact: Lise Bang-Jensen
518.434.3100

A Child Born in 2009 Will Cost $222,360

A Child Born in 2009 Will Cost $222,360 to Raise According to USDA Report
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released USDA’s new annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, which finds that a middle-income family with a child born in 2009 can expect to spend about $222,360 ($286,050 if inflation is factored in) for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise that child over the next 17 years. This represents less than a 1 percent increase from 2008, the smallest increase this decade, which likely reflects the state of the economy. Expenses for child care, education, and health care saw the largest percentage increases related to child rearing from 2008, whereas expenses on transportation actually declined. This decline in transportation expenses on a child mitigated the increases in the other expenses.

This report, issued annually since 1960, is a valuable resource to courts and state governments in determining child support guidelines and foster care payments. For 2009, per child annual child-rearing expenses for a middle-income, two-parent family ranges from $11,650 to $13,530, depending on the age of the child.

The report by USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion notes that family income affects child rearing costs. A family earning less than $56,670 per year can expect to spend a total of $160,410 (in 2009 dollars) on a child from birth through high school. Parents with an income between $56,670 and $98,120 can expect to spend $222,360 and a family earning more than $98,120 can expect to spend $369,360. In 1960, a middle-income family could have expected to spend $25,230 ($182,860 in 2009 dollars) to raise a child through age 17.

Housing costs are the single largest expenditure on a child, averaging $70,020 or 31 percent of the total cost over 17 years. Child care and education (for those with the expense) and food were the next two largest expenses, accounting for 17 and 16 percent of the total expenditure. The estimates do not include the costs associated with pregnancy or the cost of a college education. In addition, some current-day costs, such as child care, were negligible in 1960.

2010 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA

Source: National Association for Sport and Physical Education

The 2010 Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA provides a current picture of physical education (PE) in the American education system. Incremental improvements have been made in the last few years in the number of states that now require PE (17% increase) and student assessment in PE (26% increase). However, the Report shows that more states now allow waivers and exemptions from PE classes (77% increase) and no progress has been made in providing daily physical education in all grades K-12.

Chatting with Kids about Being Online

The Federal Trade Commission is offering a FREE publication, "Net Cetera," to help parents talk to their kids about safely navigating the online world.

Net Cetera covers what you need to know, where to go for more information, and issues to raise with kids about living their lives online.

OnGuardOnline.gov encourages you to use this guide with your kids, in your school, at your PTA meeting, or anywhere else parents might gather. Feel free to order as many free copies as you'd like, put your own sticker on it, reprint sections in a newsletter or on a website, download a button or link to it, or even reprint it with your own logo. These materials are in the public domain.

Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench

Here's an infographic from Our Amazing Planet delineating the "highest heights and lowest lows of our planet, from the outer reaches of the atmosphere all the way to the bottom of the deepest oceanic trench in the world."

(Thanks, Jaquandor.)

Opportunity Knocks

Here's a link that opens up the newest Census PSA, Opportunity is Knocking at Your Door. This PSA relates to the Non-Response Follow Up campaign that is currently being conducted thorughout the country by US Census Enumerators. These census takers are visiting the households that have yet to return their census questionnaires to make sure every community is counted accurately in the 2010 Census.

5,639 Searchable Corporate Donation Records of $1,000,000+

The NonProfit Times and NOZASEARCH are pleased to provide access to a searchable database of more than 5,000 $1 million + corporate donations. This is a free service, and no registration is required. Simply search by business name, or create an instant list by location or cause. Your results can be exported directly into a spreadsheet with the click of a button.

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation

The latest Employer Costs for Employee Compensation news release was issued June 9, 2010 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Highlights are below.
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Employers spent an average of $29.71 per hour worked for civilian compensation in March 2010. Wages and salaries averaged $20.67, and benefits averaged $9.04. Health insurance was the largest individual employer benefit cost at $2.48 per hour, which accounted for 8.3 percent of total compensation costs.

Mixed Race Marriage More Common

The Pew Research Center analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that in 2008, 14.6 percent of all marriages were between spouses of different races. Whites had the lowest rate of intermarriage at 9 percent, followed by blacks at 16 percent, Hispanics, 26 percent, and Asians, 31 percent.

More HERE.

Free Credit Scores?

In answer to a question about websites or other resources that offer free credit score information, as opposed to just free credit reports, a colleague pointed out a Wall Street Journal article, Credit Scores: Can You Get Them Free?

If you are curious about your credit scores, you may have tried one of the plethora of Web sites and services that offer some free credit information, then lure you into paying for your scores, usually as part of a credit-monitoring package.

Consumers are entitled by law to a free credit report— which is simply a record of your borrowing and repayment history — but the numerical scores derived from these reports will cost you, in part because credit-reporting agencies aren't required by law to provide them for free to consumers along with the reports.

Now, a handful of companies are launching services that give consumers at least a glimpse at their credit scores free of charge. The sites— Credit.com Inc., Credit Karma Inc.'s CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com— also offer a window into the key factors that go into calculating your score, what you can do to improve them and how your credit stacks up against others. Last week, for example, Credit.com launched a free Credit Report Card that shows consumers how they're likely to rate across five credit-scoring models.

So I tried them all out this morning.

My experience with Credit.com was similar to the article writer's. I got A+ in four categories, and a C- in Account Mix, but that's only 10% of my score, so I received an A overall. It doesn't give absolute numbers but it does give ranges, and based on a report I had paid for, the FICO range of 750 to 850 appears correct. I waas mildly annoyed that to get my actual score I was requested to "upgrade" my account for "just $14.95 per month."

CreditKarma.com gave me a slightly lower score, in large part because, of the seven criteria, I got 3 A's 2 B's (for 99.00% on-time payments, and 2 hard credit inquiries), and 2 N/A. Since they apparently have no information on my monthly income, they can't calculate my debt-to-income ratio. This site had some interesting statistics about credit here. I "have a score better than 167 million people," FWIW.

It took me a while to get to the end of Quizzle.com, and it wasn't for lack of effort. Earlier, I'd get to a certain point and it'd claim I was leaving out some unstated information. So I tried it later, and I got tripped up by one of the verification questions - "How much is our monthly mortgage?" - and I must have picked the wrong range (hey, it comes out automatically out of the bank account; it's not as though I write a check.) BUT, you can then call the 800 number, give them additional information, and then get into the system. These results I also found accurate, AND, as the story reports, "One thing Quizzle.com offers that the others don't is a free credit report — and the ability to dispute errors on your Experian credit report on the site."

As the credit.com page made clear:
Payment History is 35% of your score
Debt Usage 30% of your score - keep your debt under control!
Credit Age 15% of your score - "A long credit history shows that you are established."
Account Mix 10% of your score - Balance of credit and loan accounts on your credit report.
Inquiries 10% of your score - "Applying for new credit conservatively is helping to boost your score."

More interesting info:

If your revolving utilization stays under 10% you'll continue to earn almost all of the credit score points available in this category. As that percentage goes higher, your score will go lower. It's a common myth that you only need to keep your revolving utilization 50%. That's absolutely incorrect. 50% is better than 60% but not as good as 40%.

There's another common myth that could hurt you in this category: some people recommend that you should close your credit card accounts if you are not using them. However, closing accounts can cause your utilization rate to go up and your credit score to go down. If you have an old account you don't want, you may want to cut up the card but not close the account. Cutting up the card will prevent it from being used fraudulently but will leave you with the unused credit limit for your credit score.

This is the best description I've read on this. Closing old-line credit cards of long tenure could LOWER your score.

There are a few different ways you can maintain a low revolving utilization rate. Keeping credit card balances low, increasing your credit limits or opening new credit card accounts for extra borrowing power could all work. However, the safest option is to maintain low balances on the credit cards that you are currently using. Opening new accounts or requesting credit limit increases could have a negative impact on your credit score.

100 Great Ways to Spend Your Gap Year

Taking a time off for financial or personal reasons has become increasingly common amongst college students. But many worry that these gap years in between semesters or degrees may lead to lessened productivity and a compromised professional and academic future. This obviously doesn’t have to be the case! Free of scholastic shackles, students taking a year or 2 away from school have plenty of amazing opportunities to learn more about themselves and the world, make a difference in society, network, channel their creativity and intellect, and even earn a bit of extra money without making a commitment to a full-time position. Time away from school does not equate to time away from personal growth and opportunities to gain valuable experience to bolster their future careers.

Planning for College Financially

Data Detective Dale pointed this out to me. He thinks this is important to share, and I quite concur. Moreover, this being the graduation season, it’s timely !

He has discovered that many parents are quite surprised about how much they are expected to contribute to their kids’ college costs. Dale writes, "This is referred to as their Expected Family Contribution (EFC). What typically happens is that parents bumble along (I know we did) until their child is a junior in HS and then they go through the process of applying to colleges and for financial aid at the FAFSA.gov website when WHAM >>>> - they get a reality check upside the head when it comes to how much the federal government thinks THEY can contribute toward attending school." I can imagine there are MANY parents sitting in financial aid offices with tears in their eyes over this.

What can the schools or government do to reduce this sticker shock when it comes to EFCs? Dale notes, "Figuring out financial aid has always been a bit of a 'black box'. You put a bunch of numbers in and out comes your EFC with no understanding of what it is or how it comes about.

"Lo and behold, there is now a way to determine your EFC at the FAFSA website. It is called fafsa4caster. Basically you can punch in info for the current year as though your child were applying to a college right now, and get an EFC figured out for you. It takes maybe 15 minutes to do and requires you to answer a TON of questions, including tax and investment questions. (I estimated some just playing around with the website to see how it works, you could do the same if you wanted to get a ballpark EFC for your family.)

"Regardless, it is exactly what I have always maintained people should be able to do. Even better, it allows people to see their EFC right now, even if their kids are young and not even in kindergarten, let alone high school or college. So my challenge to everyone is to try it, and be prepared to hear the collective gasps of parents or perspective parents around the web as they see what their EFC actually is !

"OK, go to http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf and pick option "B" to get started. Remember, you’ll need some basics like your adjusted gross income and how much you paid in taxes last year. Having other info, like any 529 Education account balances, or 401K contributions is also good to have. But even in the worst case, you can just punch in some estimates to see what ballpark your EFC will fall in."

Dale believes that putting this information on this site "could help people reassess what they are doing to prepare for their kids' futures!"

2009 MTA Payroll Shows Fewer Employees, Higher Spending

A searchable database of the complete Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) payroll for 2009 - including names, titles, base pay rates and total pay received by 77,191 individuals - shows an increase of nearly 3 percent in the average total pay of MTA employees last year.

The updated payroll file is now available at www.SeeThroughNY.net, the government transparency website sponsored by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

The full text of this press release is available here.

Tax increases push states' revenues up, Rockefeller Institute reports

States’ overall tax revenues rose in the first quarter of calendar 2010 on a year-over-year basis, marking the first such gain since the third quarter of 2008, according to preliminary data in a new report from the Rockefeller Institute of Government.
Despite the overall growth in revenues, however, a majority of states still saw declines, according to Institute Senior Policy Analyst Lucy Dadayan, the report’s author. The increase in total collections was mostly attributable to revenue growth driven by legislated tax increases in just two states — New York and California. If those two states are removed from the calculations, total collections across the nation show a 2.2 percent decline in the first quarter of 2010. And even with the boost from those two states, overall revenues remain significantly below pre-recession levels.
Further, early indications of revenues in the April-June quarter — marking the end of the fiscal year for 46 states — are not promising, as the important April collections from income taxes showed a 7.6 percent year-over-year decline.
For the full report, visit the Institute’s Web site. The report was covered this morning in The New York Times.

Census Bureau Seeks Comments on Supplemental Poverty Measurement

The Census Bureau has issued a request for comments on the approach to developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) presented in the report “Observations from the Interagency Technical Working Group on Developing a Supplemental Poverty Measure.” The Working Group’s report is available online here. The SPM is an experimental measure that defines income thresholds and resources in a different manner than the official poverty measure; it will not replace the official measure or impact allocations based on that measure. Regarding the SPM, the Census Bureau would like comments on:
• Methods and data sources used to geographically adjust poverty thresholds
• Methods and data sources used to adjust resources to account for child care and other work-related expenses
• Methods and data sources used to adjust resources to account for medical out-of-pocket expenses
• Methods and data sources used to impute dollar values for in-kind benefits and taxes
Written comments should be submitted on or before June 25, 2010 to spm@census.gov or David Johnson, Housing and Household Economics Statistics Division, Census Bureau, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Stop 8500, Washington, DC 20233-8500.

2007 Economic Census Workshops in Albany, Syracuse, NYC

The Census Bureau is conducting a half-day workshop for data users on the 2007 Economic Census.
• New users learn about the range of data about businesses available from the Census Bureau, including both the Economic Census and more frequent data sets.
• Experienced users learn about new features of the data, comparability issues, and qualifications of the data.
• Attendees gain skills in accessing Economic Census data in American FactFinder.
• Attendees have the opportunity to tell others about their own practical applications of the data and learn what others are doing.

Albany, NY
Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Cost: FREE

Location:
College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany
CESTM Auditorium, Building 251
257 Fuller Road
Albany, NY 12203

Register HERE
Directions

Additional Workshops in New York State:
Additional workshops are planned for New York City (June 10 and 11, 2010) and Syracuse (June 24, 2010). For details about these workshops see HERE.

For more information contact:
Melissa Preston, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, (518) 437-8680 or mpreston@uamail.albany.edu

Co-Sponsors
• College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany
• New York State Department of Economic Development
• New York State Small Business Development Center

Librarians!

The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides some information about the number of librarians in the US. Also, OCLC provides some global library statistics that I find interesting.

Number of Libraries in the United States

Greendex

In their third annual survey to measure and monitor consumer behaviors that have an impact on the environment, the National Geographic Society and the international polling firm GlobeScan have found that environmentally friendly behavior among consumers in 10 out of 17 countries has increased over the past year. The survey results show that environmentally friendly consumer behavior, as measured by the Greendex, has now increased from 2008 levels in all but one of the 14 countries polled in both 2008 and 2010. By environmentally friendly consumer behavior, we mean people’s transportation patterns, household energy and resource use, consumption of food and everyday consumer goods, and what consumers are doing to minimize the impact these activities have on the environment.

Greendex 2010: Consumer Choice and the Environment — A Worldwide Tracking Survey is a comprehensive measure of consumer behavior in 65 areas relating to housing, transportation, food and consumer goods. Greendex 2010 ranks average consumers in 17 countries according to the environmental impact of their consumption patterns and is the only survey of its kind.

As in 2008, the top-scoring consumers of 2010 are in the developing economies of India, Brazil, China, in descending order. American consumers’ behavior still ranks as the least sustainable of all countries surveyed since the inception of the survey three years ago, followed by Canadian, French and British consumers. Consumers in emerging economies continue to round out the top tier of the Greendex ranking, while the six lowest scores were all earned by consumers in industrialized countries.

Cost Guides on Home Improvement

Here is a comprehensive set of cost guides on home improvement.

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Fixr Remodeling Cost Guides

Beloit College Mindset List for the entering college class of 2013

"This is the 12th year that Beloit College has assembled these observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives—and formed the mindset—of students starting their post-secondary education this fall.

"The Mindset List is not a chronological listing of things that happened in 1991, the year they were born. It is instead an effort to identify the worldview of 18 year-olds in the fall of 2009. Of course, our students come from many backgrounds and different traditions and these generalizations may not apply to all. The list identifies the experiences and event horizons of students and is not meant to reflect on their preparatory education.

"It is also not deliberately designed to make readers feel really old!"
Ah, but it DOES!

Reform for the Next Census

Editorial
New York Times (May 31, 2010)

When a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers introduced a bill this year to improve the census, passage seemed inevitable. With the 2010 count under way, people were paying attention. And the bill, which grants the Census Bureau director more independence, is a smart response to the chronic problems that have plagued census planning: fragmented leadership, political interference and not enough financing.

The Obama administration, which should be supporting the bill, is instead raising objections. It has objected to a provision that would allow the census director to report directly to the commerce secretary. It also has objected to a provision that would require the director to send Congress the bureau's budget request at the same time it goes to the White House.

The commerce secretary, Gary Locke, lodged the objections with one of the bill's co-sponsors, Senator Thomas Carper, a Democrat of Delaware, a day before the committee on the census met in April to consider the legislation. The committee approved it anyway. But if the administration continues to fight, the reform effort could stall.

More HERE.

James O'Keefe: From ACORN to Census

Conservative activist's latest target is the Census Bureau. Interview on Good Morning, America, 06/01/2010 (10:39) Doesn't actually get to the Census until about 7:50, about which he alleges waste via overpayments to Census workers.

Count Question Resolution Program - Federal Register Notice

In the Wednesday, May 26, 2010 Federal Register there was an announcement regarding the 2010 Census Count Question Resolution Program. Written comments must be submitted on or before July 26, 2010.

Income Tax - Taxpayer Rights Advocate interview

An interview with Jack Trachtenberg, appointed Deputy Commissioner and Taxpayer Rights Advocate in October 2009. He answers questions about his role and goals at the New York State Tax Department.

Among his responsibilities: help ensure that taxpayers receive fair treatment, evaluate the tax laws and regulations, as well as Tax Department?s practices, recommend improvements, and impartially resolve certain tax-related disputes.

To view the entire web page, visit HERE.

Doing Business

The Doing Business project "provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level." As hillsearch.org puts it, DB, since 2003, "covers 10 indicator sets/topics in 181 economies at the sub-national and regional levels. The indicator sets/topics span the business lifecycle and include: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, infrastructure, enforcing contracts, and closing a business.
"You can also use Doing Business to access more in-depth information on rankings, gender laws, reformers, business laws, and more."

2010 KIDS COUNT SPECIAL REPORT

The 2010 KIDS COUNT Special Report "Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters" is now available HERE.

globalEDGE™

From hillsearch.org

If you're looking for international business resources, try globalEDGE. You can access globalEDGE's International Business Resource Desk, industry profiles, state and country insights, diagnostic tools, and more. Also check out their international business blog.
globalEDGE includes proprietary Market Potential Indicators and their Database of International Business Statistics, as well as additional indices, risk assessments, and interactive trade data. Or use diagnostic tools loaded with scores, charts, graphs, and customized business recommendations.
globalEDGE was created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University and is partially funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI B grant.

copyrightlaws.com

As the intro says:

Bookmark this weblog as your one-stop site on copyright law, licensing and digital property. You will find resources for copyright and licensing education, management and compliance. To get started...pick a category, tag or page, or initiate a search to find print and electronic newsletters, articles, courses, books, and an opportunity to obtain a custom consultation on your issues.

TradeStats Express™ - State Export Data

Export data include:
Global Patterns of a State's Exports
State-by-State Exports to a Selected Market
Export Product Profile to a Selected Market

IRS Tax Statistics

From hillsearch.org:

Spend a little time on the IRS web site checking out the tax data available for businesses, individuals, and nonprofits.

Business tax statistics include access to popular financial ratios for many industries, from cost of goods sold, expenditures, net income, assets, and more - typically organized by the North American Industrial Classification System and separated out by type of business structure (corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, for instance).

You can even obtain individual income tax data by ZIP code--but the cost for this is $25 per state or $500 for the entire U.S.

And don't forget the nonprofit sector - in addition to statistics, here you can also download a "master list" of all tax-exempt organizations (nonprofits) in the US, or within a particular state.

Top 10 Cities To Get Your First Job, College Grads

Unfortunately, none of them in New York State. Tulsa? TULSA?

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Fixr

Educational, professional and other services data

Data for Economic Census Sector(s) listed below have recently been released on the Census Bureau's American FactFinder web site.

* NAICS sector 61, Educational services
* NAICS sector 81, Other services (except public administration) Get Data
To access selected key data for these sectors for New York in the Economy-Wide Key Statistics data file, click here.

*NAICS sector 54, Professional, scientific, and technical services
To access selected key data for this sector for New York in the Economy-Wide Key Statistics data file, click here.

Call Center to be Operational on May 21

The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today announced that a federal court judge has signed a temporary restraining order barring the furlough of state employees. This means that the previously-announced May 21 closure of the Department’s call center will not occur. The call center will be fully staffed and Department employees will not be furloughed on that day.

Bloomberg Businessweek Company Insight Center

When the press release is right, it's right:

The Web offers investors a rich trove of information. But it has little value in today's fast-paced business environment if you can't quickly find the nuggets you need. That's why BusinessWeek is launching the Company Insight Center on BusinessWeek.com.

The CIC, or Companies Channel, combines our resources with those of Standard & Poor's (MHP) Capital IQ division (like BusinessWeek, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP)) to pull together up to 33 pages of data, charts, profiles, and news stories on each of 42,000 public companies in the U.S. and abroad. The result: an unparalleled array of corporate data.

CIC offers easy navigation to get you from, say, stock price charts that you can customize; to earnings reports and estimates; to profiles of chief executives and board members; to a history of their stock trades. Also available are reports on some 320,000 private companies, though since they're private, the data are more limited.

Want to know what boards—public, private, and nonprofit—those execs and directors sit on? The People page in the Companies Channel can show you that. As you click on each board member, you can see the other members of the board and their affiliations. Click on any of those directors, and you see their other boards and who else sits on them, and so on. You won't find this feature, a proprietary service from Capital IQ, anywhere else on the Web without paying a hefty fee.

There are several ways to get to the CIC pages. From the BusinessWeek.com home page, click on the Companies tab on the navigation bar. You'll also find a stock quote search box on all pages that will take you to the Snapshot page for whatever company you type in. In addition, all ticker symbols and mentions of companies in BusinessWeek.com stories will link to that company's Snapshot, which is a compendium of market-related data, company news, and biographical and compensation info on top executives. Similarly, executives' names in online stories will link to their CIC profiles.

Historical gasoline prices

From the BUSLIB-L listserv:

Historical gasoline prices may be found here, and other related tables from the US Energy Information Administration are found here.

SeeThroughNY Posts 133 Updated School Labor Contracts

Updated school labor contracts for 71 teacher unions and 62 school superintendents were posted this week on www.SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center's government transparency web site.

The newest contacts are part of the most comprehensive public collection of school district labor contracts in New York.

The full text of this press release is available here.

Contact: Lise Bang-Jensen
518.434.3100
Find them on Facebook

Taxation Call Center closed on May 21

New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward today announced that the Department's call center will be closed on May 21 during a one-day furlough for unionized state employees, and that taxpayers will be able to use the Department's web site to transact business on that day.

To view the entire document please visit HERE.

NEW YORK STATE RESEARCH LIBRARY 2009 UPDATE ONLINE

The 2009 Update for the New York State Research Library is now online and can be accessed here.

The Library has enjoyed a year of providing quality information services to New Yorkers and access to an extensive array of 21st century information resources. Highlights include the launch of new digital audio technology in the Research Library’s Talking Book and Braille Library, the creation of the New Netherland Research Center following a visit from the Crown Prince and Princess of the Netherlands, and the arrival of a new State Librarian, Bernard Margolis. All was accomplished under the shadow of an unprecedented deficit in the State budget and a declining economy. The State Research Library looks forward to continuing to serve New York’s people and government and the research community at large in 2010 through its resources and programs.

Questions or comments about the online Update can be directed to Valerie Chevrette at the New York State Library at 518/474-5961 or via email at vchevret@mail.nysed.gov.

Videos re 2010 Census Door-to-Door Phase

With census takers going door-to-door for the 2010 Census, there is a lot of information floating around about what the process for the Non-Response Follow-Up phase entails. Why is the Census Bureau collecting certain information on the form? How do I know that my data is safe? Is this operation the same as the American Community Survey (ACS)? How do I recognize a census taker?
Please click on the following videos to find answers to some of these questions. It is important that proper information gets to your customers that have not responded to the 2010 Census. Please feel free to forward these videos and encourage everyone to answer the census taker, so that we make sure that everyone is counted.

In English

How is my data protected?
2010 MMC
YouTube

What is the difference between the 2010 Census form and the American Community Survey form?
2010 MMC
YouTube

Why does the Census Bureau collect information on Hispanic origin?
2010 MMC
YouTube

En Español

¿Cómo reconozco un empleado del Censo?
2010 MMC
YouTube

Income of the Population 55 or Older

This recently released biennial report from the Social Security Administration reveals the dependence of America's older generations on Social Security benefits. The report details the type and amount of income received by people aged 55 or older in 2008, examining economic status by a variety of demographic characteristics. One of the findings: Social Security accounts for fully 58 percent of the income received by people aged 65 or older. Private pensions account for only 8 percent.

description from the American Consumers Newsletter.

The Tea in Television

American Consumers Newsletter
from Cheryl Russell, Editorial Director,
New Strategist Publications

The latest time use statistics might reveal the fuel of the Tea Party fire: the growing television addiction among older men. No one watches more TV than men aged 65 or older. They spend nearly one-third of their waking hours (4.63 hours per day) watching television as their primary activity, according to the 2008 American Time Use Survey. Men aged 55 to 64 rank second in television viewing (3.81 hours per day). Men aged 45 to 54 rank fourth (3.09 hours per day), behind women aged 65 or older (3.69 hours per day). Older men not only watch a lot of TV, but they are watching a lot more. In the past five years, men aged 45 or older have added 28 to 46 minutes to their daily dose of television. No other age group comes close.

These findings might explain the demographics of the Tea Party movement. Eighteen percent of Americans say they are Tea Party supporters, according to a New York Times poll taken last month. The 75 percent majority of supporters are aged 45 or older (versus 50 percent of all adults), and 59 percent are men (versus 49 percent of all adults).

What is the link between television and Tea Party supporters? Just ask them, which is what the New York Times did. The 47 percent plurality of Tea Party supporters acknowledge that most of their information about the movement comes from television. Not just any television, either. Sixty-three percent say they are most likely to watch Fox News for information about politics and current events.

The great majority of Tea Partiers think their beliefs are shared by most Americans. Fully 84 percent think the views of the Tea Party movement reflect the views of the general public. They are misinformed about this, and that might explain their anger.
According to the New York Times:
• 85 percent of Tea Party supporters do not think the federal government should require Americans to get health insurance. Only 45 percent of the general public agrees.
• 76 percent of Tea Party supporters want the federal government to cut the deficit rather than create jobs. Only 42 percent of the general public agrees.
• 51 percent of Tea Party supporters think global warming will not have a serious impact on the environment. Only 24 percent of the general public agrees.
• 52 percent of Tea Party supporters think too much has been made of the problems facing blacks. Only 28 percent of the general public agrees.
• 53 percent of Tea Party supporters think the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision (giving women the right to abortion) was a bad thing. Only 34 percent of the general public agrees.
• Only 17 percent of Tea Party supporters favor raising taxes on households making more than $250,000 a year. The 54 percent majority of all Americans favor higher taxes on those households.
Fifty-three percent of Tea Party supporters say they are angry about the way things are going in Washington. When asked why they are angry, the single most important reason--after health care reform--is that Washington does not represent the people. That may be true, but Tea Party supporters do not represent the people either. They are much more likely than the average American to be retired, collecting Social Security benefits, and covered by Medicare. They are much more likely than the average American to watch a lot of TV.

If you have questions or comments about the above editorial, e-mail New Strategist at demographics@newstrategist.com.

New York: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Report for March 2010.

*Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 3.1 percent of New York's total private-sector employment. More than one-fifth (20.9 percent) of all manufacturing workers in New York depend on exports for their jobs. (2008 data are the latest available.)

*A total of 27,329 companies exported goods from New York locations in 2007, the third highest number among the 50 states. Of those, 94 percent, or 25,657 firms, were small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with fewer than 500 employees.

*SMEs generated more than half (55 percent) of New York's total exports of merchandise in 2007. That is the third highest percentage among the 50 states and well above the national average of 30 percent.

*In 2007, foreign-controlled companies employed 433,600 workers in New York. This was the second largest total among the 50 states (only California was greater). Major sources of New York's foreign investment in 2007 were the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Canada, and Switzerland.

*New York's export shipments of merchandise in 2009 totaled $57.3 billion. New York was the third largest exporter among the 50 states in 2009.

How Americans Spend their money on DIY Improvement

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Fixr


- thanks to Raul

Your State, Your Future

Here you will find 51 state-specific R&D Sheets and K-12 STEM Ed Report cards to help illustrate the importance of scientific research to state and local economies, job growth, innovation, our standard of living, and national security.

One highlight of this work is a feature which ranks states according to a variety of indices provided by U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, TechAmerica, The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, and several other organizations which track specific trends in this area.

Please feel free to share these State R&D sheets and STEM Ed Reports with your elected representatives as well.

Also included:
Human Capital Investment Composite Index
2008 State Technology and Science Index
Technology and Science Work Force Composite Index
State New Economy Index: Benchmarking Economic Transformation in the States

New York State Canals

The New York State Canal Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York State Thruway Authority, operates the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals. These canals are used for both commercial and recreational purposes.

Canals opened for 2010 season operation at 7:00 am on Saturday May 1st. Extensive information about the New York State Canal System can be found online at www.nyscanals.gov, including "Notices to Mariners" where up-to-date closures, openings, water levels, and other important details are provided.