Building a Firm Structure: Starting Your Small Business, Part 5

This is the fifth part of a multi-part series that will help prospective entrepreneurs to develop the tools they need for a successful business venture.  Congratulations, your dream business is a step closer to becoming a reality! Now that you have a location selected, it’s time for a critical next step: selecting your business structure.  […]

Over and Beyond the Rainbow: A Guide to Making Your Company Truly Inclusive

So, Pride Month has come once again, and you, the conscientious business owner, have got in with the festivities by slapping a rainbow-colored version of your company logo on your Twitter account. Inclusivity achieved, right? Unfortunately, to your shock, you find those snarky millennials and Gen Z-ers rolling their eyes and busting your chops over […]

Location, Location, Location: Starting Your Small Business, Part 4

This is the fourth part of a multi-part series that will help prospective entrepreneurs to develop the tools they need for a successful business venture.  Now that you have your roadmap established for starting your new business, it’s time for the next step: pinning your future business’s location on the map. As any commercial real […]

National unemployment research shows 2.2% increase in Huntsville Metro

At the national level, many key employment indicators in the U.S. look similar to before the COVID-19 pandemic, and robust employment growth plays a part in that. But the impact the coronavirus had on employment can’t be overstated.  Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that job losses in the spring of 2020 […]

Local housing demand flourishes despite rising interest rates

The buyers market enjoyed by house hunters at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when mortgage interest rates fell to record lows, is no longer. The numbers now favor sellers and will continue to do so in the near future with interest rates rising at a rapid pace. Rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage, which […]

What’s Going On With the Housing Market? National, Local Experts Provide Input

As house hunters and their real estate agents are well aware, the real estate market has been rather volatile over the past year with rapidly rising home prices and an alarming shortage of listings. First-time buyers are finding themselves priced out of the market, with houses selling quickly and well over asking price. In addition, […]

Persistence Pays Off: Starting Your New Business, Part 3

This is the third part of a multi-part series that will help prospective entrepreneurs to develop the tools they need for a successful business venture.  In our last installment, we covered the need for a good business plan. Your business plan will help you figure out how much money you’ll need to start your new […]

Starting Your Small Business, Part 2: From Dreaming to Planning

This is the second of a multi-part series that will help prospective entrepreneurs to develop the tools they need for a successful business venture.  Now that you’ve completed your market research and determined that you have a solid concept with the potential for success, it’s time to move on to the next step of the […]

The Great Return, and the Future of Work

Like many other American cities, Huntsville is beginning to emerge from the COVID-induced hibernation, with companies recalling their workers to traditional offices.  A great many of these workers are part of the Federal workforce, who are following the directives of the Biden administration.  At the State of the Union speech, President Biden called on workers […]

Thinking About Starting A Small Business? Here’s the First Step

This is the first of a multi-part series that will help prospective entrepreneurs to develop the tools they need for a successful business venture.  The idea of starting a new business venture is really exciting, but it can also be absolutely terrifying. You may have driven or walked past an empty storefront or office space […]