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State, UNH launch Green Launching Pad for commercial environmental projects

 
 
The University of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning have just announced a new initiative, The Green Launching Pad, designed to use UNH resources to help launch new "green" businesses in the state. The Green Launching Pad will connect entrepreneurs and private industry with the technical, scientific and business faculty and staff of UNH, with a goal of creating a competitive green energy technology commercialization program. Teams working on a project will receive up to $90,000 in funding. Project selection will be competitive and must be in the areas of energy efficiency, energy conservation, renewable energy, and/or sustainable energy--those that will quickly lead to energy savings, emissions reductions, and business and employment growth. Pre-proposals are due March 15. This link takes you directly to the pre-proposal information.

 

The new businesses would be required to help the State achieve the objectives of the NH Climate Action Plan with an emphasis on reducing carbon emissions in sustainable ways while creating new jobs and contributing positively to the state’s economy. A series of seminars are being held for interested parties. Consult the website for event details.

Energy tax incentives provided for businesses

Businesses should be aware that there are many energy tax incentives provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The complete list is available from the Internal Revenue Service. Most of the incentives involve renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Here are some

examples:

 

 

New Clean Renewable Energy Bonds

Section 1111 increases the amount of funds available to issue new clean renewable energy bonds from the one-time national limit of $800 million to $2.4 billion. These qualified tax credit bonds can be issued to finance certain types of facilities that generate electricity from renewable source.

 

Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds

Section 1112 increases the amount of funds available to issue qualified energy conservation bonds from the one-time national limit of $800 million to $3.2 billion. These qualified tax credit bonds can be issued to finance governmental programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other conservation purposes.

More information on all the provisions of ARRA can be found on the IRS Tax Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009  webpage.

Stimulus option deadline Sept. 15

One feature of the federal stimulus program is an IRS option to carry back a net option loss. But time is running out.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act available for an eligible small business that has no more than an average of $15 million in gross receipts over a three-year period, ending with the tax year of the net option loss.

Under the option, eligible taxpayers can choose to carry back a net operation loss (NOL) arising in a taxable year beginning or ending in 2008 for three, four or five years instead of two.

A calendar-year corporation that qualifies must file a claim by Sept. 15, 2009. For individuals, the deadline is Oct. 15, 2009. Deadlines vary for fiscal-year taxpayers.

Check out the IRS Tax Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 web page.

ARC emergency loans for small businesses now available

By now we hope you’ve heard of the emergency small business loans that became available in mid-June to help struggling businesses with debt relief. Lenders approved 72 such loans in the program’s first week of operation. The program, called ARC, allows businesses to apply for loans up to $35,000 to cover existing debt if the business has been harmed by the current recession but has otherwise been profitable in one of the last two years. The loans are interest-free for the first year. They are administered by banks and other lenders and guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. Some 10,000 businesses may be helped by the program by the time it ends in 2010.

New York Times launches small business blog; SBA offers podcasts; small business videos

On June 16, the New York Times (NYT) rolled out a new blog called “You’re the boss: The art of running a small business.”In launching the blog, the NYT says that it will cover small business and entrepreneurship issues. The blog will allow business owners who read it “to compare notes, get advice, learn from one another’s mistakes, and keep up with the important changes coming out of Washington,” they said. So far the blog has covered the federal stimulus package and the Small Business Administration’s new no-interest, deferred bridge loans.

Speaking of the Small Business Administration, did you know this government agency provides a series of “podcasts”on its website? Podcasts are just audio files that can be listened to at one’s computer, or downloaded to an MP3 player such as an iPod. These kinds of files can make it easy for the busy small business owner to learn a little something while “on-the-go”—and isn’t that pretty much all the time? A sample of the available podcast topics include: “ARC Loan Program Provides Relief For Stressed Small Businesses” and "Peak Performance" Assessment & Strategies -- How to Survive in a Slowing Economy.”

And, yet another quick tool that may help you in your business is Small Business TV, a series of online videos on key business topics such as marketing, finance and legal issues. Each video is only a few minutes long and the topics are presented by a variety of experts in their field.

How the ARRA stimulus funds are playing out in the New Hampshire business community

The state of New Hampshire and its Office of Economic Stimulus hosted a major event on April 7 in which key players explained what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) might mean in New Hampshire.  Videos of that event have now been archived online at the state’s website, with each presentation presented as a separate video. The videos include presentations by Witmer Jones of the New Hampshire office of the  U.S. Small Business Administration and Mary Collins of our own New Hampshire Small Business Development Center.