NCET

Back in 2007, it took little more than a steady pulse to get a loan, albeit a sub-prime one, from credit officers eager to push loans out the door. Now that the real estate bubble has gone bust, a steady job and 20 percent down is scarcely enough to persuade banks to lay out for a mortgage, home repairs, or anything else. To fill this financing gap, an increasing number of borrowers are turning to “peer to peer” networks that connect individual borrowers directly to lenders, cutting out the banking middleman. These networks have now financed nearly a half a billion dollars in lending. This is still a long way from the $931 billion in loans and leases that Bank of America had on its balance sheet in 2008, but it’s growing rapidly. Peer-to-peer lenders describe themselves as a solution to many of the banking sector’s current weaknesses. Read more:

Technorati Tags: Prosper, Enrichetta Ravina, Devin Pope, Justin Sydnor, Lending Club, Ray Fisman, peer-to-peer lending, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Most advice to entrepreneurs focuses on what they should do: build a great product, assemble a great team, provide great service. All are “duhisms.” Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs don’t realize that there are things they should specifically avoid doing too. These are also “duhisms,” but somehow, no one ever talks about them. Click HERE for Guy Kawasaki’s list of the 12 most important things that entrepreneurs should not do.

Technorati Tags: Guy Kawasaki, entrepreneurs, venture capital, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Let’s face it: Your regular customers are on autopilot. When a purchase is repeated enough times, it becomes habit. However, market shifts can disrupt even the most powerful habits, and the current financial meltdown is the single biggest market disruption we’ve ever lived through. Customers are altering their behavior because of uncertainty about the future: laying off employees (maybe even your contacts), hoarding cash and postponing routine purchases. All purchase decisions are now up for conscious review. This is a daunting challenge, but it also creates opportunities. Here are some ways to get your customers back in the habit of buying from you. Read more:

Technorati Tags: Entrepreneur, Neale Martin, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Nevada is getting an energy commissioner to attract alternative energy projects to the state and reduce public and private energy consumption.

The Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee on Thursday approved a plan to pay this commissioner $117,030 a year. The position and the Renewable Energy and Efficiency Authority, which the commissioner will direct, both will be paid for by $250,000 in reserve funds from the Public Utilities Commission.

The commissioner’s job will be to attract wind, solar and geothermal projects to Nevada and recommend measures to reduce energy consumption.

In addition, he or she will create a database of technological information and financing opportunities that renewable energy companies can utilize. Read full story:

Technorati Tags: ED VOGEL, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU, Renewable Energy and Efficiency Authority, Public Utilities Commission, Gov. Jim Gibbons, Energy Industry Task Force, renewable energy, Hatice Gecol, Barbara Buckley, Andrew Clinger, NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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Small businesses seeking to expand will be able to refinance existing loans used to purchase real estate and other fixed assets as a result of permanent changes to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Certified Development Company loan program.  The changes were authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The permanent changes will allow small businesses to restructure eligible debt to help improve their cash flow which, in turn, will enhance their viability and support growth and job creation. The 504 loan program can be used to purchase business real estate or fixed assets, such as heavy equipment or machinery, and expand current development projects. 

“This is one more piece of the Recovery Act that is going to have a direct impact and put more money in the hands of small business owners just when they need it most,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said. “Lower interest rates mean lower payments and less money going out the door each month in debt repayments. That means more cash on hand to keep their doors open, their employees working and to even expand and create more jobs.”

The 504 loan program is administered through 271 Certified Development Companies across the nation. SBA today began implementation of the changes by publishing them as a permanent rule in the Federal Register.

For more information on the 504 loan program and eligibility requirements, go to www.recovery.gov  or www.sba.gov/recovery.

Technorati Tags: U.S. Small Business Administration,SBA504 Certified Development Company,American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,Karen G. Mills,NCET,Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology

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