• Whitney Boyce Selected as the NASE 2005 Future Entrepreneur
• NASE Supports Continuation and Expansion of Federal Small Business Programs
• July Member Survey
• State Update: Missouri Increases Protections for Small Businesses

Whitney Boyce Selected as the NASE 2005 Future Entrepreneur

Whitney Boyce 2005 Future Entrepreneur Whitney Boyce has been selected as the 2005 recipient of the Future Entrepreneur Award by the National Association for the Self-Employed. The Utopia, Texas, native will receive a $12,000 scholarship for the 2005-2006 school year and is eligible for $4,000 scholarship renewals the following three years. Boyce is a recent graduate of Utopia High School where she graduated first in her class. While in high school, Boyce was a full time student athlete on the varsity volleyball, basketball and golf teams, academic competitor and photographer. Her passion for photography and the scenery around her home town led Boyce to start her own business, Paradise Prints, in 2003. Not knowing much about photography, Boyce started from scratch teaching herself how to properly capture her subjects and manipulate the camera. Her work is now being sold in a local gift shop in Utopia and includes framed photos, pillows and note cards. She has seen tremendous success in the tourist town and intends to expand her market and her subjects over the next five years. One of Boyce’s photographs Boyce will attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, this fall. She was one of only 10 students accepted into the Texas Tech Undergraduate Medical School Initiative program for the upcoming year. This will allow her to pursue a combined degree in medicine and business. The National Association for the Self-Employed Future Entrepreneur Award is the largest scholarship of its kind in the U.S. and the only one that promotes the entrepreneurial philosophy. This unique opportunity is awarded each spring to a single ambitious and driven individual who demonstrates the characteristics of a future micro-business owner.

NASE Supports Continuation and Expansion of Federal Small Business Programs

The NASE cautions the federal government against making any more significant cuts in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) budget for federal small business programs. A recent member poll by the NASE showed that 61 percent of respondents said programs offered by the federal government are valuable and helpful to small businesses while only 29 percent had actually utilized any of them. “The discrepancy between the support and utilization of these federal programs speaks for expansion, not contraction, of their funding,” said NASE president Robert Hughes. “The lack of awareness of certain programs seems to be the problem. Expanding the reach of them would benefit entrepreneurs in this country.” Awareness of programs was a major hindrance among recipients with fully 11 percent being unaware of any of the programs listed. The most recognized program was the SBA business loan programs (Basic 7(a) loan, Micro-loan, 504 loan) with 22 percent, Small Business Development Centers with 16 percent, and Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) with 14 percent of respondents aware of them. The number one reason given for not using these programs was that the respondents were unaware of them (36 percent). “These programs have a proven track record and help those wanting to start or develop micro-businesses,” said executive director of the NASE legislative offices Kristie Darien. “The support for these programs exists. I encourage the federal government to keep these programs in place and expand their outreach so that more micro-business owners can benefit from them.” The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing this week on the future of Small Business Development Centers. The NASE will provide the committee with the results of the June online member poll. To see the full results of the survey, visit http://advocacy.nase.org/membersurvey/default.asp. Methodology: Posted in the members-only portal on the NASE Web site, the survey was available for members to take through the month of June. Nearly 200 NASE Members opted-in to the non-scientific survey and members were prohibited from taking it more than once.

July Member Survey

Take the online member poll on federal tax reform. The NASE has been following the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform closely and wants to hear your thoughts. Let the NASE know your opinions on tax reform by visiting the MyNASE Web site at http://my.nase.org/. Log in to your free MyNASE Web Account. If you have not set up an account, you can do so at http://my.nase.org/. Take this survey during the month of July.

State Update: Missouri Increases Protections for Small Businesses

Both houses of the Missouri legislature passed a bill that will protect small business against overly burdensome proposed regulations, according to the Small Business Administration. Governor Matt Blunt (R) signed the bill into law last week. H.B. 576, sponsored by state Representative Tim Flook (R) and state Senator Gary Nodler (R), strengthens Missouri’s current regulatory flexibility laws by providing a judicial review option. This option allows small business to take a proposed rule to court to force an agency to review it before it goes into effect. The Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board, which was created last year, compels different agencies to look at a proposed rule’s burden and effect on small business and whether or not there is truly a need for the rule. Previously, the board experienced difficulty in enforcing agencies’ obligations to consider small business burden in rule implementation. The new law is based on model legislation designed by the SBA Office of Advocacy and is similar to the federal Regulatory Flexibility Act, a model that encourages entrepreneurial success by requiring state agencies to consider the impact of regulations on small businesses before they are finalized. For more information on the regulatory flexibility legislation model, visit http://www.sba.gov/advo/laws/law_modeleg.html.