By Phaedra Hise
Matt Paxton could smell the building before he even saw it. The six-car garage was a tasteful addition to the house, but in the summer's early heat outside Raleigh, N.C., it was putting off a heavy stink of rotting food, mold and urine. Mr.

By Phaedra Hise
Matt Paxton could smell the building before he even saw it. The six-car garage was a tasteful addition to the house, but in the summer's early heat outside Raleigh, N.C., it was putting off a heavy stink of rotting food, mold and urine. Mr.

By Naftali Bendavid And Stephen Power WASHINGTON—Partisan feuding Thursday jeopardized the prospects of legislation that would help small businesses and address the Gulf oil spill, but lawmakers anxious about political fallout promised to resume work on the small business bill next week.The 111th Congress has been one of the most active in decades, passing far-reach

By Darrell A. Hughes
Bank of America Corp. on Thursday will commit $10 million in grants to nonprofit organizations that lend to small and rural businesses.A host of nonprofit lenders, such as Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, have been struggling to make loans throughout U.S. communities.

By Martin Vaughan Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) has removed a controversial proposal that would force lawyers, accountants and other professionals to pay more in payroll taxes from a broader bill to extend expired tax cuts.The payroll tax provision, which would have raised $9 billion to help pay for tax cut extensions, had drawn strong criticism from busin

By Marie C. Baca BURLINGAME—A Bay Area company has retained a recipe for success in a sluggish economy: Take a scoop of ice cream, squish it between two oatmeal cookies and apply dark chocolate.The It's-It Ice Cream Co., named after the signature ice cream sandwich, says sales through June this year are up 15% from the same period in 2009, a year sales grew 8%.

By Martin Vaughan A Senate bill promoted as a boon to small businesses includes significant tax benefits for large companies, too.The costliest provision in the bill is a tax break for companies that make large capital purchases, including airlines and telecommunications firms.The "bonus depreciation" tax break expired at the beginning of this year, and the bill would extend it for

By Emily Maltby
(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

Jeff David used to create his sports helmets the traditional way—sketch an idea on paper, hand-mold a clay model, and ship it to factories in Asia for it to become a plastic prototype.

By Scott Austin Entrepreneurs looking for sage advice from their investors say they're encountering a problem: Some venture capitalists, stung by the economy, are juggling too many companies.As the troubled economy elongates the average time it takes for a young company to find a buyer or hold an initial public offering, venture capitalists—who often sit on the boards of start-ups t

By Marie C. Baca BURLINGAME—A Bay Area company has retained a recipe for success in a sluggish economy: Take a scoop of ice cream, squish it between two oatmeal cookies and apply dark chocolate.The It's-It Ice Cream Co., named after the signature ice cream sandwich, says sales through June this year are up 15% from the same period in 2009, a year sales grew 8%.