Business Owners

Bank of America Corp., under pressure to raise capital and cut risks, is severing lines of credit to some small-business owners who have used them to stay afloat. The Charlotte, N.C., bank is demanding that these customers pay off their credit line balances all at once instead of making monthly payments. If they can't pay in full, they are being offered new repayment plans for as long as five years, but with far higher interest rates than their original credit lines had. Business owners complain that BofA's credit squeeze is abrupt and could strain their small companies and even put them out of business.

Former Upland Mayor John Pomierski faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty Thursday to bribery and admitting to accepting $5,000 to help a business obtain a permit. Pomierski, 58, became the third person to be convicted in the bribery scheme, in which he allegedly demanded about $70,000 in payments from the separate owners of a sports bar and a medical marijuana cooperative to help them obtain permits and eliminate other requirements beginning in 2007, according to federal prosecutors.

The Small Business Administration offers a variety of assistance, including online workshops, seminars and classes. The agency also has step-by-step instructions for starting a business, including tips on market research and creating a business plan. The main national website has links to local SBA district offices throughout the country. Try them at http://www.sba.gov . Click on the tab labeled Small Business Planner for tips on what you may need to know before you start.

A federal judge last year issued a preliminary injunction against the city of Los Angeles, effectively allowing anyone in the area around skid row to store personal belongings - including mattresses, overflowing plastic bags and shopping carts - on the sidewalks. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez was intended to protect the possessions of homeless and street people, and to prevent them from being mistaken for garbage and removed from the public sidewalks. As a predictable - if unintended - consequence of that ruling, hundreds of people have transformed the streets of skid row and surrounding neighborhoods into their personal storage facilities.

Robert Dunne tried hard to live like a man. He got a job in heavy construction and became a skilled sheet-metal worker. He got married--three times. But for nearly 30 years, he knew he wasn't being true to himself. Finally, he decided to have a sex change operation, but when word leaked out at his workplace, he found himself without a job. Now Robert has become Roberta, and the onetime hermit has blossomed into an activist fighting discrimination against transsexuals and cross-dressers.

Even though the recession has been officially over for some time, getting a small-business loan hasn't gotten any easier. In fact, fewer loans backed by the federal Small Business Administration were made during the first half of this year than during the same period in 2010. In Southern California, the amount lent in this type of loan declined 7% to $922 million in the period that ended June 30, compared with $988 million a year earlier. That's more than double the 3% decline nationwide.

After several rough years for the gift basket industry, the small companies that handle much of that business are hoping for even a small uptick in sales. But just in case, many have been paring their payrolls and product lines. And business owners have been spending long days trying to stir up new customers. Jean Fujita, owner of Bountiful Basket by Jean Inc. in Santa Monica, began a recent workday at a 6:45 a.m. chamber of commerce networking event. Then came more appointments, ending with another networking meeting in the evening.

Business owners hoping to gain Internet know-how can attend a free, online seminar July 11 at the Port Hueneme Chamber of Commerce office. The two-hour course, "Introduction to Doing Business on the Internet," will include an online demonstration of businesses currently profiting from Internet use. Featured speaker Ian Bentley, president of Web Marketing Plus, will also address discuss how to create a Web page, how to do business on the Internet and the costs of business Internet use.

A Newport Beach-based management consulting firm found in a recent survey that business owners and managers in the western United States are very optimistic about the coming year. Of the 217 chief executives, presidents and managers queried in the fourth quarter, 92% felt their businesses would perform better over the next 12 months, according to Management Action Programs Inc.

John Chandler's story "Local Businesses Call Subsidy Unfair" (Oct. 11) succinctly expressed the feelings of both the business owners and taxpayers of Lancaster. The city has no business subsidizing one retail business over another with tax dollars. The Lancaster City Council never seems to learn the hard lessons of its magnificent mistakes of the very recent past. The Petsmart controversy should have shown the council members that their political careers were on the line. A very bad mistake was made when they began to subsidize large, out-of-state retail entities such as Petsmart against small, local, established businesses that sell essentially the same product.

A nationwide push to boost exports — and the U.S. jobs that come with them — is launching in Los Angeles. The project, led by the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase & Co., is called the Global Cities Initiative, and its primary message is that the nation's economic growth will come from metropolitan areas that best assist business in selling to overseas customers. "The whole idea is to get businesses to start to think globally," said former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, chair of the initiative and a senior advisor to JPMorgan Chase.

Eighteen years ago, when Dave Gajda bought the building on the corner of Selma Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, the space that now houses Saint Felix restaurant and bar was a needle exchange. His office on the second floor looked out on the alley, which had an unprintable nickname due to the stench of human waste from homeless encampments. Things were so bad that Gajda had the alley gated for security. Today that same alley has been opened as Hollywood's first pedestrian thoroughfare.

The review site Yelp has gone public, and Wall Street likes what it sees. The company's stock took off at the start of trading. But is Yelp a good investment? Let's post a review. First of all, Yelp is obviously a very popular Web destination, with 66 million unique monthly visitors and about 25 million reviews as of the end of last year. You can't argue with those numbers. What should make people wary, though, is the little fact that Yelp has yet to earn a penny since its founding in 2004.

Gas prices are rising. The economy is still shaky. But since the recession began, there hasn't been a higher percentage of the nation's nearly 6 million small businesses expecting to boost their spending . A survey from pollster Gallup and Wells Fargo found that 28% of such business owners plan to increase capital expenditures in the next 12 months -- the most since mid-2008. It's also been four years since so few business owners -- 23% -- said they plan to scale back spending.

As he campaigned around the state the day before Nevadans cast their votes in the Republican presidential nominating contest, Mitt Romney exuded a front-runner's confidence. Keeping his eye on November, he aimed his rhetorical fire at the man he wants to replace in the White House. But Newt Gingrich, who is expected to finish second, kept his sights on caucus day here Saturday, slashing away at the former Massachusetts governor and hoping to make a decent showing after a stinging loss in Florida.

Most urban renewal projects require piles of cash and armloads of permits and blueprints. All that's needed for James Rojas' makeover of downtown Long Beach is imagination. Rojas is an urban planner who has constructed an 80-square-foot scale model of the city that residents and business owners can tinker with to illustrate their own vision of Long Beach's future. The city's high-rises, retail shops and residential buildings are represented by movable blocks of wood, scraps of plastic and pieces of castoffs that Rojas has salvaged from garage sales and thrift shops.

Owners of a Fullerton heating and air-conditioning company pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of stealing customers' down payments and throwing asbestos-laden ducts into a college campus trash bin. Timothy James Lester, 29, of Buena Park, and David Anthony Greenly, 24, of Huntington Beach have been charged with five counts of grand theft, three counts of theft from an elder and nine counts related to improperly dumping asbestos at Hope International University in Fullerton.

The Asian American Economic Development Enterprises and California American Women's Development Corp. are offering 30 Chinatown business owners a 10-week entrepreneurial class. Funded by a $15,000 grant from the Telesis Foundation, the class provides business owners training in identifying potential customers, sales, marketing, tax and legal issues, and traditional and non-traditional sources of funding. The class will start in the fall. The fee is $300, but scholarships are available.

The parade wasn't as rosy for some business owners this year. With fewer people turning out at the Tournament of Roses Parade - held Monday this year instead of Sunday, New Year's Day - some Pasadena business owners reported a noticeable drop in customers. Coffee shop owner Min Jung is one. Although some venues open at parade time appeared to be doing brisk business, he said sales at his Sabor 2 were off 30%. "This is the slowest I've seen it in three years. I think maybe the economy has something to do with it," he said.

Bank of America Corp., under pressure to raise capital and cut risks, is severing lines of credit to some small-business owners who have used them to stay afloat. The Charlotte, N.C., bank is demanding that these customers pay off their credit line balances all at once instead of making monthly payments. If they can't pay in full, they are being offered new repayment plans for as long as five years, but with far higher interest rates than their original credit lines had. Business owners complain that BofA's credit squeeze is abrupt and could strain their small companies and even put them out of business.