Businesses

Outspoken California Gov. Jerry Brown has roundly dismissed radio ads by Texas Gov. Rick Perry that slam the Golden State's business environment. "It's not a serious story, guys," Brown told reporters at a Tuesday business event. The radio spots voiced by Perry, who has tried before to woo California businesses to the Lone Star State, starts out with the Texas governor proclaiming that "building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible.

When Oakland restaurateur Henry Vortriede needs more bread for his eatery, he doesn't have to spend cash to buy it. Instead, he turns to barter, an ancient form of commerce that is attracting new converts during a struggling economy. But Vortriede isn't restricted to bartering directly with a baker down the street in exchange for providing free meals at his Montclair Bistro. That's because the restaurant is among businesses that belong to fee-based online barter networks that make it possible to trade with many businesses.

In another sign of a recovering economy, U.S. orders for machinery and factory goods jumped in January as businesses invested for future growth. The Commerce Department said U.S. companies upped their orders for such goods by 7.2% in January from the month before, the biggest jump in more than a year. Economists watch investment in capital goods as a sign of business confidence. Despite tax hikes and the threat of automatic spending cuts known as sequestration, the increases indicate that companies continued to raise production even after the holidays.

Reporting from Sacramento A dozen companies committed to maximizing social good while turning a profit have filed papers with the state to become California's first "benefit corporations. " Chief executives, led by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia Inc., a maker and seller of outdoor apparel and equipment, marched into the secretary of state's office in Sacramento shortly after it opened Tuesday morning. It was the first business day they could register under a recently approved state law that gives companies a way to legally structure their businesses to consider social and environmental efforts as part of their missions.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell were in California this week on a whirlwind tour to woo Golden State businesses to expand or relocate to their states. At the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa on Thursday, both state leaders took a breather to talk to The Times about why they were chatting with companies in Costa Mesa, Palo Alto and San Francisco. The governors, who cooked up this joint tour after discussing their mutual interest in job creation, took a much more amicable tack than Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

After months of frustration and delays, small-business owners in Southern California are finally getting long-awaited loans to hire new workers and expand their operations. Money for loans backed by the Small Business Administration, but held up for weeks in Congress, is on its way. Just days after President Obama signed a $30-billion-plus package of incentives for small businesses, Southland bankers, bureaucrats and borrowers are scrambling to nail down the final details and get the money flowing.

For entrepreneurs wondering when California might become more business-friendly, Nevada has an answer: When pigs fly. In a series of aphorism- laden ads running this week on TV, on radio and in print, the Nevada Development Authority once again is trying to lure businesses from the Golden State, this time by comparing the California budget to a swine and lawmakers to monkeys. "If the Legislature doesn't stop monkeying around, you can kiss your assets goodbye," says a voice-over in one spot, which features a monkey making spitting sounds at the camera as cartoon bananas fall from the sky. It's just the latest attempt by neighboring states to lure jobs and tax revenue by highlighting California's reputation as a high-cost, highly regulated place to do business.

In response to Harry Bernstein's Column Left, "It's a Fine Line Between Profit and Greed, " Jan. 2: Sooner or later, all of the companies that boost profits by laying off workers will have to pay the piper. Laid-off employees have little or no discretionary income with which to purchase goods and services; without jobs, people cannot help keep businesses alive. The lack of the "little guy's" spending dollar will eventually sink all businesses, save the grocer and the funeral director.

Under rising pressure from Wall Street to show it can make money, Facebook Inc. will soon begin charging businesses to target users with special offers and deals. Facebook Offers is a program that lets businesses target their Facebook fans with deals. It launched earlier this year as a free service. But in coming weeks, according to Reuters , Facebook will begin requiring businesses to create an ad to promote their special deal to fans and friends of fans in their News Feeds.

The Olympics movement has passed over Chicago, but it has left a lasting and unpleasant mark on George Tsoukas' business. He has owned a butcher shop here for about 40 years. But a year or two ago, Olympic Meat Packers Inc. had to be renamed Olympia Meat Packers Inc. because federal law gives the U.S. Olympic Committee a trademark on the word "Olympic." Tsoukas, whose family is Greek, says he sometimes forgets and answers the phone with the old name. "My customers, they hang up on me and they think it's a different business," he says.