Massachusetts to Receive $22M in Federal Funding For Business Loans

SPRINGFIELD – Massachusetts will get more than $22 million in federal funding aimed at stimulating at least 10 times that amount in small business lending, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced last week.

“We definitely will see some of that money here,” said Christopher L. Sikes, executive director of the Western Mass Enterprise Fund Inc.

Based in Holyoke, the Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund provides loans of up to $350,000 to small businesses and also helps businesses get business loans.

“It’s harder and harder to make these loans because the economy is so fragile,” Sikes said.

Business balance sheets have been hurt by a loss of revenue. Also, credit card companies have reduced available credit, damaging credit ratings for both individuals and businesses.

Meanwhile, businesses are carrying more accounts receivable, that is debts owed to them, mostly by other businesses, for goods and services. They also need money to expand and update equipment, Sikes said.

The Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund has already received a competitive $750,000 capital grant through an existing Treasury program. The new pot of money totaling $1.5 billion nationally was part of a federal small business initiative enacted into law two weeks ago.

Matthew C. Anderson, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Treasury, said another component of the small business bill that would provide $30 billion in capital to lenders for small business loans has not yet been put into force.

The $1.5 billion will be distributed to states by the end of this year, he said. States will distribute the money on a competitive basis to agencies, such as the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Fund, with a requirement that they use each $1 in capital to raise $10 from elsewhere.

That means the $22 million promised to Massachusetts could mean $220 million in loans. Where the money will go within the state has yet to be determined, Sikes said.

“Our money helps attract other money,” Sikes said. “Banks send us a lot of business.”

Sikes said the Enterprise Fund’s involvement often gives other lenders confidence in a business’s future. Also the Enterprise Fund has more flexibility in what its loaned funds can be used to do.

Local banks report having the money to lend already, said Jeffrey S. Ciuffreda, vice president of government affairs for the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield. Companies basically fall into two categories: those that want loans but can’t get them because of poor credit (see poor credit business loans), and businesses with solid balance sheets that are reluctant to borrow money because they don’t see the economy improving fast enough.

“I don’t know what this program would do for that latter group that is holding off on any expansion,” Ciuffreda said.

'Hacktivity 2010' tackles computer security in Hungary

I attended a major hackers' conference in Hungary as it wrapped up Sunday after higlighting protection against increasingly sophisticated computer piracy as the Internet becomes ever more present in daily life.

"The Internet is the greatest generation gap since rock'n roll," world-renowned US cyber security expert Bruce Schneier told the two-day Hacktivity 2010 event in the capital Budapest.

"The older of us need to be prepared for a younger generation that lives life on the Internet, doesn't understand where their computer or smartphone ends and the Internet begins, shares passwords with their friends as a sign of trust and deliberately lies when registering for services," he said.

"At the same time, technological and business trends point to less user control: what will security and privacy look like in this new world?" he warned.

Some 30 presentations were scheduled over the two-day conference covering topics including database protection by softwares like Oracle, MySQL, MSSQL, DB2 LUW, Sybase, ASE and PostgreSQL.

Also of interest was the new concept of Web 2.0, which includes changes in the way the Web is used.

"Web 2.0 is a technology that is used more and more nowadays," said Csaba Krasznai, a former organiser of Hacktivity who now does research at Miklos Zrinyi National Defence University.

He said Web 2.0 posed a threat not just to individuals but also to companies and the state, and it was necessary to establish security measures "based on changes within society."

Smartphones like the iPhone and Blackberry were also discussed, with Hungarian security expert Domonkos Tomcsanyi noting that they could easily be pirated with a simple PDA, or palmtop computer.

US hacker Mitch Altman meanwhile demonstrated how, with a kit worth just a dozen euros, it was possible to remotely switch off a public television or charge any device with a USB port.

Organisers had expected about 1,000 participants at the conference. Fewer turned up, but it was a great opportunity for me to network with the bleeding cutting-edge internet security specialists (most of the ex-hackers) and check out the hot girls in Budapest.

Android Taking Over iPhone Big Time

For the first time ever, sales of Android handsets have outpaced those of the Apple iPhone.

According to Nielsen (via GigaOm), Google Android phones now account for 27 percent of U.S. smartphone sales among new phone buyers, eclipsing the 23 percent share held by the iPhone.

The numbers cover a rolling six-month period and are reported quarterly. Based on the chart embedded in the linked story, Android popularity has skyrocketed, from a mere 6 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2009 (when it was half of even Windows Mobile’s pathetic market share) to 27 percent today. The iPhone slipped from 34 percent in that quarter to 23 percent.

That said, the top spot remains — as it has been for over a year — occupied by RIM, which holds a 33 percent share of cell phone buys.

As GigaOm notes, the phenomenal rise of Android — up 886 percent worldwide since a year ago — is a rare occurrence in the tech business, since the Android platform is now two years old and reaching a maturity level that should actually indicate a period of slowing growth. The site suggests, however, that compared with competitors like the iPhone and BlackBerry operating systems, Android is still just a baby.

What’s the outlook for this space? RIM has been slipping for months (it held a 45 percent share in the second quarter of 2009), and Apple could always get a second wind. Will RIM’s new version 6 operating system reverse its slide? Will Android — which suffers from more than its fair share of dissatisfied users — keep surging? Will those free iPhone Bumper cases increase its numbers?

I for one, am very satisfied with my Blackberry Bold, iPhone 4 and Droid X. Who needs more when

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