Urban economist Joel Kotkin argues that immigrant businesses are often recession proof and seem to be faring well in this otherwise gloomy economy. The Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., writes that Asian immigrants tend to save cash and thus have it for shopping, while Latino immigrants are often paid in cash and have more fluidity when it comes to everyday shopping needs.

"Throughout the country, ethnic-based businesses continue to expand, even as mainstream centers suffer or go out of business," Kotkin writes. "The key difference, notes Houston real estate investor Andrew Segal, lies in the immigrants' greater reliance on cash. 'When cash is king,' observes Segal, president of Boxer Properties, 'immigrants rule.'" read more...

Congressman: "Mr. Auto Company CEO, are you OK? You look a little uncomfortable."

Mr. Auto Company CEO: "I am a little uncomfortable, Mr. Congressman. Thank you for asking. My back is bothering me something fierce. The automatic lumbar support mechanism on the private jet's butter-soft leather seats was broken on the flight here. And my massage therapist had a conflicting engagement. Couldn't make the trip." read more...

1:30 a.m.: The life of a writer all too often revolves around word count, deadlines and catchy leads. But today, November 20, I have been transported to a paradise of sorts. I have been deployed to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where my only assignment for the next two and a half days is to cover The Summit Series, an event extraordinaire made extraordinary not only by the magnificent setting--a waterfront resort featuring spa services, tennis courts, and alluring pools--but also by the company I'm keeping during my brief escape from reality. More than 60 attendees comprised of entrepreneurs and some impressive movers and shakers have come together from across the country.

For some, it is not their first time--they met previously in Park City, Utah, where stories of the last Summit weave a tale of a vibrant getaway just like this one is promising to be. Others, like me, await in anticipation. read more...

With print media searching for a way to continue its ad-supported life in a world dominated by Google, the folks at TypePad have stepped up to offer a lifeline to recently axed journalists. You know the folks, the ones laid off by the Los Angeles Times, Conde Nast publications and Time Inc., and even website companies such as Gawker Media.

There are thousands of them out there, and TypePad wants to at least offer them the hope of self-sustainability on the web by offering its "Journalist Bailout Program," which includes a TypePad Pro account, enrollment in the Six Apart Media advertising program, and blog promotion via Blogs.com. The deal is for recently unemployed journalists. read more...

After the smoke clears...

That was the message awaiting me when I got home from work yesterday. I live just a few miles from the fire line in Southern California. My wife and I spent Saturday watching local stations, awaiting the latest news on the firestorm. When the evacuation zone reached a street a little more than two miles from the house--the fire was five or six miles away--we packed some bags and got the vehicles loaded just in case. read more...

As the world reacted two weeks ago to the election of the first black president in the U.S., the national election fervor was rivaled in California by the passing of Prop. 8, a bill to overturn same sex rights.

There was a time when something like this would have a minimal impact on small businesses, but the viral impact of any decision can have unexpected consequences. read more...

When I turned 21, I also turned into a stereotype.

I was at the local bars every Thursday night, and my friends and I became elder statesmen of late nights, philanthropists that believed in lost causes and connoisseurs of bad decisions.

But, out of our element some evenings, we'd show up to dead bars, listen to terrible bands and drink at places that didn't wash their pitchers. We'd get pushed around by unruly bouncers, stared at by awkward biker burnouts and wait in line with clubbers that thought anywhere was a dance floor. We just had off nights sometimes.

And it might've been because we didn't have Randy Rantz to help us. read more...

An O'Neil Associates/ASBA Arizona Economic Indicators Monitor poll of small-business owners in Arizona found that 44 percent of those entrepreneurs oppose spending public funds on hosting an NFL Super Bowl in their communities.

The results, reported in the Phoenix Business Journal, indicate that 66 percent of the business owners polled would support a Super Bowl if they felt the conditions would be advantageous, however.

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As an entrepreneur, it's natural for you to think your product or service is the only one of its kind. It's like being a parent: All parents think their children are beautiful and unique snowflakes. Only in small doses do you start to find out you might be wrong. And it even happens to the big boys.

This week, a European court blocked a bid by Lego to trademark the shape of its bricks. Legal mumbo jumbo aside, this is a big deal. After all, if any company deserves a trademark for a shape, it's got to be Lego, right? read more...

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