A new Obama administration push to strengthen U.S. manufacturing has the support of smaller firms, but it might not be enough to stir many into action.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:46:09 EST

A small Seattle-based company hit it big after snagging the first-ever license to make Angry Birds baby products.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:09:39 EST

Not many people know the Kauffman Foundation, but after this Sunday a lot more will have an idea.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:22:08 EST

A growing portion of the nation's banks saw a spike in demand for loans to smaller firms late last year, according to the latest Federal Reserve figures.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:19:01 EST

President Obama wants companies to manufacture their products in the United States, but small business owners say that's about as easy as walking a minefield.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:51:00 EST

FORTUNE -- The days of over-sized jeans sagging from the derrieres of men everywhere are no more. Skinny jeans, tailored pants, and fitted oxfords are de rigeur, leaving little room for excess fabric in the undergarment department. Boxers or briefs used to be the only question men needed to ask themselves, but today, the options have grown. Five years ago, Tom Patterson was a medical-device sales rep by day and an avid-viewer of CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch by night. "All of the featured products or services ... were created out of personal frustration," recalls Patterson. "I found myself constantly looking around, asking, 'What can I make better?'" During the financial crisis, Patterson was laid off from a sales job he held for six years. During his down time, he realized that one of the biggest fashion annoyances he faced while he was working was a fabric gut -- that baggy bump just above the belt line caused by a loose-fitting undershirt.

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:27:51 EST

As China celebrates the New Year by ushering in the Year of the Dragon, U.S. small companies with exposure to the country are doing more hand-wringing than rejoicing.

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:53:58 EST

Michele Heyward has a big heart. When friends or family struggle financially, she is always there to help with a mortgage or car payment or clothes for the kids. Recently she has been spending more than $1,800 a month on others.

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:53:01 EST

Government-backed loans to doctors have surged more than 10-fold in the past decade, a trend industry insiders say is a red flag that doctors in America are in financial distress.

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:46:50 EST

FORTUNE -- Language and cultural differences make it hard to be an expat entrepreneur under any circumstances. It's doubly hard if the main market for your product plunges into a wrenching economic crisis. And it's even more difficult if your costs are in a country that suffers incredibly high inflation. That's the position in which Michael Evans has found himself during the last few years. The Mendoza, Argentina-company he co-founded, Vines of Mendoza, was selling turn-key "vineyard estates" largely to Americans, whose disposable income evaporated following the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers and financial crisis. Even worse, as Evans' buyers were disappearing, his costs were rising; Argentina's already high inflation shot past 20% in 2010 and stayed there. Evans knew something would have to be done fast. "I've been through something like this before in 2000, when I was at a dot-com. When something like that happens, you don't know exactly what's going to pass, but you know things will get worse before they get better," says Evans, 46. Faced with tumbling income and soaring inflation, as 2008 moved into 2009, the company cuts costs by 40% by laying off 30% of its staff ("By far, the worst day of my life," says Evans).

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:33:19 EST

Bruce Cochrane relaunched his family's furniture company in Lincolnton, N.C., last year, because he wanted to create jobs for Americans instead of setting up shop in China to take advantage of the cheaper labor.

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:32:33 EST

The hopes of some small business owners in the Nebraskan towns of Fairbury and Steele City were crushed when the Obama administration rejected a proposed expansion of the Keystone oil sands pipeline.

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:04:09 EST