A mid-February press release suggests that, while capital is becoming more available for businesses in general, it isn't as available for small business start-ups. In addition, fewer people are interested in starting new businesses anyway.

While small business owners have suffered under the pressure of taxes and regulations from federal, state and local government bodies, there is a trend that seems to making small business survival even more difficult - direct competition from governmental bodies, primarily at the state and local levels.

As Congress was preparing to transition from Democrat- to Republican-controlled in January 2015, small business owners made their legislative priorities known in a survey conducted by the National Small Business Association (NSBA) in December 2014.

A recent press release from the University of Cincinnati discusses the highlights of a report from the university's criminal justice department based on a survey of small business on the topic of employee theft.

Headlines frequently put the world on notice that large corporations have become victims of cyber attacks, putting sometimes millions of customers' data (names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and sometimes even credit card numbers and other financial data) at risk.

Exporting is the life blood of the U.S. economy. When more money flows into the country than flows out, the nation flourishes. When more money flows out than flows in, the economy struggles.

Research and surveys continue to show that small businesses struggle to thrive, and even survive, for a number of reasons. High among these are lack of access to capital, extensive and expensive government regulations, and taxes.

On January 8, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 252-172 (all voting Republicans plus 12 Democrats) to pass the Save American Workers Act (H.R. 30), a piece of legislation designed to repeal the Affordable Care Act's 30-hour definition of full-time employment and replace it with a 40-hour standard.