As construction company owners shift their thoughts to a new year, it should not be forgotten that the recently enacted Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA) may offer impressive cost savings to qualified firms. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Enacted in September, SBJA essentially provides various tax changes – most of them beneficial to company owners – and $30 billion for community banks to lend to small businesses. Because most Texas construction companies qualify as a small business, the law has a lot of appeal. Companies that aren’t certain about their status can go to the Small Business

For construction firms ready to add workers, a new law aimed at reducing unemployment offers grease for the skids. Enacted earlier this year, The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (or HIRE) Act grants a payroll tax exemption for hiring workers who have been out of work for at least 60 days. It wasn’t long ago that rehiring was a non-issue, given the rate at which jobs were being slashed. Certain business sectors and regions are now on the upswing. In Texas, job growth is fairly impressive. In May Texas had 75,200 more jobs than in May 2009, according to the

This month the nation’s health-care reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) begins unfolding in earnest, and contractors need to make certain they are ready for the changes. Before we address the new realities, however, it might help to explain how the law actually affects small contractors, which has been a source of confusion. The facts are: Before the final vote, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, attached an amendment requiring contractors with five or more employees and payrolls of more than $250,000 to provide health coverage. However, the amendment did not survive the reconciliation process between Senate and House