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TOP OF THE NEWS High Rising Latinas U.S Census Bureau stats show that Latinas are starting their own businesses at six times the national average. Read full article here. New York's Women-Owned Businesses Slated for Top Contracts A New York state official in charge of promoting minority and women-owned business development said that Gov. Spitzer's administration has plans to expand those groups' access to state contracts. "We are looking to recruit those companies that are ready, willing and able to compete," said Michael H. Jones-Bey, executive director of the Division of Minority and Women's Business Development. "We need to build your companies up so you can compete on significant contracts." Greenville, South Carolina, is Developing Angel Investor Team Wealth areas business leaders are building a network to help finance, mentor startups. Local business leaders are forming a network of so-called "angel investors" -- wealthy individuals willing to invest in startup companies and maybe coach and mentor entrepreneurs as well. Read full article here Unorthodox Strategy Works for Venture Capital Fund Rembrandt Venture Partners had a strategy to easy limited partner's mind and loosen their wallets for follow-on funds when they raised their first fund in 2004. The first-time fund focused on early-stage deals hoping for quicker returns they could show to limited partners while they nursed the investments in startups. Read full article here The University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic are Jump Starting New Businesses The University of Minnesota, whose record at spinning out successful firms has trailed the national average, has in the past year launched three new startups, with another four in the works. And the Mayo Clinic's Office of Intellectual Property also is ramping up efforts as it expands into a new facility in Rochester. Read full article here Start Ups DO Get Financing! Borrowing for business isn't as easy as opening up a new credit card. But the money is out there is you're willing to do the plan and the paperwork. Read full article here $50,000 Prize to Top e-Commerce Business Plan Cambridge-based Art Technology Group Inc. has launched an e-commerce business plan competition with a $50,000 prize for the winner. The ATG e-Commerce Ingenuity Business Plan Competition is open to individuals or teams of e-commerce entrepreneurs, for seed- or early-stage venture. Annual revenue or capital raised must be less than $100,000, officials said. SBA Sets Lending Record The U.s. Small Business Administration set records for the number and volume of the loans it guaranteed in its fiscal year 2007, which ended September 30. The SBA approved 110,275 loans totaling about $20.6 billion under its two primary small business loan programs, the 7(a) and 504, in 2007. This compares with 107,233 loans worth $20.25 billion in 2006, according to a news release. The SBA said nearly a third of all loans went to start up companies and a third went to minority borrowers. New Investor Groups Target New England's Cash Starved Biotechs The efforts represent a sudden and somewhat unprecedented critical mass of potential early-stage money, anticipated to top $140 million, at a time when most of the investing world is leaning toward later-stage, and less risky, biotech players. The new funds may not be reserving their checkbooks for this region alone, but they could meet a critical need for a local industry that often rises and falls on its first few shots of funding. Read full article here Google Expands Its Venture Investments In India Search giant Google Inc., which has described the Indian market as hamstrung by a dearth of early-stage venture capital, has announced two more pacts here that aim to give it more breadth in the venture funding of companies in this country. The investments build on two other early-stage venture-funding arrangements in India that Google announced earlier this year. Read the full article here New Angel Investor Group with National Wingspan The founder of Maine's only angel group is poised to launch a second group that will make its home in Bar Harbor. And in a departure from ost angel groups, the group plans to make investments across the nation. Charles Sidman said his goal is to raise a $20 million fund for the group, to be called ECS Angels, during the coming year. Read full article here Top SBA Bank 10 Years in a Row Bank of America wrote nearly 11,000 SBA loans this past year, making it the largest SBA lender in the country. Cisco Is Investing $1.1 Billion in India Startups Cisco Systems Inc. said it will invest another $100 million in early-stage Indian technology companies, doubling venture funding it announced two years ago as part of its $1.1 billion investment plan in India. Read full article here New Women's Angel Group in Kansas A group of high net worth women are teaming up to create the Kansas City area's first women's angel investor group. Read full article here.