The budget calls for some cuts and some new taxes, but there are no new taxes for Corporate Net Income Tax, Business taxes in general or personal income tax.

The Superbowl is a big stage, and for the weeks surrounding the game, focus on the two cities is high. Using those moments to promote the community and the area can pay dividends years down the road.

You can find them at Imaginemynewjob.com.

Over half of the available jobs pay more than $40,000 a year. To help workers land those jobs, a Pittsburgh school is helping to train people to find new opportunities.

Host Bill Flanagan talks with Bidwell Training Center Director Gary Caldwell and Gary Baronowski about their program’s ability to give people the skills they need to succeed in todays changing financial landscape.

Also, Shiela Econg of Arrowstar discusses the way the Council has helped her business grow even during these troubling times.

Research and Development is a field that many businesses feel they do not take part in. The phrase “R&D” calls to mind images of laboratories and drug development. But the IRS definition of R&D is quite different.

Basic day to day funcitons of many small companies will qualify as R&D such as quality assurance proceedures, software development, prototyping and fabricating.

The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance has free resources that can help businesses find out how they qualify for tax cut programs that can save money.

Until recently, everybody was into stocks and why not? From 1988 until last year, the Dow Industrial Average rose from 2000 to 14,000, an unprecidented jump. Everyone was eager to stay on that money making train.

Now that fiscal reality has set in, strategies that were deemed too conservative a few years ago are making a comeback. A aggressive strategy for the young, moderate for middle aged investors and conservative for retirees is essential to surviving the crisis with your retirement intact.

The plant is the latest casualty of the fading auto market. The NOVA plant produces resins and polymers that are used in the production of automobiles.

In a press release, company spokesperson Robert Snyder cited poor marketing conditions for the shutdown, but said the plant would be reopened when the situation improves

“Market conditions have been poor for the last year and recently have gotten dramatically worse… We expect to restart the plant, but only when we see significantly stronger demand and improving margins.

Watch Bill Flanagan and Jim Rohr discuss the impact for our region’s businesses.

Don’t have time to read the full report? Let us summarize a few points for you:

Energy, Energy, Energy: 3 out of 4 business owners say the high cost of energy will negatively effect their business. Granted the survey was conducted before the recent decline in oil prices, but 75% is simply too large to brush aside.

Economic Stimulus Package a non starter. Those $600 checks did little or nothing to spur economic growth. Another round of checks, business owners say, will do no better.

Hard Times Ahead: One-third of business owners are pessimistic about their companies opportunities for growth over the next six months. It’s the most pessimistic report in the survey’s six year history.

For a much greater analysis, watch the discussion below: