Money for small businesses is available
USA TODAY
A USA TODAY reader wrote, "In this climate, where can people go to get the money they need for their business? I want to expand but the banks all say no. I can't even imagine what it would be like if I was looking for start-up capital. What are we supposed to do?"More

NAMA Government Affairs
NAMA
NAMA's Government Affairs team focuses on federal and state legislative news that impacts your company's growth and profitability. Required reading for all members! Click Here for the most recent Legislative Alert. For additional information contact Ned Monroe at nmonroe@vending.org.More

North Carolina judge bars ads claiming harm from water bottles
Associated Press
A North Carolina company that touted its stainless steel water bottles on television and the Internet as a safer alternative to plastic water bottles has been ordered to stop making those claims. The International Bottled Water Association sued Eco Canteen Inc. of Charlotte in federal court last year over what it said was a scare campaign to steer consumers away from plastic bottles. U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad in Charlotte ordered Eco Canteen against distributing advertisements that claim or suggest plastic water bottles threaten public health.More

Journey into the coffee business in New Guinea
Valley Bugler
Tom Bert wrote in the Valley Bugler's Koffee Korner, "My first introduction to the coffee industry was when I was asked to run Café D’Vine in Vancouver, Wash. I had never made an espresso drink, but I did know that a mocha was pretty tasty. I had to start from scratch to learn everything that I could about making a good coffee drink for our customers. I learned how to "pull a shot" and steam milk and after a few weeks of practice I felt that I could make a pretty mean latte. Then I had to take what I had learned and train my staff. I had to explain why we did things a certain way, such as why there really was a difference in a good coffee drink and a bad coffee drink. Of course, a good drink had to start with good coffee from a good roaster, but that was just the beginning."More

World's strangest vending machines
Yahoo Travel
For travelers, a vending machine can be a welcome sight. Perhaps it's just for a quick snack when the rest of the airport is closed. Or, overseas, an easy transaction without any language hurdles. But these days, the vending machine is diversifying. Now travelers can find all sorts of things inside these contraptions — items that range from the practical to the absurd. "We love vending machines because their very nature will always remain consistent," says Christopher Salyers, author of Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism. "Some of us would prefer having access to goods 24 hours a day, devoid of human interaction or adult supervision."More

Private label growth predicted to increase
Food Product Design
According to a recent Deloitte survey of consumer packaged goods (CPG) and retail executives, U.S. consumers will continue to add private label products to their shopping carts — a trend that seems here to stay. According to “The Battle for Brands in a World of Private Labels” study, 77 percent of CPG executives and 90 percent of retail executives surveyed indicated private label will increase or increase significantly by 2012.More

Frito-Lay sends noisy, 'green' SunChips bag to the dump
USA TODAY
Frito-Lay is preparing to quietly sack its "green," but noisy SunChips bag. Roughly 18 months after Frito-Lay, with great fanfare, launched a biodegradable SunChips bag made from plant material that was billed as 100 percent compostable, the company is yanking the noisy material from the packages of five of six SunChips flavors immediately. The company is returning them to their former bags that can't be recycled — but won't wake the neighbors — while it works frantically to come up with a new, quieter, eco-friendly bag.More