Latest Small Business Headlines

All the headlines from our Small Business Topic Page, ordered by recency.

California Will Provide $500M in Virus Aid for Small Businesses

Dec 2 2020 // California will provide temporary tax relief and $500 million in aid to small businesses struggling because of coronavirus outbreak restrictions, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday.The tax measures include a three-month...

Louisiana Virus Aid Funds Run Low with Small Business, Local Requests Unmet

Nov 24 2020 // Louisiana will run out of federal coronavirus money before it pays out grants to all eligible small businesses and local government agencies seeking dollars from COVID-19 aid programs created by Gov. John Bel Edwards and...

Illinois Fines Continental Indemnity, Applied Underwriters $250K for Unapproved Sales

Nov 18 2020 // Two former Berkshire Hathaway companies have been hit with a $250,000 fine by Illinois regulators for selling unapproved workers’ compensation policies to small businesses.The Illinois Department of Insurance says...

After Helping Shepherd Pandemic Loans, Banks Now Brace for Regulatory Risks

Oct 21 2020 // Banks that facilitated the U.S. government’s Paycheck Protection Program at first saw the effort as a small revenue booster with a patriotic bonus, shepherding $525 billion in loans to businesses slammed by the...

The State of Surplus Lines Insurance: Busy Solving Risk Puzzles in a Complex World

Sep 30 2020 // Insurance professionals in the surplus lines sector are busy. Busy adapting to a changing business world during COVID-19. Busy adapting to a changing property/casualty market where standard lines insurers are steadfastly...

Chubb Names Updyke as Division President of Chubb Small Business

Sep 29 2020 // Insurer Chubb has named Jeffrey Updyke as vice president, Chubb Group, and division president, Chubb Small Business.In this capacity, Updyke will have executive responsibility for Chubb’s retail insurance business...

Next Insurance Attracts $250M in New Financing; Its $631M to Date Beats Lemonade

Sep 24 2020 // Next Insurance secured another $250 million in financing designed to fuel continued national expansion of its digital small business insurance offerings.CapitalG, Alphabet/Google’s independent growth fund, led the...

Simply Business, AXIS Launch Coverage for Home-Based Small Businesses

Sep 9 2020 // Simply Business, Inc., a digital insurance agency offering small business insurance policies on behalf of a panel of carriers, will work with AXIS Insurance on a new product intended for U.S. small business owners who...

Solving Risk Puzzles in a Complex World

Sep 7 2020 // Insurance professionals in the surplus lines sector are busy. Busy adapting to a changing business world during COVID-19. Busy adapting to a changing property/casualty market where standard lines insurers are steadfastly...

AXIS Partners With AllDigital Specialty MGA on Small Business Platform

Aug 31 2020 // AXIS Insurance and AllDigital Specialty will launch an insurance platform designed for the U.S. small private company management liability market.AXIS will utilize AllDigital’s technology to quote, bind and issue...

What Tampa Bay’s Worst-Case Scenario, ‘Hurricane Phoenix’ Could Look Like

Aug 31 2020 // It is only a simulation. It’s also the worst-case scenario. One day, it could be reality.“Hurricane Phoenix” is the hypothetical disaster that would change life in the Tampa Bay area forever. Imagine a...

Progressive Q2 Profit Up on Fewer Accidents; CEO Says ‘Black Lives Matter,’ Vows Action

Aug 10 2020 // “Black Lives Matter to me and they matter to us as an organization,” Progressive Corp. CEO Tricia Griffith wrote in a letter to shareholders.In the letter that was mostly commentary on second quarter results,...

Insurance Agents Think They Offer Value. But Some Customers Have a Different View.

Aug 7 2020 // Business owners and consumers are rethinking their finances and insurance needs due to the current economic uncertainty. However, new research suggests insurance customers and their agents are not always on the same page;...

Without More Aid, Many Small Businesses Won’t Make It

Jul 30 2020 // OAKLAND, Calif./NEW YORK — After surviving two strokes at age 27, Olivia Colt threw herself into starting a catering business, a lifelong dream. Ten years and another stroke later, she had built Salt & Honey Catering...

Grant Program Now Open for Louisiana Small Businesses Harmed by Virus

Jul 29 2020 // Louisiana small businesses that have been hammered by the coronavirus outbreak and haven’t received federal aid can start applying for grants up to $15,000 to cover pandemic-related expenses, under a program created...

Concern Over Small Businesses Grows as Coronavirus Resurges, Federal Aid Expires

Jul 27 2020 // The number of outright failures of U.S. small businesses in the first months of the coronavirus pandemic was comparatively modest, but the months ahead look far grimmer as cash balances dwindle, federal help expires, and...

Louisiana’s Small Business Covid-19 Recovery Program Site Now Operational

Jul 13 2020 // The website for Louisiana’s program to help small businesses that have suffered losses as a result of the coronavirus epidemic is now operational, the state’s treasury office reported.State Treasurer John M....

Chubb Unveils Public-Private Program for Pandemic Business Interruption

Jul 9 2020 // Chubb unveiled a proposal for the insurance industry and federal government to partner on covering future pandemic-related business interruptions—and to get money to small businesses quickly—following through on an...

Canadian Insurtech MGA Foxquilt Raises Seed Funding to Develop Small-Biz Platform

Jul 9 2020 // A Canadian insurtech focused on small business insurance said it raised $3.5 million in seed financing.Foxquilt, a Toronto-based MGA startup, said the funding will help it become a full-service insurance provider with a...

Coronavirus Business Interruption Claimants Lay Out Federal Plan to Reimburse Insurers

Jul 9 2020 // A U.S. lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow insurers to voluntarily pay certain COVID-related business interruption claims and get reimbursed by the federal government, but insurance groups have rejected the...