June 14, 2010

The Obama administration is pushing for changes in many industries ranging from banking to health care to energy. How will these efforts affect small business?

If you’re trying to figure out where to expand your business or get ideas for a new business to start, a recent article from SmartMoney focused on six industries poised to grow as a result of the administration’s efforts. Here’s a quick rundown:

Telecommunications

President Obama's National Broadband Plan aims to boost access to mobile broadband and support the development of a nationwide public safety wireless broadband network. As part of the 2009 stimulus package, the government will spend $7.2 billion on broadband projects.

Hosted Services

As a result of the broadband efforts, small businesses will gain greater access to a faster Web, which will speed the growth of cloud computing and enable small companies to both provide and benefit from cloud services.

Information Technology

This is one area where the government hasn’t proposed greater regulation—good news for entrepreneurs in the space. Also good news: Pent-up demand for tech products and services should explode when the economy picks up.

Media/Content Production

Expanded broadband means more people watching and downloading movies, TV and other multimedia on their computers or mobile devices. The increased demand will help the media industry overcome damage done by slumping ad sales.

Health Care

This one’s a no-brainer even without government help. But the federal government is putting $20 billion into computerizing health records, making health-care IT a particularly sizzling field. Angel investors are also bullish on this sector: 17 percent of angel investment in 2009 went to health-care services, medical devices and equipment.

Clean Energy

The government is putting $3 billion in stimulus spending into this industry, and recently created tax incentives and subsidies for residential and business users who install energy-saving equipment. Meanwhile, venture capitals are funding companies that do everything from solar panels and wind turbines to electricity grids and batteries.

And there you have the six industries posed for growth—at least based on Federal government spending. Lest we forget, however, the prospect of spending billions has a flip side to it: taxes.  Some small business owners will be thinking about who has to foot the bill in taxes, and how big a tax bite these spending programs will take.

Related Topics

• Innovation

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Anita Campbell, Article, taxes, tax incentives, government, healthcare, Small Business Trends

Join the conversation ( 2 )

• Martin Lindeskog 1 year 10 months and 11 days ago

  

  You could get some artificial boost in the beginning, but I think the net end result will be negative. When do you think the government should start practice laissez-faire capitalism? Should the government protect our individuals rights, so we could have an exchange of values, or will it keep intruding in our lives and businesses?

• Thursday Bram 1 year 11 months and 18 days ago

  

  I've found clean energy to be one of the most intriguing of the growth industries you listed: there is such a potential for huge growth and the industry will have far more of a widespread reach than I think most people guess. Something as simple as retro-fitting houses doesn't just put money in the clean energy industry's pockets — contractors and other construction professionals will get a nice slice of the pie as well. I think the potential for growth (at least as far as clean energy) will likely result in a net positive.