In America’s contentious tax reform debate, it is seen as C-Suite versus Main Street. Some of the biggest and most powerful companies in the United States are fighting for a cut in the official corporate tax rate, arguing that it is necessary to allow them to compete more effectively in the global market. But the nation’s millions of small businesses fear they will be the ones paying for it.

State Representative Andy Harris says he will request an expanded review of the Maryland Department of Education's use of federal funds after an audit found that the state may have to return up to $540,000 in misspent stimulus dollars and money designated for poor children. "What it uncovered is a pattern of waste, fraud and abuse of federal tax dollars," Harris said of the audit.

Denver's economy continues to gain traction, with some of the strongest population, employment and home-price gains in the country, said Jeff Romine, chief economist with the Denver Office of Economic Development. "Denver is the fastest-growing county in Colorado. It is really the place to be if you are starting a business," said Romine, speaking at the city's Small Biz Expo

A global effort to tighten corporate tax rules is gaining momentum as politicians in Europe and the United States take aim at American tech giants whose savvy use of international tax laws has provoked a public backlash. A day after a U.S. Senate report slammed Apple’s use of Irish regulations to minimize payments to the U.S. European heads of state said they hoped for quick action from an international effort to change rules that let companies shelter profits.

Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney, acknowledging that “I’m sounding like Darth Vader here,”touted plans Wednesday to reduce costs by squeezing suppliers hard and cutting jobs across the company.

In a boost for the Obama Administration and controversial federal cleantech programs, electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors (TSLA) announced Wednesday it paid back its $465 million government loan nine years early. The U.S. Department of Energy oversees $34 billion in taxpayer-funded loans for 33 clean energy projects, and Tesla is the first American car company to pay back its loan.

How a corporate stooge actually performed, or whether or not they produced value, was of little importance. They only had to be good at crafting an appealing image. This is what made entrepreneurs a different breed from the people who made their bones climbing the corporate ladder. Entrepreneurs were judged strictly by their bottom line results.

Welcome to Fremont, California, a nondescript suburb of 217,000 tucked in the high-tech region between San Francisco and Silicon Valley where something unique is happening: manufacturing.

I've always struggled to explain to people just what it is that makes Silicon Valley tick. Then the other day, I found it, or him, sitting at a round table with a white tablecloth in an upstairs conference room at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Vish Mishra.

Sanket Sant, a citizen of India, came to the United States at age 21, earning a master’s degree in engineering, followed by a doctorate and then landing a well-paying job at a company making semiconductor equipment. Then, he waited for the American government to decide if he could stay. Now, though, Congress is poised to end the uncertainty.

A "business incubator" symbolizes a city's commitment to entrepreneurs and building an economy from the ground up. St. Petersburg lacked one. Until now.

Xconomy: How would you describe the Texas VC market right now? Blair Garrou: Really weak. Weakest it’s been since the early ’90s. In the mid-’90s, we saw the rise of companies in Austin, semiconductors, software was big. We had successful funds like Austin Ventures and, because of that, Austin was the third city. You had the Valley and San Francisco, Boston, and Austin.

Donald Trump recently announced his foray into crowdfunding with the launch of his own crowdfunding platform, FundAnything, with partner Bill Zanker, founder of adult education company The Learning Annex. FundAnything lets people create a campaign for any amount of money, collecting small contributions from large numbers of donors. Entrepreneurs may offer non-financial rewards in exchange for donations, but are not required to do so.

Considering it’s one of America’s cloudiest cities, it might surprise some to think of Rochester as a rising star in solar technology. But sunshine isn’t necessary to develop the tools to collect and store the power of the sun. You need what Rochester has in abundance — technical know-how, ties to the latest research and the right facilities to test and make solar cells and batteries. Things are moving quickly in Rochester’s solar arena:

Joshua Zimmerman developed a streamlined, simpler version of a solar-powered portable charger and then decided to try to raise some money so he could buy parts in bulk. He turned to the crowd funding vehicle Kickstarter

The sweeping immigration overhaul moving through Congress is creating a bonanza for lobbyists. While the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO and Silicon Valley companies are making the most noise on immigration reform, a grab bag of other groups and companies are working under the radar to shape the bill. Roughly 500 companies, trade groups and unions, among others, lobbied on immigration this past quarter,

Danny Maloney, an entrepreneur who founded and leads PinLeague in Oklahoma City, predicts that over the next decade more tech markets will emerge, and Oklahoma City should be one of them.

Public backlash against deadly overseas drone strikes may undermine promising uses of such technology for anything from disaster response to mail delivery, a top U.S. industry group said as it launched a lobbying effort to "demystify" unmanned planes.