Excitement for the Small Business Influencer awards is building.  We now have over 50,000 votes from the community — thanks to YOUR support.

And in honor of the great response, we’re giving away another two BlackBerry PlayBooks. The PlayBook is an exciting new compact tablet, and thanks to our premiere sponsor, BlackBerry, we have two 16 GB Playbooks up for grabs.

About the BlackBerry Playbook

The Playbook is BlackBerry’s new tablet, released just a few months ago. It is u

Read more…

— There were no new drilling permit applications in Aransas, Brooks, Jim Wells, Kenedy or Refugio counties.

BEE COUNTY

— Enco Exploration, of Corpus Christi, has filed a permit to drill a 5,200-foot wildcat well. The No. 6 Brown will be located three miles northwest of Beeville in the J.M. Uranga Survey A-68.— Pioneer Natural Resources USA, of Irving, has filed a permit to drill the No. 01H Boswell 02 to a depth of 21,000 feet in the Sugarkane (Eagle Ford) field. The horizontal well will be located about 1.3 miles northeast of Pawnee in the B. Odlum Survey A-244.

DUVAL COUNTY

— KD Energy, LLC, of Houston has filed for a permit to drill the No. 211 KD

Read more…

Searching the Internet can be one of the best ways of finding resources as a small business owner or entrepreneur these days. Get questions answered. Interact with others. Find partners, employees, customers, investors and suppliers. This wrap up is dedicated to highlighting some of the latest and greatest small business resources online. Share them with others and add your own suggestions below.

Operations

How online resources can be your business. When Holly Hanna learned she was expecting a daughter, she began to prepare for her dream of being a stay at home mom while working from home online. H

Read more…

U.S. Small Business Administration state and federal officials are expected to announce today that Michigan will be the first state to test out giving loans to businesses investing in clean energy or located in economically distressed areas.

Private institutional investors will help identify and provide money to fund managers who invest in targeted companies through the initiative. Funds from the federal government will be offered to small business that get a share of the private investments.

According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, $130 million is expected to be invested in second-stage growth companies through a partnership with Midland, Michigan-based Dow Chemical and state and federal agencies.

Read more…

— A sudden burst in job seekers coupled with flat job growth pushed the Coastal Bend’s June unemployment rate to 8.6 percent.

The increase is almost 1 percent more than in May, which registered a rate of 7.8 percent.

Unemployment follows a cyclical pattern, with May-to-June typically marking an increase, Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend spokeswoman Monika De La Garza said.

“This is typical as a new group of people hit the job market seeking work after getting out of high school and college for the summer,” De La Garza said.

Annual data going back to 2004 shows that the May-June increase usually levels out by July, workforce records show.

Data also show the Corpus Christi metropolitan statistical area — considered Aransas, Nueces and San Patricio counties — had 4,200 more jobs in June than in June 2010.

Since January 2011, the metro area has added 5,900 jobs, according to Workforce Solutions data.

“Even though we have seen an increase in the unemployment rate for the month of June, over the past seven months the positive job growth seen in the Corpus Christi MSA strengthens the economic outlook of the entire region,” area Workforce Solutions president and CEO said Ken Treviño said in a news release.

The Coastal Bend’s June rate is still below the statewide figure of 8.8 percent and the nationwide rate of 9.3 percent.

The region’s June rate also is slightly above June 2010′s figure of 8.4 percent.

Across Texas, the state added 32,000 jobs in June, which marks 14 consecutive months of job growth and a net gain of 220,000 jobs since June 2010, Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken said in a news release.

The Midland metro area had the state’s lowest rate for the month, at 5.2 percent, followed by Amarillo at 6.4 percent, figures show.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Brownsville-Harlingen areas posted the highest rates of 13 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.

July unemployment figures will be released Aug. 19.

Read more…

Today’s electronics deals, courtesy of The Consumerist:

• Sears: Sylvania 7″ Wireless Tablet Mobile Internet Device for $99.99 + $6.95 Shipping
• Walmart: Viore 24″ LCD 1080p HDTV for $172.99 w/ Free Shipping

Entertainment

• Amazon: Playstation Plus 12 month Subscription (Download) $39.99
• JR.com: Summer Blu-ray Blowout Sale starting at $7.99 + $2.99 ship
• Amazon: Blade Runner The Final Cut $11.99