• Small business lending grew by more than 7% in 2015, with small business loans representing 17%  of community banks' total loan portfolios. The survey found community banks tend to make higher-dollar loans than their larger competitors - on average, the size of a small business loan made by a community bank was $96,000, while the average loan from a larger institution was $17,000. 80% said a majority of their loans were made to existing customers. This underscores the value of building customer relationships.

New York Ranked 49th In 

State Business Climate Index

The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group, has released its  2017 State Business Tax Climate Index. The group ranked state business tax climates across the United States. According to the index, New York has the second worst tax climate in the nation for businesses -- ranked 49th, ahead of only New Jersey.  New York held the same ranking for 2015 and 2016, and ranked last in 2014. 

New York actually ranked 7th on business taxes per se, up from 11th last year, but the Foundation said its overall ranking was pulled down by some of the highest-in-the-nation individual income, sales, unemployment insurance and property taxes. The top five states in the rankings?  Wyoming,  South Dakota,  Alaska,  Florida and  Nevada.

Meanwhile, in state-by-state data for 2015 released last week by the White House, New York saw its median household income grow by 3.2%, or the equivalent of $1,899. The Ithaca and Syracuse metro areas made the fastest gains. The state's poverty rate fell by half a percentage point.  The state's poverty rate fell by half a percentage point, with 92,900 people rising above it. Also, the uninsured rate in New York fell from 10.7% to 7.1%.  The rates were below the comparable national ones.

In Other Developments:

• A Goldman Sachs analysis of Federal Reserve data found that households owned 37% of the U.S. equity market at the end of June, a "post-crisis" high. As of 2013, about 90% of stocks and mutual funds were owned by the wealthiest 10% of households. 

• Small business borrowing  by U.S. firms was up in August, partially because the month had more business days than July. The percentage of firms that were late on repaying existing loans also increased, data released on Tuesday showed. 
  The Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index rose to 133.7 in August from an upwardly revised 123.1 in July. Borrowing by companies in most industries, except construction and recreation, fell. Small business borrowing is a key barometer of growth because small companies tend to do much of the hiring that drives economic gains.
   
  Overall, the U.S. economy grew an estimated 1.4% in the second quarter; many economists believe that rate improved in the third quarter. However, during September companies private created jobs at the slowest pace in six months, according to a report by ADP and Moody's Analytics.
   
• A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule will mandate that packaging on prepaid cards must clearly state the that fees they may charge, and will grant users new protections. 
  The rules essentially put reloadable cards on the same level as debit cards or checking accounts, requiring that providers provide customers with monthly statements or other access to balance information; resolve disputed charges quickly, and limit customers' liability for charges on stolen cards.The CFPB spent two years finishing rules for the growing industry, which is projected to reach $121 billion in 2018.  CardHub, which tracks credit cards across the country, said 23 million consumers used prepaid cards in 2014 and loaded $76.7 billion onto them.