The SMB Tech Report

FedEx to Give Away Holiday Gift Cards for Use at Small Retailers

FedEx has announced a $1 million give away in $25 gift cards to be used at small retailers. The Shop Small-branded American Express cards are designed to support Small Business Saturday on November 26, a day dedicated to attracting shoppers to local, independently-owned merchants. FedEx will start giving the cards away on a first-come-first-serve basis via its Facebook page beginning November 1. more

New Candidate Screening Service from Carco for SMBs

Carco, a background screening company for Fortune 1000 companies for more than 30 years has launched a new service for vetting prospective hires. The company says the new service, called CheckToHire, is tailored to the specific needs of SMBs and is available on a pay-as-needed basis. more

Fonality Study Tracks Mobility Trends for SMBs

Fonality’s State-of-the-Market 2011 Report: Mobility Trends in SMBs finds 50% of SMB employees work outside the office and with as many as a quarter of staff out of office at any given time. These employees can have difficulty accessing critical business applications. The study recommends SMBs provide unified communications on a mobile platform and estimates that by doing so an average company with 137 employees (including 67 mobile workers) could recoup $700,000 annually in measurable staff productivity gains--more than $10,000 per mobile employee. more