Tuesday, October 20, 2026

The latest official figures

Here are the latest official figures for main street businesses. New U.S. business applications were 534,947 in September 2026, according to the Census Bureau's Business Formation Statistics. That is up from 532,051 in August 2026.

It counts applications for a new employer identification number, a first step in starting a business. U.S. retail and food service sales were $745.0 billion in September 2026, according to the Census Bureau's advance estimate. That is up from $739.3 billion in August 2026. It is the first, seasonally adjusted estimate of spending at stores and restaurants, and it is revised later.

The bank prime loan rate was 6.87 percent in September 2026, according to the Federal Reserve. That is up from 6.75 percent in August 2026.

Many small-business loans and lines of credit are priced as the prime rate plus a margin. The figures come from FRED, the data service of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

You can read more at deltacircle.nesohq.com.

Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of Utah

Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of New Hampshire

Administrative Declaration of an Economic Injury Disaster for the State of Arizona

Administrative Declaration of a Disaster for the State of Colorado

Authorizations for Certain Activities at Liquefied Natural Gas Plants

Marine Mammals; Incidental Take of Polar Bears and Pacific Walruses in the Beaufort Sea and North Slope of Alaska

Approval and Promulgation of Implementation Plans-Pinal County (Part); West Pinal, AZ PM10 Nonattainment Area; Moderate Area, Serious Area, and…

Air Quality Plan; Arizona; Pinal County Air Quality Control District; West Pinal County PM10 Nonattainment Area; Fugitive Dust Rules

NCCIH Natural Product Mid Phase Clinical Trial (R01 Clinical Trial Required)

Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Small Research Grant (R03 Clinical Trial Optional)

Feasibility Clinical Trials of Mind and Body Interventions for NCCIH High Priority Research Topics (R34…

Investigator Initiated Clinical Trials of Complementary and Integrative Interventions Delivered Remotely or…

New Residential Construction

Privately-owned housing starts in September 2026 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,221,000.

Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales

U.S. total business end-of-month inventories for August 2026 were $2,818.8 billion, up 0.4 percent from last month.

Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services

U.S. retail and food services sales for September 2026 were $745.0 billion, up 0.8 percent from the previous month.

Business Formation Statistics

Total U.S. Business Applications were 534,947 in September 2026, up 0.5% from August 2026.

Census Bureau to Host Webinar and Embargo of 2025 ACS 1-Year Estimates

The NESO bid board listed 39 postings from 37 public boards, in Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, Connecticut, Alabama, Arkansas. Every listing is free to read, with no account, at nesohq.com. Agencies amend and cancel, so the issuing portal governs.

Why power decides large sites

This is Bird's Eye, in brief. For a data center or any large load, the interconnection queue — the line to connect to the grid — is usually the binding constraint, more often than land or zoning.

It frames your load in megawatts against published capacity, reads transmission, substations and the interconnection queue, and ends with a stated power go or no-go. It is delivered in 5 to 8 business days.

Every Bird's Eye report is quoted to its scope, in writing, before any work starts. The clock starts at scope confirmation, not at payment.

You can read more at birdseye.nesohq.com.

Reading a public bid

This is NESO, in brief. With any public bid, read the solicitation on the issuing agency's own portal.

Agencies amend and cancel, and the portal is what governs. Every public solicitation NESO tracks is free to read at nesohq.com, with no account and no cap.

Agencies amend and cancel solicitations, so the issuing portal is always the source that governs. Every listing links to it.

You can read more at nesohq.com.

The capital stack and DSCR

This is NESO, in brief. A capital stack is every source of money in a project, from senior debt to equity, in the order each gets repaid.

When the sources do not add up to the cost, the shortfall is called the gap. DSCR, the debt service coverage ratio, divides a building's net operating income by its loan payments.

Lenders use it to ask whether the building can carry its debt. CapStack puts senior debt, tax credits, grants, soft money and equity in one stack, and shows the gap and the order to secure each source. It is free, and Pro is $39.

ProForma models net operating income, debt service coverage, yield on cost and a ten-year cash flow, to answer whether a building pays back its loan. It is free, and Pro is $39.

You can read more at nesohq.com.

Reading a parcel before you commit

Here is a look at Bird's Eye. An entitlement path is the list of approvals a project needs, and the order they come in.

Knowing it before you go under contract is the point. An overlay district adds its own conditions on top of a parcel's base zoning, so two parcels with the same zoning can face different rules.

Three environmental red flags worth checking early on any site are wetlands, floodplain, and being next to a historic property. The Zoning and Entitlement Readiness report gives the parcel's zoning designation and permitted uses, overlay districts, the entitlement path — which approvals, in what order — a public-hearing and timeline risk read, and jurisdiction contacts. It is delivered in 2 to 3 business days.

You can read more at birdseye.nesohq.com.

Sizing a market from the bottom up

Next, from NESO. Bottom-up market sizing starts from real counts of customers and prices in your area, rather than a slice of a national headline number.

MarketFit sizes a local market from the bottom up: the pie, the competition, and whether your slice pencils. It is free, and Pro is $19.

MarketScope writes a market study to underwriting standard that you can rebuild line by line. It is free, and Pro is $19.

You can read more at nesohq.com.