This winter, with the holidays fast approaching, we asked entrepreneurship professors at some of the country's top business schools to recommend one book that they think all entrepreneurs should read. Their choices follow.

Higher energy prices and the wallop from hurricanes Katrina and Rita were not enough to derail the economic locomotive of America's small businesses, according to a research report released Thursday by the Small Business Administration.

A report reveals that many small businesses fail to understand the damage that can be caused by information security incidents, aren't educated about cyberthreats, and fail to adequately invest in security.

First came the storm. Then came the workers. Now comes the baby boom. In the latest twist to the demographic transformation of New Orleans since it was swamped by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, hundreds of babies are being born to Hispanic immigrant workers.

The San Jose Group of Chicago, which bills itself as "America's most established" independent Hispanic advertising agency, has turned 25 years old.

Hollywood has a predilection for casting Anglos in most roles, a policy brief from the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center says, and the center is casting about for legal remedies to reverse the behavior.

Jovita Carranza, vice president of air operations at United Parcel Service, was confirmed this weekend by the U.S. Senate as deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, becoming the agency's highest-ranking Hispanic.

Still reeling from their electoral defeat Nov. 7, Republicans capped an era of conservative ascendance with the passage of business tax break extensions, a package of minor trade measures, and legislation to stave off cuts to physician payments they once trumpeted in their budget-cutting drive.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez of New York on Thursday became the first Hispanic woman to chair a full congressional committee when she was appointed to head the House Small Business Committee in the next Congress.

Advertisers' efforts to reach Hispanic consumers are becoming more targeted, and language is a major factor. Advertisers spent more than $3.3 billion to market products to U.S. Hispanics in 2005, a 6.8 percent increase from 2004.

Search the 2005 Hispanic Business 500, a national benchmark of the surging development of U.S. Hispanic-owned companies.

Companies on the listing report an increase in overall billings from $1.05 billion in 2005 to $1.18 billion in 2006, an increase of 11.86 percent.

WASHINGTON INSIDER: Shortly after the November congressional elections, Hispanic Democrats selected the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for the new session beginning in January. And while the heir apparent took the seat, it wasn't without controversy.