Manufacturing & Supply Chains: August’s U.S. manufacturing PMI stayed in expansion at 54.6, but supplier deliveries kept slowing for a ninth month, with shortages hitting electrical and electronic components, labor, and steel—good news for output, bad news for small manufacturers trying to keep projects on schedule. Small-Business Advocacy: Christine Hopkins was named the 2026 Lewis Shattuck Small Business Advocate of the Year by the National Small Business Association, recognized for pushing procurement equity and support for women- and veteran-owned firms. Workforce & Veterans Hiring: Overwatch Mission Critical’s Anchors of Hope hiring push hit 206 veteran hires, with 28 companies signed on and a goal of 250 by Veterans Day. Franchise Cash Certainty: The Common Cents Act cleared Congress, setting a national rule for rounding cash to the nearest five cents to reduce state-by-state confusion for franchise small businesses. Disaster Recovery for SMBs: Indiana is adding one-stop recovery centers in LaPorte and Hamilton counties after August storms, including SBA disaster loan help and FEMA application support. Cybersecurity Risk: CISA warned of actively exploited Citrix NetScaler zero-days that can enable unauthenticated remote code execution, a direct threat to businesses relying on these edge systems. Fraud Crackdown: A Delaware pastor was sentenced to 18 months for pandemic relief fraud and tax crimes involving SBA-backed loans. Local Business Costs: Coffee shops in the Lehigh Valley say they’re absorbing higher input costs as coffee prices rise, while customers still question how much they’ll pay.