NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Newtek Business Services (Nasdaq:NEWT), The Small Business Authority, announced today the launch of its monthly SB authority Market Sentiment Survey. The Small Business Authority truly is an authority with over 100,000 business accounts in its portfolio. The Survey is based on a poll conducted in January 2011 with 1,112 respondents. Newtek believes this survey will be very useful in understanding the concerns of independent business owners at a particular point in time as to such matters as government regulation, business conditions, economic or competitive problems and new ideas and products in the marketplace. The January 2011 results showed that 765 (68.79%) of surveyed business owners felt the most important issue in 2011 is increasing their sales, 245 (22.03%) felt the most important issue is reducing their costs and 102 (9.17%) felt the most important issue is minimizing their risk.

President and CEO, Barry Sloane, said, "We were initially surprised by the response to our survey of independent business owners as there was an overwhelming opinion expressed that "increasing sales" was most important. This response may be biased due to the tough economy, as business owners are seeking to recover lost sales or sales growth that they enjoyed in 2007 and the first half of 2008. We view this focus on growing revenues as important but strongly feel that it's a naive tendency for small business to think that growing sales is the easy part of the puzzle. Cost control and expense reduction is all too often forgotten by many businesses."

"When a business increases revenues by a dollar, what drops to the bottom line is a dollar less the variable cost of the goods sold. When a business reduces overhead or business expense by a dollar, that dollar drops right to the bottom line in improved cash flow. A much easier way for a small business to improve cash flow in tough times is through expense or cost reduction and it provides greater results dollar for dollar, holding everything else constant. As a company focused on helping small businesses, we think this survey is accurate but may reflect a lack of understanding of the importance to small businesses of cash flow. This is a misguided position and sentiment expressed by independent business owners and as The Small Business Authority we want to advise our marketplace and prospective clients to explore the other options including expense reduction."

About Newtek Business Services, Inc.

Newtek Business Services, The Small Business Authority, provides the following products and services:

• Electronic Payment Processing: eCommerce, electronic solutions to accept non-cash payments, including credit and debit cards, check conversion, remote deposit capture, ACH processing, and electronic gift and loyalty card programs.
• Web Hosting: Full-service web host which offers eCommerce solutions, shared and dedicated web hosting and related services including domain registration and online shopping cart tools.
• eCommerce: A suite of services that enable small businesses to get up and running on-line quickly and cost effectively, with integrated web design, payment processing and shopping cart services.
• Business Lending: Broad array of lending products including SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans.
• Insurance Services: Commercial and personal lines of insurance, including health and employee benefits in all 50 states, working with over 40 insurance carriers.
• Web Services: Customized web design and development services.
• Data Backup, Storage and Retrieval: Fast, secure, off-site data backup, storage and retrieval designed to meet the specific regulatory and compliance needs of any business.
• Accounts Receivable Financing: Receivable purchasing and financing services.
• Payroll: Complete payroll management and processing services.

Newtek Business Services, Inc.,The Small Business Authority, is a direct distributor of a wide range of business services and financial products to the small- and medium-sized business market under the Newtek^TM brand. Since 1999, Newtek has helped small- and medium-sized business owners realize their potential by providing them with the essential tools needed to manage and grow their businesses and to compete effectively in today's marketplace. Newtek provides its services to over 100,000 business accounts and has positioned the Newtek^TM brand as a one-stop-shop provider of such business services. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are over 27.5 million small businesses in the United States, which in total represent 99.7% of all employer firms.

Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this press release including statements regarding Newtek's beliefs, expectations, intentions or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, intensified competition, operating problems and their impact on revenues and profit margins, anticipated future business strategies and financial performance, anticipated future number of customers, business prospects, legislative developments and similar matters. Risk factors, cautionary statements and other conditions which could cause Newtek's actual results to differ from management's current expectations are contained in Newtek's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through http://www.sec.gov.

CONTACT:  NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES, INC. (NASDAQ: NEWT)

          1440 Broadway, 17th Floor

          New York, NY 10018

          http://www.newtekbusinessservices.com



          Rubenstein Public Relations

          Telephone: (212) 843-8073

          Contact: Adam Mazur / amazur@rubensteinpr.com

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