3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: August 28

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. N.J bank acquisition means more competition for business loans. The proposed takeover of Hudson City Savings Bank(HCBK) , one of the oldest savings and loan institutions in the country, by M&T Bank(MTB) could mean good news for small business owners looking to get a bank loan, according to The Star-Ledger.

Hudson City, which was one of the few banks to escape the financial crisis because it did not make subprime mortgage loans and did not need a federal bailout, has now found itself in a bit of a business model pickle. Since its bread and butter was residential mortgages, the bank had decided to expand into the commercial banking arena. The takeover by M&T will simply speed up that process. M&T plans to hire 100 bankers in New Jersey to go after new commercial business relationships. That will put pressure on other banks in the area to fight for business.

"We would like to be the number-one small business lender in New Jersey," M&T's CFO Rene Jones said in a conference call on Monday.

2. For female entrepreneurs, maternity leave and other long breaks aren't an option. Building a business is hard for anyone but women have added challenges, particularly if they have children. Taking the typical 12-week maternity leave is usually not an option, especially if you're a sole proprietor or, in the case of Jessie Randall, a shoe and handbag designer, the prime producer in a business. Crain's New York Business offers examples of women entrepreneurs who have decided either to take shortened maternity leaves or none at all and how they have compensated.