(HipHopDX) — Kanye West’s ever-expanding business portfolio has just expanded, as the Chicago rapper has purchased the franchise rights to 10 Fatburger Restaurants in his hometown.  According to TheDailyBeast.com, Ye, whose other ventures include clothing design and film, purchased the rights through his holding company, KW Foods LLC.

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(AJC) — Despite a tough economic climate, Georgia last year saw a 2 percent increase in the number of companies coming to the state, along with an 11 percent rise in the number of jobs promised.  Still, the Peach State wasn’t one of the top 10 destinations for business relocation.  Georgia ranks sixth in overall business climate, according to this month’s Site Selection magazine, which tracks the competition among the states. Every state wants economic development, usually aiming for a mix of home-grown expansions and move-in businesses. But they must pay a price for that development. Getting into the contest means ponying up — money for marketing, for improvements to local infrastructure, for tax breaks.

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(Businessweek) — Last year, Mary Metoyer’s New Orleans flooring company took in just $80,000 in revenue, one-third of her annual revenue before Hurricane Katrina struck. Her customer base of landlords and homeowners had started to return, but many were then hurt financially by the BP (BP) oil spill. When the bank she went to for a $10,000 loan lost her paperwork a few months after Katrina, she says she didn’t have the heart to restart the application.  Metoyer did try her luck with a nonprofit, applying for a $10,000 loan early this year. She received the money last spring, paid it off, and took out a second loan in September, for $6,000, to upgrade her 25-year-old showroom in New Orleans’ Warehouse District. “Even though these are little loans, they have been a big, big help with financing some larger jobs I’m doing,” says Metoyer, 64.

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