Thumbtack.com and Bloomberg Release Survey of More Than 10,000 Nationwide Respondents;

Broad Improvement Seen Over 2+ Years of Data Collected So Far
Shows a Slow and Steady Recovery

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- May 19, 2015 -- Thumbtack.com today released the Thumbtack Small Business Sentiment Survey, a first-of-its-kind survey that captures the economic sentiment of more than 10,000 small businesses nationwide on a monthly basis, including 450 responses over two years in Iowa. Starting today, and released on a monthly basis going forward, the survey and accompanying visualization allow anyone to explore American small business economic sentiment at the national and local level. Designed with Bloomberg, all data will be housed and integrated seamlessly into the economic functions of the Bloomberg Professional service.

The U.S. Economic Census shows that over 90% of small businesses in the United States have five employees or fewer. Thumbtack's survey is the first small business survey whose respondents reflect this specific demographic. While there are various indexes and surveys that seek to measure small business sentiment, there are no other surveys that have enough responses from businesses of this size to examine results at a state or city level.

Via its network of more than 150,000 active service professionals, Thumbtack has the unique capability to regularly survey this otherwise difficult-to-reach population.

"We are excited to be able to share this new survey, which will capture the sentiment of thousands of small businesses nationwide on a monthly basis," said Jon Lieber, Chief Economist of Thumbtack. "Many of these business owners have few or no employees, and are often overlooked in other widely-tracked business surveys. We hope to offer new insights and a better understanding into what's happening in this critical segment of the nation's workforce and the American economy."

The inaugural version of the survey shows a slow and steady recovery among Iowa's smallest businesses:

• Iowa's small business sentiment has grown steadily over the last year alongside businesses in the Midwest and the nation more broadly.
• Missouri and Minnesota small businesses rate themselves as slightly ahead of those in Iowa. However, Iowa small businesses rate themselves as slightly ahead of those in Illinois and Wisconsin.
• Iowa small businesses have inflation expectations that are 4.5% higher than those from a year ago, on par with businesses nationally.
• Small business in Idaho were most optimistic about their future financial situation -- their optimism has increased 21% in the last nine months, significantly faster than the rest of the country.
• One particularly bright spot for Iowa small businesses is the credit environment. Iowa small businesses rate in the top 20% nationally for expectations of credit changes in the coming months -- they believe they'll be able to get loans to help their businesses grow.

The full results for Iowa can be seen here and include details on the relative sentiment of each state and city, how businesses in each area responded to survey questions, and hundreds of quotes from small businesses nationwide. Each state and city also has its own dedicated webpage showing detailed survey results for that area.

Bloomberg Professional service customers can access this data and additional industry level analysis at {ECST T TACKUSBS <GO>}.

Survey methodology
Thumbtack.com has surveyed tens of thousands of small businesses quarterly since December 2012. The survey asked questions about how small businesses are feeling about the general economic environment and health of their business, such as:

• How would you rate your company's financial situation today?
• Have you attempted to fill any part-time or full-time positions over the past three months?
• How do you expect the prices you charge to your clients or customers to change over the next three months?

Thumbtack.com and Bloomberg then used the survey responses to create a weighted index that demonstrates Small Business Economic Sentiment in one easy-to-understand number between 0 and 100 - an index score above 50 means sentiment is positive; an index score below 46 means sentiment is negative. The full methodology paper can be found here. Beginning in March, 2015, Thumbtack began collecting results monthly for this new survey. Survey results will be released the last week of the month going forward.

For more information about the survey or the methodology, please email Thumbtack's Chief Economist Jon Lieber at jon.lieber@thumbtack.com.

About Thumbtack
Thumbtack is a consumer service that helps millions of people accomplish the personal projects that are central to their lives. Launched in December 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, Thumbtack introduces customers to experienced professionals who are available, interested and qualified to meet their specific needs. Whether looking for a painter for their home, a math tutor for their child, or a DJ for their wedding, Thumbtack provides anyone in the U.S. with an easy and dependable way to get started, compare options, and hire with confidence. Thumbtack helps customers with 5+ million projects per year by introducing them to available and qualified professionals within hours. With service professionals representing more than 950 categories and operating in all 50 U.S. states, the company currently has more than 150,000 paying professionals available for customers. Thumbtack has raised a total of $150 million from Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, Javelin Venture Partners, and Google Capital.

As many of you know, Uma Kasichainula is participating in the national spelling bee!  She spelled her first word correctly:  flamboyant.  The best way to keep track of her is through twitter @ScrippsBee  #speller65  You can watch live at espn360.com but need a cable provider entered to watch.

Does not create any new permitting requirements and maintains all previous exemptions and exclusions

Washington - In an historic step for the protection of clean water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army finalized the Clean Water Rule today to clearly protect from pollution and degradation the streams and wetlands that form the foundation of the nation's water resources.

The rule ensures that waters protected under the Clean Water Act are more precisely defined and predictably determined, making permitting less costly, easier, and faster for businesses and industry. The rule is grounded in law and the latest science, and is shaped by public input. The rule does not create any new permitting requirements for agriculture and maintains all previous exemptions and exclusions.

"For the water in the rivers and lakes in our communities that flow to our drinking water to be clean, the streams and wetlands that feed them need to be clean too," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "Protecting our water sources is a critical component of adapting to climate change impacts like drought, sea level rise, stronger storms, and warmer temperatures - which is why EPA and the Army have finalized the Clean Water Rule to protect these important waters, so we can strengthen our economy and provide certainty to American businesses."

"Today's rule marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the Clean Water Act," said Assistant Secretary for the Army (Civil Works) Jo-Ellen Darcy. "This rule responds to the public's demand for greater clarity, consistency, and predictability when making jurisdictional determinations. The result will be better public service nationwide."

People need clean water for their health: About 117 million Americans - one in three people - get drinking water from streams that lacked clear protection before the Clean Water Rule. America's cherished way of life depends on clean water, as healthy ecosystems provide wildlife habitat and places to fish, paddle, surf, and swim. Clean and reliable water is an economic driver, including for manufacturing, farming, tourism, recreation, and energy production. The health of our rivers, lakes, bays, and coastal waters are impacted by the streams and wetlands where they begin.

Protection for many of the nation's streams and wetlands has been confusing, complex, and time-consuming as the result of Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006. EPA and the Army are taking this action today to provide clarity on protections under the Clean Water Act after receiving requests for over a decade from members of Congress, state and local officials, industry, agriculture, environmental groups, scientists, and the public for a rulemaking.

In developing the rule, the agencies held more than 400 meetings with stakeholders across the country, reviewed over one million public comments, and listened carefully to perspectives from all sides. EPA and the Army also utilized the latest science, including a report summarizing more than 1,200 peer-reviewed, published scientific studies which showed that small streams and wetlands play an integral role in the health of larger downstream water bodies.

Climate change makes protection of water resources even more essential. Streams and wetlands provide many benefits to communities by trapping floodwaters, recharging groundwater supplies, filtering pollution, and providing habitat for fish and wildlife. Impacts from climate change like drought, sea level rise, stronger storms, and warmer temperatures threaten the quantity and quality of America's water. Protecting streams and wetlands will improve our nation's resilience to climate change.

Specifically, the Clean Water Rule:

• Clearly defines and protects tributaries that impact the health of downstream waters. The Clean Water Act protects navigable waterways and their tributaries. The rule says that a tributary must show physical features of flowing water - a bed, bank, and ordinary high water mark - to warrant protection. The rule provides protection for headwaters that have these features and science shows can have a significant connection to downstream waters.

• Provides certainty in how far safeguards extend to nearby waters. The rule protects waters that are next to rivers and lakes and their tributaries because science shows that they impact downstream waters. The rule sets boundaries on covering nearby waters for the first time that are physical and measurable.
• Protects the nation's regional water treasures. Science shows that specific water features can function like a system and impact the health of downstream waters. The rule protects prairie potholes, Carolina and Delmarva bays, pocosins, western vernal pools in California, and Texas coastal prairie wetlands when they impact downstream waters.

• Focuses on streams, not ditches. The rule limits protection to ditches that are constructed out of streams or function like streams and can carry pollution downstream. So ditches that are not constructed in streams and that flow only when it rains are not covered.

• Maintains the status of waters within Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems. The rule does not change how those waters are treated and encourages the use of green infrastructure.

• Reduces the use of case-specific analysis of waters. Previously, almost any water could be put through a lengthy case-specific analysis, even if it would not be subject to the Clean Water Act. The rule significantly limits the use of case-specific analysis by creating clarity and certainty on protected waters and limiting the number of similarly situated water features.

A Clean Water Act permit is only needed if a water is going to be polluted or destroyed. The Clean Water Rule only protects the types of waters that have historically been covered under the Clean Water Act. It does not regulate most ditches and does not regulate groundwater, shallow subsurface flows, or tile drains. It does not make changes to current policies on irrigation or water transfers or apply to erosion in a field. The Clean Water Rule addresses the pollution and destruction of waterways - not land use or private property rights.

The rule protects clean water necessary for farming, ranching, and forestry and provides greater clarity and certainty to farmers about coverage of the Clean Water Act. Farms across America depend on clean and reliable water for livestock, crops, and irrigation. The final rule specifically recognizes the vital role that U.S. agriculture serves in providing food, fuel, and fiber at home and around the world. The rule does not create any new permitting requirements for America's farmers. Activities like planting, harvesting, and moving livestock have long been exempt from Clean Water Act regulation, and the Clean Water Rule preserves those exemptions.

The Clean Water Rule will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

More information: www.epa.gov/cleanwaterrule

The Mississippi Valley Blues Society announces that keyboard wizard Bruce Katz and the Bruce Katz Band will be making a stop at The Muddy Waters, 1708 State Street, Bettendorf, IA on Saturday, June 6 starting at 8:30 p.m. The cost to see this brilliant performance will be $8 if you are a Mississippi Valley Blues Society member, or $10 if you have not joined the blues society (applications will be available at the door).

In a recent review of Bruce Katz's new CD, Homecoming, Jim Kanavy of Blues Biscuits describes the Bruce Katz Band:  "It's like Mozart with a jazz trio playing at Junior's Juke Joint on a Thursday night. At a recent show, Bruce was heard to say, several times, that 'It's all Blues'." And the Toledo City Paper says that "His sound resembles what would have happened had a jam session broken out between Jimi Hendrix, Professor Longhair and Frank Zappa."

Bruce Katz was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and from 1996 - 2010 he was on the faculty at the Berklee College of Music in Boston as an associate professor. Playing music, both Blues and Jazz, has been his thing for many years and it shows in each of his performances.

In the early '80s Bruce's first major supporting gig was for Big Mama Thornton; he then worked and toured with Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Witherspoon, Johnny Adams, and Tiger Okoshi. Burned out from life on the road, he enrolled at New England Conservatory, earning a master's degree in Jazz. Five months after graduation, Bruce met Ronnie Earl, who hired him as one of theBroadcasters. Bruce is also known as the dexterous pianist for the Gregg Allman Band.

Bruce has released 6 CDs with a seventh, Homecoming, newly released. He has also appeared on nearly 70 others CDs with the likes of Ronnie Earl, Delbert McClinton, John Hammond, Duke Robillard, Little Milton, Jimmy Witherspoon and many, many others. His list of national recognized awards go on and on, but to name two, Bruce is a three-time Blues Music Award nominee for "Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year," and a member of the New York State Blues Hall Of Fame.

This event is being presented by The Mississippi Valley Blues Society. The objective of the Society is to educate the general public about the native art form of blues-related music through performance, interpretation and preservation, thus enhancing appreciation and understanding.

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