Eighteen states have implemented "small corporate offering registration," a new way for small businesses to raise funds. Companies with fewer than 500 individual stockholders and assets below $3M can file a 30-page disclosure form, then sell up to $1M per year in stock at $5 minimum per share. Purchasers must live in the state(s) where the the offering is registered. The SEC disclosure makes this less risky to stockholders than a traditional private-placement offering. For details, contact Karen O'Brien, North American Securities Administration Assoc., 555 New Jersey Ave. NW, Suite 750, Washington, DC 20001. Some of the states with such registrations are Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin; not California. [Jane Applegate, LA Times. SF Chronicle, 5/28.]