NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- What's happening in small business today? 1. 2012 trends for rural small businesses. Rural small-business trends typically differ from the general industry and next year the continued troubled economy is likely to polarize rural businesses from their urban counterparts even further -- but, surprisingly, in a good way. Rural small businesses look promising in 2012, says Small Business Trends in listing top trends for small towns including: strong farm commodity prices contributing to improved local economies, particularly as investors look for "safer" investment classes; strong oil and natural gas prices meaning a continued boom in production, leading to a general surge in economies surrounding these areas; and "ruralsourcing" competing with global outsourcing to bring manufacturing and IT service jobs into rural areas. ...