“Small Business Administration honors area businesses ... - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel” plus 3 more |
- Small Business Administration honors area businesses ... - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- The Unmeasured Green Business Dilemma - Earthtimes
- 15 Small-Business Tax Deductions - Street.Com
- How to Weatherproof Your Business - Wall Street Journal
| Small Business Administration honors area businesses ... - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Posted: 17 Mar 2010 07:56 AM PDT Executives with Milwaukee aircraft parts and repair firm S3 International LLC, and leaders of 10 other companies and organizations, are being honored by the Small Business Administration. The agency has named S3's Aksel Sidem, Jeff Wnuk and Sebastien Imbert the 2010 "Small Business Exporters of the Year" for Wisconsin. They and the other winners will be recognized at a breakfast ceremony June 4, at the Italian Community Center. Other 2010 Wisconsin SBA awards and the recipients are: Family Owned Small Business: Carl Treankler, Larry Treankler, Terry Hanstedt and Gary Lofquist, of MCL Industries Inc., a Pulaski firm that works with manufacturers of electrical control systems and mechanical assemblies for heavy-duty vehicles. Financial Services Champion: Dave Latona, vice president of lending, Milwaukee Economic Development Corp. Women's Business Center of Excellence Award: Wendy K. Baumann, president of Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corp. Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Nicholas Ponsonby, founder and CEO, Asset Recyclers, a computer and electronics recycler in Lake Geneva. Emerging Small Business Person of the Year: Manisha Dotson, president of Nisha Group, a Milwaukee firm providing facility maintenance, special trade contracting and security-guards service. Minority Small Business Person: Julio deArteaga, president of DeArteaga Inc., a concrete and masonry construction company in Greenville. Minority Small Business Champion: Ossie Kendrix Jr., manager of the City of Milwaukee's Emerging Business Enterprise Program. Veterans Small Business Champion: Joe Naylor, a Disabled Veteran Outreach Program representative. Small Business Development Center Service Excellence Award: Tim Peterson of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Small Business Development Center. District Director's Award: Isabela Sardas, program director at Childynamics LLC, a mental health center in Wauwatosa providing day treatment to children and teenagers. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| The Unmeasured Green Business Dilemma - Earthtimes Posted: 17 Mar 2010 09:07 AM PDT Source: Green Business League Imagine the extrapolated vision of the Green business problem, if you will. If Green businesses are left to any device to earn a Green status, what is the value of Going Green? As it sits today, a Green business can self-certify in the most ridiculous ways imaginable. The first way to self-certification is to make any of a dozen Green improvements to the business, and to declare your business "Green." Perhaps the business now uses recycled paper and prints on both sides to conserve paper use. Meritorious, but far from a serious effort to transition to a Green operation. This is what is now termed a "Token Green" approach to Green business, and it is also part of the well-known form of Greenwashing. The second misguided process for Green business certification is purchasing a Green business certification online. The fees range between $500 to $1500 depending on the size of the company, but don't be fooled by a well-designed website offering an impressive logo. These operations are obviously money-driven websites that justify their contribution to society by asking their "members" to complete various forms of self-assessment online. Regardless of the obvious invitation to "Game the System" offered by these online Green business certifications, hundreds upon hundreds of businesses will sign up for these scam-like programs. Frankly, both of these forms of clandestine Green certifications are designed for ONE PRIMARY REASON, and that is to fool and deceive the public. Consumers who are seeking to spend their money with reputable Green businesses do not want to be deceived by a greenwashing program that fosters unproven Green claims. What prevents any misguided business from paying the fee, filling in the forms with lies, and proudly displaying the purchased logo to unsuspecting customers? Nothing, because the goals these websites set are negligible standards intended to attract more gullible businesses to pay a big fee for a pretty logo. In a day of crisis issues and calls for transparency and ethics to properly address these world-threatening concerns, shouldn't there be a backlash of sharp rebuke for unproven and falsified claims of environmental compliance? Would we not be appalled at a doctor with false credentials treating us when we were sick? Does anyone want an amateur working on their car when the only real credentials were a correspondence course that he had his brother do for him? What if the meat department of your local grocery no longer required a physical inspection because a worker had completed an online certification course? Ridiculous, right? Green business certification by self-acclamation or by online purchase is cheating at worst and greenwashing at best. Nonetheless, these two methods of Green certification are popular and widely practiced. Business people are pragmatic and tend toward the expedient solution when it seems feasible. Expedience is often the fool's path because the environment is such a serious issue. Eventual exposure will cause a serious backlash when the public eventually discovers how businesses are literally cheating the system. Every business thinking about an imitation Green certification need only think forward a little to the day when that logo now showing on your website or store window gets some negative press. Eventually, it will come out that numerous businesses use the same purchased logo, but now are busted by an investigative reporter. We all know this will eventually happen because there are no checks and audits. Everything is secretly and privately accomplished by "online assessments" that are also falsely called audits. Audits cannot be conducted by the one being audited. That is a scam! Presently, there is one program that has required a live audit for every single Green business certification. The Green Business League has never taken a fee for a blind certification. Every certification is assessed, Green improvements are documented, and certification is awarded based on audited achievements as a Green business. The Green Business League is the only company that has a trained field force of more than 300 Certified Green Consultants across America and Canada. These professionals provide an invaluable service. After the initial assessment, they map out a clear plan to achieve a verifiable Green business certification. The choices are becoming more clear because the issues of ethics and transparency allow only one kind of decision. An audit cannot be a self-serving, clandestine, or deceptive decision. All the good done by a Green business certification will cause worse damage when the facts eventually come out. Many shallow Green business certifications will eventually become badges of shame because they were purchase to deceive the public, and the public will not be fooled for long. To the credit of the Green Business League, the fact is that Going Green is not a token effort or one time purchase. Every GBL member has a Certified Green Consultant as a partner in its business success. Going Green is now part of a successful business plan. Greater efficiencies allow Green businesses to be more profitable and more attractive to other Green businesses. Certified Green Consultants assist all certified businesses throughout the year to maintain and improve the Green values that will pay large dividends for many years to come. In the larger view, the environment of the community, the country, and the world deserve more than a token or fake certification. This is not just another marketing ploy. If a business is seeking to Go Green, it should be an authentic Green business certification. GBL5471 Tweet me: How to you measure how Green a business actually is http://bit.ly/b1Oq9A CONTACT INFO: MJ Richmond Original post on the CSR Feed: 3BLMedia Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| 15 Small-Business Tax Deductions - Street.Com Posted: 17 Mar 2010 09:36 AM PDT After the Bell Before the Bell Booyah! Newsletter ETF Daily Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| How to Weatherproof Your Business - Wall Street Journal Posted: 17 Mar 2010 09:29 AM PDT By DIANA RANSOMDespite back-to-back blizzards this past February, Erin Wallace, the owner of the Devil's Den and Old Eagle Tavern, bars in and around Philadelphia, dug out both locations and opened up shop. Deliveries were another matter. "I was getting phone calls from distributors; everyone was off," says Wallace, who had to add a second delivery day on Saturday, but managed eventually to receive her orders. Dealing with the vagaries of weather is a perennial headache for businesses, of course, but this winter was particularly harsh. Not only did some businesses lose sales resulting from reduced foot-traffic, others watched their supply chains slow or shut off, their pipes burst or roofs collapse. ![[300weather]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-HW634_300wea_D_20100317120323.jpg) September 1953: A television weatherman makes a prediction for tomorrow's weather. As political debate over the impact of global warming continues, some climatologists and climate-minded economists are analyzing what the long-term impact on businesses could be. "It's well known that higher temperatures can trigger changes in rainfall and snowfall," says Fran Sussman, a senior economist who focuses on the economics of climate change at consultancy ICF International. This doesn't necessarily mean that more or less rain and snow will fall in the future, she says. Rather, higher temperatures are consistent with more variability in the climate. In turn, changes in the climate could also lead to increased severity of extreme events like hurricanes and earthquakes, Sussman says. While not every small business needs to be concerned about the effects climate change, it can't hurt to have a backup plan. Here's how to prepare your business for a really rainy day: Identify risk factorsFind out what your company needs to be in business. For some it's a physical location and inventory to fill it, for others a company's staff is vital for operations. Still another company may rely on a hearty supply of mangos, bananas and strawberries as well as operable blenders. After identifying which elements are necessary to the daily operation of your business, think about what events or other outside influences could jolt your company's normal operations, says Craig Fugate, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Would flood conditions put your business on pause? How about sky-high energy prices? Might a surge in gas prices slow down shipments? Think also about necessary supply chains, says Fugate. "Even if I don't control them," he says. "If my supply chain fails, I can't do my job." Devise a backup strategyThen devise a backup plan. If you're expecting future shocks arising from inclement weather or other disasters—natural or not—consider locking in longer-term contracts and agreements now, says Sussman. If your business needs a consistent supply of energy to stay open—and you work in an area that's susceptible to storms—secure a backup generator. Will you lose your security system when the power goes out? Also, set up a plan in which employees can work from home should transit become difficult. "Basically, think about climate change the same way you would think about what affects profits and your supply of products," she says. "This is just one more factor to consider." Get insuredDepending on which risk factors you've identified, insuring your business may be a good idea. Small-business owners typically opt for business-interruption insurance known as a business owner's policy, or BOP, says Loretta L. Worters, the vice president of the Insurance Information Institute. This type of insurance combines coverage for all major property and liability insurance risks as well the loss of profits after a disaster. Operation expenses and temporary work-space costs are also included in the policy. It's also worth noting that only damages arising from certain disasters are covered by an owner's BOP. Those with operations in hurricane- or earthquake-prone areas should consider purchasing additional coverage, says Worters. "In California, there is an Earthquake Authority to purchase a policy from. In other parts of the country, you can buy these policies directly from insurance companies," she says. Weigh costs with benefitsA standard BOP's premiums will depend on various factors including the size of the premises, the required limits of liability, the type of business and the extent of offsite activity, among other things, says Worters. The cost of other policies will be extra, she says. To know for sure whether the cost of insurance is worth it, consider the alternative, suggests Fugate. Find out how much it will cost to buy down your risk, and weigh that against how much it would cost to close up shop for a week or two. "Are you going to take reasonable steps to help your business or are you going to run your business into the ground?" he asks. At this point, decide if it worthwhile to keep the business running through a disaster. Mitigate your risksAlthough the concept of climate change is controversial, business people can't afford to ignore any possible outcomes. Even though small companies have less say in the discussion surrounding environmental policy and regulatory reforms, they should consider joining a trade association to strengthen their voice on various issues that affect their companies, says Andrew J. Hoffman, a professor of sustainable enterprise at the University of Michigan. It's also a good idea to pay attention to what bigger companies are doing. "Small companies can't afford to do experiments and make mistakes. Instead, learn from what the bigger companies are doing," he says. "It is helpful for companies to be in tune with what is going on where it is going." Write to Diana Ransom at dransom@smartmoney.com Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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