History shows that 25 percent of businesses that close because of a disaster never reopen. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of small businesses nationwide never recovered and simply closed their doors forever. Many of us have seen the devastation wildfires, floods and tornadoes wreak on a business community and the years of recovery […]
“It’s income tax time again, Americans: Time to gather up those receipts, get out those tax forms, sharpen up that pencil and stab yourself in the aorta.” — humorist Dave Barry. An income tax is defined as a tax levied by a government directly on personal income. Passed by Congress on July 2, 1909 and […]
My day job as editor of a business journal by necessity makes me a student of language. I use language — words on newsprint and a website — to report on businesses and business issues in the Grand Valley. Moreover, I’m always looking for the best ways to convey that information in compelling fashion. As […]
If there’s a constant in government and its Borg of a bloated bureaucracy that assimilates everything in its path, it’s this: Everything government has made more expensive it will use tax dollars to reduce the price or cost to make it more palatable for citizens to swallow. It just happened before our eyes locally with […]
It might not seem like spring cleaning is something common to the work place. But this time of year constitutes a great time to organize and reduce clutter not only for homeowners, but also businesses. Here are some spring cleaning tips to ensure businesses remain in tip-top shape for the year ahead: Touch up paint […]
I’ve learned a few lessons in my more than 30 years of observing, analyzing and writing about the economy — including how to assess matters during a crisis. First, don’t react in a knee-jerk fashion, believing the issues and causes are immediately clear. And don’t put too much stock in those who proclaim they know […]
Juliet famously asks Romeo in the second act of the eponymous Shakespeare play: “What’s in a name?” Her answer in part: “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” She means, of course, Romeo would remain the young man she loves even if he weren’t a Montague and a […]
Why is this such a huge government thing? The naming of a program or bill up for consideration or being implemented after another party line vote creating mandates or, worse, laws that limit or take away or give special rights to voting blocks? I mean, especially when our betters in government and “community leadership” take […]
As we enter the third year of the Biden-Harris administration, we’re fortunate to have a president who understands the vital role women entrepreneurs play in our economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) supports the president’s business advocacy by nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit and making sure small businesses have a voice at the table in […]
The British Broadcasting Corp. produced a documentary series titled “Planet Earth” that in part detailed the changes that have occurred on the planet. In one episode, the narrator began with the mantle shifts dividing land masses into separate continents. Next came the asteroid strike that wiped out prehistoric animals. The narrator mentioned the Medieval Warm […]