July 2013 Features

  • Society of Human Resource Management Offers Support for Managing Personnel Issues

    July 31, 2013

    If you're responsible for Human Resources strategic initiatives or personnel issues in your company and would like to meet others who share those responsibilities, then the Southwest Georgia chapter of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) in Albany might be just the place for you. With 55 active members from local businesses and organizations, the chapter has monthly meetings that feature speakers, panel discussions or round table discussions.

  • No Ifs, Ands or Butts: Get Your Employees Fit!

    July 29, 2013

    Are your employees sitting at their desks all day? If so, chances are they’re not maximizing their productivity—and they could be racking up your health insurance costs. If you’re looking to build a healthier workforce (one that won’t have as many accidents and illnesses, and saves you money on health insurance and workers’ comp), consider ways to make yourself and your team more active at work.

  • How Are Your Road Warriors Spending the Company Dime?

    July 26, 2013

    Concur Analysis of $50 Billion in Business Expenses Reveals Small Business Travelers are More Active on the Road, Resulting in Higher Spend than Enterprise Counterparts.

  • Billion Dollar Baby: U.S. Chamber is First to Hit $1B Lobbying Milestone

    July 24, 2013

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has made big news with the filing of a simple quarterly report. When the behemoth business trade group reported its lobbying numbers for the second quarter of 2013 on Monday, it set a new record: The Chamber became the first organization to report total lobbying expenditures of more than $1 billion, according to OpenSecrets.org. What has that gotten them? Not as much as they would like.

  • LRA Constructors Sees Uptick in Construction Activity

    July 23, 2013

    Industrial and commercial construction activity in Southwest Georgia became a bit more active in second quarter 2013, according to Jake Reese of LRA Constructors. Business has for the most part remained the same for much of 2012 and early 2013.

  • 7 Ways Savvy Businesses Use Mobile

    July 22, 2013

    It’s exciting to see small businesses jumping on the mobile revolution. I think it’s more noticeable with small businesses, because we’ve been conditioned to expect “old style” low tech ways of conducting business from smaller vendors. But today that’s simply no longer true.

  • How to Take a Summer Vacation From Your Business

    July 19, 2013

    Summer is a popular time for Americans to set off to their favorite vacation destinations. But for small business owners, taking time off can lead to missed opportunities and missed income.

  • Scott Hunter on How Changing Interest Rates May Affect Your Investments

    July 18, 2013

    Even if you didn’t take Economics 101 in college, just navigating through the past several years has given you hands-on experience with one of the course’s most valuable lessons: The rise and fall of interest rates is one of the biggest factors influencing global economies, financial markets, and our daily lives. That’s why it is important to have a basic understanding of how interest rate changes could affect not only your wallet but also your investment portfolio.

  • Joel Wernick Celebrates 25 Years as Phoebe CEO

    July 17, 2013

    When Joel Wernick was still in high school, he was lucky enough to get a summer job mowing the grass at his local hometown hospital. And while he mowed, he realized he wanted a life job that was never about the day of the week, or making it to the week’s end. He wanted to run a hospital and be around like-minded professionals with a goal of helping their fellowman.

  • Are Tough Times Inspiring Better Leaders and Increasing Engagement?

    July 15, 2013

    Are your employees engaged in their jobs? A Gallup poll measured the growth of employee engagement and which of 12 different occupations tend to boast the highest engagement.

  • How Seamless is Your Company?

    July 12, 2013

    In this months article, Doug Robinson examines what type of employees are found in today's marketplace, and what you can do to make your company and employees more seamless.

  • Darton, ASU Economic Impact Totals $286M in FY12

    July 11, 2013

    In a study released by Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, both Darton State College and Albany State University contribute $286 million in economic impact and generate 3,443 jobs both on and off of their campuses.

  • SafetyMax of Albany Sees Economic Uptick

    July 10, 2013

    Sales at SafetyMax, a distributor of workplace safety, first aid and fire extinguisher products, are up 15 percent so far in 2013 over the same period in 2012. The company serves numerous, diverse industries including agriculture, service and manufacturing as well as local, state and federal government entities.

  • Do Small Business Lending Programs Work?

    July 08, 2013

    You gotta love the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Their job is to do the research requested by Congress or written into legislation in order to makes sure that government programs are doing what they are supposed to be doing. The GAO was just doing its job when it recently released a report on the implementation of a couple of new Treasury Department small business lending programs created through the Small business Jobs Act of 2010. The finding were so-so.

  • Mediacom/Raycom Negotiations Part of High-Stakes Industry Dynamic

    July 03, 2013

    On June 21st, Mediacom Communications Corporation and Raycom Media, Inc., owner of WALB TV, reached agreement on a contract that had been the subject of several messages broadcast to WALB viewers. For weeks, WALB warned Mediacom cable customers they could lose access to the station if an agreement wasn't reached by June 30th, the expiration date of the existing contract.

  • Commentary: Why Government Is Essential, Yet Inefficient

    July 01, 2013

    Aaron Johnson's motivation for this post stemmed from a funny analogy made by Thomas Sowell, whose simple, yet outrageous example, speaks to the inefficiency of government.