What Health Reform changes are effective for 2013?
Please join Michigan Business & Professional Association for a Webinar on November 14 at 10 AM (Eastern Time). This webinar will review those Health Reform changes that are effective for 2013.
Space is Limited, Click Here to reserve your space
These changes include:
Health FSA contributions caped at $2,500/year
An additional hospital insurance tax of .9 percent imposed on high income individuals ($200,000 individual, $250,000 joint
An additional 3.8% Medicare payroll tax imposed on unearned income for high income individuals ($200,000 individual, $250,000 joint)
Employers required to provide written notice to employees about exchange and subsidies
Determination of full-time employees for variable hour and seasonal employee for health coverage in 2014
The webinar will be presented by Larry Grudzien, Attorney at Law.
Title: What Health Reform changes are effective for 2013? Date: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 Time: 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer
Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ phone or Android tablet
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As a writing agent with MBPA and MFBA, you now have the answers that you need to help you navigate reform issues with your clients. Health Reform Connect will give you:
Expert Advise on Complicated Compliance for issues and technical guidelines
Access to monthly webinars and seminars on Reform
An Email Hotline for specific client questions that you need answered
Links and Feeds on the latest news on PPACA and Health and Human Services
A plethora of tools that you can use in your agency including client presentations, white papers and reform pdfs for your clients
Compliance Solutions such as W2 compliance payroll services
The ability to request the MBPA Legislative team to come out and make a presentation to your team or for your client meetings
IRS and tax compliance, credits and penalty, information and tools
Experts that you can lean on for implementation of reform for your clients.
To take advantage of these services continue to write your Blues with the MBPA.
Our service team is ready to help you at 888.277.6464
https://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.png00michbusinesshttps://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.pngmichbusiness2012-10-09 16:00:552015-10-08 00:00:00Introducing Health Care Reform Connect Newsletter, Exclusive For MBPA Agents and Members – Your Go-To Source About Health Care Reform and Its effect On Your Business
The Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) and its sister group, the Michigan Food and Beverage Association (MFBA), make it priority #1 to keep you up to date on the federal healthcare law and how it affects you, your business, and/or clients. Recently there has been a decision made in terms of how Michigan will participate in the federal healthcare program.
To give you some background, all states where given the option by the federal government on how they would like to interact with the federal healthcare plan. There are three options: to create their own state-based healthcare exchange, to partner with the federal government and operate a state/federal partnership plan, and lastly, the state has the option to allow the federal government to run their federal program inside their respective state.
In the state-based healthcare exchange, Michigan would be allowed to participate in essentially twelve different areas, making decisions on what is best for our region. In the state/federal partnership plan, Michigan is allowed to participate in two out of the twelve decision areas, which stated by law is Planned Management and Customer Service. Lastly, in the complete federal run plan, Michigan is not granted any decision making power. Our state has chosen to move forward in the direction of the state/federal partnership.
Michigan’s participation in the federal healthcare plan must be presented to President Obama by November 16th. Recent public communications from Governor Snyder’s office have indicated that Michigan will pursue this state/federal partnership due to inaction in the legislature that was needed to move forward as a state-based exchange model. This inaction left no other choice but to opt for the state/federal partnership, giving Michigan less decision making power.
There are still more details to be made public by the Obama Administration on specific conditions that deal with agents/brokers on the federal exchange. Once more information is made public, we will be able to share those details with you. In the meantime, we are continuing to meet with elected officials and decision makers in the healthcare arena.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact our government relations team by phone at: 586-393-8800 or by email: bbochniak@michbusiness.org
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The problem with best practices is that they’re usually someone else’s best practices.
You need to find your own best practices and then follow them, hone them and make them your unique brand. One of the best ways to be different is to be totally focused on the needs and wants and desires of your customers.
There are a lot of problems for every kind of customer from the largest to the smallest. Everyone is faced with changing marketplaces, shifts in how products and services are sold and the commoditization of everything. Research your customers’ pain points. Look at the challenges facing you in our industry, in your market and think about the common areas. In diving deep into where they hurt, you just might have the added bonus of better understanding how to create new and innovative approaches to your own business.
What is your model? If it’s not working, change it or throw it away. Your purpose is to solve problems and create results. How are you going to do that? The answer to that question cannot be found in old models, broken models or in what worked pre-Internet with a predictable buyer following established paradigms.
Be different and risk being misunderstood. You’ll find your niche and you’ll find people who understand your passion and your mission to simply relieve pain and solve problems. Here’s the thing. Problem solvers always make money. Specialists always make more than generalists. Those who stand out get noticed. And yes, those who stand out get shot at. But at least people are paying attention.
Your value lies in creating value. There’s little value in “me-too.” Did you ever wonder why there are no trade shows for advertisers (end users) where all the exhibitors are distributors? Probably because every booth would look the same, like the yellow pages of old and the distributor websites of today. The value proposition of finding any product has been worn out. The Internet provides that service and it does it with a focus on the lowest price. You need to create new value. Be a problem solver. Bundle more services. Present proposals instead of quotations.
How Are You Different? Remember the old Apple Computer ad about “Here’s to the crazy ones?” Be a Crazy One.
Paul A. Kiewiet is a former chairman of the Promotional Products Association International, and an international speaker, writer, coach and facilitator. Contact him at:
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Despite obstacles and declines, start-ups still popular. An Executive Briefing produced by the Michigan Business and Professional Association
American entrepreneurs – both current and prospective – are facing difficult times these days. The still-struggling economy, combined with unpredictable tax policies and tighter availability of lending capital has made starting and running a small business more challenging than any other time in recent history.
Several recent news reports suggest that the deep-rooted U.S. tradition of starting and running one’s own business has reached its peak, and is now in a declining state, while other reports and experts counter that new business creation through self-employment and other means has been higher than average.
It’s a statistician’s dilemma. Whether entrepreneurism is wilting or thriving depends on how it’s defined, and how the numbers are juggled.
From a “glass half-empty” standpoint, a number of studies are warning of America exiting the business of starting new businesses. One report, from the non-profit New America Foundation, says that the U.S. is in serious danger of losing its entrepreneurial spirit because the number of small businesses created has been declining since the 1970s. Their study contends that the rate of entrepreneurship has fallen as the population has increased – down 53 percent between 1977 and 2010, and that the share of self-employed Americans has been declining since 1991 – dropping more than 20 percent by 2010.
According to Lina Kahn, co-author of the study, the U.S. government has largely “failed to adjust how it gathers data to reflect the outsourcing revolution of the last two decades” and counts as small business independent contractors who depend on one large company for work.
One example, published in the July/August 2012 edition Washington Monthly, is the classification of FedEx Ground drivers in many states as independent corporate entities, with drivers leasing their own trucks from the company, and responsible for their own benefits. “Even those drivers who might have been counted as wage and salary workers are now counted as independent small businesses,” the report said.
Another widely-publicized 2011 report, by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which regularly tracks entrepreneurial activity, said the number of business births had already “peaked,” and the number of new independent employers dropped 27 percent in a three-year period (2006-2010). A later Kauffman study, released March 2012, said the startup rate for new businesses declined again in 2011 by 5.9 percent and new entrepreneurs were more likely to “go it alone” than hire employees.
And, a March 2011 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, which, like Kauffman, follows various measures of entrepreneurism, found that the number of new businesses which has hired employees – one indicator of entrepreneurial activity, like self-employment, dropped considerably. It said 68,500 more businesses closed in 2009 versus the 2007 closure rate — up 11.6 percent. In addition, in 2009, 116,800 fewer employer businesses were founded than in 2007, marking a 17.3 percent drop in new startup companies.
All of the studies which have reported a drop in entrepreneurial activity point to a number of factors which have stifled small business growth over the last several years. Among them:
Industry Consolidation: Scott Shane, a professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University, calls it “the Wal-mart effect.” The economies of scale spreading across industry after industry – particularly in retailing – have encouraged the growth of mega-companies. “Wal-mart replaces a lot of people who have their own businesses,” Shane says. “This is the long-term trend in many industries.” Similarly, the nation has witnessed Home Depot capturing a vast proportion of the U.S. hardware market, Best Buy taking the lead in electronics and appliance sales, and Macy’s, through its acquisitions over the past decade of smaller, regional department stores, grabbing the lion’s share of U.S. department store sales.
Some retail industry analysts have argued that many of the former smaller, regional department stores such as Marshall Field’s and Kaufmann’s would have failed anyway because they lacked the buying power needed to offer customers attractive prices.
Technology: Over the last generation, Internet retailing and other online services have displaced many “bricks and mortar” independent businesses. A walk along any main street in America will show a lack of travel agencies, book stores, and music stores. In addition, technology has created opportunities to combine many smaller businesses into the hands of a few giant online retailers, such as Amazon, which sells a vast variety of goods, and in the bookselling sector alone has created a nationwide monopoly. On the other hand, technology in the form of less expensive computers, easy-to-use bookkeeping software, and credit card readers have enabled many individuals to start and run a their own businesses. And, not to forget that many of the most famous business startups in recent decades (think Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook) have been in high-tech fields.
Financing: While the U.S. has the world’s most mature venture capital industry, it’s more difficult than ever to obtain business startup financing. James Hop, a business professor at Northwood University and chairman of its Entrepreneurship Department, speaks from his former experience as a commercial banking executive. “How to find capital is a pressing problem for new businesses. Simply put, banks don’t like to fund startups,” he said. “In order to encourage and drive entrepreneurism, we need to have a continued source of investment and venture capital.”
One financing problem of late, according to the Washington Monthly, is that the vast majority of entrepreneurs have traditionally relied on personal savings and contributions from family and friends to start their businesses. However, the poor economy and inflation in both health care and higher education costs means fewer families have the savings needed to start a small business. The report also blames the large consolidation of the banking industry for a lack of startup capital: “Relatively few bank officers today have the leeway and local knowledge to lend to local established businesses, much less new ventures.”
Tax policy: According to Northwood’s Hop, the lack of a long-term federal tax policy for businesses – both small and large – has dissuaded many potential entrepreneurs from taking the first steps towards business creation. “Everyone is unsure of what the taxing situation is in store for businesses,” he says. “We don’t know from one year to the next, and no political body can seem to come to grips with a consistent, long-term tax policy. This has a huge impact on startups and the willingness to loan or invest capital. It would be great to know what the next 10 years will be like.” In Michigan, repeal of the controversial personal property tax on business will go a long way towards freeing up money for small business expansion and investment, Hop says.
Regulation: Poorly-conceived government regulation makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to get into and stay in business. Excessive paperwork, redundant requirements, and licensing laws can discourage even the most-impassioned, forge-ahead entrepreneur. Bob Zadek, a finance attorney and manager of a small business lending firm, told CNBC.com, “Licensing requirements have little to do with the protection of the public, but rather are imposed to keep out competition.” Professor Hop, who also operates a small business in addition to his teaching duties, says he believes most small businesses are happy to comply with regulations which ensure a safe working environment out of responsibility for their employees, but that “government in many cases has to get out of the way, and help small companies pursue chances for growth.”
Despite the claims of a “slow-motion collapse of American entrepreneurship,” as the Washington Monthly forecasts, there are plenty of bright spots attesting to the “can-do” spirit of Americans willing to put up the cash and take the risks in order to be able to control their own destiny. For instance:
As of 2012, there are an estimated 8.3 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., generating nearly $1.3 trillion in revenue and employing nearly 7.7 million people, according to the second annual “State of Women-Owned Business Report, commissioned by American Express OPEN. The growth in the number (up 54 percent), employment (up 9 percent) and revenues (up 58 percent) of women-owned firms over the last 15 years exceeds the growth rates of all but the largest publicly-traded firms. “There has been a significant increase in the number of women entrepreneurs in the last 20 to 30 years,” says Christine Janseen-Selvadurai, director of the entrepreneurship program at Fordham University. “Technology has really made things easier.”
According to the 2011 Kauffman Foundation report, even with the drop in startups, the level of entrepreneurship in 2011 is among the highest during the last 16 years, with overall business creation over the past four years higher than average.
The Kauffman Foundation Index of Entrepreneurial Activity reports new Latino entrepreneurs more than doubled from 10.5 percent to 22.9 percent from 1996 to 2011. During that same time period of entrepreneurs ages 55-64 grew from 14.3 percent to 20.9 percent, and immigrants now make up nearly 14 percent of small business owners.
“Entrepreneurialism is alive and thriving,” says Northwood University’s James Hop. “Many of our students and alumni want to control their own destiny. They’ve seen what’s happened to their parents and grandparents and their jobs, and they see entrepreneurship as a better place to be.
“An entrepreneur can be someone who is simply self-employed, or one who has the ability to employ dozens of people. There are probably 20 different definitions of what constitutes an entrepreneur,” Hop notes. “The most important thing is that you are doing something which is creating value, and contributing to the overall economy.”
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Hypothesis:
Traditional Law Firms and Company Legal Functions are rarely aligned.
Traditional Law Firm Business Model: A “traditional law firm” means a law firm that has a highly leveraged business model that depends on annually mandated increasing billing rates as well as every lawyer, paralegal and other time-keeper to meet or exceed mandated minimum billable hour targets to cover high overhead expenses. This is the business structure used by most large law firms.
Most traditional law firms are bound by various constraints, limitations and restrictions based upon their business models which are driven by targeted profits per equity partner and minimum billable hours to achieve a bonus. These law firms have an “eat what you can kill” mentality that rewards individuals for achieving or surpassing internally generated targets as a measure of success. The internal compensation systems of these law firms do not reward lawyers for providing the most efficient legal solution alternatives available to their clients.
Traditional law firms are typically operated based upon business models dependent upon having each attorney, paralegal and legal assistant record the maximum number of billable hours possible. Compensation systems in these business models reward those attorneys that bill the maximum number of hours possible and those that collect the maximum amount of money possible based upon the hours billed by the attorney as well as other time keepers working on matters for which the attorney receives billing credit. In virtually all traditional law firms, you receive greater credit for the individual billing of hours and collections. Not for sharing your work or by selecting the best available lawyer specialist or legal resource for the client. In other words, traditional law firm business models are unchanging with no latitude. (Latitude means freedom from normal restraints, limitations and restrictions.)
Company Legal Function Business Model:
A “company legal function” means the internal company management of legal risks and legal issues faced by a company. Legal managers may utilize in-house lawyers, paralegals and legal assistants, retained outside lawyers, non-lawyer legal service providers and other individuals working on behalf of lawyers. Typically, companies will have a General Counsel or another qualified professional to oversee this critical business function.
A company’s legal function is driven by a different business model than the traditional law firm. Companies are driven by strategic business objectives and the need for each and every business area, including the legal function, to make continuous operating improvements. Compensation within company legal functions is driven by assisting the company in achieving business objectives, rewarding the protection of the company from legal liability and by providing continuous functional improvements. To achieve functional improvement, a legal manager must maintain a consistent level of high quality legal protection for the company and to do so in ways that are more cost effective each year.
Company legal managers are responsible for protecting the assets of the company, identifying and minimizing potential legal risks to the company and operating within a defined budget. In-house lawyers responsible for leading and managing legal functions not only need to understand the strategic objectives of the company, but they must also provide legal assistance to support these objectives. These legal function managers are compensated like others in the company and based upon a defined set of goals with most objectives having an expense control component. When it comes to handling a legal issue, legal managers are often faced with “make or buy” decisions utilizing in-house legal staff or retaining an outside law firm. The legal manager must select the best and most efficient legal resource available to the company in terms of quality, responsiveness and cost. In other words, company legal functions operate in a varying circle of latitude that needs to be constantly adjusted to meet the needs of the company.
Alignment/Non-Alignment:
Because of these very different business models and compensation systems, traditional law firms and company legal functions can rarely be aligned. While traditional law firms are aligned with providing good results for the company, they are not aligned with selecting the most efficient legal resources available for the client. Full alignment can never be achieved as the business models and compensation systems of traditional law firms do not reward behavior that supports making the selection of the best available lawyer specialist and most efficient legal resources for the client company.
Because of this non-alignment, “traditional law firms” leave company legal managers with minimal choices to improve their legal functions when only utilizing legal resources from traditional law firms.
Legal Industry Options:
However, businesses and legal managers now have other options to improve their legal functions. The globalization of the business world, improvements in legal related technology and software products, as well as new legal provider law firm business models offering creative and collaborative customer focused legal services, now give legal managers options to address the traditional law firm non-alignment problems. To address these non-alignment problems, legal managers should:
Consider legal products available including detailed electronic billing systems, software products and legal portals that will allow legal managers to design their own legal software and portals that are appropriate for their business and legal function.
Consider alternative legal services available including the ability to utilize high quality lawyers with lower billing rates that have chosen to leave traditional law firms and high quality lawyers that offer creative flat fee or retainer fee options not offered by traditional law firms.
Consider using contract General Counsel as well as other contract lawyers and non-lawyers located both in the U.S. and overseas. These professionals can handle legal matters that cannot be serviced cost effectively by internal company lawyers because of the cost of salary and benefits or by traditional law firms because of their unchanging model of increasing annual billing rates and mandated minimum billable hours.
Achieving Legal Latitude:
Managers who manage company legal functions need to consider all available options other than legal services offered by traditional law firms that are subject to restraints, limitations and restrictions because of an outdated business model. A new breed of lawyers, law firms and non-lawyer professionals are emerging that recognize that traditional law firm business models no longer align with the modern day needs of companies and their legal managers. Hiring lawyers and other legal service providers that are customer focused and acting solely in the best interests of the customer, including finding new and creative ways to provide high quality legal services that are also more cost effective each year, is now a possibility.
Legal managers can now create a “LEGAL FUNCTION WITH LATITUDE.” Legal latitude allows legal managers to use the resources available in the legal industry to find the best and most efficient legal service providers for their company’s legal function. Legal latitude provides the freedom needed to implement legal function quality and cost improvements in order to keep up with the changes and improvements occurring in business.
Jeffrey F. Paulsen has 25 years experience as a business lawyer as a Fortune 500 company Divisional General Counsel and large law firm partner. Jeff is the owner of Paulsen Law and Managing Director-Legal of Latitude Advisors in Bloomfield Hills. Contact him at 248-456-0646, www.paulsenlawfirm.com.
https://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.png00michbusinesshttps://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.pngmichbusiness2012-10-02 16:00:402015-10-08 00:00:00Why Traditional Law Firms And Company Legal Functions Are Rarely Aligned
Sept. 6, 2012 – LANSING – Despite uncertainties that remain in the economy, many businesses have a growing optimism, according to a member survey conducted by the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) and the Michigan Food and Beverage Association (MFBA). Most survey participants report they will remain in the state and make improvements to their businesses.
Continuing 2011’s positive trend, 50-percent of members reported improved business in the past year, and 60-percent anticipate further success in the coming year. Almost half of respondents maintained staffing levels from last year, and they foresee retaining a consistent workforce next year.
These numbers reflect a modest uptick compared to last year’s results, which showed that just 40 percent of those surveyed said their business health improved year-to-year.
“Before a trend can truly establish itself it must demonstrate some predictability,” said Jennifer Kluge, president and CEO of both Associations. “We have three years of data demonstrating optimism about the future of Michigan’s economy. That, coupled with a resolve among business owners to maintain their roots in the state, is a reason for optimism.”
The number of businesses expecting to make significant changes in their practices is half what it was a year ago. Kluge takes that as a sign that drastic cost-cutting measures are easing, and might lead to new investment in the state. According to the survey results, only one in five respondents stated they expect Michigan’s business climate to continue to decline before it improves. The others are expecting noticeable improvement or consistency in the near future.
“That half our members have seen their businesses improve in the last year, and that 60 percent expect their businesses to improve next year is a very good sign,” said Kluge. “This projection is consistent with other surveys of Michigan business owners that show the state’s recovery is gaining momentum. There is positive news from many sectors regarding sales, forecasts, profits, hiring, wages and prospects for growth in the coming months.”
The survey reveals what a cross section of Association members think about current and future business conditions.
35 percent reported hiring staff within the past year and 29 percent plan to increase staff in the next year.
Only 15 percent considered relocating to another state, compared to 16 percent in the 2011 survey and 19 percent in 2010.
33 percent predicted that Michigan’s business climate in the next year will begin to noticeably improve.
Kluge said the MBPA and MFBA are working hard in Lansing to improve the business climate in the state. She credits eliminating the Michigan Business Tax as a significant win for business.
“It is important to remind lawmakers that when small businesses are healthy, the economy is healthy,” said Kluge, noting that a May 2012 report by the Small Business Administration and National Economic Council indicates that over the last two decades, small and new businesses have been responsible for creating 2 out of every 3 net new jobs.
Michigan Business and Professional Association
27700 Hoover Rd., Warren, MI 48093-6306
(888) 277-6464 * www.michbusiness.org
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Document imaging is a method for managing office documents. It functions by scanning paper documents to create exact image copies in digital format. In this process, the company can keep the digital images on a server. These digital files can be saved within the office or in an off-site area (cloud).
Although the shift to digital imaging may lead one to assume that overall paper use is on the decline, the truth is that paper consumption has risen consistently over the last ten years. If a company strives to be environmentally conscious, document imaging can benefit the planet. There are significant environmental benefits to document imaging and scanning. Even if a company does not go entirely “paperless,” document scanning and imaging can greatly reduce printing rates. As an example, if an employee handbook were digitized and stored on a server, employees would not have to print it out every time they needed to check a policy.
Lower Energy Bills. Imaging cuts down on the amount of money that companies must spend on powering printers. This may not seem like a large amount of energy savings, but it would be quite a hefty chunk depending on the number of printers in a company.
Diminished Ink Usage. LaserJet and Inkjet toner is highly toxic and costly. Moreover, it is stubborn – printer ink is tough to remove from the paper during the recycling process. Less printing thanks to document imaging means your company will be releasing less noxious ink into the environment and saving money.
Decreased Paper Usage. Too many times employees print a document, only to realize too late that one or more pages were almost completely blank or not needed. A single line of print condemns that piece of paper to the recycling bin. Establishing a document scanning procedure often creates a company culture of eco-awareness, so that employees are less likely to hit “print” except when necessary. In general, document scanning reduces the overall paper consumption of most firms.
While specific company papers ought to be shredded, most of the documents made must be kept for future reference. Many companies generate many files. This is normally complicated, particularly for people keeping documents for a long time already. The great thing is, there are document management strategies that managers can choose for legal and storage size considerations. Document imaging or scanning is one of the most efficient alternatives.
Save Cost. Document archiving also helps reduce costs. When several office workers require the same file simultaneously, they need to print or photocopy the document. With the use of electronic files saved on the office computer system, they can access exactly the same file simultaneously.
Save Time. Files from document scanning services will even help workers use their time more proficiently. With traditional archiving, employees use a considerable amount of time sorting, compiling, retrieving, filing, and re-filing on a regular basis. This is not the situation when you have the files in digital format. While on their work desk, they can access files with only a few clicks.
Save Space. This can be a great alternative for offices using file cabinets, shelving or dedicated storage areas for their records. Using this new form of archiving, a great deal of space and cabinets can be saved.
Better control. Document imaging also allows for the control of employees’ access to digital files. This works well for managing confidential information. Additionally, it enables the monitoring of employees accessing a certain document.
These are only a few benefits of going for a document imaging service. If you want to see for yourself, find a company offering reliable document storage and management solutions and speak to them.
Document imaging is more important in business than ever. Not only is paper storage problematic at best, but without having a copy of the paper somewhere, should something happen as in a flood or fire, there is no easy way to recreate all of that paperwork. Having easy access to scanned documents on the network makes it much easier to find as well. While it can take hours to drag out boxes and sort through file after file, it only takes a matter of minutes to find the right piece of paperwork in an electronic format. Save money, save time and reduce paper waste and fire hazards by having a company that specializes in document scanning services take care of old paperwork.
Regardless of the size of a business, using document imaging can end up helping the environment and saving time, space and money.
Spencer Silk is a principal at Franklin CIO Services, LLC and a member of the Business Improvement Team. He has been involved in a number of Imaging project justifications and implementations. He can be reached at ssilk@franklincio.com or by visiting www.franklincio.com or www.bizimpteam.com.
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How The Unseen Effects of the Cloud Are Making Companies Money and Changing Corporate Strategy
By now, we’ve all heard the marketing lingo and buzzwords that seem to swirl around the current cloud computing trend: flexible infrastructure, scalability, real workforce mobility, and unparalleled collaboration. The promise of a lean, mean, omnipresent computing environment is enough to warrant consideration by business owners, executives and IT personnel alike. But as cloud technologies become more and more commonplace in the business world, companies both large and small are beginning to take notice of some of the unforeseen financial and operational effects of the cloud. Michigan-based businesses are among those that have begun to seek out and demonstrate some of these effects.
The resulting effects certainly warrant discussion. Now that the general newness and excitement of the cloud have given way to measured observation, companies are looking more at how the adoption of these systems will affect their operational costs, along with their best practices. ROI and TCO used to be measured by hardware, software, and hosting costs alone. Now that the simple math has been done, industries are starting to look at the long-term effects that the cloud will have on risk management, tax exposure, and a host of other day-to-day costs that are affected by the trickle-down of these new ideologies. A few Michigan businesses are helping to pioneer this new understanding of the cloud.
Innovation That Benefits the Bottom Line
Energy Design Service Systems (EDSS), a Michigan-based certified energy consultant has begun to notice some of the financial benefits of moving to a cloud environment. EDSS is well established in the business of combining professional engineering, certified public accountant experience, and grant authoring; yielding over $300 million for their clients last year alone through tax deductions and credits, grants, rebates, and incentives. Along the way, they’ve found more than a few ways that adoption of a cloud computing solution can put money back in the corporate coffers.
Going beyond the more obvious savings that companies associate with virtualization, such as reduced hardware costs and improved server/admin ratios, EDSS has unearthed a number of federal and state grants, up to $275,000 in some cases, that incentivize technology investment. Additionally, there are rebates available, often reaching $15,000, based on the amount of energy consumption that is reduced by eliminating the power-hungry components of a traditional system. As a capstone to all of these benefits, EDSS can often demonstrate to insurance providers that moving computing off-site can significantly reduce risk to the business, resulting in an equally significant reduction of insurance premiums. While these benefits pale in comparison to the millions of dollars that businesses can acquire through EDSS’s other programs, such as those pertaining to LEED compliance and cost segregation, the one-two punch of upfront grant money, trailed by incentives and risk reduction can often give a business everything they need to evolve their technology base ahead of the competition.
It’s not always necessary to move an infrastructure off-site to realize some of the unforeseen benefits of cloud technologies. Some companies, whether burned by co-location in the past when it was in its infancy, or due to vendor restrictions, choose to employ a private cloud. Using the same practices of server and desktop virtualization, hardware consolidation, and centralized data, companies can shrink the footprint of their infrastructure while increasing flexibility. The inevitable question asks what can be done with the unused square footage in a traditionally built data center; the answer can include a windfall of increased revenue.
A New Use for Old Space
Steve Jacobs is the founder of Velocity Data Centers, a Michigan-based technology innovator, and he’s been helping companies across the country use the location-agnostic nature of the cloud to liberate the prime real estate that’s in their existing data center. Velocity’s approach is unique; the company engineers and manufactures modular, pre-engineered concrete data center structures that can be tucked into a discreet, unused corner of a client’s property. Once the servers, along with their thermal cooling needs, are removed from the main building, the old data center can be repurposed for any number of uses. In one example, a hospital in the southeast United States is planning to install new medical imaging equipment, where the old data center currently resides. This shift alone will result in an estimated $53 million in revenue over the next five years, and save the hospital a costly building expansion. The added revenue will pay for both the modular data center and the medical equipment within one year.
A multitude of stories just like these are cropping up across the Michigan technology landscape. In the same way that uses for electricity or the Internet weren’t fully realized until years after their invention, new aspects of cloud technologies are regularly being uncovered. The old way of understanding the cloud appealed to CIOs and IT professionals, because of its ability to improve infrastructure, even as IT budgets shrank. The new understanding of the cloud appeals to CFOs and COOs alike, because of its ability to shrink overhead, mitigate risk, incentivize innovation, and pave the way for more cost-effective corporate strategy. As the implications of those new uses are understood, we’ll see new ways that businesses in Michigan can become more efficient, both operationally and economically.
Ryan Bonner is the Business Development Manager at Brightline Technologies, a Michigan-based IT solutions provider. Contact him at ryan@brightlineit.com
https://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.png00michbusinesshttps://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.pngmichbusiness2012-10-02 16:00:202015-10-08 00:00:00The Big Payback
Having the right cleaning company is a big deal. The best commercial cleaning companies have the knowledge and training to keep your workplace clean, hygienic and safe. They help you project the appropriate image toward your employees, customers, and other partners in the market place. Studies have shown that in a clean, orderly environment employees have a better attitude toward their employers and are more productive.
Selecting the right vendor for a long-term relationship should be your goal. Choosing wisely saves time and money, but even more important, insures peace of mind. Your cleaning staff has regular access to personal workspaces, board rooms, break-rooms, and rest room areas. They have keys to locks and security information for your building. These are huge issues from a risk and liability perspective and should be taken very seriously during your evaluation phase.
How can you make sure you’re making the right choice? Be prepared and allow enough time for the entire process to unfold. Choose a cleaning contractor that can pay attention to what you consider to be the most important aspects of your building: clearly expressed expectations matched with customized specifications from your vendor offer a great starting point to a long-term, professional partnership.
The following questions will help you assess your needs in terms of frequency, and necessary duties. The information compiled from your answers will provide a profile that will enable you to determine which vendor will afford the best fit for your company. The first part covers background information on you and your company. The second part will focus on important questions to ask potential vendors.
What supplies do I need ordered – rest room paper products. Etc..
What is the square footage of my facility/or the area(s) I need serviced?
How many bathrooms in my facility? Do I have locker rooms or showers?
Do I have any special or delicate surfaces in my facility that would require certain cleaning products (i.e., natural stone)?
Do I have any other special considerations (regular office parties, corporate meetings, lots of food events, regular after hours use)?
How many people work in my building?
What is the amount of outside traffic through my facility per day?
When and how often do I want the cleaning staff to clean?
What are my cleaning budget and payment terms?
Who will be responsible for providing cleaning and paper supplies (ordering, payment, etc.)?
What have I been most unsatisfied with in the past or former cleaners/cleaning company: (budget, security, communication, quality of cleaning, consistency, etc.)?
Part II: Important questions for prospective vendors
How long have you been in business?
Is your company bonded and insured?
Who will have keys and access codes to my facility?
Do your employees have uniforms or ID badges?
Do your employees undergo background checks?
Do you carry workman’s compensation insurance on all employees?
What methods or procedures do you use to measure quality assurance?
What happens if I’m unhappy with the cleaning or some other problems arise? Look for a complaint procedure and strong commitment to customer service and satisfaction.
What kinds of facilities do you currently clean? What kinds of facilities or services cause you the most problems?
What do we need to know about your cleaning processes and practices to avoid potential misunderstandings?
Ask the vendor to provide their version of specs for your facility. Tell the vendor what you need, but also look for creativity and initiative on the part of the vendor such as potential cost-saving options. If requested, allow the vendor to tour your facility more than once. Taking a second look in many cases allows for a more thorough proposal and a much better understanding of the job at hand. It also shows a sincere approach to evaluating the details and the subsequent price for cleaning your facility.
You’ll also want to ask open-ended questions to assess communication style. For example: “tell me how you see your company staffing our building.”
Does the vendor answer your questions directly? Note whether the vendor asks pertinent questions and listens to you. Be wary of vendors who try to do all the talking. If they’re talking, they’re not listening, and if they aren’t listening now, will they listen later?
Finally, be sure to check references and referrals for qualified vendors.
Vendors that provide exactly what you ask for demonstrate their commitment to work hard for your business, and that they are serious about obtaining the contract to clean your facility.
Mike Eller is the President and co-owner of Populist Cleaning Co.
Mike has been in the commercial cleaning arena for about 25 years. His company serves customers throughout southeast Michigan.
https://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.png00michbusinesshttps://michbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/MichBusiness_logo_horizontal.pngmichbusiness2012-10-02 16:00:152015-10-08 00:00:00Your Guide To Hiring The RIGHT Commercial Cleaning Company