Small Business Tools
Advanced small business tools help to avoid a big problems with the finance planing strategy.
Posted by Brian Reed on June 28th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Padre Island German Bakery
— Call it the ultimate gamble.
A baker — a certified master baker, to be exact — at the top of his game after 30 years of training and hard work.
His wife, a nutrition specialist who ran the sales side of his bakery in Ulm, the kind of picturesque city in southern Germany that could lure any American with a photo or two in a travel magazine.
Three years ago, wanderlust tugged Jürgen and Brigitte Kazenmayer the other direction, bringing them to Padre Island.
“In Germany, it was always the same,” said Jürgen, 47. “We like a little adventure.”
More like warmth and beaches. They whipped out a map of the United States and the name Corpus Christi caught their eye — far enough south and along the Gulf of Mexico.
The seeds were sown for what would become JB’s German Bakery & Café, Jürgen’s dream of moving his bakery to America.
Plopping a daily fresh-baked slice of Germany into Padre Island’s sands has proved a gamble that has paid off.
The road, to say the least, was long.
They got in touch with Paul Lozuk, an area real estate broker. They made a
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Tags: German Bakery, Island, Padre Island
Posted by Brian Reed on June 27th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Americans say that the $14.3 trillion U.S. debt threatens the economy and that entitlement programs may go broke even as they dismiss as “scare tactics” the arguments offered by Republicans and Democrats who are debating a solution.
Their sentiments in a poll suggest that the public is open to the recommendations of the majority of President Barack Obama’s debt commission. Members of the group, which included current and former members of Congress and White House officials, called for revenue increases and spending cuts that would have shaved deficits by $3.8 trillion over the next decade.
More than 60 percent of those surveyed say that interest on the debt may lead to a recession and that the rising costs of Medicare and Social Security represent real dangers, according to the poll.
At the same time, the poll found that most Americans aren’t swayed by the arguments Republicans and Democrats make to advance their competing remedies for debt reduction and strengthening the financial stability of entitlement programs, viewing them as empty rhetoric. Read more…
Tags: May, May Lead
Posted by Sara Lopez on June 27th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Can your business profit from a move to a new location? A great deal depends on what kind of business you operate and where you move to. When you’re thinking about business relocation, the lease rate is not the only consideration.
Read Does Business Relocation Make Cents? first if you’re thinking of changing your business location.
Tags: Business Relocation, Relocation
Posted by Brian Reed on June 26th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Want to know what industries are heating up? Industry analyst IBISWorld just released its picks for the 5 hottest startup industries for the next five years. The company analyzed revenues, growth trends and profitability levels of more than 700 industries to determine which ones are best poised to grow.
Even if you are already in business, knowing which industries are in growth mode can give you ideas for new products, services or partnerships that could help your business expand. Here are IBISWorld’s picks:
- Testing and Educational Support: High school graduates are going on to college, college students are clinging to their college years instead of facing the tough job market, and laid-off employees are heading back to school. All this bodes well for testing and education businesses. IBISWorld reports that the industry grew at an average annual rate of 6.2 percent to $15.4 billion over the five years up to 2011, and that level of growth is projected to continue over the next five years, with revenue increasing an average of 5.5 percent per year to reach $19.1 billion in 2016. T
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Tags: Know
Posted by Sara Lopez on June 26th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Customer service is still far and away the easiest, most cost effective way to attract new customers and/or clients and retain the ones you already have – which makes it your best line of defense in terms of the competition.
Bone up on the 8 Rules of Good Customer Service.
Then learn how to go beyond the basics and provide the kind of customer service that sets you apart from your competitors with 4 Ways to Provide Customer Service that Outshines Your Competitors.
More Customer Service Articles
Tags: Customer Service, Customers
Posted by Brian Reed on June 25th, 2011 ~
0 Comments Google Inc. and Citigroup Inc. are investing an additional $204 million to finance another phase of a California wind farm.
The companies said Wednesday that each will invest $102 million in Alta V, a 168-megawatt project. That’s on top of the combined $110 million in financing that the companies said last month they would put into the Alta Wind Energy Center wind farm in California’s Tehachapi Mountains. In total, Alta will have a capacity of 1,550 megawatts, or enough to power 450,000 homes. That’s nearly twice as much as the largest operating wind energy installation in the U.S.
Google has been investing hundreds of millions in wind energy as it seeks reliable new ways to power its massive server farms, or data centers, which are notorious power hogs. Google has also invested in solar energy. Read more…
Tags: Wind, Wind Farms
Posted by Brian Reed on June 25th, 2011 ~
0 Comments — Two companies’ jointly planned 70-mile pipeline, and connections like it, can loosen up the growing bottleneck in moving Eagle Ford shale oil to intended markets, one company’s spokesman said.
The planned route would also boost access to Eagle Ford production for refineries in Corpus Christi, enhancing connections between the city and the regional oil boom.
NuStar Logistics and Velocity Midstream Partners signed a letter of intent to build a 70-mile, 12-inch pipeline from north of Cotulla in La Salle County to NuStar’s new storage facility near Three Rivers in Live Oak County.
The new pipeline will feed about 100,000 barrels of oil per day into an existing 16-inch line, which connects to NuStar’s North Beach Terminal in Corpus Christi.
The pipeline would siphon off the growing demand for truck transportation equipment and truck drivers, which has affected production, NuStar spokesman Greg Matula said.
“Pipeline transportation is the safest and most cost-effective means to get these liquids from the wellhead to market,” Matula said. “
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Tags: Eagle Ford, Pipeline