Archive for January, 2016

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Sunday, January 17th, 2016

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This is a test

Saturday, January 16th, 2016

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This is a test

Friday, January 15th, 2016

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U.S. Weather Disasters in 2015

Thursday, January 14th, 2016
U.S. Weather and Climate Disasters

U.S. Weather and Climate Disasters

The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) compile historical data for severe weather and climate events for monitoring and assessment purposes. According to NCEI data, since 1980, the United States has sustained 188 weather and climate disasters where losses reached at least $1 billion (indexed to 2015 dollars). The sum of these 188 loss events exceeds $1 trillion. NCEI just published the data for 2015; last year, the United States experienced ten weather and climate disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion each. These disasters include one drought, two floods, five severe storms, one wildfire and one winter storm. What these figures do not show is the disproportionate impact on economically distressed communities, which typically lack adequate insurance coverage and other resources to finance their recoveries from disasters. And remember that 2015 was considered a “mild” year for the lack of hurricane activity.

The 2016 State of the Union Address

Wednesday, January 13th, 2016
2016 State of the Union

2016 State of the Union

I just finished watching last night’s State of the Union address on my DVR. I was disappointed with the President’s remarks, which is unfortunate because on certain issues that are relevant to my business, President Obama has delivered. However, the overall content and tone of his remarks failed to capture that. With a few exceptions, the President has appointed highly capable people and largely left them to get on with their jobs. The two administrators of the U.S. Small Business Administration – Karen Mills in the President’s first term and currently, Maria Contreras-Sweet, have done excellent work in improving the service delivery and responsiveness of the SBA. FEMA, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, is in dramatically better shape than it was eight years ago. The President appointed a highly-skilled administrator who had on-the-ground disaster experience in Florida. FEMA has promoted initiatives, such as Whole Community Recovery, and prioritized the need for businesses to get back to delivering services in order to enable post-disaster recovery.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is in remarkably better shape since the President took office. When I was running my first venture, I submitted a trademark application for the name of the business only to learn, more than a year later, that another company had filed the rights to the same name just two weeks prior. I could have saved myself a lot of time and expense had I known that – as a requirement of the application, you must search existing and pending marks. But because there was a nine-month delay between the time an applicant filed a name for trademark protection and the time that application appeared in the searchable trademark database, I could not have known that someone else had beaten my filing date by just twelve days. With my current business, I have registered marks with a much more streamlined process. Given the need for entrepreneurs to protect our intellectual property, an efficient USPTO is critical to our economic growth and here I tip my hat to the President for having delivered. Intellectual property law is reportedly a strong personal interest of the President, who is a law school graduate. On the occasion of one media interview in the Oval Office, he showed the reporter that he had replaced the stodgy artwork in the office with framed patent applications from Thomas Edison and others.

And while European policymakers have been developing frameworks for addressing climate risk for some time now, President Obama was the first U.S. president to explicitly address the threats with tangible policy proposals. That was what I found so disappointing about last night’s speech. The President forfeited an opportunity for a thoughtful presentation to educate the American people about the impacts of climate change on the increasing frequency and severity of weather-related hazards, the economic impacts of climate change on the poorest and most vulnerable communities or even the national security implications of the consequences of drought and flooding for geopolitical changes. Instead, he spoke of the issue in a way that suggested this was another partisan jab. He could have referenced that, against remarkable odds, nearly 200 countries reached a landmark climate change agreement in Paris last month, one that largely came about because of effective U.S. diplomacy in engaging China in this issue. He could have been Presidential, stepped above the fray and said words to the effect of “I hope my successor – whoever he or she is – will seize the opportunity to build upon the progress we have made in reaching this agreement…” The last State of the Union speech in President Obama’s administration was too important an opportunity to squander. Sadly, that is what he did last night.

Starting the Day with the NYT

Tuesday, January 12th, 2016

One of the key elements of my morning routine to begin each day in the most positive and focused way is reading the New York Times on my iPad over breakfast. Today’s edition featured the story of a beneficiary of the NYT’s Neediest Cases Fund. The Fund provides direct assistance to New Yorkers who are struggling. This particular article presented the story of a lady from the Dominican Republic who sustained a terrible loss when American Airlines flight 587 crashed in Queens shortly after takeoff. Her incredible work ethic to learn English, pursue an education and support her children is inspiring. It is a reminder of how the poor are the most vulnerable to disasters and why the work we do is so important. It is also a reminder of the importance of supporting the Neediest Cases Fund. Read the article if you want to lift your spirits today.

Building Capacity in the Non-Profit Sector

Monday, January 11th, 2016
All Together Now

All Together Now

This evening I finally got around to organizing my notes from a workshop I had attended last week at the headquarters of Citizen’s Bank in Providence, Rhode Island. The private banking team of Citizen’s hosted an extremely informative workshop on capacity building for non-profit organizations. Matt Chittim, a major gifts officer of Providence College, delivered a presentation on fundraising approaches. His colleague, Sarah Osowa, PC’s director of annual giving, presented a session on engaging volunteers. Participants in the workshop included representatives from the Providence Performing Art Center, the Highlander Charter School, the Providence Children’s Museum, the Visiting Nurse Association and other nonprofit organizations. Citizen’s Bank was a very generous host and has committed significant resources to helping nonprofit organizations scale and grow.

I learned a great deal from the workshop. One of the key takeaways for me was Matt’s presentation of the research finding that 90 per cent of Americans are not fulfilled in their jobs, such that engaging them in the work of a mission-driven organization can address needs that are not satisfied in their regular employment. My interest in part-time non-profit work has been driven, in part, by the ability to learn better ways to fulfill a socially-oriented vision while working with extremely limited resources – lessons that benefit my own business.

The other takeaway for me was the importance of small business owners in supporting the essential services that nonprofit organizations deliver to communities. I believe that as the Rhode Island economy revives and attracts more private sector employers, one of the first beneficiaries will be the local nonprofit organizations as they are in need of entrepreneurs to contribute their time and expertise.

Book of the Week: Good Profit

Sunday, January 10th, 2016
Good Read

Good Read

My business (book) reading this week is Good Profit: How Creating Value for Others Built One of the World’s Most Successful Companies by Charles G. Koch. The author is the chairman and chief executive officer of Koch Industries, Inc., a $100 billion company. I have read other titles about the Market-Based Management®  system in use at Koch Industries which seeks to create internal markets to align incentives and actions within the company with the external marketplace in which the company must compete. I am trying to learn more about the MBM approach to aligning resources and opportunities.

This book picks up where Koch’s last book left off by addressing, in greater detail, how to create a company culture that brings forth the best contributions from all employees while ensuring that they are working on the right initiatives. Good Profit also advances a moral defense of capitalism which, despite the occasional market failure, is the best known system for creating wealth and improving human welfare. I highly recommend this book.

Calculating the Odds

Saturday, January 9th, 2016

The news headlines this weekend were all about “Lottery Fever” with the Powerball jackpot expected to exceed $900 million by the time tonight’s drawing takes place. The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 292 million to one. By comparison, your odds of dying in a cataclysmic storm are 6,780 to one; your odds of dying in 158,369 to one; and your odds of dying in an earthquake are 179,965 to one. Most people do nothing to protect themselves against those risks,  in effect, taking the mortality bet. But they also take the lottery bet with considerably greater odds. I admit that with the jackpot this high, I did purchase a ticket. However, I did so as $2 is a small price to pay to indulge a brief daydream. But I also took all reasonable precautions to protect myself, and my business, against threats more likely than the odds of holding a winning Powerball ticket.

The One Year Anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo Attacks

Thursday, January 7th, 2016
Still Supporting Charlie

Still Supporting Charlie

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine in Paris. Earlier today, French police shot dead a man who attempted to attack a Paris police station to commemorate the Charlie Hebdo massacre. The man claimed to be part of a terrorist network. On a happier note, cartoonists worldwide recognized the significance of today with their own artistic expressions. Rod Emmerson, an editorial cartoonist from New Zealand, was among those who honored the victims and expressed solidarity with the magazine’s current staff. After the initial attacks, “Je suis Charlie” became a rallying cry to express support for the victims of the terrorist attacks ahd the right to free speech in a democratic society. The cartoon Emmerson published today is shown to the right with the words “Je Reste Charlie” which means “I remain Charlie”.

No matter what would transpire today, it was almost guaranteed to be a stressful experience for residents of Paris. Anniversaries of tragic losses and disasters can provoke feelings of anxiety, even if we are unaware of them. One of the New Orleans small business leaders with whom I work has pronounced personality changes on the anniversaries of the day Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. She suffered devastating losses as a result of the storm; her home had to be completely demolished. For those who have experienced losses, an explicit recognition that anniversary dates will be stressful can help with coping. Just being aware that September 11th will always be an emotional day for me empowers me to better manage my own emotions. And for those who didn’t experience such losses, acknowledging the significance of the day for those who were affected is a gesture that is always appreciated.