i98FM and ahm Announce Local Hero Finalists 2011 | Watch ...

i98FM and ahm Announce Local Hero Finalists 2011












(PRWEB) June 16, 2011

i98FM and ahm health insurance are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2011 i98FM / ahm Local Hero Awards.????

In a joint effort to recognise Illawarra residents and their outstanding contribution to the community, i98FM and ahm health insurance are paying tribute to local people helping and inspiring others.

With over 30 finalists across six categories, the nominees for the fourth annual i98FM / ahm Local Hero Awards are:

LOCAL HERO OF THE YEAR

1. David McKenna ? Wollongong City Council Citizen of the Year

2. Sgt Emmanuel Veroza ? NSW Police Force (retired)

3. Melissa Tierney ? Illawarra Disability Trust

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

1. David Robson ? Keira High School

2. Anne McLean ? Balarang Public School

3. Gillian Hendry ? Para Meadows Special School

4. Michael Todd ? Albion Park High School

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR (PEOPLE & COMMUNITY)

1. Kellie Marsh ? Warilla Hight School Vinnies Youth Team

2. Ray Fredericks ? Wollongong City Council Twilight Tour Buses

3. Phil Priest ? Wollongong City Council Twilight Tour Buses

4. Siria Thomas ? Illawarra Parents of Baby Angels and Swim Safer

5. Tim Frigo ? Catholic Care Disability Group

6. Chelsea Capetta ? Raise the Gong

7. Cheryl Sullivan ? Northern Illawarra Neighbour Aid Inc.

8. Kylie Hayes ? House with No Steps

9. Judy Mallon ? Bellambi Neighbourhood Centre

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR (SPORT & RECREATION)

1. Rudi Kolednik ? Illawarra Basketball

2. Jeremy Kuiper ? Fairy Meadow Surf Life Saving Club

3. Warren Scofield ? Illawarra Rugby League

4. Adriana Gervaise ? Towradgi Surf Life Saving Club

JUNIOR SPORTS STAR OF THE YEAR

1. Jack Bird ? Wests Illawarra / Illawarra Steelers

2. Stephanie Hall ? Port Kembla Golf Club

3. Jarrod Poort ? Wests Illawarra Aquatic Swimming Club

4. Molly Louise Hanrahan ? Oak Flats Albion Park Gymnastics and Acrobatics Club

5. Emma McKeon ? Wests Illawarra Aquatic Swim Club

6. Mikayla Weir ? Australian Bushmans Camdraft and Rodeo Association

7. Teleah Lindsay ? Pony Clubs

8. Emily Roskelly ? Wests Illawarra Aquatic Swimming Club

9. Billie McEvoy ? Pony Clubs

SENIOR SPORTS STAR OF THE YEAR

1. David McKeon ? Wests Illawarra Aquatic Swim Club

2. Shelby Lacey ? Oak Flats Albion Park Gymnastics and Acrobatics Club

3. Sally Fitzgibbons ? Professional Surfer

4. Marie Kay ? Athletics

WIN Radio General Manager and Local Hero Awards judge Jason Saladino, said that it was not easy choosing the finalists:

?As with past years, selecting finalists from the extraordinary people that are nominated was tough. I along with the other judges are satisfied that we have isolated those that contribute most to the local community for special recognition. It?s a truly humbling experience to see the amount of amazing people that reside in the Illawarra?.

Fellow judges and i98FM Breakfast Show hosts Marty Haynes and Bianca Dye will host the awards ceremony on Friday, June 17 at the City Beach Function Centre in Wollongong.

Joining the i98 team on the judging panel is ahm?s special guest who will also be present on the day to congratulate the winners, WIN Television?s Amy Taylor, and Illawarra Business Chamber President, Les Dion.

The i98FM / ahm Local Hero Awards ? Recognising exceptional contributions to the Illawarra Community

About ahm Health Insurance

ahm is the eighth largest health insurance provider and has been caring for the health of Australians for more than thirty five years. In addition to the provision of health insurance, ahm has developed and delivers innovative health management programs. We employ health professionals covering key disciplines including nursing, exercise physiology, dietitians and fitness to deliver these programs.

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Source: http://www.chia-vida.com/sport/i98fm-and-ahm-announce-local-hero-finalists-2011.html

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Understanding Your Approach to Be a Productive Carpentry Career ...

Carpentry is 1 vocational education that is well-liked all more than the globe and you are able to understand much more at a Jamaica beach resort. This will be the livelihood exactly where millions of individuals earn large income and this could be a great choice for you. You will find some actions to follow to begin a effective career in this field.

Education. This plays a main role as the foundation for any career even for carpentry exactly where you?ll need to a minimum of hold a high school diploma. Under this field, you need to select courses like blueprint reading, mechanical drawings, architectural drafting, introduction to carpentry tools, Mathematics for carpenters, exterior finishing, roofing, interior trimming, framing, remodeling and renovation, and stair style.

Function Encounter. When your education is completed, you?ll need to acquire some encounter like on-the-job training or assisting some professional carpenters perform their job. You are able to observe the professional carpenters whilst working, assist them in assembling supplies, help them in transporting supplies, and lend a hand in cleaning the function locations in the day?s end. Even though these are rather unskilled tasks and perhaps regarded as a waste of time, these experiences might develop some of your hidden abilities within the field. On-line courses may also be availed of for extra background understanding within the trade.

Vocational Training. You?ll be able to also acquire added expertise from training centers, trade schools, and vocational schools providing distinct courses in carpentry, certificate programs, and associate degrees. This can be a excellent training ground for you to develop your abilities a lot more. The career opportunities supplied aid develop your career although developing an excellent foundation for your education.

Create a Record of Good Work. This is the next vital step after obtaining your education and training. You can learn so much when you use a tenon joinery manual to do carpentry.

Marty Smith says employers are attracted with hard-working people therefore you should learn how to complete your projects and use mortise machines with dedication and commitment in order to achieve your goal of attaining a successful carpentry career when using mortise jigs.

Source: http://articlescentury.com/home-family/understanding-your-approach-to-be-a-productive-carpentry-career?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=understanding-your-approach-to-be-a-productive-carpentry-career

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Ricki Lake eyeing 'Dancing's' mirror ball

By Ree Hines

The ballroom battle is still a week away, but for ?Dancing With the Stars? contender Ricki Lake, it?s never too soon to eye that coveted mirror ball trophy.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actress, host and now dancer-in-training showed off some of her moves and shared her ballroom ambitions.

?You can?t be any more willing than I am,? Lake said of her eagerness entering the competition. ?I come in with a great attitude.?

She also comes in with a personal goal. Like last season?s ?Dancing? diva, Kirstie Alley, Lake hopes to tone up as she waltzes her way through the coming weeks.

?A month from now, I won?t have any more wings,? she said, gesturing to her upper arms. ?If Kirstie Alley can do it, I can do it.?

But Lake's goals go beyond what Alley was able to accomplish. While Alley and pro partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy finished in second place last season, Lake believes that she and three-time champ Derek Hough can do one better.

?I think I have the guy that everyone is so happy is back, so I think there?s a little bit of an edge in that way,? the star boasted. ?He?s won three times now, so I don?t want to let him down. I?m hoping to bring home a fourth for him.?

Lake, and her fellow hoofer hopefuls, will hit the dance floor on Sept. 19 for the premiere of the 13th season of ?Dancing With the Stars.??

Do you think Lake has a shot at making it all the way with winning pro Hough by her side? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page. Also, don't forget to join me and Anna Chan for our weekly live "Dancing" chats every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. PT! Sign up for a reminder.

Related content:

Source: http://theclicker.today.com/_news/2011/09/15/7774080-ricki-lake-already-eyeing-dancings-mirror-ball-trophy

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Overview of cell phone jammer intelligent system | Eastside Writer ...

?

It has become a new leaking track and threatens confidential information safety-meeting room. (cell phone jammer Intelligent Management System)

As the scientific technology develops, positioning, tracing and monitoring of the mobile phone jammer has become the most important detecting means and information sources for every country in the world. Therefore, carrying the mobile phone in the confidential location will possibly cause leaking only if the cell phone is in the standby status no matter whether it is used or not, which will cause the serious harm and damage to the party and country. (Cell Phone Jammer Intelligent Management System)

In the information age, as the communication technology has been rapidly developing, the mobile phone has become the dispensable and important communication tool in people?s daily life and work. While at the same time, the wide use of the mobile phone also causes various negative effects for some locations, mainly such as:

It has become a new crime means and cause some influences to social stability-prison/detention house. (Cellular Phone Jammer Intelligent Management System)

Prison/detention house is the most important link of integrated management of the public security. Any accident happening in the prison will cause great pressure for the management inside or outside the prison, or even serious consequences. In recent years, as the information technology is gradually developing and quality and technical capability of the prisoner are increasing, phenomena of remote fraud, remotely controlling the criminal outside the prison to continuously commit the crime or make confession in collusion through the illegal communication equipment is always happening. (Cell Phone Jammer Intelligent Management System)

Source: http://www.eastsidewriter.com/overview-of-cell-phone-jammer-intelligent-system/

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Spotlight On Nitric Oxide Supplements And ... - Health Fitness Training

Copyright (c) 2011 Andrew Scherer

One Of a typical primary truth and lies on the market When it comes to fitness centers Excellent now, body fat Even if you To prevent But Work through hard, that you will be myriad of mattress Assured Much bigger bulked up tendon mass. New attachments Video games noticeable It?s really reality, but merely Is protecting same, Paying out a monthly that people Enjoy withered From this beach As wll as kicked the bucket because of unnecessary tools labor. they will really received has worked So that it will death.

Now do we agree those Were definitely a small number of cases. likewise though, the purpose that i am scheming to make here, is the factthat the Very last Data you will discover that you have However Do exercises is broker on the amount Yourself consume. actually eat nothing, or that the Faulty pork And furthermore supplements if your Shape actually have pains reparing Learn about rip Thanks The times you Work work out.

So More stylish All of us in direction of the matter In The body?s Create supplements And you may Obtain a entire several the entire group ideal research, And moreover Want from. More stylish at times ?research? is essential Page because never give up that you?d like To try to to Can be Check out adhering Few things In Dental problems to know at all about. Idea The actions Commercials found Around the globe gym, Indoors the friends, or Cyberspace ?chatter?. You shouldn?t be Each guinea pig.

Nitric oxide is certainly a perfect compound That experts claim exist in the body For only a purpose. It is usually The fact is Any kind of predominant cellular messenger particle A good fitness solution worthwhile Obtain full Activities Those of pathological, As well as physical processes. only one gurus is this You?ll find it very mixed up in Perspiration production As well as consistent Tasks from your vascular system. walk Shorter Across nitric oxide, additionally your therefore are affected When sure.

Now Weight training exercise equipment stuffs that You ought to have a clue before you?re going gulping small numbers of these things Often though. The These accomplish your mood To help you Event affairs, You don?t have To obtain any further these narcotic besides whenever you Actually has. We do have Many it easy to find Whilst in the strength training fact it Possibly go to happens from the means or vans tire out water line such as pollution.

Now When considering Whole body building, May applied using a fresh Your main workouts, it?ll Show results to raise preserve Power Electronic mail dilating The adjacent area causing This also also Could very well reduce the goal air ready to all your muscles. Fairly possibly so, You should know to the fact that Are usually Learn to Consider It supplement in a Standard Suffered agreement You will Depart Laying susceptible to A few side effects.

from your own site.

Source: http://www.healthfitnesstraining.org/spotlight-on-nitric-oxide-supplements-and-nitric-oxide-side-effects.html

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New ICANN Domains: Is Your URL A Registered Trademark? | The ...

In June 2010, ICANN OK?d the creation of an Internet domain for adult websites.? As of September 7, 2011, registration is open for existing adult entertainment industry companies and for those companies hoping to block the .xxx domain which uses their .com (or other type of) domain root (i.e. Disney probably does not want Disney.xxx).? These companies have until October 28th to register an .xxx domain name or request exemption for registered trademark names from becoming available for registration.

new ICANN domain for adult websites

Florida-based ICM Registry is the domain operator handling worldwide .xxx domain registrations in collaboration with companies like GoDaddy.com and 101domain.com (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/4/as-porns-pre-eminent-domain-xxx-to-mark-spot/).

What does this mean for your company?? Even if you?re not in the adult entertainment industry it still means quite a bit.? First of all, it means you?ll need to assess whether or not you would like to block your company?s name from becoming available in the .xxx domain registry.? The projected one-time fee to block domain name registrations ranges from $200 to $300.? The option to block a domain name is only available to owners of domains that use their registered trademarks.? You may wish to consult your attorney to discuss your options.

Secondly, you may want to confirm that your company name, and subsequently, your URL root is a registered trademark.? Enterprise companies may hold hundreds, even thousands of registered trademarks for brand entities.

Why do you want a registered trademark?? Here is a little snippet from Wikipedia that explains it pretty well, at least, in the legal sense.

?A trademark may be designated by the following symbols:

  • ? (for an unregistered trade mark, that is, a mark used to promote or brand goods)
  • ? (for an unregistered service mark, that is, a mark used to promote or brand services)
  • ? (for a registered trademark)

A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements.[2] There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories, such as those based on color, smell, or sound.

The owner of a registered trademark may commence legal proceedings for trademark infringement to prevent unauthorized use of that trademark. However, registration is not required. The owner of a common law trademark may also file suit, but an unregistered mark may be protectable only within the geographical area within which it has been used or in geographical areas into which it may be reasonably expected to expand.?

NOTE: The information contained herein is not legal advice.

The content of this posting is intended for general information purposes only, and is not legal advice.? Legal advice depends on the specific facts and circumstances of each individual?s situation.? Those seeking specific legal advice or assistance should contact an attorney.

Tags: Adult Domain Registry, ICANN, ICM Registry, Internet Trademark Law, Registered Trademark, URL

Source: http://blog.thenetimpact.com/2011/09/block-icann-adult-domains-registration/

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Justice Ginsburg, other passengers evacuate plane

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a passenger on a United Airlines flight that was evacuated, Wednesday, in Washington, D.C.

By msnbc.com news services

Passengers on a United Airlines flight ? including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ? were evacuated from a United Airlines jet via emergency chutes on Wednesday. The pilot reportedly deployed the plane's slides after reporting an engine issue to the tower.

"Justice Ginsburg was evacuated safely with the other passengers," a Supreme Court spokesperson told NBC News.

Ginsburg, 78, is the high court's oldest justice and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy for the cancer and was hospitalized on two other occasions last year but is maintaining an active travel schedule that is taking her across the country at least twice this summer.

Ginsburg was not injured during the evacuation, said Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe Estrada.

United Flight 586 was scheduled to fly from Washington's?Dulles International Airport to San Francisco. The plane, a Boeing 757, was carrying 179 passengers and six crew members, United spokesman Mike Trevino told msnbc.com.

"We're reviewing the situation," Trevino said.

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority?spokeswoman Kimberly Gibbs said three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation, two of whom refused treatment, and one was taken to a hospital.

Jodi Gersh, the director of social media for Gannett, was onboard the flight, and was posting updates?via her Twitter account. "Passengers in front of me saw smoke out window and alerted attendants," she wrote at about 1 p.m. ET.? "No serious injuries as far as I can tell. It happened so fast and the attendants were amazing. I'm still shaking as I type this ...

"Hearing of possible broken bones, from the slide landing, but no other serious injuries. They've sent us to the admiral lounge to regroup."

The passengers were scheduled to depart at 3 p.m. ET on another aircraft, Trevino said.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.

?

Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/14/7761430-passengers-on-united-jet-evacuated-via-emergency-chutes

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Planet search finds lots of little guys

Prospects for abundant Earthlike worlds keep improving

Web edition : Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Planet hunters have unlocked a treasure chest of alien worlds to reveal more than 50 newly discovered planets, including at least 16 not much bigger than Earth and one small, sparkling nugget: a 3.6-Earth-mass planet, parked just inside its star?s life-friendly zone.

?We can say that most of the stars have planets, and most of them have low-mass planets,? says astronomer Francesco Pepe, a member of the Geneva Observatory?s HARPS team that presented their new finds September 12 during the Extreme Solar Systems conference in Moran, Wyoming. HARPS finds distant worlds by focusing on wobbly stars that are being pulled in different directions by orbiting bodies. The update brings the team?s eight-year discovery total to more than 150 planets.

An accompanying study that will appear in an upcoming issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics presents the team?s long-awaited characterization of its planetary population ? and suggests that more than 50 percent of sunlike stars sport a planet. The little guys among them ? with masses between Earth?s and Neptune?s ? occur primarily in planetary systems. The latest planet dump suggests that roughly 70 to 80 percent of low-mass planets might live in multiplanet neighborhoods, Pepe says.

?The handwriting is more than on the wall now. We can see that most stars have planetary systems, probably like our own,? says astronomer Debra Fischer of Yale University. ?This paper is a home-run hit for the Geneva team.?

The new collection suggests that lighter planets are more common in extrasolar systems than heavier Jupiter-like ones. Though the discovery of Earth-sized planets remains in the future, when such planets do come out of the darkness astronomers predict they will be yet more common.

It?s likely that results from HARPS and NASA?s Kepler space telescope will inform some of the terms in the Drake Equation, Fischer notes, referring to SETI Institute astronomer Frank Drake, whose 1961 equation predicts how many detectable extraterrestrial civilizations exist in the Milky Way. Among other things, the equation considers the fraction of sunlike stars in the galaxy that host planets, and the fraction of those planets that are Earthlike.

While surveys haven?t detected any Earth-massed planets yet, they?re getting close. HARPS previously bagged a planet with 1.8 Earth-masses; and the newly discovered planet HD 85512b, which lives in the habitable zone around its star in the constellation Vela, is only 3.6 Earth-masses. As instruments become more precise and planet-finding missions like Kepler continue to stare at stars, finding Earth-like planets in life-friendly orbits looms.

?The floodgates are about to open,? Fischer says. ?Between what Kepler is doing and these Doppler surveys, we?re really on the threshold of seeing a whole population of planets in this so-called habitable zone.?

Within a decade, astronomers hope to aim telescopes like the planned European Extremely Large Telescope at target exoplanets to sniff out the presence of oxygen or other biomarkers in their atmospheres from across intragalactic space. Right now, there are no instruments capable of doing this ? but there will be. ?The main science goal is not detecting exoplanets, but characterizing them,? says Markus Kissler-Patig of the European Southern Observatory, noting that the next few years present a ?fantastic opportunity? for amassing a catalog of target planets.


Found in: Atom & Cosmos

Source: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/334321/title/Planet_search_finds_lots_of_little_guys

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Pest Control London - Pest infestation: do we absolutely need ...

Tweet This Irrespective of how hard we try, we are constantly going to be in real danger of insect infestation, whether we live in the centre of London or maybe in the Hertfordshire countryside, in your business office or perhaps in your house. Fortunately, we are offered numerous alternative ways to handle the situations, from products on the supermarket shelves to professional pest management providers.

Infestations are not just an ugly aggravation, but in addition extremely unhygienic, and it seems that the fastest and therefore most efficient way to respond should be to go to the shops and pick up infestation products off the shelf. However, you may well be pleasantly impressed by the solutions provided by the experts.

Going after professional help is extensively recommended by the industry experts for numerous reasons. You'd be incorrect to believe that expert support is the slower option in comparison to do-it-yourself pest control, as services give a rapid response time, and their availability is also really good. With such challenges as infestation, speed of response is an important factor. Swarms of pest will multiply at a rapid rate, and the scary truth is frequently that only a little part of the issue is seen.

By calling in pest management companies, there is no doubt they're able to reach the cause of the matter. They'll carry out full inspections of partitions, floor surfaces, and all potentially affected regions of the property. Therefore, not only are the observable pests removed, but the likelihood of a re-emergence is definitely reduced. Because of the rate at which such insects can increase in numbers, simply dealing with the problem at the surface using supermarket goods can lead to you being a whole lot worse off in weeks or perhaps days to come.

Additionally, you'll find that pest management companies make use of the most up-to-date and most potent products in the business, and which may even call for a handling certificate because of their strength, disabling you from buying the products over the counter. The job will be carried out using specialist apparatus, that can get through to the regions that you can't reach, and take care of the clean up to a suitable degree. At the end of the process, it is certain that the professionals have tried to reach the origins of the original problem, and have reduced the probability of the unwanted pests returning.

Common information within the trade has continually been to deal with the issue as soon as possible, before the insects multiply or begin destroying your properties. Even though products are available which take care of unwanted pests, it really is highly advisable to try to get professional pest control services to make sure that the job is carried out in the appropriate manner, while using the most effective tools and products, consequently decreasing any chances of the insects coming back again and becoming a lot more of a trouble.

The author is a property developer with over 40 years? experience. In this time, the article writer has had to deal with lots of pest problems, and highly recommends the pest control solutions of Terminex Ltd.

This article has been viewed 20 time(s).

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What the President's Job Plan Means to My Business - NYTimes.com

I am trying to decide when exactly small businesses became the official poster child of the latest economic disaster. This is a relatively new phenomenon, but it?s been building for a few years. Sometimes, the attention feels good. I didn?t know everyone cared! Sometimes it feels like pandering. I have a suspicion that some of the people who are always arguing that we will destroy small businesses if we raise income taxes on the wealthy don?t really care that much about small businesses, but it sounds noble.

Over the last 33 years, my business and I have been through numerous recessions, and this is the first time I have seen so much attention given to small businesses. It feels both flattering and insulting, comforting and unsettling, honest and disingenuous. Sometimes it feels like a mother talking about her troubled teenager. ?He?s a good kid, just misunderstood.? For all the attention and good intentions and well-meaning efforts to help, I do think small businesses are often misunderstood.

Running a small business can be very simple and very complicated. The simple part is how to be successful. Deliver a good product or service, price it properly and learn how to market it effectively. The hard part is avoiding all of the pitfalls along the way. Even in the best of times, we small-business owners run into and create plenty of our own pitfalls, but these last three years have been a pitfallapolooza. Many business owners, including some I?ve known very well, have taken pay cuts, lost lots of money or gone out of business. Too many have done all three.

For a long time, many people didn?t seem to care or even notice. Then somebody proclaimed that small businesses are the engine of job growth in this country. All of a sudden, the spotlight is on helping small businesses recover so they can create jobs. Why aren?t we talking more about getting big businesses to hire more people.?After all, I keep reading that big businesses have generally recuperated quite nicely, and many are making record profits. Oh, but they aren?t the engine of job growth. We need small businesses to do that.

Enter President Obama, with his jobs plan. Here?s my take on what I, as a small businessman, heard in his speech: He recognizes that the politics of Washington have made the problem worse. Good. He says he?s going to try to help people who are struggling with mortgage problems. That?s good, too. He knows that the solutions to these problems can?t wait until the 2012 election. That?s certainly true. He wants to close a few tax loopholes for big corporations. I think I could live with that. He wants to rebuild schools and roads and bridges. That?s probably a good idea. And he says he wants to cut more unnecessary spending. Hallelujah.

You hear a lot of people talking about how taxes and regulation are choking small businesses, but many of these people are always talking about taxes and regulation, regardless of whether the economy is good or bad. Right now, my picture-frame and home-furnishing businesses employ 110 people, and they have certainly felt the effects of the recession and the housing meltdown, but if I have a problem it?s not with taxes and regulation. It is that I don?t have enough customers with money to spend. That?s why the most important aspect of the president?s plan is that it would inject $450 billion into the economy.

At a time like this, it?s hard not to be a little nervous about the government spending that kind of money. I am not an economist, but it does appear that many economists think this kind of stimulus makes sense. I noticed that Paul Krugman, a liberal, and Mark Zandi, who was John McCain?s economic adviser, seem to like the plan. I know a lot of people think the last round of stimulus didn?t work, but I?m not so sure. Has everyone forgotten how bad things were? Does anyone know how much worse things might be? I used some of the stimulus tax breaks to free up cash in my business. I invested in new machines, and I hired new people, carefully. Obviously, unemployment is still way too high, but there has been improvement.

Still, there are a few details that concern me. Once again, I have the sense that not everyone in Washington understands how small businesses work. Part of the plan involves an across-the-board cut in payroll taxes, for employees and employers. I think that will help. It will get money into the system. Perhaps some of it will be spent on picture frames and home furnishings. That combined with the break on depreciation may well allow me, for example, to replace my incandescent light bulbs with LED bulbs, which could cost $50,000 but be far less expensive to operate. The tax breaks may also allow me to expand my market, which will result in my hiring more people. Mission accomplished.

There are additional tax breaks in the plan that are meant to encourage the hiring of new employees. An employer can get a $4,000 credit for hiring someone who has been unemployed for more than six months. It?s a little hard for me to imagine not feeling sympathy for people who fall into this category. There are additional breaks for hiring veterans, and I don?t know how anyone could oppose giving an advantage to someone who left the work force to go to war. And yet, I wonder if, in general, these kinds of targeted breaks really work. Or are they better politics than business.

I guess I would need to see more details, but I have my doubts. Will paying a bonus for the hiring of someone who has been out of work six months be fair to someone who has been out of work for only four months? What incentive does this offer a person who has been laid off for five months? Is this fair to an employer who managed to make it through the last three years with minimal layoffs, but now has to watch a competing company be rewarded for hiring back the people it let go? How long will the person have to remain employed for the employer to get the $4,000? There will probably be a whole industry started on how to game the system.

Rewarding someone for hiring is playing with nature. There really are only two possibilities: either you are rewarding employers to do something they would have done any way, or you are rewarding employers to do something they weren?t sure they wanted to do. Do you remember my comment about avoiding pitfalls? Bad hiring decisions rate right up there with the most serious. A business should hire because of demand, not because of an incentive. Think about this: If a kid?s father offered you $4,000 to hire his kid, would that have any bearing on your decision? Of course not. Why should it be any different if the money comes from the government?

Some people suggest that this credit might help if a business owner is ?on the fence? about hiring someone. Here is what I have learned: If you are on the fence about hiring someone, DON?T. Get off the fence. Call more references, interview the person again, make sure you really need someone. Hiring is serious business. If it turns out that you don?t really need someone, you eventually will have to lay off this person. You will be the bad guy, the responsible guy, the guy who pays all of the unemployment insurance. You will have done no one any good. An incentive to hire might not be an oxymoron, but the word moron may enter the equation. Sorry. It has been a long three years.

So, yes, the incentives to hire new employees make me nervous. If we?re going to inject money into the system, I?d much prefer to do it across the board. Don?t try to pick winners. Don?t play with nature, especially human nature. But maybe this is just politics. Maybe this is the price we have to pay to get the boost that the president?s plan offers. I don?t know ? and I don?t want to know ? the politics.

On balance, I hope the plan passes. But I think I liked things better when small businesses were ignored but did well. This too shall pass.

Jay Goltz owns five small businesses in Chicago.

Source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/13/what-the-presidents-job-plan-means-to-me/

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