Upscale restaurant in La Grange puts accent on New Southern - Louisville Courier-Journal

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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Problem-solving focuses on taxes, layoffs and capital - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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MILL: Welcome to the first BizNet interactive evenf that thebe hosting. We feel part of our responsibility is to conven the leaders of this community and collaborate ontoughy topics. For the past two month we polledour readers, event attendees and memberws of large associations in the area and we askeed them one simple question: In these uncertain times, what business challenges are keeping you up at night and where specifically coulr you benefit from a discussion with othefr business leaders? One of the thingas we kept hearing is there are no experts anymore and that reall y the experts are each and every one of you and the peoplr on this stage.
ARNOLD: This is a different To understand who’s in the room, this is agaij anonymous, you’re going to vote. There’e going to be a series of questiona and all you have to do is puncy the number how you wantto respond. If you don’tr like the first response, you have until the voting is done to just hit the number you like. In what industry do you work? Looks like a lot of peopled in bankingand finance. That’s good That’s how we break In the old days there’d be more real estate peoplr here. Just kidding. Next question how many people does your company employ? That’s today.
Results show that 39 percent of you have less than 25 and then we also have some big players here with many representingb firms of 251or more. Next one is what is your position ? Today. When you left for lunchg what wasyour position? So we’ve got a bunch of Cs here CEO, CFO. Next question: What’s the revenued of your company, total yearly revenue? I can’t joke about this one. What were your revenuesw or what areyour revenues? Interesting. Pretth much skewed along the sides of the size ofthe organizations. This is a problem-solvingh interactive process and theway we’sd like to see it but it’s up to your interaction.
Individual speakers will make some commentx in about 15 minutes about the issuesz their clients are askingfthem about. You will be asked to send to the centerd of the room questionsyou have, and we’ll throwq the questions up and you’ll be able to vote whic ones are most important to you. Now, to look at tax, let me welcomwe Brooks Nelson, who brings us an individual NELSON: I’m going to talk for a few minuteasabout taxes. My primaryh focus is going to be on the tax provisions that came inthis $800 billion bailout package. I can only hit some highlightd and keypoints I’ve seen.
I’m also not goiny to go a lot into prospective orproposed There’s a ton around, but the primary focuz is going to be on the actual laws that have been enactecd at this point. First question: Are you interested in knowing aboutg potential new tax breaksfor businesses? You answeredd yes. There’s some good news and bad The good news is there were no rate increasesw in the tax package for this The bad news is there was no tax rate Allin all, the bill is fairlgy business favorable. The two big applicabled items to almost all businesses and particularl small businesses are the capitalexpensingy provisions.
I’ll try not to talk in First one is Section179 expensing, which refers to the abilithy to buy a piece of equipment and, instead of takinf a deduction over many years of its to actually write it off in one year. This new tax act extendas the provisions that were put in place last year underd theprior act. You can writ e off up to $250,000 in equipment purchases straighf off asa deduction. There is a phase-outr limit at $800,000 of investments. The provision primarily applieds to tangible personalproperty — equipment, furniture, fixturesd and such.
There’s also in that provisionh a taxableincome limitation, and that’as important from a planning perspective, and that’s where the nuancea in this provision come about. So you can writde off equipment that you purchase upto $250,000 and writse it off against your taxable incomwe and zero out your income, but you cannot creat e a tax loss usingf the 179 provisions. But you are allowe to pick and choose what you want towritwe off. Also to add, there are numerous pitfalls if you’res operating as a partnership or S tousing 179.
If you have a partnet or shareholder that is an estat e or trustfor example, that poses

Friday, December 9, 2011

Wholesale silliness or purposeful policy? - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

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Currently, a brewer can self-distribute only if it produces lessthan 25,0090 barrels per year. The proposed designated S918 inthe Senate, wouldr have raised that to 60,000 The bill had one majort supporter, Whitsett’s Red Oak which sees it as a key to its long-ter m expansion. Red Oak claims that its preservative-frewe craft beers need to be treated with greater care than beer distributoracan give. It’s not surprising that S918 died. Opposin g the bill was the N.C. Beer and Wine Wholesalersz Association.
As the number of beer distributor s has declined around thecountrh (from roughly 6,000 in 1950 to fewer than 600 the industry has become easier to organize and is known as a powerful In addition, the N.C. Brewerw Guild, of which Red Oak is a declined tosupport S918, saying it had othere legislative priorities such as a proposed increase in the excis tax on beer. At issuwe is the so-called three-tier distribution brewer to distributor to State laws created the systemj after Prohibition ended in 1933 in order to insulate retailerxsfrom brewers. Since then, brewers have been requiredc to market their productsthrough distributors.
The currentg 25,000-barrel cap for self-distribution is an exceptionn tothe three-tier system, and S918 would widen that loophole. But although S918 wouldn’g eliminate the three-tier system, it’ worth asking whether the system has outlived its It was created in a time when distributore were small relative to the brewerasthey served. Consolidation among distributorx and the emergence of microbreweries has turnedd that relationship at least partly on its Ifthe three-tier systemn were eliminated, beer distributors would stilol be profitable. As in other industries, however, they’dc have to attract businessa by the value oftheir services, not by force of law.
For many the value would stillbe there. Budweisef would still be distributedby Greensboro’s R.H. for example. But craft brewers like Red Oak coul d decidefor themselves. Of course distributors defend the lega system that protects their place in the supply They say it provides for efficient tax collectioh and ensuresproduct safety. But we manage to collectg taxes and protect consumers in numerous industriesthat aren’tf subject to such tight state The most revealing claim in defense of the three-tier systemk is that it promotes moderate consumptioj of alcohol.
Of course moderatio is a good thing, but the issue is whethee it should be achieved by state control orindividua choice. Like a number of other North Carolina has chosehthe former. The state monopoly on hard liquot drives prices up andconsumption down. It’d designed to minimize consumer welfare, not maximizw it. This is why furthet exceptions tothe three-tier system, such as S918, will be hard to The three-tier system is of dubious value from an economifc perspective, but it’s consistent with the demand-suppressing objectives of Nortyh Carolina’s alcohol laws. The three-tietr system applies to wine as well. A recentf study by UNC-Greensboro and N.C.
A&T State Universitu found that Yadkin Valley wineriea stronglyprefer self-distribution to the current law. Perhaps the next challengd to the three-tier systemk will come from wineries ratherthan brewers.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

SI Net chooses BTI Systems' WideCast for content caching - LightWave Online (press release)

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Upscale restaurant in La Grange puts accent on New Southern Louisville Courier-Journal Jason Kinser describes the food at his recently opened One Nineteen West Main restaurant as “American/New Southern,” but that doesn't seem to convey the twist on staples he's taken with some of the dishes. The “Noobin Reuben” wontons come stuffed with ... and more »

SI Net chooses BTI Systems' WideCast for content caching LightWave Online (press release) by Lightwave Staff SI Net, a Cambodian provider of high-speed Internet, fiber, and hosting services, will use BTI Systems' WideCast offering to cache video, applications, and other content for delivery on its network. The use of WideCast will improve ... and more »

Central Valley bank earnings fall to $1.7M - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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million in the first half of the year, down from earningz of $2.6 million the year earlier The bank holding companh ofearned $464,000 in the second quarter, down from $1.3 milliojn the year earlier period. “While we remainef profitable, the disappointing earnings in the secondf quarter is a reflection of the increased provision for credift losses in the light of the overall weak economyu and the potential impact it many have on our borrowingb customers during this economic cycle and the significang increase in the FDIC insurance premiums from both the increase in regulard assessment rates as well as the special assessmen t rate placed on all FDIC insured institutions inseconde quarter,” said Dan Doyle, president of the bank holding The bank has 15 branches in the Centrapl Valley from the Fresno area to Sacramento.
The bank companh got $7 million in Capital Purchase Program money from the Departmengt of Treasury earlierthis year. It acquired the Stockton, Lodi and Tracg branches of Service 1st Bancorpin

New York's Faceless Franchise - Wall Street Journal

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Wall Street Journal

New York's Faceless Franchise Wall Street Journal Mets Don't Have an Ernie Banks-Type Team Icon; the Only Legitimate Mr. Met Is, Well, Mr. Met By BRIAN COSTA If Jose Reyes leaves the Mets, it will represent a rare event in modern free agency: a big-market franchise failing to retain a homegrown star ... < /p> and more »

Hawaii governor orders state furloughs, department closures - Pacific Business News (Honolulu):

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The furloughs — three days a month for two years are intended to help the statw close aprojected $2.7 billion revenue To accommodate the avoid layoffs and maintain government services, many state departmentws and offices will be closed at leas t one day a week until June 30, or will operate on modified The furlough plan, which is expected to save the state $688 applies only to employees in the executive branch, including the governor’s lieutenant governor’s office and 16 state departments and attacheds agencies. Part-time employees will be placed on furlough ona pro-ratede equivalent basis.
Lingle said Hawaii’s decline in projected revenues is The state this year alreadh orderedspending restrictions, debt restructuring, a freezes on hiring and travel, and other budgetary measures to addressx a forecasted $2 billion shortfalk over the next two years. The furlough plan was prompteed when the Council on Revenues said May 28 anadditionalo $730 million was added to the Lingle said the furloughs were necessaryh because salaries and benefitse account for 70 percent of the state’s operatint budget. She said furloughs will allow public services to continure and will avert the needfor layoffs.
She callef for the public’s “patience and as the state workforce adjusts to the Exceptions in department and office closures will be made for essentialo agencies such as the HawaiiStatse Hospital, Community Mental Health Centers, the Hawaii Youty Correctional Facility, and certain operationz such as security, health care, and food services within the Community Correctional Facilities and the Community Correctionapl Centers, and a portion of the Sheriff Divisiob operations at the Honolulu International Airport and Statd Capitol.
Those offices will maintain current houra of operation and will stagger or rotate furlougbh days to minimize impact on All offices in the Departmeny of Transportation will follow a modified scheduled as including the Airports Division operational andshift workers, Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Harbors Division District Harbor’s Division vessel trafficv control and enforcement units, and certain Highways Division operations associated with traffidc control. Lingle said the furloughb plan will be evaluated and adjustedc asdeemed necessary. Lingle’s furlough plan, which equatess to a 13.
8 percentf cut in salary for state employees, is opposed by Hawaii’s public-sector unions who call the furloughss unfair and unconstitutional. On three of those unions — the Hawaii Governmeny Employees Association, the Hawaii Stat e Teachers Association, and the United Public Workers — filed suit in Honolulu to block Lingle’z plan. The HGEA, the the UPW, and the Universitu of Hawaii Professional Assembly arein collective-bargaining negotiationsx with the state over contracts that expiree June 30. But Lingle said the furlough plan represents the firstg time labor costs are being impacte d to addressthe state’s budget gap.
The governor's furlougb plan can be viewed at