We are seeing more use of non-qualified patronage from the regional cooperatives. Treatment of these allocations varies from client to client, firm to firm, etc. Even our decision may change as we see the regional indicate or demonstrate they intend to revolve the non-qualified patronage. For example, CoBank specifically indicates they have no intention of...

In late April, our cooperative clients received a letter from the Board Chairman of CHS, Inc. regarding the company’s annual equity redemption program.  We have fielded a number of calls on what the letter is telling the member cooperatives regarding their non-qualified equity.  We would tell you “nothing new” (particularly from a tax standpoint). In...

Employees who make comments and express opinions that irritate, offend or anger their colleagues are a major source of workplace conflict. The same is true of employees who argue with supervisors, using inflammatory or profane language. When employees who express themselves in these ways are told to stop, they often respond: “I have a right to...

To increase website traffic, you need to employ two corresponding, yet very different methods to help your site land top rankings in the major search engines, SEO and SEM. Don’t become confused by the two terms or use them interchangeably: Search engine optimization (SEO), is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a...

How many times have you, or your salespeople, responded to a customer request by saying, “We don’t carry that item?” or, “I’m sorry, but that’s not part of our service package?” The number is critical, and if you don’t know it, then you’re losing profit potential. Sure, you might have stocked an extra item or two...

When a deal is pending, the best negotiators know that the goal isn’t to scoop up everything and leave the other side with little or nothing. The real goal is generally to exchange items of value so that both sides leave satisfied they have protected their basic interests and made a deal that benefits their companies....