Many companies spend a lot of time and money creating mission statements to highlight their products and services and align employees around a common vision. But the fact is that many mission statements fail, becoming nothing more than a wall ornament or a bunch of words tucked into a seldom-read company handbook. For the most part,...

This is an article we have been drafting for several years now. As much as we want to provide you some profound insight into what we see coming down in the next year, this will sound like a re-run. Much of what we expected to see over the last year continues to be what we...

Sales were lower, steady and higher depending on year end – grain volumes rebounded for the most part but grain and agronomy commodity prices were lower. Lower grain margins; inverses and less opportunity to capture carries in the market. Drying revenues up based on 2013 harvest, more agronomy acres covered. Expenses continue to grow –...

Tax season is finally here. The deadline for calendar-year corporations to file a return (or an extension) is Monday, March 16. The deadline for individuals to file their income tax returns (or an extension) is Wednesday, April 15. As businesses and individuals start gathering financial records to give to their tax professionals, they should know how...

Disasters never happen at a good time. But the timing is irrelevant. What counts is that your business can recover quickly with minimal long-term effects. And that means having a disaster recovery program in place so that your company is well-positioned to respond to — and rebound from — a wide range of calamities. The issues your...

Workplace violence isn’t just limited to high-risk jobs such as police officers, taxi drivers and late night convenience store clerks. It happens everywhere, as illustrated by recent high-profile cases. Workplace shootings have occurred at all types of businesses including factories, hospitals, engineering firms, advertising agencies and colleges. Testing Issues Some employers have tried testing to gauge the propensity for violence...