Virtually all small business owners are frustrated with our current tax system. In fact, five out of today’s Top 10 small business concerns relate to state and federal tax issues, according to the Small Business Problems and Priorities survey released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a small business advocacy group. Small businesses are...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced some important news. Rumors about a benefits freeze had surfaced in the summer. Finally, on October 15, the SSA formally announced that the consumer price index it uses to gauge inflation wasn’t high enough to trigger cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for the upcoming year. Although the announcement is generally good news...

By nature, most people avoid planning for crisis situations. After all, there is so much to do in the here and now without trying to second guess the future. Business leaders are no exception when it comes to the often thankless task of crisis planning. Unfortunately, disaster can strike any company, at any time. Even more difficult than actually...

Have you seen the Chevrolet commercial where the boss tells a group of employees to “take a knee, team?” One young man drops into a quarterback kneel and the boss asks, “What’s he doing?” With the rest of the group looking confused, the employee responds, “You said ‘take a knee.‘” The boss responds: “That’s what that means?”...

Back before society became so mobile, checking the backgrounds of potential employees was pretty much a matter of asking around the neighborhood: Were the applicants honest? Reliable? Hardworking? Things have gotten considerably more complex. Today, virtually every company is vulnerable to hiring problem employees – not only those who are dishonest, but those who create untrue...

During his first state visit to the United States in September, Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed a range of global, regional and bilateral issues with U.S. President Obama. The leaders’ discussions included their joint vision for an international agreement on climate change that will be concluded in Paris this December. The state visit was followed by...