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Recent SCTCC grads’ solar specialty brings brighter futures
The panel of reflectors in back of Scott Randalls house is 12 feet high and 40 feet long. Its rotated monthly to get just the right angle to the sun which on a recent clear day glinted off the dozens of photovoltaic cells.
Randall believes the future is just as bright for his new vocation in solar energy. He and his friend and business associate Jack Kluempke are recent graduates of an energy technical specialist program at St. Cloud Technical & Community College. Both have launched ventures they say have given new life to their careers.
Randall, 50, was a cabinet maker who needed to look for a different line of work because of a back injury. A visit to the Minnesota WorkForce Center identified his interest in energy, but it wasnt until he installed his own solar system that he knew the path he wanted to follow.
Zappos Online Shoe Store Hacked: Bought Shoes Lately?
Buy any shoes online lately? Online popular shoe retailer, Zappos, which is owned by Amazon.com, has announced that it is one of the latest victims to be hacked. Over 24 million customers’ information including email addresses, names, billing and shipping addresses, phone numbers and the last four digits of credit card numbers have been stolen. This is not very comforting for those who enjoy shopping online.
Zappos is a huge retailer and one that has a really good reputation for great customer service. Will this recent cyber attack affect future sales and shoe buyers’ trust in the safety of putting their valuable personal information online?
As explained by Tony Hsieh, Zappos chief executive, the attack took place through one of the servers in Kentucky.
In the meantime, customers should not panic. Zappos is suggesting that those who believe their information has been compromised change their passwords.
SUPPLIER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE RECEIVES $50,000 GRANT
SUPPLIER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVE RECEIVES $50,000 GRANT January 4, 2012
– Foundation for Louisiana has granted the LSU Foundation $50,000 to support the E. J. Ourso College of Business’ Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Initiative. The grant will provide small, women- and minority-owned businesses in 37 rural parishes with resources and information that will enable them to compete for state contracts and increase economic resiliency in rural communities.
LSU is among 22 nonprofit organizations that Foundation for Louisiana has granted awards to totaling $843,000, which were awarded in three areas: small business, housing and policy & advocacy.
“These grants exemplify Foundation for Louisiana’s mission to build resilience in the state’s most vulnerable communities. They also
Fresh start: Economic reports lift stocks to begin 2012
WASHINGTON — U.S. manufacturers ended 2011 with their best month of growth since the late spring. And the struggling construction industry spent more on projects for the third time in four months.
The data, reported Tuesday, bolstered hopes that the economy is gaining momentum and helped Wall Street start 2012 with a bang.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 180 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,397, its highest close in more than five months. Broader indexes rose as well.
Factories hired more workers in December, saw the most growth in new orders since April and ramped up production. U.S. builders spent more in November on single-family homes, apartments and remodeling projects.
The strong reports correspond with other positive signs for the economy.
Minnesota jobless rate dips again to 5.9 percent
Minnesotas unemployment rate has taken another big drop, falling to 5.9 percent for November.
The state Department of Employment and Economic Development said Thursday that the Minnesotas seasonally adjusted unemployment rate last month was a half-percent lower than in October. The rate dropped even though employers cut 13,700 jobs.
Department commissioner Mark Phillips says the mixed results make it hard to draw conclusions about how well the labor market is performing.
Minnesotas state unemployment rate compares favorably to the U.S. unemployment rate of 8.6 percent for November.
The biggest sectors for lost jobs in Minnesota were leisure and hospitality, government and construction. Job gains were seen in education and health services, professional and business services and leisure and hospitality sectors.
How can you ease the process of finding a tenant?
When you let your property to bad tenants, this can be an infinite nightmare. You will have to deal with eviction process and damaged property. Sometimes a good tenant is a necessity for another tenant. If you are stuck in your renting apartment and need to move out quickly, then you can easily find a tenant, who will take over your lease.
The tenant find service undertakes the task of providing you with the most suitable tenant for your property. They make every effort to help you. Read more…
TIME FEATURES BERNERTH AGAIN REGARDING CREDIT SCORES
TIME FEATURES BERNERTH AGAIN REGARDING CREDIT SCORES November 28, 2011
– Jeremy Bernerth, an assistant professor in LSU’s Rucks Department of Management, was featured by TIME magazine for the second time this month in its online Moneyland article “Workers with Bad Credit Aren’t Less Ethical.”
In the piece, Bernerth discussed the misconception that individuals with a low credit score are automatically more likely to steal, cheat or participate in behaviors that are harmful to the workplace.
“The idea is that if you have a bad credit score, you’ll engage in deviant acts. We found no relationship there,” Bernerth was quoted as saying.
Although he said there is no automatic relationship between the two, Bernerth explained that if individuals are dependable in terms of their financial behavior, they will probably have the same consistency in their jobs; however, data from credit scores does not tell the entire story of an individual.
“If
Memphis-area restaurants capitalize on families choosing to eat out on Thanksgiving
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For the first time either of them can remember, Memphians Terry Honeycutt and Brittany McManus will not eat Thanksgiving dinner in a family home.
Honeycutt and his family will eat at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn’s Medallion Restaurant. And McManus and her family will leave the cooking to the Paula Deen Buffet at Harrah’s Tunica Casino.
“My two grown sons were not thrilled,” Honeycutt said. “They love the smells of the house when we’re cooking and everyone bumping into each other at my small house.”
McManus said her grandparents have passed, their family has gotten a little older and everyone’s life has gotten more hectic. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner is a good bonding experience, she said, “but let’s be honest, it’s a lot of hard work.”
“As lazy as that sounds, we simply want to sit back, relax and, most importantly, treat ourselves to a good time,” McManus said.