Workforce trends challenge for tri-county employers
By Vlad Vaiman To formulate and implement a meaningful talent management strategy in an organization, its top leaders need to understand current workforce trends. These include a rapidly aging population, increased workplace diversity, significant skill deficiencies and employees’ changing attitudes. The rapidly aging U.S. population is felt in virtually all occupations. Even though the overall Read More →
Gene technology raises ethical questions
By Frank Kalman A relatively obscure talk about genes was given at UC Santa Barbara recently by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a researcher and clinical oncologist at Columbia University and author of a Pulitzer Prize winning book, the “Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.” It was, however, on par in terms of gravity with Read More →
Fienup: At last, an end to the ‘New Normal’
By Matthew Fienup There is one clear lesson from the first 30 days of the Trump economy. The so-called “New Normal,” a belief in the inevitability of poor economic performance following the Great Recession, is now dead. I wish I could also say that a return to robust economic growth is just around the corner Read More →
Requests for proposals overlook value of face-to-face communication
I’ve been in business for more than 30 years and in that time I’ve hired quite a few people. But in all that time, not once, did I hire a person based strictly on their resume and certainly I’ve never hired anyone without having met them first. In every instance, I felt it was important, Read More →
Ojai company leads way to reliable, clean energy
By Jan Dietrick The Feb. 10 article in the Pacific Coast Business Times, “Power to the people: SimpliPhi to double production at Ojai battery storage plant,” about how the Ojai company is positioning itself for growth, can be viewed through the lens of current trends in energy policy. Policy-makers in California and Washington, D.C., should Read More →
Profits should not be considered a dirty word
By Lee Schuh My wife and I recently overheard a boisterous group of 20-something women bemoan the evils of profit while we ate an early dinner at our favorite restaurant. They blamed their poor-paying jobs on those who get the profits. They complained that these profit-takers are the only ones benefiting in this society. The Read More →
Estate tax changes threaten small businesses
Jim Lisi By Jim Lisi In addition to the disproportionate effect of the estate tax on family farms highlighted by Business Times staff writer Marissa Nall, other estate tax issues are also lurking. In December, the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service held hearings on proposed regulation changes to Section 2704 of the tax code. The Read More →
