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FDA Peanut Recall Continues After Critical Report
Tweet Share on Facebook January 29, 2009 Comment (3)The recall of peanut products linked to a salmonella scare has expanded. A peanut processing plant in Georgia is recalling all of the products it put out in the last two years after an FDA report claimed it distributed contaminated goods. The FDA has a list of all the products affected, and notes that the recalls thus far do not affect the ordinary peanut butter jars you'd find in a grocery store.
My post from last week looked at previous regulatory responses to recalls of contaminated products, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act in particular. The latest news on that issue comes from Walter Olson at Forbes. The law's sponsors in Congress--such as Henry Waxman--have attempted to compromise with the law's critics by allowing an exemption for children's apparel consisting entirely of fabric and ordinary children's books.
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Bacon Explosion: An Artery-Clogging Example Of Web 2.0 Strategies
Tweet Share on Facebook January 29, 2009 Comment (3)The most popular recipe on the Internet right now creates a little concoction that might increase your blood pressure just by looking at it. I link to the Bacon Explosion (the real name) not to make you salivate, however, but as an example of an effective entrepreneurial strategy.
The New York Times explains how Kansas City Internet marketer Aaron Chronister and friend Jason Day wanted to draw more attention to their barbecue team and its website, BBQAddicts.com (they take their barbecue seriously in Kansas City):
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Stimulus Plan Pushes Employee Free Choice Act To Back Burner For Now
Tweet Share on Facebook January 28, 2009 Comment (35)One issue noticeably absent from the early days of the Obama administration is the Employee Free Choice Act. There's been little mention of it as Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress have focused on selling the stimulus plan.
(For more on exactly what the Employee Free Choice Act is and why it matters for small businesses and entrepreneurs, refer to my pre-election article on the subject.)
A friend of mine who works full-time on this issue tells me that there might be a different, more important reason that the bill is being delayed: the Democrats need all the votes they can in support of the EFCA, but they have one that is currently in limbo. Al Franken, who seems likely to overcome the electoral difficulties in Minnesota and serve in the Senate, will almost certainly vote in favor of the bill. But the various legal issues surrounding the Minnesota election will likely delay Franken's arrival in Washington into the spring.
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McDonald's To Expand Even Amidst Recession
Tweet Share on Facebook January 28, 2009 Comment (2)Small restaurants and franchisee restaurants across the country are closing down and laying off employees. Meanwhile, McDonald's is actually adding stores this year--1,000 of them. McDonald's continues to be recession-proof, as I dubbed the fast-food giant.
As the BBC reports, McDonald's global same-store sales rose 7.2 percent in the fourth quarter, and 5 percent in the U.S. alone.
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Green Business Still Needs To Be About Business
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2009 Comment (4)Via Kelly Spors, I read this essay at GreenBiz.com by Joel Makower, author of one seminal book for the current "green" movement, The Green Consumer. His argument, as I understand it, is that the "going green" business practice needs to be more than just putting out environmentally-friendly products and making those products in green-conscious ways. It also needs to take on the problem of what Makower sees as excessive consumption: people buying too many things.
Encouraging your customers to buy less stuff? Seems paradoxical, but Makower gives an example of something Patagonia did recently: it cut down on 30 percent of its clothing line, deciding that, in the words of Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, "two styles of ski pants are all that anyone needs."
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Federal Government Might Be Closing Early; Businesses Don't Have That Luxury
Tweet Share on Facebook January 27, 2009 Comment (1)The Mid-Atlantic today is being hit by its first bad winter storm of the season, and as is seemingly the case whenever a flake of snow appears, there's talk of the federal government shutting down early today.
Businesses, of course, can't afford to shut down whenever bad weather appears. They don't have their income guaranteed, unlike the federal government.
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Small-Business Owners' Spending At 30-Month Low, Survey Says
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2009 Comment (1)The results of the Discover Small Business Watch survey were released today, and the big news is just how much the recession has taken a bite out of business expansion plans. Only 19 percent of small-business owners polled in the survey plan to increase their spending on business development over the next six months. That's the lowest number in the survey's 30-month history.
On the brighter side, 53 percent of those surveyed do NOT plan on raising extra funds to stay in business. Of those that will, 20 percent on going to lean on family and friends for the financial support, with personal savings a close second at 19 percent. Somewhat surprisingly given our supposed "credit crunch," 18 percent will seek bank loans.
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Can Small Businesses Weather Recession Better Than Large Chains?
Tweet Share on Facebook January 26, 2009 Comment (3)We're hearing reports today that U.S. businesses are in the worst climate for demand in services and goods in 27 years. Are there any reasons for optimism left?
In today's economy, the only "glass-half-full" messages seem to be that things aren't always as bad as they seem. So here's one of those messages: When it comes to the worst business climate in 27 years, large chain stores might be bearing the brunt of the damage, instead of the small businesses.
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Sasha And Malia Dolls Are Latest Obama Cash-In
Tweet Share on Facebook January 23, 2009 Comment (108)Remember the enterprising Chicagoan who changed the name of his hair salon to "Obama's"? Well today we have reports of an even more shameless cash-in on the fervor surrounding our new president. The AP reports:
The company that makes the popular Beanie Babies is hoping for two more big winners with dolls named "Sweet Sasha" and "Marvelous Malia."
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The Oak Brook-based company chose the names because "they are beautiful names," not because of any resemblance to Malia and Sasha Obama, said spokeswoman Tania Lundeen.
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Academy Awards Controversy: Wall-E Gets Snubbed For Best Picture Oscar
Tweet Share on Facebook January 22, 2009 Comment (8)Even though the technology has progressed so much in the last few years, animated films just can't get real respect. That's the reaction that movie geeks across the globe are having to the list of nominees for the 81st Academy Awards, announced today, with the notable exclusion of Wall*E for Best Picture. A bunch of the commenters at movie news site Ain't It Cool are mad. Here's one example:
WALL-E was amazing and it would have been nice to see it recognized, but now that they have the Animated category you will likely NEVER see an animated feature make it for BP.
