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Tioga County Boys & Girls Club pursues renovations
OWEGO — The Tioga County Boys & Girls Club is renovating its nearly 70-year-old, 15,000-square-foot facility in Owego. Knowing it needed to replace the 30-year-old leaky roof, the club and its board of directors collaborated to identify what repairs the facility might need starting in November 2012. The thought was, “if we’re going to do […]
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OWEGO — The Tioga County Boys & Girls Club is renovating its nearly 70-year-old, 15,000-square-foot facility in Owego.
Knowing it needed to replace the 30-year-old leaky roof, the club and its board of directors collaborated to identify what repairs the facility might need starting in November 2012. The thought was, “if we’re going to do this [replace the roof], then we should outline all that needs to be done and do that too,” says Luke Henson, executive director of the Tioga County Boys & Girls Club.
The club, which provides after-school and summer programs for children in the Tioga County community, has been located at 201 Erie St. in Owego since the building was constructed in 1946.
After determining that the facility repairs should include replacing the roof, repaving the parking lot and updating the outside lighting, and renovating the game room, the club kicked off the “Raise the Roof” campaign in January 2013 to finance the project.
Improvements to the 3,500-square-foot game room consist of new lighting, furniture, floors, fixtures, and windows to provide natural lighting, as well as renovations to bathrooms.
With these renovations to the game room, the club will meet New York state school-age daycare requirements. Currently, the club operates its daycare program from local schools. Henson says this causes a problem when schools are closed because of snow days or holidays for instance, as the club is unable to run the daycare program on those days.
By September 2013, the Tioga County Boys & Girls Club had raised $265,000, which was enough to complete the first stage — repairing the roof. On May 28 of this year, the club received a $300,000 grant from the Floyd Hooker Foundation, a private foundation in Owego that supports the children of Tioga County. These funds allowed the club to complete the final two stages of the campaign, the game room and parking lot.
Additionally, receiving the Hooker grant helped the club reach its five-year campaign goal in less than two years. With just under $550,000 raised and the final renovation work started, Henson says the process has “been pretty amazing.”
On Aug. 25, Owego–based PJF Enterprises began construction on the game room. PJ Electric of Apalachin is installing the parking-lot lights, and Lynch Paving of Endicott is handling the parking-lot paving.
Henson says the work is on track to be completed by Nov. 1, the deadline the club set so the space is available to meet the demand of ramped-up programming.
Amid the renovations, Henson says the staff of four full-time and 10 part-time employees has had to be “creative” in its programming and utilize the space that is available. He says the club uses the gym for a lot of team games, while arts and crafts activities take place in the lobby area.
“It’s important for us not to stop services [during the renovations] because the kids really need us,” says Henson.
The Tioga County Boys & Girls Club serves 1,300 local youth members and visitors on an annual basis. A year membership for a child is $25.
“We keep programming costs as low as possible and never turn a kid away,” says Henson.
Operating on a $440,000 budget, the club receives just over 3 percent ($15,000) of its funding from the government. Donations from individuals, businesses, foundations, and other fundraising efforts, what Henson calls the “life blood” of the organization, make up the remaining 97 percent of the budget.
“We rely heavily on our community who generously supports us,” says Henson. “We work hard to ensure our youth have a safe place to learn and have fun.”
Henson began his career at the club as a counselor in 2007, but his history with the club dates back to when he was a member as a kid.
Henson earned his associate degree at Broome Community College, then transferred to SUNY Cortland for his bachelor’s degree. After graduating in 2009, he became the athletic director. This past May, he earned his MBA from Binghamton University.
“I’ve been around the club pretty much my whole life, and have seen the life-changing impact it can have,” says Henson.
Contact Collins at ncollins@cnybj.com
_________________________________________________
Tioga County Boys & Girls Club
201 Erie St.
Owego, NY 13827
Phone: (607) 687-0690
tiogabgca.org
Key Staff
Executive Director: Luke Henson
Athletic Director: Andy Cobb
Social Programs Director: Amanda Williams
Club Positive Site Director: Debbie Taft
Membership Clerk: Pat Whittemore
BOARD OF DIRECTORS (Officers)
President
Junie Williams: Lockheed Martin
1st vice President
Nicholas Ruiz: First Niagara Bank
2nd vice President
Paul Bartlow: retired
Treasurer
Robert Zendarski: Lockheed Martin
Secretary
Betsy Knapp: Tioga County Real Property
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
David Arbes: TCMF Corp.
Betsey Bacelli: retired
Paul & Tina Bartlow: retired
Allan Bishop: Cornell University
Jim Crossgrove: IBM Software Development
Louis DeSantis: LJD Consulting
Mark Felice: Lockheed Martin
Peter Giliberti: Lockheed Martin
Bryan Hathaway: physical therapist
Spencer Hunt, Jr.: retired
Betsy Knapp: Tioga County Real Property
James Lavo: M&T Bank
Tim Linehan: EIT (i3 Electronics)
Steve May: Owego Harford Railway
Mike Maynard: DeTekion Security
Tom Morrissey: retired
Bill Motsko: retired, Edward Jones
Lou Neira: Lockheed Martin
Randy Pryor: OACSD Finance
Christian Root: Tioga County District Attorney office
Nicholas Ruiz: First Niagara Bank
Junie Williams: Lockheed Martin
Robert Zendarski: Lockheed Martin
Mission
“To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring responsible citizens.”
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES
Athletics, social programs, fitness center, and “Club Positive,” a school-age child care program that offers before- and after-school care, holiday care, and a full-day summer camp.
Washington does nothing about the economy
Can you cite a major initiative on the economy this year? From Congress? From President Obama? How about last year? Or the year before? Or the year before that? Any major move on tax reform? On economic regulations? On economic policy? Well, there must have been some. After all, our economy is “Job One,” right?
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Can you cite a major initiative on the economy this year? From Congress?
From President Obama?
How about last year? Or the year before? Or the year before that?
Any major move on tax reform? On economic regulations? On economic policy?
Well, there must have been some. After all, our economy is “Job One,” right? And our economy has struggled for several years, right? So our leaders must have made some major moves to kick the economy into gear. Such as…?
Yes, nearly six years ago our leaders in Washington created the largest stimulus package in the history of the world. We’ll call it Porkulus. They burdened the country with massive debt to finance it. But, after that, what?
The stimulus flopped. The president’s top economic advisers quit. They are the ones who helped create it. Or stood by as Congress ran amok creating it. Those stars were replaced by lesser lights, who vanished into the woodwork.
Since Porkulus, we have seen few or zero major policy changes from the president or Congress.
People point fingers over this. They say Obama wouldn’t cave and allow big tax cuts. Or the Republicans blocked further stimulus. And all that garbage. Let’s not get into that today.
I wish to make a simple point. Washington has done sweet little to stimulate the economy for over four years. And finally, finally, it is growing. Not vibrantly. Not dynamically. It is growing in weak tea fashion. And on some fronts but not others.
Recently, President Obama claimed every economic indicator shows improvement. Well, during election campaigns, politicians get carried away. With that claim, he did. And he left himself open to responses like, “After six years isn’t it about time?”
What I am suggesting is that there is a disconnect here. The recovery seems to be slowly strengthening. With maybe no help from Washington. Now some will argue that Porkulus did work. That this modest recovery sprouted from Porkulus. But that argument sports a lot of holes.
The situation reminds me of stories from James Herriot. He was the Yorkshire veterinary who wrote “All Creatures Great and Small” and other books about his years as a vet. He wrote that often he ran out of ideas or remedies for curing very sick animals. He would inject them with strong drugs to put them into deep sleep, so they could die without further struggle.
Sometimes the opposite happened. Against the odds, they recovered. He concluded that in some situations it was best to do nothing more. He got out of the way and allowed nature to work.
I wonder if maybe that is what has happened to our economy. After Porkulus, Washington did little for it. Not because the politicians didn’t want to. But because their shortcomings kept them from acting. Without intending to, they allowed natural forces to slowly breathe life into the comatose economy.
We may get more such inaction. The new Congress is likely going to be less friendly to the president. If he does manage to put forward new economic policies, they will probably get a chilly reception in both houses.
Of course, he could do a turnabout. He could offer big changes in tax policies. He could offer big cuts in the regulations that smother the economy. Such measures would unclog a few arteries in the economy. He could offer to reform welfare. That would lessen the burden on taxpayers. He could offer to reform Social Security.
That would act as a stimulus in several ways.
Faced with an unfriendly new Congress, Obama could do the horse-swapping and arm-twisting these moves would require. But that would be a first for him. Don’t hold your breath for it.
A more likely scenario is noise, but no new economic policies for the rest of his term. President Obama is in a weak position. His economic-policy advisers seem minor league. Democrats are abandoning him. They fear being tarnished by his unpopularity. Such ingredients don’t usually make up a recipe for big policy changes.
It seems to me there is a good chance Washington won’t mess with the economy for a few more years. That might be a good thing.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta, in addition to his radio shows and TV show. For more information about him, visit his website at www.tomasinmorgan.com
Agriculture is Big Business in CNY and New York State
Agriculture. It’s one of our region’s oldest and undeniably most important economic sectors. In 2012, agricultural production was worth more than $5.7 billion in New York state. Of the state’s total land area, 23 percent or 7 million acres are being used by 36,000 farms to produce a very diverse array of food products. Today,
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Agriculture. It’s one of our region’s oldest and undeniably most important economic sectors. In 2012, agricultural production was worth more than $5.7 billion in New York state. Of the state’s total land area, 23 percent or 7 million acres are being used by 36,000 farms to produce a very diverse array of food products.
Today, our region’s farmers play a vital role in our regional economy, touching almost every one of our organization’s strategic priorities from innovation to business development to exports, and even urban and community development.
Armory Square Ventures recently made its first investment in an ag-tech company — Agronomic Technology Corp., which has employees in Ithaca, New York City, and Silicon Valley. This investment will support the company’s main product, Adapt-N, which allows growers to better manage their use of nitrogen and yield more crops with a diminished impact on the environment. Additionally, it has the potential to increase profits for farmers by as much as $200 an acre.
Agriculture is also driving new business in the region through the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) industry. Five of the six Certificates of Authorizations (COA) that CenterState CEO’s NUAIR Alliance has received to date involve using UAS to evaluate field crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat, collecting data on conditions like crop growth, insect activity, disease spread, soil conditions, and more. In fact, the agricultural industry is expected to be an early adopter of civil and commercial UAS in the United States and is estimated to comprise nearly half of the civil and commercial UAS market.
And at a time when exports are driving almost one-third of all economic growth in the post-recession economy, agriculture again has a major role to play. Dairy, New York’s leading agricultural product, is one of China’s fastest growing imports, rising 30 percent, in 2013 to $5.2 billion. Food products, particularly fruit, usually command a premium in China because they are considered safer when from the U.S. There is also interest in investing in food processing, which could present opportunities for our region in the apple, dairy, hops, and wine industries, among others.
Even urban agriculture plays a role in supporting economic development in Central Upstate Various community organizations have turned to agriculture to help transform blighted neighborhoods, increase access to fresh, healthy foods, and teach agricultural skills. Across Syracuse and the local region, community gardens support strategies that seek to engage neighborhood residents in revitalization efforts.
The agricultural sector is demonstrating its ability to adapt to the changes in the marketplace. That makes it not just a foundational industry, but one that is critical to our region’s future. At the end of the day, agriculture not only puts food on our tables, but it also supports our jobs and economy.
Robert M. Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This editorial is drawn and edited from the CEO Focus email newsletter the organization sent out on Oct. 10.
The Impact of Media Coverage on your Reputation
As public-relations professionals, a lot of what we do involves managing an organization’s reputation. For the most part, the more media attention your organization receives, the more your stakeholders will recognize you. But today, visibility isn’t enough. It’s the content of news stories that determines whether your audiences will have a favorable impression of you. So
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As public-relations professionals, a lot of what we do involves managing an organization’s reputation. For the most part, the more media attention your organization receives, the more your stakeholders will recognize you. But today, visibility isn’t enough. It’s the content of news stories that determines whether your audiences will have a favorable impression of you.
So how do you know whether the content was good or bad? And what do you do with that information? Having someone on your team who can conduct in-depth analyses of your media coverage, including the tone of the stories — whether they are positive, neutral, or negative — on a regular basis will significantly improve your communications strategy, support your overall business goals, and your reputation.
This type of analysis helps you to not only measure the success of your public-relations initiatives, but also provide well-informed advice for real-time decisions that the organization is making.
Both the quantity and quality of media coverage for your organization directly correlate to how much the public trusts, likes, and supports you. That coverage even determines the characteristics that are associated with your organization as opinions are formed.
So remember, a large amount of media clips doesn’t mean a positive reputation. Ask yourself if your messages are truly getting across to your audiences. Make sure you know which reporters lead the conversations in your industry, and then strengthen your relationship with those individuals.
Are you being heard?
Crystal DeStefano is president and director of public relations at Strategic Communications, LLC, which says it provides trusted counsel for public relations, including media relations, employee relations, and community relations. Contact DeStefano at Crystal@stratcomllc.com
What does the Affordable Care Act’s Contraceptive-Mandate Controversy Mean for your Benefits Plan?
This past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a monumental case regarding the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate, with potential implications for employers across the nation offering employee health benefits. Though the Supreme Court issued a final ruling, much debate has continued regarding the rights of nonprofit and for-profit, religious-based organizations, specifically in complying
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This past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court decided a monumental case regarding the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive mandate, with potential implications for employers across the nation offering employee health benefits.
Though the Supreme Court issued a final ruling, much debate has continued regarding the rights of nonprofit and for-profit, religious-based organizations, specifically in complying with ACA’s contraceptive mandate. While the nation continues to wait for final guidance from the government, many organizations are left wondering how the recent Supreme Court case impacts their employee-benefits plan as they finalize benefit strategies for 2015.
The case was Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby and at issue was whether or not the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993 protects a company from complying with a government mandate that is opposed by the owner, or owners, of the company on religious grounds. More specifically, the family that owns and operates the Hobby Lobby Corporation argued that as an organization that seeks to operate the company based on the family’s Christian beliefs, ACA’s contraceptive mandate was unduly burdensome to their free exercise of religion.
ACA’s contraceptive mandate requires non-grandfathered employers with more than 50 full-time employees to provide female health-care-plan members with coverage for more than 20 forms of FDA-approved birth control, including oral, injectable, and implantable methods, with no member cost share. This means that the employer, in the case of a self-funded benefit plan, would pay for a member’s contraception in-full.
The ruling by the Supreme Court determined that requiring closely held corporations to pay for contraceptive coverage, as required by ACA, violates RFRA. The ruling further exempted religious-based organizations from complying with the contraceptive mandate. The ruling in Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby is the first case of the Supreme Court extending religious-freedom protections to what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the “commercial, profit-making world.”
In response to the Supreme Court’s determination, the Obama Administration stood firm on its position that it is important for employers to offer comprehensive health coverage for women, and to ensure that women across the nation have equal access to health-care services.
As a sort of compromise, and to ensure coverage for female health-plan members whose employers are opposed to the idea of paying for contraceptive coverage, the Obama Administration suggested that insurance carriers, and third-party administrations (TPAs), should pay for the contraceptive coverage in lieu of the employer. This, the administration suggested, would relieve the religious-based organization of the need to pay for coverage that it opposed on moral grounds, without compromising ACA’s position on women’s health.
For TPAs that do not assume the financial risk associated with the plans that they administer, the idea of paying for contraceptive coverage would have meant a paradigm shift in the self-funding industry. The government quickly clarified that in the case of self-funded plans, the government would ultimately reimburse the plan for the cost of contraceptive coverage. Insurance carriers, on the other hand, would absorb the cost of coverage.
The administration proposed that in order to be eligible for the exemption that would shift the cost of coverage to its plan administrator, an organization would need to file Form 700, a two-page form that certifies that the organization is a religious nonprofit organization that opposes providing some or all of the services and supplies required by ACA’s contraceptive mandate.
Many religious-based organizations, such as private universities and nonprofits, immediately voiced their opposition to the requirement to complete Form 700 in order to receive the mandate exemption, on the basis that the requirement to complete the form itself inherently violated their religious freedoms. In response, the Obama Administration recently proposed that both nonprofit and for-profit organizations that did not want to complete Form 700, simply notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that they have a religious objection to offering contraceptive coverage and provide the name of their TPA, if self-funded. HHS would then notify the TPA of the employer’s decision, and would reimburse the TPA for the health plan’s incurred contraceptive costs.
This proposal still did not alleviate the overarching concern for opposing corporations, however. For many religious-based organizations, the real opposition is not in the payment for contraceptives, but in acting in any capacity as part of the delivery system of contraceptive methods to women in the United States. Such organizations continue to maintain that their religious rights are burdened by any mandates that make them complicit in the contraceptive delivery channel, regardless of what entity is paying for coverage. In response to these unresolved concerns, religious-based organizations and their health-plan administrators are left waiting for further clarification and guidance.
As the contraceptive-mandate controversy continues to unravel new elements of ACA’s compliance requirements, the unfolding events raise more and more questions regarding the rights of employers to customize employee-benefits solutions post ACA-implementation.
If your organization is philosophically opposed to the contraceptive mandate, talk to your legal counsel to determine what recourse you may have to exclude coverage for contraceptive items from your health and prescription-drug benefit plan moving forward. While the nation continues to wait for further clarity regarding possible organizational exemptions, take the time to consider your organization’s philosophy regarding offering employee benefits so that you can be prepared to take appropriate action when further guidance is issued.
Vanessa Flynn is vice president, client services for the POMCO Group.
Five Lessons from the Whiskey Rebellion
Citizens are more willing to support tax increases when they believe someone else will be paying them, especially if they think that someone deserves it. Consequently, when looking for sources of revenue, government officials like to find an unpopular vice and slap a tax on it. The earliest and first U.S. tax-inspired revolt was the
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Citizens are more willing to support tax increases when they believe someone else will be paying them, especially if they think that someone deserves it.
Consequently, when looking for sources of revenue, government officials like to find an unpopular vice and slap a tax on it.
The earliest and first U.S. tax-inspired revolt was the 1791 Whiskey Rebellion. The federal government, just 2 years old, was $54 million in debt from the American Revolution. Another $25 million was owed by the states. Combined, the debt was the equivalent of $1.975 trillion in today’s dollars.
Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, argued that the federal government should pay the entire debt to build national unity and strengthen the central government. He built a coalition of states eager to receive free federal money. Then he partnered with social reformers anxious to use a new excise tax to discourage alcohol consumption. The act became law, and President George Washington defined revenue districts and appointed tax collectors to each one.
Lesson 1: Beware of politicians who ask your permission to pick another person’s pocket. Simpler and broader methods of taxing are fairer than highly targeted taxes. The “let’s tax that guy” mentality slips into systemic oppression and incentivizes rent seeking.
Hamilton thought an excise tax on alcohol would be a luxury tax borne mostly by the wealthy, a sneaky way to make the rich pay off the debt. He was wrong.
Frontier farmers often had excess grain and needed to get paid for it. But grain was bulky and difficult to transport over long distances to paying customers. So they regularly turned their excess grain into whiskey which was easier to ship and the alcohol kept the product from spoiling.
After distilling, 1,200 pounds of wheat, oats, or rye produced just 20 gallons of spirits weighing only 160 pounds. After journeying to eastern markets, the whiskey was sold for $1 per gallon. It was one of the few cash crops for the western frontier.
Whiskey also improved with age, making it a medium of exchange for businesses west of Appalachia.
For the frontiersmen, this so-called “sin tax” was effectively taxing their currency.
And the tax increased with the proof of the spirits, ranging from 30 cents to 40 cents per gallon. To the average consumer, the tax was $1.50 a year. But for the farmers, the government was taking $6 of their annual $20 income. They relied on this cash to purchase their supplies for the full year.
Thus, in an attempt to tax liquor sales in Philadelphia, Congress effectively killed the entire economy of frontier farmers.
Lesson 2: The economy is complex. Advocates of big government believe controlling the economy is simpler than it is. Advocates of the free market have a more humble attitude toward our lack of ability to dictate everyone’s behavior.
What made the taxation of 1791 worse is that many of these farmers were veterans of the Revolution. They had just fought a war over onerous British tea and stamp taxes, only to be betrayed with even higher whiskey taxes.
In response to the excise tax, some 7,000 frontiersmen rose up in western Pennsylvania to protest. They called on delegates to attend a more formal assembly.
The convention petitioned the government with a list of grievances. They modeled their actions after the American Revolution. The tax was reduced by a penny, but still no one paid it.
Tax collectors were tarred and feathered. Even some who collaborated with federal officials and paid the tax had their stills destroyed.
Lesson 3: The fairer the tax, the less violent the response. The fairest tax would be a head tax in which everyone owed the same amount. Anything more complex can pit one faction against another and incite rebellion.
Hamilton counseled Washington to put down the rebellion and inspire the fear of punishment in the new citizens. Washington raised an army of 13,500 men. Hundreds of suspects were rounded up and detained in corrals. Twenty were put on trial. Two were convicted and later pardoned by Washington.
Lesson 4: If a law is not worth an army, it shouldn’t be a law. Every government decree should meet this very high standard. It must be so important that it is still worth doing even if the government has to create an army to enforce it. Every government tax or regulation requires force or the threat of force to be meaningful. Legislators should ask themselves, “Is this law worth raising an army and fighting the citizens over?” If the answer is no, their vote should be the same.
Jefferson had already resigned from the cabinet at the time of the Whiskey Rebellion, but he communicated his thoughts to James Madison: “The excise law is an infernal one. The first error was to admit it by the Constitution; the second, to act on that admission; the third and last will be, to make it the instrument of dismembering the Union and setting us all afloat to choose which part of it we will adhere to.” Needless to say, just after being elected president, Jefferson hastily abolished all the excise taxes.
To this day, historians disagree on how much Hamilton sought to provoke violence to justify strengthening federal control. Some call it conspiracy theory. Others quote Hamilton’s own words in support.
Although the quelling of the Whiskey Rebellion established the sovereignty of “We the people” to tax and oppress any selected group, it did not raise much in taxes. Even after the rebellion was pacified, the tax was still largely uncollectable.
Jefferson repealed the Whiskey Tax as well as all other internal taxes as soon as he became president in 1801. He claimed that closing the bureaucracy and overseeing tax offices made the taxes unnecessary. He also ran a surplus for his years in office, enabling him to pay down the debt from $83 million to $57 million by 1811. The discontent subsided.
Lesson 5: Tax cuts can cause a government surplus, whereas tax increases can cause rebellions.
David John Marotta is president of Marotta Wealth Management, Inc., which provides fee-only financial planning and wealth management at www.emarotta.com. Megan Russell studied cognitive science at the University of Virginia and now specializes in explaining the complexities of economics and finance at www.marottaonmoney.com
Six tips for improving your business communications
It’s easy to roll your eyes and complain about the state of business communications. I mean everything from incomplete, inaccurate, and confusing emails and memos to meeting minutes and reports that don’t make sense. Ineffective business letters, most of which are peppered with the first person singular pronoun, are fodder for the recycling bin. All
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It’s easy to roll your eyes and complain about the state of business communications. I mean everything from incomplete, inaccurate, and confusing emails and memos to meeting minutes and reports that don’t make sense. Ineffective business letters, most of which are peppered with the first person singular pronoun, are fodder for the recycling bin.
All this results in errors, causes confusion, wastes time, creates aggravation, and puts even capable workers at an advancement and career disadvantage, not to mention the negative implications for their employers.
It’s a wonder that productivity, which is dropping, isn’t collapsing. However, it’s irrelevant whether or not the ability to express oneself clearly and accurately is at an all-time low. It’s not enough to identify a problem; the test is what you can do about it. Here are suggestions on how to get (really) good at business communication:
1. Put it in writing. It’s easy to “talk stuff” or text and assume that’s sufficient. It isn’t. Just ask Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who says, “There’s no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking.” Few people can accomplish the task.
“Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will be judged — in college, in the workplace, and in the community,” states Marquette University.
Writing clarifies thought, uncovers false assumptions, helps articulate worthwhile questions, and stimulates feedback. All of which are essential qualities for success in business.
2. Start at the beginning. The worst mistake is to assume that readers or listeners will figure out what’s important about your message. They won’t.
For example, wading through a half-dozen long paragraphs of a newsletter’s lead article before getting to the main point asks too much of any reader. Simply moving the last paragraph to the beginning would make it interesting and compelling. The way to capture the attention of readers and listeners is to start at the beginning.
3. Have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, the reader or listener won’t bother with it. Although we’ve all had too many experiences like this, few learn from them.
Too often we start typing with only some vague idea where we’re going. And we never get there. To avoid a “stream of consciousness” calamity, here’s a sure-fire outline that works wonders in any type of business communication: Problem/Solution, and it’s useful for almost every subject. For example, “Why we need to make a change in our product line” may be your topic.
– Problem. A discussion of reasons how and why the problem developed.
– Solution. After laying this groundwork, present the solution to the problem, which includes why it overcomes each of the reasons that caused the original problem.
Then comes the call to action, the steps to take to move forward and resolve the issue.
4. Put your work to the test. If experienced writers, and even the most famous wordsmiths, require an editor, it only makes sense that the rest of us do, too. The only way to improve and to make sure the message is clear and on target is to find someone who can help. And it doesn’t need to be a “professional.” It can be a co-worker, friend, partner or spouse, or really anyone who is meticulous and likes language.
Your “editor” should be encouraged to point out inconsistencies, errors of fact, lack of clarity, and make suggestions for improving your work. That’s the gold standard, so be sure to come up with ways to say thank you.
5. Rewrite. However much you do it, it’s never enough. Someone said, “Hey, this isn’t the Gettysburg Address, it’s just a monthly wrap-up.” That’s the problem: business communications are not worth the effort.
The designers could have said that about the Apple TV remote control. Hold one in your hand and you’ll see that its simplicity and elegance are compelling. Just three buttons, not a dazzling array of dozens. It took time, effort, and commitment to go from 50 or more buttons to three. Forceful and persuasive business writing, presenting, and speaking take rewriting. We never do our best work the first time.
6. Slay the good business-communication killers. They may seem minor, but they can do big-time damage:
– Needless words. Extra words are “filler” and obscure the message. They’re like plaque in arteries, clogging the flow of ideas. It takes practice, but getting rid of unnecessary words is a big step for improving communication.
– Jargon. Stay away from it; if in doubt, don’t use it. It’s showy, sophomoric, and off-putting. Those who are insecure use “in” words, attempting to convey that they know what they’re talking about. Actually, they don’t.
– Adjectives and adverbs. Avoid adjectives and adverbs. Like lights in Las Vegas, they add glitter and call attention to themselves. Practice writing without them and watch your writing improve.
– Active vs. passive voice. The active voice is easier to understand. Here’s the difference: Active: “The supervisor stole the product report.” Business writers use the passive to soften a statement: “The new product report was stolen by the supervisor.” Also, the passive usually adds words.
– Short paragraphs. The eye rebels at the sight of a long paragraph. Two or three sentences work well. At times, even one will do it.
– Exclamation points. Mostly ineffective and pointless. Never more than one; preferably none. Let what you write give the emphasis.
– Short words. Using them makes writing and presenting more natural, and easier to understand and follow. Sprinkling your text with long words interferes with clarity.
– Simplicity. Ask yourself, “Will anyone misunderstand or be confused by what I’m saying or how I’m saying it?” Be ruthless. Unclear thinking causes confused communication.
Putting our words in front of others or making presentations involves risk and puts us to the test. Yet, whatever our aspirations and wherever we find ourselves, success depends on the well-honed skills of writing and speaking — or being really good at business communications.
John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategist-consultant and business writer. Contact him at jgraham@grahamcomm.com or visit johnrgraham.com

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