SCORE WELCOMES NEW MEMBER
SCORE NEWSLETTER July 2011 Volume 15, Issue 3
SCORE WELCOMES NEW MEMBER After a long and successful career as an executive in the farm equipment industry, Dan Hazelton retired and recently became a member of the Quad Cities SCORE Chapter. SCORE is a volunteer group that provides free mentoring and training to people who want to start small businesses or improve existing businesses. After growing up in Buffalo, NY, Mr. Hazelton interrupted his college education to serve in the US Army at a missile battery site near Baltimore, Maryland. Upon discharge from the army, he completed his degree in Industrial Management at the University of Baltimore. At a later time he continued his education by earning an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Mr. Hazelton worked in a variety of management positions in the Parts Distribution Division of the International Harvester Company in Baltimore, Memphis, and Richmond, CA before moving to Chicago to head up all of the company's parts distribution centers. In 1983, during a time of enormous stress and economic difficulty in the farm equipment industry, International Harvester sold a large part of its business to the J.I Case Company. Mr. Hazelton transferred to Case where he became the Director of Strategic Planning and Market Research. In 1992, Mr. Hazelton moved to the AGCO Corporation in Batavia, Illinois as Vice President, Parts. AGCO is a global agricultural equipment manufacturer with operations in 140 countries. Its annual sales are $7B. AGCO owns internationally-known companies such as Challenger, Massey Ferguson, Hesston, Gleaner, and Fendt. Mr. Hazelton later transferred to Atlanta as AGCO's Vice President of North American Sales. He retired from AGCO in 2000. Mr. Hazelton and his wife, Judy, have three children and six grandchildren. Mrs. Hazelton worked as a Medical Assistant. She now volunteers as a docent at the Figge Museum in Davenport.
While their children were growing up, Mr. Hazelton found time to coach football and basketball teams. Today Mr. Hazelton is an avid golfer. He stays close to the game by working part time at TPC Deere Run. Mr. and Mrs. Hazelton enjoy traveling throughout the world. During the time that their son lived in Singapore they visited him several times. Reading is also on Mr. Hazelton's list of retirement activities. When Mr. Hazelton joined the Quad City SCORE chapter, it was quite easy for him to learn the ropes. He had previously volunteered for the Fox Valley, Illinois SCORE Chapter. He observed that it is easy for local SCORE clients to receive business mentoring; they can come to SCORE offices during scheduled mentoring hours without the need for appointments.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ADVENTUROUS We constantly hear about high unemployment in the US during the current long-running economic doldrums. Many well-qualified people are saying they are scraping the bottom of their barrel of tricks while searching for jobs. They say that once-fertile career fields are now barren. But could there be a deeper and more promising barrel for people who are willing to broaden the scope of their search for acceptable work prospects? Brazil has avoided the economic potholes being encountered in many other places in the world. Its economy is booming. There is a shortage of talent-especially for English speaking engineers, managers, finance experts, teachers, and people with business development expertise. Foreign investment in Brazil has tripled in the last seven years. The oil, gas, and ethanol sectors are thriving. People with experience with multi-national corporations are widely sought. What can you lose by investigating Brazil for work opportunities? A work stint in Brazil would be better than sitting at home on a sofa waiting for the good old days to return-and when and if they do return, the world will likely be very different. Meaningful experience in a vibrant country such as Brazil will look better on your resume than the doubtful blank spaces necessitated during the current tenacious recession. For those who already speak Spanish, it is relatively easy to learn Portuguese, the language of Brazil. For beginners, a six week language immersion course should be enough to apply for work. Employment applications could be with the many US, Asian, and European companies with large operations in Brazil or Brazilian companies with export- oriented businesses. Fluency in English will be an asset. For those with entrepreneurial interests, the US is not a bed of roses today. Would-be entrepreneurs are frequently turned away by bank loan officers when they seek funding for starting or expanding businesses. Many long-established businesses are folding up.
For more adventurous entrepreneurs, how about looking beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone? Where can you go to find an expanding business development environment? Would you believe sub-Saharan Africa? Six of the fastest-growing ten economies of the last decade were in sub-Saharan Africa. In the next five years the average economy of Africa is predicted to outpace Asia. Much of Africa is finally awakening. A major business sector in Africa is agriculture--albeit it is in need of catch-up in technology and productivity. A high percentage of the African population works in agriculture-related businesses. People with knowledge of farming and irrigation practices are needed--as well as in fields such as teaching, finance, business development, and export. Most African business opportunities, however, are balanced with challenges - poor transportation, high export tariffs, limited electric power, corruption, and red tape. The timid may think that the entrepreneurial risks are too high in foreign lands. But it should be remembered that several hundred years ago Great Britain went to remote lands of the world and started businesses that made them successful beyond imagination. The people of The Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal also built vast empires in remote lands. They did this in a time and under conditions grossly riskier and more uncertain than in the world of today. For those who need to stiffen up their courage to try new ventures, they can turn to the words of Helen Keller; "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure." During the severe and discouraging economic conditions of today, we hear people say, "I have tried everything to find a decent job or a viable business model; nothing works for me." Perhaps if they enlarge their scope of thinking, they will realize that there are still further opportunities.
THE RETURN OF BUSINESS TO THE U.S. By John Lyons-Merrill Lynch With wage inflation rising so quickly in China (and even places like Vietnam) there is actually a move to bring manufacturing back to North America (including Mexico). Wages are going up to offset massive social unrest in China. As a matter of fact when the recession hit, it closed a number of clothing mills and converted them to higher margin products to support the higher wages.
LITTLE HIRING BY SMALL BUSINESSES (Excerpts from Wall Street Journal article by Siobahn Hughes)
The Small Business Administration says small businesses, defined as companies with fewer than 500 workers, employ about half of the workers in the private sector. More than half of the small business executives in a survey cited economic uncertainty as the main reason for holding back on hiring. One said "I think it is safer to stay on hold and not hire workers." Many of the executives surveyed were gloomy about the economy's prospects. Forty percent see the business climate getting worse over the next two years compared with 30 percent who expect the climate to improve. The executives had more confidence in their own futures than in the future of the country. Whereas 30% percent said that America's best days are ahead, 40% said their own business's best days were ahead. One interviewed executive said, "I'm optimistic about the future, but only after we find our way through the country's many outstanding issues."
METEORIC RATE OF CHANGE IN TODAY'S WORLD If we are here in 25 years, the world will look like it is inhabited by aliens with the strangest behavioral habits. Technology and the way we live are changing at warp speed. The old world is gone forever. The good old days are as dead as communism. We must infuse ourselves now with the knowledge to cope in the new world. We must elect government officials with the knowledge to adjust for the epic changes underway. We must prepare to compete with the entire world, not just the people in our schools, our neighbors, our work-mates, our country, and others around us. With the ready availability of communication technology, digital systems, transportation systems, and universal English speaking capability, people in the rest of the world are eager and ready to "eat our lunch" whenever we fail to recognize and vigorously exploit new opportunities. Many of us do not know that: *
China will soon have more English speakers than the US
*
India has more honors students than the US has kids
*
The top ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004
*
Today's students will have 10 to 14 jobs by the time they are 38 years old
*
There are 800 million users of Facebook
*
There are more than 30 million Google searches per month (vs 3 million in 2006)
We also may not know that: * To reach 50 million users it took: - Radio 38 years - TV 13 years - Internet 3 years - Facebook 2 years *
Technical information doubles every two years
* By 2050, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capability of the entire human species * India
In the time it takes to read this article 67 babies will be born in the US, 274 in China and 395 in
* During a typical technology student's time in college, half of his first year information will be obsolete by his fourth year * One issue of the New York Times contains more information than acquired in a lifetime in the 1800s So what does this all mean to us in the US-and what should we do about it?
SMART IS THE NEW RICH
Christine Romans, business anchor for CNN, has written Smart is the New Rich. Her book covers the new realities in our financial lives since the current recession intruded into the lives of most Americans. The old days of ever-expanding personal prosperity are over, The recession, explosive expansion of the digital revolution, dry-up of credit, and the switch of many countries from communism and strangling socialism to capitalism have fundamentally changed the playing field. She explains in practical terms how people must learn to cope and compete under the new economic conditions of the country and the world. The book is a good read for those who wish to better understand and respond to the harsher economic world that we now live in.
Ms Romans was born and raised in the Quad Cities.
THE BEST BARGAIN IN TOWN There really is a free lunch Starting a new business or improving an existing business is a daunting task, but it need not be undertaken alone. For people who want to start or improve a business, free confidential counseling is available from SCORE-Counselors for Small Businesses. Professional SCORE counselors have had lifetime experience in business planning, management, accounting and finance, manufacturing, engineering, advertising, personnel, purchasing, marketing and sales, exporting, and education. Counseling is available in several languages including English and Spanish. Newer SCORE members can provide assistance to clients in the latest digital and business technologies.. A business plan is essential for new businesses. SCORE offers a seminar on business planning. Call (309) 797-0082 for details and to register. Free, one-on-one counseling--no appointment needed--is offered at various Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce sites. On Tuesdays and Thursdays counseling is offered from 10:00 am to noon at 622 19th St., Moline; on Wednesdays from 10:00 to noon at 2117 State St., Bettendorf; and on Tuesdays from 10:00 to noon at the New Ventures Center, 331 West Third St, Davenport. Counseling is also provided by the Clinton Area Branch on Friday from 10:00 am to noon at the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, Clinton, IA. SCORE counselors will meet with clients at other locations by appointment—call (309) 7970082. Everyone knows what professional services cost. The free professional services offered to small businesses by SCORE are "The Best Bargain in Town." Score may be electronically contacted at: [email protected] and Web Site is www.quadcitiesscore.org.
SCORE WELCOMES NEW MEMBER After a long and successful career as an executive in the farm equipment industry, Dan Hazelton retired and recently became a member of the Quad Cities SCORE Chapter. SCORE is a volunteer group that provides free mentoring and training to people who want to start small businesses or improve existing businesses. After growing up in Buffalo, NY, Mr. Hazelton interrupted his college education to serve in the US Army at a missile battery site near Baltimore, Maryland. Upon discharge from the army, he completed his degree in Industrial Management at the University of Baltimore. At a later time he continued his education by earning an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Mr. Hazelton worked in a variety of management positions in the Parts Distribution Division of the International Harvester Company in Baltimore, Memphis, and Richmond, CA before moving to Chicago to head up all of the company's parts distribution centers. In 1983, during a time of enormous stress and economic difficulty in the farm equipment industry, International Harvester sold a large part of its business to the J.I Case Company. Mr. Hazelton transferred to Case where he became the Director of Strategic Planning and Market Research. In 1992, Mr. Hazelton moved to the AGCO Corporation in Batavia, Illinois as Vice President, Parts. AGCO is a global agricultural equipment manufacturer with operations in 140 countries. Its annual sales are $7B. AGCO owns internationally-known companies such as Challenger, Massey Ferguson, Hesston, Gleaner, and Fendt. Mr. Hazelton later transferred to Atlanta as AGCO's Vice President of North American Sales. He retired from AGCO in 2000. Mr. Hazelton and his wife, Judy, have three children and six grandchildren. Mrs. Hazelton worked as a Medical Assistant. She now volunteers as a docent at the Figge Museum in Davenport.
While their children were growing up, Mr. Hazelton found time to coach football and basketball teams. Today Mr. Hazelton is an avid golfer. He stays close to the game by working part time at TPC Deere Run. Mr. and Mrs. Hazelton enjoy traveling throughout the world. During the time that their son lived in Singapore they visited him several times. Reading is also on Mr. Hazelton's list of retirement activities. When Mr. Hazelton joined the Quad City SCORE chapter, it was quite easy for him to learn the ropes. He had previously volunteered for the Fox Valley, Illinois SCORE Chapter. He observed that it is easy for local SCORE clients to receive business mentoring; they can come to SCORE offices during scheduled mentoring hours without the need for appointments.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ADVENTUROUS We constantly hear about high unemployment in the US during the current long-running economic doldrums. Many well-qualified people are saying they are scraping the bottom of their barrel of tricks while searching for jobs. They say that once-fertile career fields are now barren. But could there be a deeper and more promising barrel for people who are willing to broaden the scope of their search for acceptable work prospects? Brazil has avoided the economic potholes being encountered in many other places in the world. Its economy is booming. There is a shortage of talent-especially for English speaking engineers, managers, finance experts, teachers, and people with business development expertise. Foreign investment in Brazil has tripled in the last seven years. The oil, gas, and ethanol sectors are thriving. People with experience with multi-national corporations are widely sought. What can you lose by investigating Brazil for work opportunities? A work stint in Brazil would be better than sitting at home on a sofa waiting for the good old days to return-and when and if they do return, the world will likely be very different. Meaningful experience in a vibrant country such as Brazil will look better on your resume than the doubtful blank spaces necessitated during the current tenacious recession. For those who already speak Spanish, it is relatively easy to learn Portuguese, the language of Brazil. For beginners, a six week language immersion course should be enough to apply for work. Employment applications could be with the many US, Asian, and European companies with large operations in Brazil or Brazilian companies with export- oriented businesses. Fluency in English will be an asset. For those with entrepreneurial interests, the US is not a bed of roses today. Would-be entrepreneurs are frequently turned away by bank loan officers when they seek funding for starting or expanding businesses. Many long-established businesses are folding up.
For more adventurous entrepreneurs, how about looking beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone? Where can you go to find an expanding business development environment? Would you believe sub-Saharan Africa? Six of the fastest-growing ten economies of the last decade were in sub-Saharan Africa. In the next five years the average economy of Africa is predicted to outpace Asia. Much of Africa is finally awakening. A major business sector in Africa is agriculture--albeit it is in need of catch-up in technology and productivity. A high percentage of the African population works in agriculture-related businesses. People with knowledge of farming and irrigation practices are needed--as well as in fields such as teaching, finance, business development, and export. Most African business opportunities, however, are balanced with challenges - poor transportation, high export tariffs, limited electric power, corruption, and red tape. The timid may think that the entrepreneurial risks are too high in foreign lands. But it should be remembered that several hundred years ago Great Britain went to remote lands of the world and started businesses that made them successful beyond imagination. The people of The Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal also built vast empires in remote lands. They did this in a time and under conditions grossly riskier and more uncertain than in the world of today. For those who need to stiffen up their courage to try new ventures, they can turn to the words of Helen Keller; "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure." During the severe and discouraging economic conditions of today, we hear people say, "I have tried everything to find a decent job or a viable business model; nothing works for me." Perhaps if they enlarge their scope of thinking, they will realize that there are still further opportunities.
THE RETURN OF BUSINESS TO THE U.S. By John Lyons-Merrill Lynch With wage inflation rising so quickly in China (and even places like Vietnam) there is actually a move to bring manufacturing back to North America (including Mexico). Wages are going up to offset massive social unrest in China. As a matter of fact when the recession hit, it closed a number of clothing mills and converted them to higher margin products to support the higher wages.
LITTLE HIRING BY SMALL BUSINESSES (Excerpts from Wall Street Journal article by Siobahn Hughes)
The Small Business Administration says small businesses, defined as companies with fewer than 500 workers, employ about half of the workers in the private sector. More than half of the small business executives in a survey cited economic uncertainty as the main reason for holding back on hiring. One said "I think it is safer to stay on hold and not hire workers." Many of the executives surveyed were gloomy about the economy's prospects. Forty percent see the business climate getting worse over the next two years compared with 30 percent who expect the climate to improve. The executives had more confidence in their own futures than in the future of the country. Whereas 30% percent said that America's best days are ahead, 40% said their own business's best days were ahead. One interviewed executive said, "I'm optimistic about the future, but only after we find our way through the country's many outstanding issues."
METEORIC RATE OF CHANGE IN TODAY'S WORLD If we are here in 25 years, the world will look like it is inhabited by aliens with the strangest behavioral habits. Technology and the way we live are changing at warp speed. The old world is gone forever. The good old days are as dead as communism. We must infuse ourselves now with the knowledge to cope in the new world. We must elect government officials with the knowledge to adjust for the epic changes underway. We must prepare to compete with the entire world, not just the people in our schools, our neighbors, our work-mates, our country, and others around us. With the ready availability of communication technology, digital systems, transportation systems, and universal English speaking capability, people in the rest of the world are eager and ready to "eat our lunch" whenever we fail to recognize and vigorously exploit new opportunities. Many of us do not know that: *
China will soon have more English speakers than the US
*
India has more honors students than the US has kids
*
The top ten in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004
*
Today's students will have 10 to 14 jobs by the time they are 38 years old
*
There are 800 million users of Facebook
*
There are more than 30 million Google searches per month (vs 3 million in 2006)
We also may not know that: * To reach 50 million users it took: - Radio 38 years - TV 13 years - Internet 3 years - Facebook 2 years *
Technical information doubles every two years
* By 2050, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capability of the entire human species * India
In the time it takes to read this article 67 babies will be born in the US, 274 in China and 395 in
* During a typical technology student's time in college, half of his first year information will be obsolete by his fourth year * One issue of the New York Times contains more information than acquired in a lifetime in the 1800s So what does this all mean to us in the US-and what should we do about it?
SMART IS THE NEW RICH
Christine Romans, business anchor for CNN, has written Smart is the New Rich. Her book covers the new realities in our financial lives since the current recession intruded into the lives of most Americans. The old days of ever-expanding personal prosperity are over, The recession, explosive expansion of the digital revolution, dry-up of credit, and the switch of many countries from communism and strangling socialism to capitalism have fundamentally changed the playing field. She explains in practical terms how people must learn to cope and compete under the new economic conditions of the country and the world. The book is a good read for those who wish to better understand and respond to the harsher economic world that we now live in.
Ms Romans was born and raised in the Quad Cities.
THE BEST BARGAIN IN TOWN There really is a free lunch Starting a new business or improving an existing business is a daunting task, but it need not be undertaken alone. For people who want to start or improve a business, free confidential counseling is available from SCORE-Counselors for Small Businesses. Professional SCORE counselors have had lifetime experience in business planning, management, accounting and finance, manufacturing, engineering, advertising, personnel, purchasing, marketing and sales, exporting, and education. Counseling is available in several languages including English and Spanish. Newer SCORE members can provide assistance to clients in the latest digital and business technologies.. A business plan is essential for new businesses. SCORE offers a seminar on business planning. Call (309) 797-0082 for details and to register. Free, one-on-one counseling--no appointment needed--is offered at various Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce sites. On Tuesdays and Thursdays counseling is offered from 10:00 am to noon at 622 19th St., Moline; on Wednesdays from 10:00 to noon at 2117 State St., Bettendorf; and on Tuesdays from 10:00 to noon at the New Ventures Center, 331 West Third St, Davenport. Counseling is also provided by the Clinton Area Branch on Friday from 10:00 am to noon at the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, Clinton, IA. SCORE counselors will meet with clients at other locations by appointment—call (309) 7970082. Everyone knows what professional services cost. The free professional services offered to small businesses by SCORE are "The Best Bargain in Town." Score may be electronically contacted at: [email protected] and Web Site is www.quadcitiesscore.org.
