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Almanac
In the Money
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Business New Haven
1/25/1999
By: BNH
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The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) has joined forces with the Bank of America in a new program designed to provide small-business training on business planning and the importance of a financial plan within an overall business plan. Bank of America, the nation's largest small-business lender, will provide SCORE and its SCORE Small Business Web Site (www.score.org) with information about access to capital and sound financial practices. “Financing is a value to small businesses,” says SCORE President Emmett Gumm. “Since many small businesses are undercapitalized, a better understanding of financing and how to be a good bank customer is a big advantage to a small business planning for growth.” Those interested can also look for new workshops under the heading “Managing Business Finances” on the SCORE Web site this month.
Slow But Steady
Wins the Race
So, what can business people really expect from 1999, not counting the growing din of Y2K alarmism and no Michael Jordan? According to most forecasters in the know, growth in employment, housing permits, retail sales, income and gross state product will continue in Connecticut - but at a slower pace than we saw in 1998. The state added more than 22,000 jobs in the 12 months ending last October, a growth rate of 1.4 percent compared to a national rate of 2.3 percent. Retail sales, however, outpaced the nation's in 1996 and '97: Data through September indicated year-to-date retail sales in Connecticut of $27.17 billion, up 6.7 percent over the same period one year prior. Housing permits were up a robust 21.9 percent through October compared to the year before; just-released data for November illustrates a feel-good 45.6 percent increase in new housing units over November 1997.
Little Ado About Something
Many small-business owners have devised a unique strategy for coping with the looming Year 2000 computer problem: Ignore it, and hope it goes away. A new study by the National Federation of Independent Businesses asked small employers what they planned to spend to overcome the anticipated Y2K bug. Their answers? Twenty-three percent said they planned to spend nothing, while an equal number responded that they would spend less than $1,000 on the problem. Only seven percent of small-business owners reported that they would invest more than $25,000 in a Y2K remedy.
Interpreting Tea Leaves
Are Connecticut residents more satisfied with their HMO coverage than most observers previously suspected - or are they simply unaware that they can appeal individual decisions by HMOs? In either case, the state-run appeals process for HMO patients did very little business in 1998. A total of just 23 cases were accepted for consideration; of those reviewed, nine were decided in favor of the patient, and seven for the HMO. Connecticut HMO spokesperson Keith Stover says that the paucity of cases reflects satisfaction among patients with coverage. Others say that it means the state simply must do a better job getting the word out about the appeals process.
Frequent Sleeper Miles
A front-desk employee at the Howard Johnson Inn in Hamden has been honored as part of the chain's guest frequency program. During 1998 Josely Sanchez enrolled 419 guests, more than any employee of any Howard Johnson property worldwide, in HoJo's SuperMiles program. Members of the SuperMiles Club earn one mile for every dollar they spend on qualifying stays; these can be redeemed for free or discounted stays at other Howard Johnson properties, airline mileage vouchers and car rentals. For her efforts, Sanchez will win a week's vacation for two and a trip to Las Vegas to receive the award in person. Under the promotion the Hamden Howard Johnson, owned by Schaffer Hotels, enrolled more lodgers than any other property in the chain.
The Mouse That Roared
Speaking of awards, North Haven's Connecticut Communications Corp. has made the list of “Top U.S. Interconnects” published by Teleconnect magazine, earning No. 100 honors among the more than 4,500 companies nationwide that sell and install phone systems to end users. Founded in 1972 as the New Haven Telephone Co., Connecticut Communications is now the oldest surviving equipment provider in the state, according to President Dick Augur, who says he's especially proud “that we have been able to increase our market share both before and after Ma Bell's monopoly was broken up.” Over the past half-century, Connecticut Communications has provided telephone and voice-mail systems to some 3,500 clients.
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