| Local lenders' business loans going bad
Bad loan writeoffs are surging at Chicago banks, a sign that housing market troubles are spreading to small and mid-sized businesses. The area's second- and third-largest banks LaSalle Bank N.A. (now owned by Bank of America Corp.) and Harris N.A. wrote off business loans through Sept. 30 at more than twice the rate of last year, according to financial statements. As a group, the 15 largest local banks that disclose Chicago-specific data wrote off $84.3 million in business loans, about double the figure for the first three quarters of 2006. Although loans to commercial real estate developers took a turn for the worse early this year, lending to other businesses has been seen as safe. The writeoffs haven't reached levels that dent banks' earnings, but many bankers expect credit quality to further deteriorate this year and well into 2008 as the economy continues to soften.
Reviews a time to stay positive
Employees need feedback throughout the year, not just when annual reviews are scheduled. By Joyce Rosenberg
Syndicated Columnist Giving employees annual performance reviews or appraisals can be one of a small-business owner's most dreaded tasks. Doing them more often and going into the process with a positive rather than punitive attitude can make a review much less of an ordeal.
Perhaps the first thing to know about employee reviews or appraisals is that they shouldn't be once-a-year events. You should be giving your staff feedback -- positive and negative -- on an ongoing basis. Some companies have sit-down sessions with workers two, three or even four times a year, finding it's worthwhile whether an employee is doing well or struggling.
By giving more frequent reviews, "you focus on identifying problems before they get too big and mapping out ways to correct the behavior," said Julie Lenzer Kirk, of Damascus, Md., who owned a software and consulting company for 10 years.
Sometimes you have to forge ahead with business startup
The Washington, D.C.-based Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council recently released its 12th annual ranking of states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship. Florida ranked fifth best among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the "Small Business Survival Index 2007." The state was sixth a year ago. According to the council, important factors behind the ranking are taxes, regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, health care and energy costs, among others. Florida, which trailed South Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming and Washington, gains an edge due to an absence of state personal income, capital gains and estate taxes. .
In Business Q and A
In November 2006, J. Michael "Mike" Murphy, a Chicago native, moved to Las Vegas from the Windy City to open the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Nevada office. The first president and general manager of the Nevada office, Murphy started his career at Merrill Lynch as a financial consultant dealing in both institutional and private markets. In 1996, he joined Acordia Senior/Personal, which later merged with Anthem. Before assuming the role of president of Anthem Nevada, he served as the national vice president of sales for Anthem's consumer services division of UniCare. He earned undergraduate degrees at Butler University in Indianapolis on a soccer scholarship and earned a master's in management from the University of Notre Dame. His and his staff's Westcliff Drive office tucked away in Bank of America's tower is only temporary.
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