March 2013 IBAW Magazine

MARCH 2013 FRIDAY MARCH 22ND WI SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ROGGENSACK

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

HAVAS: PROPER BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS

KEIL: UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS INSURANCE OPTIONS

MONDAY MARCH 25TH SENATOR RON JOHNSON

KEATING: IMMIGRATION & ENTREPRENEURS

no business is small At AT&T a storefront is as important as a skyscraper.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

They are the engines of new opportunity and growth. Having access to innovative technologies drives success. And we’re here to make sure you’re connected. Always.

AT&T is proud to support the Independent Business Association of Wisconsin.

© 2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.

IBA MEDIA LINK Executive Director Steve Kohlmann Heritage Printing / Cultivate Communications President Ann Barry Hanneman Simandl Law Group S.C. President Elect 2013 Steve Van Lieshout K & S Technologies VP. State & National Programs Jeff Hoffman Judson & Assoc.

Secretary John Weber Hypneumat

Governor Scott Walker talks about more prosperity, better performance & true independence.

Click here to listen.

Treasurer Casey Malek Kolb + Co. Membership / Sponsorship Heather Baylor Park Bank

Directors Bart Adams Kolb + Co. Larry Elton Advantage Leasing Richard Blomquist Blomquist Benefits Jason Kuwayama Godfrey & Kahn Tom Boelkow BSI Design, Build, Furnish Dave Drumel Staff Electric

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Attendees Date & Time Venue Value Agenda RSVP

CEOs, CFOs, HR, Controllers Thursday, March 14, 2013 7:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

(Includes registration, breakfast and lunch) Tuckaway Country Club 6901 West Drexel Avenue Franklin, WI $30.00 per attendee.

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by March 7, 2013.

Contact: Kimina Falkowski (414) 421-3800 Ext. 4826 KFalkowski@starrgroup.com www.starrgroup.com Call Today. Seating is limited.

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Business Presentation Series Special Lunch Meeting, Date & Location replaces our usual breakfast meeting!

WI Supreme Court Justice Roggensack Justice Pat Roggensack was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2003. Justice Roggensack is the Supreme Court’s delegate to the Wisconsin Judicial Counsel, which reviews and recommends Wisconsin’s rules of practice and procedure before Wisconsin courts.

Prior to commencing her service on the Supreme Court, Justice Roggensack was twice elected to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals. She is the first and only justice to have served on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

Friday, March 22nd - 11:30 am - 1:00 pm Country Springs Hotel, 2810 Golf Road - Pewaukee IBA Member - $30 • Future Members - $40 • To register click here.

REGISTER NOW!

SAVE THE DATE! *MEMBERS ONLY EVENT*

April 19th

Monday March 25

Dan Schwartzer

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

State of Wisconsin Deputy Commissioner of Insurance

Roundtable Discussion with Senator Ron Johnson Location: Kolb + Co. 13400 Bishops Lane - Suite 300 Brookfield, WI 53005 Cost: FREE Click here to register.

REGISTRATION OPENS SOON.

Christine McMahon lead a packed room of over 75 for a insightful program about keeping your company culture INNOVATIVE. Christine hosts a full workshop on this topic.

For more information click here.

Special thanks to our friends at Waukesha County Technical College for hosting this fine event.

Take Advantage of IBAW Steve Kohlmann, IBAW Executive Director

No doubt about it, February was a busy month for the IBAW. We had an outstanding monthly breakfast meeting featuring Jim Brandenburg of Kolb + Co. giving us an overview of the latest fiscal cliff news and new tax laws. You can view Jim’s Powerpoint. There’s a link to it in this magazine on page 13.

We also partnered up with the WMC for Business Day in Madison, a day-long event that drew in some 1100 business owners & professionals from all over the state of Wisconsin.

It was a great day as we heard from national speakers such as Economist Dr. Barry Asmus to Political pundit Stephen Hayes. General Michael Hayden, former Director of CIA and the National Security Agency gave a sobering review of national & world security issues.

We also heard from Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Roggensack and Governor Scott Walker outlined his plan for entitlement reform.

We closed up the day by going to the Capitol and talking about issues such as the importance of passing the mining bill to our representatives.

If you missed it, you really missed it. But even if you did miss these two great events we have two more exceptional events planned for March.

On Friday, March 22nd we’ll be having a lunch meeting at The Country Springs Hotel. Our featured speaker will be Supreme Court Justice Roggensack.

This is obviously a election year for the Justice, it is an important race to be sure so I hope you’ll come out and visit with her. Court Justices aren’t easily accessible to visit with so please take this opportunity to do so. By the way, this lunch meeting will replace our usual

breakfast meeting. We have moved the time & location to fit Justice Roggensack’s schedule. We’ll be back at the Wisconsin Club in April for our usual 3rd Friday meeting.

On Monday, March 25th we’re changing it up a bit by hosting a roundtable discussion with Senator Ron Johnson. The Senator is in town that day and we are fortunate enough to have him stop in and hear your concerns about the challenges facing the nation.

For this event we have invited several other elected officials: Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, State Senator Leah Vukmir, and Representatives Chris Kapenga and Dale Kooyenga.

This is a free event open to IBAW members only but guests are welcome when accompanied by an IBAW member. Seating is limited so please register early on the IBAW website.

Speaking of websites...

I am working to enhance the IBAW website, to give our members better content in a more user friendly manner.

I am looking for corporate help in underwriting this work so if you are interested, I would love to have a conversation with you in that regard.

That’s about all for now. I have to get busy uploading this magazine and work on scheduling new speakers for this summer.

And you have to head over to the IBAW website and register for some events!

Immigration, Entrepreneurs & Bipartisan Legislation in the Senate Raymond J. Keating, Small Business Entrepreneurship Council

How about some actual bipartisanship that would be beneficial for entrepreneurship in the U.S.?

On February 13, the Startup Act 3.0 was introduced by U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Mark Warner (DVa.), along with Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

As noted in the press statement on the legislation, the Startup Act 3.0 includes the following key provisions regarding immigration and entrepreneurship: 1

“Creates an Entrepreneur’s Visa for legal immigrants, so they can remain in the United States, launch businesses and create jobs;

2

“Creates a new STEM visa so U.S.-educated foreign students, who graduate with a master’s or Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, can receive a green card and stay in this country where their talent and ideas can fuel growth and create American jobs;

3

“Eliminates the per-country caps for employment-based immigrant visas – which hinder U.S. employers from recruiting the top-tier talent they need to grow.”

Other parts of the legislation would make permanent the capital gains exemption on selling startup stock after five years; create an R&D exemption for startups with less than $5 million in annual receipts; and require “all government agencies to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of all proposed ‘significant rules’ with an economic impact of $100 million or more” in order to “help determine the efficacy of regulations and their potential impact on the formation and growth of new businesses.”

Senator Moran said, “America has long been seen as the land of opportunity for innovators and entrepreneurs. We must do everything possible to make certain that remains true. At a time when our economy needs jobs first and foremost, America’s archaic government policies have us falling behind. We are losing talent and jobs by the day to countries like Canada, Chile, and the United Kingdom that are aggressively courting the world’s best and brightest. We must pass Startup Act 3.0, or we risk losing the next generation of great entrepreneurs and the jobs they create to countries that have taken action to attract and better support these innovators.”

It is critical to keep in mind the role that immigrant entrepreneurs have played, and hopefully will continue to play, in the U.S. economy.

For example, consider the key findings in the high-tech arena from a 2007 study done by researchers at Duke University and the University of California, at Berkeley. Namely, that among technology and engineering companies started up in the United States between 1995 and 2005, 25.3 percent had at least one key founder who was foreign born.

For good measure, there was a January 2012 report titled “Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Creating Jobs and Strengthening the Economy” from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Immigration Policy Center (IPC), in which it was reported, “Immigrants are more likely than native workers to choose self-employment and starting their own businesses. Of naturalized citizens, 5.1% were employed in their own incorporated businesses, compared with only 3.7% of employed native-born citizens who were employed in their own incorporated businesses.”

Finally, it was noted in the press release on the Startup Act 3.0: “Of the current Fortune 500 companies – including Apple, Google and eBay – more than 40 percent were founded by a first- or second-generation American. These American companies employ more than 10 million people.”

Immigration and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. After all, someone willing to leave his or her native country to live and work in another country is, by nature, a risk taker. We should not be surprised that these risk takers turn out to be economic risk takers as well.

The immigration reform debate has returned, and it is highly charged. This legislation would seem to be at least one area where broad bipartisanship can be achieved, with benefits spreading throughout our economy.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.

Innovation Event Now Has A Workshop...

Is innovation an integral part of your strategic business plan?

What percent of your business is the result of new offerings developed within the last five years?

Do you have a sustainable process for capturing and evaluating ideas, and then turning them into streams of profitable revenue?

To learn more about how to drive sales revenues and importantly, predict your future, register to attend the "Innovation ... because growth matters!" workshop at WCTC on March 21st.

To register, click here.

Presented by Christine McMahon

Owning a Small Business Carries Big Responsibilities Jeremy P Keil, CFA, CFP®, Wealth Advisor, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Owning a small business can provide a great sense of accomplishment, pride and freedom. It also carries big responsibilities – and risk – for business owners and their families.

Given the day-to-day demands of running a small business, it can be easy for owners to overlook the importance of protecting the true engine of their business: themselves and their employees. No amount of marketing prowess, entrepreneurial spirit, or "elbow grease" can make up for an untimely disability, the loss of a key employee or a lack of business continuation planning.

Using appropriate financial strategies to protect one's small business can help owners strengthen their bottom line and, just perhaps, sleep a little better at night. After all, business owners have a vested interest in protecting their vital investment. Here are some options to keep in mind.

Business overhead expense insurance. This insurance helps business owners meet monthly business overhead expenses in the event they are disabled for a period of time. While that possibility may seem remote, statistics paint a different picture. According to the Life and Health Insurance for Education, nearly one in three women can expect to suffer a disability that keeps them out of work for 90 days or longer at some point during their working years. For men, the odds are about one in four. And, one worker in seven can expect to be disabled for five or more years before retirement.

Business overhead expense insurance coverage can help keep a business open by paying approved expenses a business owner may incur while he or she is unable to work. This can help preserve client relationships, protect owners from depleting business assets to pay for overhead expenses—such as rents and employee salaries—to help the owner maintain a healthy credit record, and give owners time to recover or make alternative arrangements without the burden of financial worries.

Key employee solutions. Small business owners are constantly faced with the challenge of recruiting and keeping good employees. This is especially true of small businesses where perhaps one or two employees have the knowledge and skills that would be extremely difficult for the business to replace.

Financial tools exist to help protect businesses in this situation, offering tax savings for owners and rewarding employees who make the business what it is. These solutions include: •

Key person life insurance, which protects businesses from the potential financial impact of a key person's death.

•

Deferred compensation or salary continuation, which provides a valuable benefit to a key employee without increasing that person's current income taxes and offers an incentive to stay with the small business.

•

A split dollar plan, which allows the owner and his or her employee to work as a team to obtain the employee's life insurance with the cash value from the insurance growing on a tax-deferred basis that can be used as a retirement fund.

•

Major medical insurance and disability income insurance, which offer important protection for employees in the case of illness or disability.

Business continuation and valuation. Having the right insurance in place can help small business owners transition their business to the next generation of ownership. For example, a buy-sell agreement identifies a buyer or potential buyer of a business and the conditions under which the sale will occur. This may help settle estates and provide an income stream to beneficiaries. It also helps establish a fair, reasonable price for the business and generates an acknowledged business value for federal estate purposes.

A qualified attorney can help a small business owner draw up a buy-sell agreement. Once in place, the agreement can be funded through several means, including an arrangement with life insurance or disability income buyout insurance on the owner.

Working with qualified professionals, including an attorney, tax professional and financial professional, can assist small business owners in determining and implementing the options most appropriate for their needs.

Jeremy P Keil, CFA, CFP® is a Wealth Advisor with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Muskego, WI. He can be reached at (262) 679-3280.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans is a not-for-profit, Fortune 500 financial services membership organization helping approximately 2.5 million members achieve their financial goals and give back to their communities. This column was prepared by Thrivent Financial for use by this representative.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and its respective associates and employees cannot provide legal, accounting, or tax advice or services. Work with your Thrivent Financial representative, and as appropriate, your attorney and/or tax professional for additional information.

Insurance products issued or offered by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Appleton, WI. Not all products are available in all states. Securities and investment advisory services are offered through Thrivent Investment Management Inc., 625 Fourth Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55415, 800-847-4836, a FINRA and SIPC member and a wholly owned subsidiary of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Thrivent Financial representatives are registered representatives of Thrivent Investment Management Inc. They are also licensed insurance agents of Thrivent Financial.

Deposit and lending services are offered by Thrivent Federal Credit Union, a member-owned not-for-profit financial cooperative that is federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration and doing business in accordance with the Federal Fair Lending Laws. Insurance, securities, investment advisory and trust and investment management accounts and services offered by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans or its affiliates are not deposits or obligations of Thrivent Federal Credit Union, are not guaranteed by Thrivent Federal Credit Union or any bank, are not insured by the NCUA, FDIC or any other federal government agency, and involve investment risk, including possible loss of the principal amount invested.

Pardon Me, Your Grammar is Showing Barbara Havas, Marketing & Communications

I see them everywhere: on signage, television captions, restaurant menus, and in countless corporate communications and company advertisements. They leap out at me from page, screen and tablet, glaring in their error, each example reminding me that not enough attention is paid to details. “They” are spelling, grammar and punctuation errors, and while their existence is nothing new, the occurrences seem to be increasing. Is it because people are busier? Relying on auto-correct? Or simply not paying attention?

In over 20 years working in companies large and small, I have seen my share of mistakes in official corporate publications, memos and other communications – especially surprising in larger companies, where there are presumably more eyes reviewing everything, including those of the executives whose signatures are on the page.

For me, seeing these obvious errors is a distraction. I believe that any corporate communication, be it internal memos or (absolutely) an annual report, should include proper spelling, punctuation and grammar; missing simple errors can reflect negatively on the company. And while you’re probably nodding in agreement, when’s the last time you noticed an unfortunate error in something that your customers/clients were receiving?

Typically, the things I see that make me crazy are easily avoided, and fall into one of four categories: Spelling. Here’s an example. Remember the basic rule from grade school to help discern between principal and principle? The principal was your pal and therefore helped you remember that the ending in –pal was a person. I recently saw a publication outlining a company’s mission and key principals – not principles. In this case, the meaning isn’t lost, but the usage is incorrect. Ditto on affect and effect, and other homonyms that regularly get interchanged. Let these errors slip by into a brochure, and you’ve just invested resources on a piece that doesn’t present you in the best light.

Recently I received a letter from my insurance company, a major nationwide insurer, noting that if I have questions, I am to “…get in touch with you’re agent.” Obviously it should read “…your agent” as “you’re” is a contraction of “you are.” Remember that spell check is not grammar check. It’s a tool, not a solution.

Punctuation. We sell TV’s. The car belong’s to Mike. Bills’ assistant set up the meeting. These are all real examples of misused apostrophes (correct form above is TVs, belongs, and Bill’s). Misuse of apostrophes in plurals is rampant, and one quick tip is to remember that you put on your shoes and socks, not your shoe’s and sock’s. Misplacement in possessives is also commonly seen (Bill’s vs. Bills’ above). Proper use is far too lengthy a discussion for this space, but be aware of these common misuses. I also see semicolons used improperly. In general, a test for usage is that if the semicolon were a period, the two sentences or ideas that are separated by the semicolon would stand as complete sentences on their own. In years of working for a Fortune 300 company, I can’t begin to count the number of corporate emails and memos I and thousands of employees read from senior leadership that had punctuation errors (as well as spelling and language errors).

Improper spelling of proper names. An expensive, professionally-designed full-page newspaper advertisement a few years ago announced the grand opening of a new business on Capital Drive in Brookfield. Thousands of dollars spent to create and run an ad for a company that is really on Capitol Drive. It really doesn’t take much effort to ensure that even the smallest details are correct, especially phone numbers. Not checking the details can compromise the message itself, as well as the integrity of your image.

Sentence fragments. Go back to your third grade self and remember the guideline that sentences must contain a noun and a verb. There are plenty of grammatically incorrect non-sentences out there, and they are distracting in that the text simply doesn’t “flow” right when reading. Plus they really irritate people like me (and I do believe I am in good company with many others who notice and care about these things!).

The simplest solution for eliminating common spelling, grammar and punctuation problems? Proofread - and share. Make sure you really do read anything for which you’re responsible, be it a memo on which you’re signing off, the annual report, or your company’s website. Accuracy in customer-facing vehicles is especially important. If you’re not confident you’ll catch everything, find someone who will. Have others review and read, as a fresh set of eyes is always helpful.

For some entertaining examples of unfortunate errors, do an online search for “typos in print” and you’ll find plenty – certainly more onerous than some of the examples above, but all great examples of the benefits of proofreading and paying attention to details. Being accurate doesn’t have a downside!

Barbara Havas has worked in Marketing and Marketing Communications in the healthcare industry for over 20 years, and is presently a free agent looking for a new team. Reach her at havas.barb@gmail.com.

Highlights from Jim Brandenburg’s February Presentation...

• Current tax rates will be extended permanently for those with incomes under $400,000 (single status) and $450,000 (married couple filing jointly).

• For those above these income levels, their top tax rate will rise to 39.6%. The “income” for this purpose is taxable income.

• R & D Tax Credit extended for 2012 & 2013. The credit temporarily expired as of 12/31/11.

• Expanded Section 179 expensing is now at $500,000 for 2012 and 2013 with a cap of $2,000,000 in overall fixed asset additions in the year.

More helpful information is made available to you by Kolb + Co. The full Power Point Presentation is on the IBAW website and can be seen by clicking here.

IBAW Member Named Waukesha Citizen of the Year Congratulations to IBAW member, Nancy Major who is Executive Director of Safe Babies Healthy Families.

Nancy was recently named Waukesha Citizen of the Year

by The Waukesha Freeman for her hard work and dedication to making Waukesha - and southeastern Wisconsin a better place to live.

Congratulations Nancy!

To read the entire article, click here.

Safebabieshealthyfamilies.org

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Name____________________________________________________________________________________ Company_________________________________________________________________________________ Type of Business___________________________________________________________________________ Address__________________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip_____________________________________________________________________________ Phone____________________________________Fax_____________________________________________ Email______________________________________Website________________________________________

PLEASE CHOOSE THE APPROPRATE CATEGORY FOR YOUR INVESTMENT IN THE GROWTH AND STABILITY OF SMALL BUSINESS

AMOUNT

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN COMPANY ANNUAL DUES

1 ʹ 5 $215

6 ʹ 15 $275

16 ʹ 25 $375

26 ʹ 49 $470

50 or more $600

Sustaining Member $700

Special! ʹ Pre pay breakfast meetings ʹ 12 for the price of 10 $300

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PAYING BY CHECK ? Make checks payable to IBA ʹ and mail to: IBA 960 Timber Pass Brookfield, WI 53045

WANT TO PAY ONLINE? You can also pay by Mastercard / Visa at the IBA Membership page. www.ibaw.com

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The Independent Business Association of Wisconsin is a not-­for-­profit entity filed with the IRS under 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. As a not-­for-­profit association, the members of The Independent Business Association, Inc. are allowed to deduct a percentage of dues that are not used for lobbying purposes. For the year 2012 based on the total income of the association and the lobbying expenses as reported on the Wisconsin State Ethics Board Lobbying reports for 2011 the percent of dues that were used for lobbing purposes is 15%. Therefore, the percent of dues that would be tax deductible is 85%.