Business Woman May 2017 by On-Line Publishers, Inc.

May 2017

Preparing for disaster 6 Ways to Own Going Back to Work

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Inside

WHAT’S 4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 7 Where’s the money?

Whom to turn to when you need a business loan.

9 Identity Theft

Taking steps to protect your business.

12 Preparing for disaster

10 steps small businesses should take.

13 Going back to work

Six steps to restart your career.

15 A penny saved is a penny earned

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Help your child develop good saving habits.

17 The truth about hot peppers

Don’t be afraid to add a little heat to your meals.

19 Childhood Allergies

What are the most common allergies in children?

22 women to watch

New hires and promotions.

22 ACHIEVEMENTS & APPLAUSE

Awards and accomplishments.

23 meet and greet

Regional networking events and meetings.

5 cover story Women have made inroads in many previously male-dominated industries. Carolyn Stacks and her daughter, Chelsea Herrick, are literally paving their way to success. As owner of Daniel B. Krieg, Inc., a sealcoating and crack-filling company, she knows the strength of any company is due in part to the support and experience of the entire team.

Financial Issues of Divorce Estate Planning | Financial Services Investment/Portfolio Analysis & Design Asset Allocation Strategies Risk Management Strategies Long Term Care Insurance

Deborah Pajak CFP®, ChFC®, CLTC, CDFA™, CFBS, Partner

717-791-3398 www.ufinancialgroup.com DePajak@FinancialGuide.com 5001 Louise Dr. #300 Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 Deborah Pajak is a registered representative of and offers securities, investment advisory, and financial planning services through MML Investors Services, LLC, Member SIPC.

BUSINESSWomanPA.com

May 2017

Note

Editor’S

May 2017 Vol. 14 - No. 5

PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER

Donna K. Anderson

EDITORIAL

am enjoying the warmer weather but I must took time out to rear children or attend to an ill loved one? admit, I have never had to deal with allergies like Are you worried about the gap in your resume, lost skills, I have this spring! I’ve heard a lot of other people etc.? Find out what needs to be done before you intend to commiserating about the same thing. But it’s really reenter the workforce. Are you a saver or a spender? Teaching your children just a typical spring—allergens, rains, and erratic winds. Is your business ready for a disaster? Weather is good saving/spending habits at an early age helps them develop finance skills. It’s unpredictable (no surprise there), surprising how young you can and catastrophes have occurred start teaching this to your kids. not only across the globe, but Help them be prepared for their also in our own neighborhoods. financial futures by instilling Tornado touchdowns have “But to look back all the time is good habits now. done great damage to some If you weren’t able to attend businesses and caused outages boring. Excitement lies in tomorrow.” our recent Dauphin County in others, resulting in business ~ Natalia Makarova women’s expo, you missed interruptions. Would you be an amazing day of fun and prepared? Learn 10 steps to minimize your down time. laughter. About 1,500 women There are other ways your enjoyed tasting samples, watching entertainment and business could be affected by upheaval. It could be attacked by a hacker. We are all aware demonstrations, trying on clothes, and talking with of personal identity theft, but business owners also have to exhibitors. They benefited from free health screenings and be concerned about their business’s identity. It could be massages and most (including me) took home a purchase “masked,” resulting in lost sales and revenue; the personal they made along the way. See you at our fall events! information of their clients held on their computer could be stolen; and more. Read how you can guard your business against this type of deception. In this issue we like to include a couple of articles that focus on children. Are you someone or do you know Christianne Rupp someone who has been out of the workforce because they Vice President and Managing Editor

“”

Mark your calendar to attend these FREE events! Exhibitors • Health Screenings • Seminars • Demonstrations • Entertainment • Door Prizes

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BusinessWoman is published monthly by On-Line Publishers, Inc., 3912 Abel Drive, Columbia, PA 17512, 717.285.1350. Copyright On-Line Publishers, Inc. 2017. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is strictly prohibited. Views expressed in opinion stories, contributions, articles and letters are not necessarily the views of the Publisher. The appearance of advertisements for products or services does not constitute an endorsement of the particular product or service. Although every effort is made to ensure factual information, BusinessWoman cannot be held responsible for errors in contributors’ material, nor does the editorial material necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. On-Line Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to revise or reject any and all advertising. Subscription information: $14 per year for home delivery of 12 monthly issues. Subscribe online at www.BusinessWomanPA.com or call 717.285.1350. Member Of:

Story

CAREER

COVER

Paving the Way to Success By LYNDA HUDZICK

n the 27 years since Carolyn Stacks joined the Daniel B. Krieg, Inc., team, she’s had to wear many hats, often several of them at once. That fact is still true today, but as Stacks is proud to explain, now she is an owner of the company that she has given so much to and that she so heartily believes in. This married mother of one grew up in Carlisle, graduating from Boiling Springs High School and then Penn State University with a degree in hotel, restaurant, and institutional management with an emphasis in accounting. She worked for several hotel properties after graduation, but “eventually realized that the demands of a hotel general manager did not coincide with my desire to spend time with my daughter,” Stacks said. She left the hotel industry and started doing some accounting work, eventually ending up as the head of the Daniel B. Krieg, Inc., accounting department, where she quickly identified inefficiencies within the system and through careful scrutiny was “able to cut expenses dramatically,” she said. “I’m now married to Dan and have acquired ownership over the years.” Her daughter has also been working for the company for several years now, making it a fourthgeneration business. The family-owned company, which began in 1933, started by selling 55gallon drums of oil and eventually

Carolyn Stacks, left, and her daughter Chelsea Herrick.

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Career

expanded into oiling and chipping roads. Today, it mainly provides paving-maintenance services and supports those in the paving industry, along with offering a thriving resale operation. “I knew next to nothing about the industry and really just learned along the way through day-today experience,” Stacks said. “It’s important to know that we are not a ‘paving’ company. We don’t actually pave.” As a part of their pavingmaintenance services, they do “apply the ‘tack’ coat that binds the old pavement to the new pavement, we seal the paving seams after paving, and we perform crack filling prior to and after paving,” Stacks said. “We also sealcoat commercial and industrial parking lots. We

make our services available 24/7 and have been known to receive calls in the middle of the night from a customer whose equipment has broken down and without us showing up, would [have to] shut down the paving for the shift.” Stacks is proud to note that her company has been featured in the Central Penn Business Journal as one of the December 2012 Top 25 Woman-Owned Businesses, one of the August 2012 FastestGrowing Companies, and one of the December 2015 Top Woman-Owned Businesses. But she is also quick to note that the company wouldn’t be nearly so successful without the support of an experienced team. “We have employees with many years of service with our company,”

Stacks said. “They are the best at what they do and take much pride in their work. We try to make a positive difference in our employees’ lives as well. We can’t do what we do without a great team.” Being a woman in the paving industry hasn’t been much of a hindrance for Stacks because “when you’re knowledgeable about the industry and your specific services and products, the gender issue becomes a nonstarter,” she said. “Most customers are simply happy to be able to get some answers about the most effective and efficient application for their specific needs.” Additionally, she was happy to share that six of their 20 employees are female, and “two of those are truck drivers who work directly on the highway crews,” she said. As in any business working within the service industry, there are challenges that must be faced, and two of the biggest occur within their pavement-maintenance service program. “First is getting our foot in the door,” Stacks said, “and then trying to do the highest-quality work in an industry that includes competitors that cut corners and can therefore offer a lower price for their work.” One example is the importance of filling parking lot cracks properly. “The most important thing you can do to increase the life of your pavement is to properly crack fill,” she said. “Those cracks are telling you that your subbase is failing. “When considering a contractor, ask them if they’ll be blowing out the existing dirt prior to filling the

cracks. If they simply go over the existing dirt, the crack filler will not adhere to the blacktop and the crack will simply open up again.” Stacks feels it is imperative to show her gratitude for her many blessings by giving back to others. “I have volunteered in the past for Meals on Wheels and the Women’s Shelter at the Bethesda Mission,” she said. “I am currently a volunteer at the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and have consistently contributed thousands to the food bank each year.” Her philosophy with her charity choices is simple. “If an individual is lacking the most basic of necessities (food, shelter), they have little chance of lifting themselves out of their circumstances,” Stacks said. It is her belief that anything can be accomplished with determination and effort. “Throughout my journey, I’ve learned that persistence and hard work are very rewarding,” Stacks said. And just as it is essential to keep the foundation of a paving job solid, stable, and crack free, it’s also important to her to keep her company on a solid and stable base by constantly educating herself on the latest policies and regulations that affect the business and the industry overall. “The information I’m learning helps me to become a better administrator and also helps me personally,” Stacks said. “I’ll continue to work to keep Daniel B. Krieg, Inc., a leader in this area for our services.”

Krista Blasser

Senior Business Services Partner

717-741-1770 | yorktraditionsbank.com Member FDIC | Equal Opportunity Lender

~ May 2017 | BUSINESSWoman

CAREER

Where’s the Money?

Whom to Turn to When You Need a Business Loan By BARBARA TRAININ BLANK

f you’re a small business owner starting out and need a loan, where would you go? Both credit unions and community banks are possible lenders. That wasn’t always the case with credit unions. “Historically, many credit unions didn’t lend to businesses,” said Wendy Kalbach, senior manager of community and business development at Lebanon Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Lebanon. “In recent years, credit unions are growing and competing with commercial banks to offer more loan products and services, including commercial (business) loans.” Lebanon Federal Credit Union, for example, offers auto loans, mortgages, home equity loans, Signature loans, personal lines of credit, student lending, and business lending. The money for the loans comes from the credit union funds, which it has on deposit, and from the interest it earns on accounts. The credit union itself backs all its loans. “We have provisions that we set aside in case payment isn’t made by the borrower,” said Kalbach. Because credit unions are not-for-profit institutions with voluntary member-elected boards, their loan interest rates and fees may be lower to their members, which means a lower overall cost of borrowing. Credit union profits go directly back to the membership, allowing an institution like

Lebanon Federal Credit Union to offer higher savings rates and lower fees to its members. “A credit union is owned by its members,” said Kalbach. “If you open a savings account with $25, that makes you a member and part owner of the credit union.” Kalbach also pointed out that it may be easier to get approval for a loan at a credit union. “We have a tradition of going out of our way to lend to the underserved, whom some banks would turn down,” Kalbach said. Credit unions, she added, offer the same products and services big banks do, “with a more personal, hometown touch. Our focus is to serve the financial needs of our members and our local community.” Anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in the area is eligible for membership in most credit unions. Banks have long been active in the lending business. Jonestown Bank & Trust Co., for example, offers many types of loans, including real estate, business assets, equipment, working capital, and business expansion, said Regina Lutz, commercial lender. In addition to loans, banks counsel borrowers about creating a business plan, how the financial process works, and what to do to qualify for a loan. There are quite a few programs available to small businesses and entrepreneurs, such as Community First Fund, USDA-Farm Service, and Small Business Administration BUSINESSWomanPA.com

May 2017

Career

loans, said Lutz. The USDA guarantees a portion of the loan. The SBA, on the other hand, requires the borrower to put 10 percent in cash as a down payment. Without the SBA, however, the percentage goes up to 20 percent. “So, an SBA loan is helpful for those who don’t have the capital for 20 percent,” said Lutz. Jonestown Bank & Trust is an approved SBA lender to accommodate loan requests. “Community banks can go through the process in partnership with SBA to make a loan happen,” said Lutz. Jonestown Bank & Trust prides itself on being able to “take each deal on its own individual merits,” she said. That means, for example, using additional collateral in lieu of 20 percent down in cash or analyzing the borrower or guarantor’s entire financial picture when looking to lend to new or

infant businesses that require financing. Community banks like Jonestown Bank & Trust offer credit cards for small borrowers—which are “a great solution for a lot of small businesses,” said Lutz. They also offer working capital lines of credit, loans, and mortgages. Banks can also provide cashmanagement services. By utilizing a sweep cash-management product, the surplus balance sweeps

from the checking account into the line of credit after every business day. This reduces the borrower’s interest expense. Most banks tailor cashmanagement needs to suit a specific business. They also have trust and investment services that not only help invest the profits of the business, but also help individual business owners with their trust- and wealthmanagement needs. “It’s not ‘one size fits all.’ Each

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owner may have a different need,” said Lutz. In lending, it’s very important that the lender know and understand how a business operates: Its cashflow cycle and finances help determine what the business needs. That may mean more than one appointment between the lender and the business owner. Such an understanding means the lender can recommend the best products to serve the business’s needs. A business owner may not necessarily know what they are or what is available. It seems both credit unions and banks are interested in helping today’s businesses grow through a variety of long- and short-term lending products. It’s a matter of getting to know the business and their needs, so not only can an effective plan can be established to help them grow their business, but also the lender’s name is strengthened in the community.

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CAREER

Take Steps to Protect Against Business Identity Theft

By KIM KLUGH

eadlines and news reports are rife with incidents of consumer identity theft. In 2014, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were 17.6 million victims of ID theft in the U.S. The IRS reports that phishing emails increased by 400 percent from last year. The Federal Trade Commission confirms that every three seconds there is a new victim of ID theft, and the ID Theft Resource Center announced 781 data breaches and 169 million records exposed in 2015. Individuals are not the only ones vulnerable to this kind of deception; another type of theft that carries the potential for catastrophic mayhem and loss is business identity theft. Similar to consumer ID theft,

business ID theft is also fraud, explains Peter Kraybill, partner with the Law Offices of Gibbel Kraybill & Hess. “Business and personal identity theft occur,” he says, “when a fraudster obtains and acts upon information which allows the fraudster to construct a mask in the appearance of or identity of the business or person whose identity has been appropriated.” Unfortunately, such a mask can be convincingly constructed when an impostor is able to acquire enough sensitive information about a business, thus enabling him to successfully use it to further his own financial gain. Kraybill says that any business owner needs to be aware that “chaos and cost” ensue if the fraudster is

successful in pulling off the ruse. “The primary difference,” says Kraybill, “between the identity of a business being taken and a consumer’s identity being taken is in the potential scale of harm.” For example, Kraybill explains that in instances where a major business would unknowingly direct its customers to wire funds to a fraudster instead of to the authentic business, the resulting fraud could deliver more significant overall damage than to a single individual whose identity is taken. “In the case of a consumer identity theft,” Kraybill says, “there can be real financial and reputational harm to the individual or their family, but typically the harm does not spread to affect an entire pool of individuals—unless every person in

that pool of individuals has also been separately targeted.” A business’s credibility is crucial to its continued success—trust being pivotal to all of its relationships, from vendors to suppliers to customers. There are myriad ramifications for the business that has its identity misappropriated, but Kraybill says the greatest consequence is that of “addressing the public relationship of the business to its constituents, in addition to specifically addressing the protection of those vendors/ suppliers/customers so that they cannot be abused by a fraudster.” So what can a business do to shield itself from this type of rampant deception? Be proactive and counter with a set of established best practices that will help guard against it.

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First and foremost, Kraybill and his colleague, tax attorney Douglas Smith, also with the Law Offices of Gibbel Kraybill & Hess, advise businesses to take a look at the amount of personally identifiable information (PII) they collect and consequently retain. Examples of PII include but are not limited to the following: a person’s full name, phone number, home address, date of birth, Social Security number, medical information, email address, passwords, and credit card numbers. Kraybill and Smith counsel business owners to assess the PII they typically request and to limit it to what’s absolutely essential. In essence, collect only what is needed in order to conduct business. Secondly, Smith advises to limit retention of the PII and “have a plan in place to securely purge what you don’t need to retain.” Kraybill explains that it’s best if your business is able to serve simply as the conduit for sensitive information. If you can relay the PII along for transaction to a thirdparty processor’s secure storage system, then you minimize your chances of a harmful data breach at your end. No one can take what you don’t have. However, if that same information remains in a company file on an unsecured server, Kraybill says, “it can trigger an avalanche of potential claims” if your system is hacked. Fraudsters count on individuals and businesses not doing their homework—they will keep trying until they find a way in somewhere. The digital age, with all of its

perks and benefits, has also increased the ease of access for those lurking with criminal intent. Businesses need to set up security at their front and back doors, and even those measures do not afford 100 percent protection—all the more reason to put a plan in place. “Be prudent,” says Smith, “and contact a cyber security expert who knows the risks and vulnerabilities. Acquire cyber security insurance with a cyber breach policy.” Smith also shares the following list of additional best practices that he included in a recent presentation: • Mandate security-control measures, such as strong passwords, authentication, and encryption. • Educate your staff and clients. • Conduct a periodic deep scan of your computer network. • Prepare an evergreen written security plan and follow it. • Purchase cyber security insurance. • Don’t collect personal information you don’t need, and purge unneeded information regularly. • See IRS publication 4557 and the FTC publication, “Start with Security.” Especially at risk, says Smith, are financial, legal, and accounting advisors. “Your office,” he says, “is a goldmine to perpetrators of ID theft.” And what makes this group more susceptible? “There are very few other locations

Join other businesswomen at monthly luncheon workshops to learn more about achieving success in business. Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 11:30-1:00

Representatives of Governor Wolf’s Commission for Women • Jessica Brubaker, Professor of Business Administration and Independent Nonprofit Consultant • Patti Stirk, President and CEO of SMALL STAR Art House and Star Systems Engineering, Inc.

Jessica Brubaker and Patti Stirk, both appointed to two-year terms by Governor Tom Wolf in October 2015 on The PA Commission for Women, will share insights on policies and legislation that support economic and civic opportunities for women. The Pennsylvania Commission for Women also identifies programs and opportunities for the benefit and advancement of women in Pennsylvania.

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~ May 2017 | BUSINESSWoman

where a client’s critical financial information is consolidated,” Smith says. Once a fraudster obtains the vital information, he says it can be sold on the “dark web that contains a market for buying and selling the access to a practitioner’s networks.” Smith says that the dark web is “extremely organized” and that “some sites run specials of the day.” If not sold on the dark or black web, Kraybill adds the information can also be used by the hacker himself for trading as inside information or for industrial espionage. If you are a legitimate business, Kraybill says it’s important to “set up your entity in such a way so that an outside attorney checking on you will agree that it is normal and legitimate.” You can also reduce the risk of your constituents being taken in by a fraudster’s claims by educating them on how to properly reach the real business. As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to make it easy to reach the people who need to be contacted by those seeking to verify your authenticity. After appropriately filing with the Department of State, make sure your business name and address are listed correctly in the database. Confirm that your company website is what it purports to be. Does it contain contradictions or discrepancies? Include a variety of professional content with “about” and “contact” pages, and update the essential information as needed. What recourse does a business have if its identity is stolen? It is for just this possibility that Kraybill

advises establishing outside legal counsel with an attorney well in advance of a breach so that you already have a relationship with a law firm and a go-to person in the event of stolen identity. “You’ll need to contact your lawyer and promptly report the matter to the local police,” says Kraybill. “Because it is very difficult to get money back from a fraudster, the most substantive efforts in seeking recourse usually relate to rehabilitating the collateral damage to reputation, not to being made whole financially.” Your attorney can assist you with any necessary legal response in the event you have inadvertently broken any laws. An attorney can also help you push out the comprehensive communication plan you must send to alert your list of suppliers, vendors, customers, investors, and stakeholders—determining how much information, when, and to whom it should be sent to “avoid further harm” down the line. Smith adds that you should contact one of the three main credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit record. He also suggests you contact the local office of the FBI at 215.418.4000 and report the incident to the Pennsylvania Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection by calling 800.441.2555. Because identity theft is big business, it’s crucial to maintain vigilance and execute best practices. “Don’t cling to the idea you will be dealt with in good faith. Treat it as a hostile environment. Think when and how, not if,” says Kraybill.

CAREER

10 Steps Small Businesses Should Take to Prepare for a Disaster By HYUNE HAND

hen people think of disasters, they generally envision tornados, hurricanes, floods, or other catastrophic events that devastate entire communities. But for a business—and particularly a small business—a disaster can be something as seemingly trivial as a failed server, a telephone outage, or a ruptured water pipe. Although these types of business interruptions rarely make the news, they can have a devastating impact on your business, often bringing operations to a screeching halt. The real-world impacts of an interruption can be staggering. Statistics indicate that around 40 percent of the businesses affected by a disaster will not survive beyond two years following the interruption because leadership teams do not have a recovery plan in place.

Creating a basic, executable disaster-recovery plan is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your business and ensure its survival regardless of the type of disaster. It is for this reason that Agility Recovery routinely partners with organizations, such as the Ready Campaign, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and FEMA, to help bolster business owners’ resilience programs. As a result, Agility has developed a free educational campaign hosted at www.12StepPrep.com where visitors can access dozens of planning tools and on-demand educational training sessions focused on the fundamental elements of a comprehensive strategy. Below you will find an overview of the most important steps to help ensure your small business is equipped to tackle a wide array of

disasters, from a collapsed roof to a Category 5 hurricane: Assess your risk—both internally and externally. Which disasters will most likely impact your business? Although major disasters dominate the headlines, most business interruptions are caused by everyday events, such as human error and power outages. It is crucial to assess your risk for catastrophic weather occurrences, but equally important to assess exposure to more conventional risks. Analyze your critical business functions. Evaluate and document how your company functions. Determine which processes, employees, equipment, and materials are critical for your daily operations. Remember to include critical business functions, such

as billing, payroll, and service fulfillment. List these functions and create a process for restoring them in the event of an interruption. Plan for an alternative location. What would you do if your office or facility were inaccessible tomorrow? Where would you go to continue your basic business operations? Review your site requirements and develop a plan for recovery. You may ask employees to work from home, relocate to a secondary site, use the site of a similar business partner, or turn to a vendor that provides recovery office space. Consider supply chain preparedness. According to recent surveys, less than half of American businesses have recovery plans in place to maintain their supply-chain logistics in the event

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of a disaster. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critical to talk to your key vendors and suppliers about their recovery plans. Develop relationships with alternative vendors in case your primary vendors experience an interruption. Ensure employees and their families are prepared for disasters both at work and at home. Most businesses will admit their most important assets are their employees. While data recovery and business continuity may form the backbone of a disaster recovery strategy, if employees are unable or unwilling to report to work, having your systems back online becomes worthless. Help your employees prepare for disasters at home, ensure they know their role in your businesscontinuity plan, and develop and practice crisis-communications plans that incorporate both employees and their families. Back up your data and practice restoring your technology. In

todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly technical, connected economy, information is more valuable than ever. Backing up your business data and critical applications is an obvious priority. Make sure to store your data in an offsite, secure location, preferably 50 miles or more from your site(s). Also, regularly verify that you are able to retrieve your data and restore it back to onsite hardware. Outline a plan to replace computers, printers, software, and other technology essentials should your office be completely destroyed. Create an employee, vendor, and key client communication plan. Create a 24-hour phone tree for all employees, including emergency contacts, such as spouses or closest relatives. Make sure your employees, suppliers, vendors, partners, and even clients know ahead of time how to exchange or obtain information should your standard methods of communication fail. Also, compile a list of your critical clients and vendors and store

~ May 2017 | BUSINESSWoman

it in an offsite location. Determine a process for contacting them should your systems go down. Assemble an emergency kit. An emergency or disaster-recovery kit should contain the typical essentials, such as flashlights, extra batteries, fresh water, nonperishable food, and a battery-powered radio. However, office emergency kits should also incorporate extensive first aid supplies, copies of important documents, critical records, petty cash, software-licensing keys, corporate letterhead, and passwords. Regularly review your business insurance coverage. Is your business insurance coverage adequate? Talk to your agent to assure that you are insured against potential risks. Consider business interruption insurance, which may compensate you for lost income during and after a disaster. Storing photos of your building, equipment lists, and policy information in a safe and secure

offsite location can greatly help during the claims process. Test your plan. Make sure your business-recovery plan is actionable and can be executed during times of crisis. Test your plan annually and update it as necessary. Make sure to educate and inform employees when making changes to your plan and include training for all new hires. By following these steps you will minimize the time it takes to recover critical functions, as well as the associated expense. With almost half of all businesses folding just two years following a disaster, developing a disaster-recovery plan may mean the difference between business survival or collapse. â&#x20AC;˘ Hyune Hand, CEO of Agility Recovery, helps organizations of all types prepare for and recover from any type of business interruption so they can continue critical business functions. www.agilityrecovery. com

Ways to Own Going Back to Work

By JEN LAWRENCE

Lifestyle

nce upon a time, you decided to take a few months away from your career to spend time with your new baby or tend to a sick relative or start your own business. Perhaps those months turned into years, and you now find yourself wanting to return to the workforce, armed only with a dusty resume and a dated power suit. Don’t despair. By following the six steps below, you can take control of the back-to-work process and restart your career in no time. 1. Talk to someone in the field. If you’ve been away from the work world for more than a year, things have probably changed. It’s smart to talk to an industry insider before you officially kick off your job search. See if you can have coffee with a former colleague who has remained in your field. Or get in touch with your alumni association or an industry group and find out if they can connect you with someone who can give you the inside edge. Ask them what the key issues are facing people in your industry. Are they using new software? Are there any new acronyms or buzzwords that are key? Have any

regulations changed? What skills are essential? What publications or websites should you be reading to keep abreast of change? Ask some lifestyle questions: is travel expected, can you telecommute, what are the expected hours in the office? Ask if the dress code has changed so you can update your wardrobe if necessary. This information will help you prepare for your job search and eliminate surprises along the way. 2. Upgrade your technical skills. Many skills needed to succeed on the job do not change: If you left your career as an excellent communicator, creative thinker, and relationship manager, you still have those skills. Technical skills are more subject to change, and depending on

the type of job you are seeking, you may need to upgrade your skills or fully retrain. The time to upgrade your skills is before you apply for a job to demonstrate that you’ve kept pace with changes to your industry. If you can show that you’ve upgraded your skills since you’ve been away from work, a prospective company is much more likely to consider you for the role. 3. Update your resume and online profile. Things may have changed since you last updated your CV, so do some research into current resumewriting techniques. Ask a recruiter friend if she will review your resume over coffee or ask a search firm that recruits in your field for help (it’s to their advantage for your resume to look

great so they can present you as a candidate in the future.) Make sure that you have a good profile on LinkedIn, and ensure you look professional on social media. Consider setting up a Twitter profile and start to follow key influencers in your industry. Pick a professional-sounding email address (wiccancatandcookielover@ webhost.com might not be the best choice unless you are interviewing in a very specific field.) Recruiters routinely research candidates online, so you want to have a presence other than an active “I heart Grumpy Cat” Pinterest page. 4. Strut your strengths. Repeat after me: “I do not need to apologize for the gap in my resume.” Unless you have spent your last decade as part of the Real

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May 2017

Lifestyle

Housewives franchise, you will have developed some transferable skills during your time away from your career. Perhaps you did the books for a family business and deepened your knowledge of finance, accounting, and taxes. Perhaps you ran a committee at school or served on a not-for-profit board and fine-tuned your strategic-planning and people-management skills. Perhaps you advocated for your special-needs child or stick-handled your divorce and learned invaluable research and negotiation skills. No matter what you did, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s up to youâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not the recruiterâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to make the connection between the skills you developed and the skills they need. If you ran the spring fair, outline the skills you developed in that role: event planning, communications, volunteer recruitment, and fundraising. Talk about the transferable skills and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t downplay them simply because you donated your time. 5. Emphasize your maturity. You are no longer 20 years old. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;?

Allergies have increased significantly over the past 40 years. Environmental pollution in general is the culprit.

a huge advantage. At work and in your life youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen a thing or two, and that experience is invaluable to a future employer. Unless you are applying to be a Hollywood ingĂŠnue, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hide your age or the fact that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve raised a family. Your understanding of people, your ability to motivate others, and your ability to communicate will be superior to some young whippersnapper out of school. As long as you have up-to-date technical skills, you will have a distinct advantage over younger candidates competing for the role. You put in those years: Own them.

6. Refuse to be penalized for leaving the workforce. There are unscrupulous companies out there who will tell you that you must take a giant career step back simply because youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been out of the workforce for a couple of years. Unless you are completely changing careers, you should be looking at jobs that are at a similar level to the one you held when you left your career (this in itself can be frustrating because if you return to the same company, you might be reporting to someone you once trained!). Some companies will tell you

that you should take something more junior, and they promise to promote you quickly once you show them what you can do. The reality is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s almost always easier to negotiate title and salary before you accept a job. Think of job hunting like dating: If a company isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t generous in the courtship phase, they arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to be more generous in the marriage. Returning to the workforce can feel intimidating, but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be. Do your homework, be prepared, sell your strengths, and stop apologizing. They need youâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a skilled, wise womanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;as much as you need them. They have a blank space, baby: Go write your name! â&#x20AC;˘ Jen Lawrence, MBA, writes and speaks about overcoming personal and professional adversity and making big changes â&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly in mid-life. She is the coauthor of Engage the Fox and is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and www.1010parkplace.com. You can read her blog at www.readjenlawrence. com.

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A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned: Help your child develop good saving habits for future financial stability By KIMBERLY BLAKER

to $4,000. As Nellie Mae points out, credit card usage isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t going to go away. Educating kids on how to use credit cards responsibly is necessary to their future financial well-being. Fortunately, those who learn and

develop good saving habits early in life are more prepared to deal with what lies ahead and develop into financially responsible adults. The Younger Set Begin teaching your child the

concept of money, including the values of coins, from the ages of 4 to 6. During this time, keep it simple, and allow your child to earn money to save in a piggy bank for small chores. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All Elementary By the time your child is 7, an allowance is essential to learning about money and developing good habits. Familiarize your child with banking, and open a savings account so she can watch her money grow. Help to set achievable goals, such as saving for a new toy or putting away for holiday gifts. Many banks charge service fees unless a minimum balance is kept, and frequent trips to the bank may be impossible. As an alternative, set up your own family bank. Give your child a spare checkbook ledger or savings passbook, and copy blank savings deposit and withdrawal slips from your bank for your child to use. Require him to fill out the slips and log transactions in the ledger. Then give your child monthly interest for his savings. The Teen Scene Designer clothing, entertainment, and car expenses are the biggest areas of teen spending. Some also put away for college. But few teens are prepared for the adult world, says developmental psychologist

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Lifestyle

2013 review by Nellie Mae, a federal student loan program, found the average credit card balance carried by college students was $499, with 22 percent of students carrying between $500

Lifestyle

Nancy J. Cobb in Adolescence: Continuity, Change, and Diversity. This is because the responsibility of covering food, housing, and healthcare costs is not something most teens are primed for. Those teens involved with the family budget and who contribute to family expenses learn a valuable lesson. Opting to show teens the spending categories in which they have a direct impact on family expenses and agreeing on a reasonable amount in which they can contribute to help cover the expenses can go a long way toward preparing teens for adulthood. Regardless of whether teens contribute or not, their working hours should be limited to no more than 10 to 15 per week. According to Cobb, investigators have found that adolescents who work, especially 20 or more hours per week, are not as engaged in school as their nonworking peers. Based on the findings of various studies, this can shortchange students in the long term.

Still, there are many ways teens can learn the value of money and develop good habits. In fact, limiting a teenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funds may force her to be more selective and make wiser financial decisions. Be sure to give your adolescent an increased allowance and a clothing allowance, and help him to budget his money. Tips Your Kids Can Bank On Help your child develop good saving and spending habits with the following: Allow your child to make some of her own spending decisions. Place reasonable limits and offer appropriate guidance while giving opportunities to learn from her mistakes. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t loan your child money every time he wants it. But do offer occasional opportunities for him to experience both the costs of borrowing (interest) and repaying the loan. When deciding whether to loan money to your child and how

much, consider the purpose of the loan, past repayment, and his ability to repay within a reasonable time. Charge interest on loans so children learn the cost of borrowing. Remember that regardless of how financially savvy we raise our kids, borrowing does have its place, at the very least, for acquiring a home and reliable transportation, both of which can be wise investments even when borrowing is necessary. Teach your child how to set financial goals. By the teen years, these may include saving for automobile expenses, college, and other long-range plans. And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t overlook the importance of short-term goals, which offer your youngster a feeling of accomplishment and a boost in self-esteem. Require your child to put at least 10 percent of each paycheck, or allowance, into savings. If accustomed to this practice, it will be much easier to adhere to as an adult.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be completely secretive about family finances. Children have few opportunities to see and experience the financial side of the adult world. This doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t mean you need, or even should, disclose everything. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easier for kids to understand if they can see it in concrete terms. Develop a detailed household budget, and explain it so your adolescent can see how your family spends and why. Discuss the different ways in which you save and invest your money, and explain how these different plans work. Point out both the benefits and the risks. Try a computer program, such as Family Bank by ParentWare, to help your child track his allowance, expenses, loans, and more. This program is available for download of a free trial. It calculates interest for both savings and loans, allows children to write checks to their parents, creates graphs of their spending habits, and more.

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~ May 2017 | BUSINESSWoman

Lifestyle

The Truth about Hot Peppers By MELINDA MYERS

on’t be afraid to add a little spicy heat to your meals this season by growing a few hot peppers in the garden or containers. It’s easier than you think, and many of the hot-pepper notions floating around the garden are simply not true. Don’t worry about your hot peppers heating up your sweet peppers. Peppers are normally selfpollinated. If an insect happens to move the pollen from a hot to a sweet pepper, it will not affect the flavor or heat of this year’s harvest. If you save the seeds from a crosspollinated pepper and plant them in next year’s garden, the plants they produce may have hot or sweet fruit (or a little of both), but only time will tell. And don’t assume all green peppers are sweet or you will be in for a surprise. Some hot peppers, such as jalapeños, are typically

harvested when green. However, others, such as habanero, Anaheim, and poblano, are hot whether harvested when green or red. You’ll also find that hot peppers can be

yellow, orange, brown, and, of course, red. You can turn down the heat when preparing your favorite recipes, too. Contrary to popular belief, all the

heat in hot peppers does not come from the seeds. While partially true, the majority of the capsaicin that gives hot peppers their heat is in the white membrane that houses the seeds. When the seeds are growing, they may also be coated with extra capsaicin from the membrane. So remove the white membrane and the seeds, just to be safe, if you want to turn down the heat. The spicy heat of hot peppers is measured in Scoville heat units. The ratings are based on the amount of sugar water needed to neutralize the spicy heat in the extracted capsaicin that has been diluted in an alcohol-based extract. A panel of five taste testers decides when the spicy heat has been neutralized and then assigns the rating. Today, many companies use a chemical process (liquid chromatography) but translate their results into the popular Scoville

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heat units. The Scoville heat unit ratings vary from one type of hot pepper to another, with poblano rating between 1,000 to 2,000 units, jalapeños 2,500 to 6,000 units, habaneros at 100,000 to 300,000 units, and one of the hottest, the ghost pepper, at 1 million to 2.2 million Scoville heat units. Check online or the Homegrown with Bonnie Plants mobile app (for iOs and Android) for the Scoville ratings, growing tips, and a Pepper Chooser to help you pick the best varieties to grow. Ratings may also vary from individual plants within a specific type based on individual plant differences and the growing conditions. Whatever kind you grow, be sure to label hot peppers when planting, harvesting, and storing to avoid any mix-ups. The sweet banana pepper, for example, can easily be confused with hot banana. This could make for an unwelcome

surprise when preparing, serving, and eating. Also, consider wearing rubber gloves and avoid touching your face and eyes when working with hot peppers, as they can burn. Wash your hands, utensils, and cutting boards when finished to avoid any future issues. And don’t worry if you are having a bad day when planting your hot peppers. Contrary to some old adages, planting hot peppers when you’re angry won’t make the peppers hotter, but unknowingly taking a bite of a hot pepper may very well change your mood. • Melinda Myers has over 30 years of gardening experience and has written over 20 gardening books. She hosts The Great Courses’ How to Grow Anything: Food Gardening for Everyone DVD set and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV and radio segments and is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. www.melindamyers.com

Allergies More Common, Even Among Children By BARBARA TRAININ BLANK

What are the most dangerous allergies in children? In food, it is probably peanuts, which can result in severe allergic reaction, or anaphylaxis. If this occurs, the person will need immediate medical attention, including a prompt injection of epinephrine. In environmental allergies, indoor allergens, such as dust mites, are dangerous because increased exposure could lead to asthma. Although environmental allergies are not associated with anaphylaxis, uncontrolled asthma can lead to respiratory arrest and death.

What reactions occur from allergies? With environmental allergies, they can be upper respiratory, such as nasal congestion; sneezing, runny nose, and postnasal drip; itchy, watery eyes; and ears clogging and popping. Other possible symptoms are wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath, and skin reactions, such as hives, itching, and irritation as well. Headaches, malaise, and fever are other, less common symptoms. Anaphylactic reactions are mainly a sign of food, medication, or insect-sting allergies. These reactions involve more than one system in the body. As an example, with a peanut allergy, the patient may experience hives, runny nose, and at times GI symptoms, such as nausea and abdominal pain. If the reaction becomes severe, the cardiovascular system might be involved, and there might be shock, e.g., a severe drop in blood pressure. Why do allergies lead to headaches? Environmental allergies can lead to nasal and sinus congestion, which can trigger headaches. What foods help fight allergies? There is no hard-and-fast evidence that this is the case. It’s not big science but anecdotal—that foods that are plant-based, rich in

Wellness

hat are the most common allergies in children? It depends on the age of the children, said Alireza Nejad, M.D., a physician with Allergy & Immunology, Internal Medicine, at the Allergy & Asthma Center in York. Up to age 1, they are mostly food allergies. More specifically, in the first year of life, allergies to eggs and milk are the most common. As children age—after their third birthdays—the allergies tend to be more environmental. The body has to recognize the environmental allergen. Among the environmental allergens are dust mites, cats and dogs, tree pollen, grasses, mold spores, and weeds.

Dr. Alireza Nejad, outside of the Lancaster office.

omega-3, are helpful. It is believed these foods decrease inflammation. No well-designed study addressed this issue.

In studies performed at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, specific Chinese herbal remedies showed some promise in treating peanut allergy.

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May 2017

And what foods aggravate allergies? On the flip side, foods high in animal fat and refined carbohydrates are less healthy in general. It may seem there are more allergies because there is greater awareness of them, but Nejad said that is not the case. “It is absolutely right—there is evidence—that there are more allergies and not just more awareness,” said Nejad. “Allergies have increased significantly over the past 40 years. Environmental pollution in general is the culprit.”

Are there tests to determine what someone is allergic to? There are skin tests, as well as blood tests. There are also variations of skin tests. With the prick test, the doctor scratches the skin and exposes the patient to the allergen. With an intradermal test, the allergen is injected inside the skin. The patch test has an allergen on it, and you look for reactions over several days. Immunoglobulin E (IgE) for environmental and food

Wellness

Do children grow out of most allergies? Infants tend to grow out of milk and egg allergies but grow into peanut and tree nuts allergies. Around 2 or 3, children start growing into environmental allergies. “So, the answer isn’t yes or no,” said Nejad. “It has been observed that people tend to grow out of their environmental allergies as they age, such as in the seventh decade of life.”

“”

Allergies have increased significantly over the past 40 years. Environmental pollution in general is the culprit.

~ May 2017 | BUSINESSWoman

allergens can be measured. With suspected asthma, you can do spirometry, a test that measures different volumes in lungs during inhalation and exhalation. What treatments are available today? Basically, there are medications and non-medication treatments. Antihistamines, antileukotrines, steroids, and decongestants are among medications prescribed. Most over-the-counter medications

for allergies are antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine. The non-medication treatment modality is basically allergen immunotherapy for both food and mainly environmental allergies. Allergy injections are purified allergens in a solution. Over a period of time, allergen injections change the immune system, which sees them as harmless. “This is the best way to treat with the chance of a cure, because otherwise, you’re just treating symptoms,” said Nejad. If allergies run in one’s family, it is likely the children will have them too. If one parent has an allergy, there’s 30 percent higher chance the child will. If both parents do, it’s more than 80 percent. Allergies are complex maladies, with both genetic and environmental factors, as opposed to say, cystic fibrosis, which is a purely genetic disease. In complex diseases many genes are involved, and the child may not necessarily have the same allergy as the parent(s).

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