Contributors Opinion Bold predictions for 2015 Here’s the column I wanted Pandemic demonstrates A new year Business affords more Briefs like but not-so-bold repeats to write, just can’t ... need for crisis planning a new opportunity Business People Almanac to meet local needs THE he BUSINESS usiness T T Times IMES
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The pandemic has shown Coloradans the importance small businesses play in our local and national economies. It was critical for entrepreneurs to change their business models and pivot overnight to new ways of selling their products and services. The U.S. SmallanBusiness Administration A new year almost always brings opportunity for a fresh highlights start and of entrepreneurs and renewal of the small renewed ambition tothe doresilience things better. as to they build back better from theproducts economic In business, thatbusiness usually economy boils down providing customers better crisis on by thecompetitors. pandemic. Part of the process must and services faster and at brought lower cost than Alhough beating thewhat pandemic is front and center moving include listening to customers to determine they actually need and in then our economy forward, our nation remains vulnerable to a variety meeting that need. After all, it does little good to offer the latest and greatest if of natural disasters, including wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, nobody actually wants what you’re selling. blizzardsthat andbelong drought. has shown that Junction up to 25 percent Just like the businesses toHistory the group, the Grand Area of businesses close disasters reopen. of Chamber of Commerce invariablythat starts outbecause the newofyear with never a reassessment All Colorado businesses should crisiswith preparedness the services and resources it provides and how welldevelop they match members thatchairman take into consideration what we learned over the last needs. Jeff Franklin,plans the new of the chamber board of directors, Frances 18 months from the what pandemic. Here arehis sixrole simple personifies this approach in describing he considers for business the coming Padilla strategies a business can use for future crises: year: listen to members, determine their needs and then meet those needs. It’s a exposure. Know your and the role with which Franklinnis Evaluate familiar as market president of community Bank of Colorado. typesThe of disasters mosttake likely affectstructured your business. Consider your process will on atomore approach in what theproximity chamber to flood plains, wildfire areas other hazards. Of course, thetoCOVID 19 pandemic plans as the resumption of aand program aptly called Listening Business. Under the remains the first exposure issue on the list. program, business owners participate in in-depth interviews to identify barriers to n Review insurance coverage. Consult your agent to determine whether growth and other problems they encounter. yourThe coverage is sufficient. You might flood insurance. Check into new year offers a good time toneed join separate the proverbial club. business insurance, which you cover operating expenses As aninterruption advertiser or reader, what dohelps you need from the Business Times? if you’re forced to temporarily close. While business journals traditionally gather and report the relevant news to n Review your supply chain. Establish relationships with alternate vendors readers, communication isn’t necessarily a one-way street. That’s especially true as in case your primary isn’t available. Place occasional Web sites and e-mailsupplier make the dialogue more convenient thanorders ever. with them so they’ll regard you as an don’t activeexist customer. Create aThey contact list fortoimportant Good publications in a vacuum. respond the needsbusiness of contractors and and vendors to usewhat’s in an needed. emergency. Keep this list offsite. advertisers readers. you Theyplan provide n Create a crisis communications plan. At the beginning of the pandemic, So what do you need? manyIsbusiness owners have contact their there additional didn’t news coverage thatinformation would help for keep youemployees informed and about vendors. Establish an email/Twitter/Facebook alert system, primaryorand local business developments? Are there features that wouldkeeping be interesting secondary emailadvice addresses yourmake employees, vendors and customers. Provide useful? Is there thatfor would your jobs a little easier? updates your customers thewhat community so they in to business It’s to equally important and to ask you don’t need.know With you’re limitedstill time and in the process of rebuilding following a crisis. produce content and limited space in which to publish it, would time and space be Establish written chain betterndevoted to asomething else?of command. Let your employees know the emergency command should your business What’s chain good?ofWhat isn’t? What’s needed? What close. isn’t? Maintain a clear leave and sick dayknow. policy during disasters. Have a backup should your Let us Send us an e-mail. Comment onlinepayroll on theservice Business Times Web office destroyed. site at be www.thebusinesstimes.com. You could even write an old-fashioned letter to n Develop a continuity The plan should stateand when it will be activated, the editor if you’d like. Yourplan. feedback, both positive negative, is valued and identify essential business functions and staff to carry out these functions, determine will be carefully considered. which employees will beare considered essential andstaffs, identify Good publications the resultnon-essential of not only versus the efforts of their but also records and documents that mustadvertisers be securedand andreaders. accessible to perform key functions. collaborative efforts involving Like any other good business, we want to listen to our customers, find out Frances is director of the U.S. Small Business Administration Colorado what theyPadilla need and then meet those needs. district oversees agency programs It’s and a new year. Please help us to doand so. services across the state. For more information, visit www.sba.gov. ✦ F
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Publisher/Owner: Craig R. Hall
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Subscribe or submit press releases online at www.thebusinesstimes.com The Grand Valley Business Times, a subsidiary of Hall Media Group LLC, is published twice monthly and distributed throughout Grand Junction, Fruita and Palisade. Advertising rates and deadlines are available upon request. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, editor, staff or advertisers. Copyright © 2015 — AllCopyright rights reserved. © 2021 — All rights reserved.
As readers know, I usually It’s many that time of year when have no problem writing whatever’s on resolutions and prognostications abound. my I also use applied hackneyed humor, My mind. favorite saying to New Year’s slathering and honed resolutionssarcasm is in saying they’rehypocrisy basically a in my columns. Oh,to I occasionally useweek bunch of promises break the first alliteration. always use sets of three of January. And Iwhile I won’t predict a in sentences. I read somewhere threes work whole lot, I can pretty much accurately best to make a point, nail awhen few using thingsexamples that without question stress opinions and get facts open. will make the news. You willinto seethe these are Yetwell, today, I’d use pretty, predictable: those■atPrediction my own risk. one: You I wrote Theresee, willif be somethe column I wantedevent, to sort of weather write natural...disaster or n I’d write heinous occurrence about vacuous, wherethe someone will hypocritical Alexandria be interviewed and say Ocasio-Cortez the following: (AOC) “I’ve wearing an insulting, never seen anything tacky andinexpensive like that my white gownIt’s to as a if this Craig Hall lifetime.” Craig Hall $30,000 person isAaPLATE required “gala” with vapid phrase “Tax the Rich” attendee at the every news looking gang-tagged across her backside. reporting event. While I understand most Forgetting she looked can like indeed a Chick-fil-A people’s perspective be limited to-go (lovely twist of irony there)personal and by, orbag contained within, their own some bad fashion experiences, it is and too political much toadvice, ask to her blindness to thehistorical real worldperspective was on display consult some before for her maskless co-mingling with the verycan saying such a thing? Yes, this response group claimsevents. she’s against while apply she to some But when it lusting comes to become exclusive weatheran and natural member. disasters, I’m pretty the barrel the gun ofitself. sure AOC this isuses simply historyofrepeating government to not the rich, rather tax Same as it has for tax millions andbut millions of the middle and poorthe with her demands years. Moreclass important, planet made it! to tax everything thespecies. sun or take away What didn’t wereunder certain How’s every product and freedom we need, desire that for perspective? and have a right totwo: so she and her elite to a ■ Prediction When it comes friends control allthat us occurs rubes. Tying this to crime orcan something between COVID-19 therequired budget isattendee simply evil. humans, theand other at all I’d discuss howisgovernment newsnreporting events the person who is firing who refuse take an says this:staff “They we’re justtothe nicest experimental Since thesomething people, and invaccine. no way did I see federal has noNo power to like thisgovernment coming.” Exactly. one does constitutionally this to against most of the time “mandate” when it comes individual rights and yet has upheld the neighbors and acquaintances. People should right to “choose” ( unconstitutionally), be surprised at what goes on from time to how thisneighborhoods, occur? I can tell youand how: time does in their towns extortion. further for an expert with peopleLook theyno know because people are than “Son of atimes Bitch” the good.Joe And for the thatBiden they as shouldn’t guy to do it.— He’s been a bully (ask be shocked likealways with politicians, repeat Ukraine), and terrorists now he has a pulpit the and offenders and — where’s uses it against the people. interview that says, “This doesn’t surprise Joe using for his extortion? me inWhat’s the least.” His go to: the threat of withholding ■ Prediction three: Something good federal money to those who will happen economically, andrefuse the to comply — be it payroll, Medicare or most government will take credit for it. The Medicaid or theismyriad federal subsidies recent example gas prices, where people from spending the trillions wepresident don’t have. ask me why I won’t credit the for I’ve never met My an actual low gas prices. answerextortionist is simple: (well, maybe one on a small scale). But I’d Government never makes the price of have to believe one who and usessimply big business and something go down takes credit leverages taxpayer for good news. Gas monies pricing isagainst subjectthe to citizenry is the lowest form. many global factors. Now there are n I’d write abouttoour little dictator government answers addressing some of in Denver for prices going stable along with the same them to keep for Americans, tactic as we all knew he would given but our—government has none of them in his lustThe for only power and control allinthethe place. things it has inover place
SePtember 16-29, 2015 2021 JANUARY 15-28,
people healways feels wronged by throughout his long run hurt consumers. Another life. be honest, that’s why most folks go fact To is that unemployment reaches a certain into revenge. Because getting levelpolitics: based on the economy. And whileone’s the way throughmight government force is, forisall too government brag the number low, many, thethan onlylikely way they can get theirdid way. it’s more the government What did Pontius wash his low something to cause thatPolis number being hands health workers when — andof? notFiring in a good way.care Conversely, across thepicks stateup, who to the comply business it’srefuse because people with his “emergency” orders takenotan who need to buy widgets who to were experimental I know plentywas in buying widgetsinjection. because the economy Mesa County already lost their contracting duewho’ve to natural (or unnatural, jobs as I type. Oh sure, they decided were good government caused) reasons, we enough to some do thewidgets. governor’s work in better buy The dirty government getting the numbers hethis. needed to keep the had nothing to do with emergency going.four: NowInhe’s firingwith them ■ Prediction keeping to keepthe thegovernment numbers hedoes, needs to extend things I predict the it. And he’s abusing the overseers of “public government will manipulate the numbers to health” do it the because he’s issimply make thetoclaim economy gettinga coward. If COVID (orhard the itfluisor any to better because of how working other virus or“working coronavirus we’ve treated help all of us Americans.” Now differently) didn’t sicken thissay should. you might say, “Craig, youyou, always this I’d write Obama about Mesa County. aboutnPresident because you don’t Between hospitals like him.”the You’re right and in a county sense. I don’t commissioners, I’mwhat deeply saddened and know the man, but I know of him and angered by their actions But his thinking, I don’t like and it orinactions. him one iota. such things when one’s placelike at the Before you happen go off, however, I didn’t trough is threatened. Given how the county President Bush and his bailouts, stimulus tracks show even the and his“outbreaks” abandoningand thecan’t free market to save smallest of ones And in a hospital or medical the free market. I don’t know him setting outside couple of contained ones either. What thea government does, and the in senior what theeconomy. impetus only thinghomes, it can just do, is hurtisthe of theseitfirings? Healthor care have Unless does nothing putworkers criminals in done the jobofand kept folks safethem, whilenothing jail instead partnering with healing them — does and did volunteering for the government willsohelp. Always look extra shifts, in the dangerous settings at it this way,working whatever government says and without thelaw it it is being doing,declared whateverheroes the name of the injection. we now fire forgoal this?of is passing,But or whatever thepeople name or Where are our commissioners? the bureaucracy it iscounty presenting to the Why haven’t theretocan people, expectthey the mandated polar opposite occur. be noI firings for anyone exercising guess what I’m saying is thattheir inalienable tooour busy perhaps it’srights? time toAre getthey out of own searching forThere’s anotherplenty proclamation because perspective. of history they’ve runhistorical out? Where are ourout community books and research there to “leaders” on this? Waiting begin to understand that allforofthe thisstage has and mics to be before. set up for theitDillard’s opening? happened And will again, Let’sthe face it, ifisyou giveor most elected whether topic people government. officials, bureaucrats or The appointed best recommendation is to find community emergency powers, some booksleaders or try that whole Google you canThere’s be damned an emergency will thing. a lot sure of information on the occur. since COVID worked, you can Great And Depression. The truth is it wasn’t be further ensured we’llthe begovernment living undergot even a good one until some emergency of ouroflives. And involved. There’sthe alsorest plenty research if for one minute the when Republicans onyou thethink medieval warm period the (like allegedly have here) won’t dowith the planetwewas much warmer than today same once power back, I guess a whole lotthey lessget people (and warmer well you aren’t the fact Warp Speed before manseeing was here at all). And yep,kills. Don’t me killing started other on schools and people havegetbeen surprised their “masked” dictates lead to only people since history wasthat first written. one conclusion —research they ownwill ourhelp kids.stop Maybe some alas, I can’tOtherwise, write about these all ofBut these trends. we’ll be kinds things. I could advertising. sayingofwe’ve never seenlose anything like it in So leave it be. ourI’ll lives. And not in a good way. Craig Craig Hall Hall isis owner ownerand andpublisher publisherofofthe the Business Business Times. Times. Reach Reachhim himatat424-5133 424-5133or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com. or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com. F ✦
