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Emergency Loans for Drought Available for Small Businesses in California
Small businesses in a handful of counties in California are now eligible to apply for low interest federal loans to help offset the costs of prolonged drought.
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced that non-farm businesses may qualify for loans up to $2 million.
Agency director Tanya Garfield says eligibility will be determined on financial impact of the drought and not on any property damage.
Drought loans bear interest rates of 4% for businesses and roughly 2.6 percent for non-profit organizations.
Applicants may apply online at the Small Business Administration website.
Read More »Emergency Loans for Drought Available for Small Businesses in California
Happy New 2015 Year
Wishing you and your family Happy Holidays.
Bright ideas: Holiday lighting safety tips
Decorating is an essential part of the holiday season in many homes across the country. Unfortunately, those decorations can increase your chances of a fire. Nearly 400 home fires a year are caused by holiday lights and decorations, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, resulting in more than $25 million in property damage. By following a few simple steps, you can keep your home and family safe all season long.
Maintain holiday lights. Inspect holiday lights each year for frayed wires, broken sockets or other signs of wear. Test each light string before hanging it on a tree or other flammable surface. Only use lights approved by a nationally recognized testing laboratory, such as Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL).Read More »Bright ideas: Holiday lighting safety tips
Swimming Pool Safety and Maintenance Tips
Protect your friends and family as you beat the heat.
Warmer weather means more outdoor activities for the whole family, including cooling off in the pool. We want to help you make sure that you, your family and guests are safe. Here are a few tips that can help you stay safe while you have fun:
Always supervise swimmers and have life-saving equipment nearby:
- Maintain secure fencing and a locked entrance around the pool and deck area to prevent access when adequate supervision is not available. Install self-closing and self-latching gates.
- Make sure no one swims alone. Never leave a child unattended in the water or pool area, and make sure less experienced swimmers are always accompanied by a swimmer who has water life-saving skills.
- Equip your door, gate or pool with an audible alarm to alert you if someone enters the pool area or falls into the pool while it is unattended.
- Diving should be prohibited unless a specific area of the pool is designated for safe diving. Water depth and diving-restricted areas should be clearly marked.
- Make sure there is adequate life-saving equipment in the pool area, including life preservers and a rope with life-saving rings, a reaching pole or rescue hook.
Regularly maintain your pool during the season to keep swimmers and sun-bathers safe:Read More »Swimming Pool Safety and Maintenance Tips
Report: New Emerging Risks
Swiss Re has released a report – ”New emerging risk insights,” which is based on the reinsurer’s SONAR process, described as a “unique tool which uses Swiss Re’s internal risk management expertise to observe and evaluate new and emerging risks.”
Some of the other emerging risks examined in the SONAR report includes the following:
- Cloud computing security
- Contagious emerging market crisis
- Eurozone crisis leading to deflation
- Short-termism of macro-policy measures
- Air pollution as mortality driver
- Concussion crisis in sports
- Democratisation of genetic testing
- Digital slander
- E-cigarettes
- Financial consumer protection regulation
- From closed to open business models
- Food and water safety: trade-offs with growthRead More »Report: New Emerging Risks
Happy 4TH of July
With a true national spirit of courage, integrity, sacrifice, liberty and independence, we wish you a Happy Independence Day. Happy 4th of July!
We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.
But July 4, 1776 wasn’t the day that the Continental Congress decided to declare independenceRead More »Happy 4TH of July
Frozen 2
The California 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned a lower court ruling that the lawsuit against White Memorial Hospital was filed too late, the ABC News reported on 4/3/2014. M.A. was declared dead in July 2010 after suffering a heart attack and was placed in a freezer at the Boyle Heights hospital. Morticians who received her body a few days later… Read More »Frozen 2
Top 10 States and Cities for Job Growth
According to Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business that provides rankings and analysis of the winners and losers based on the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – overall, 12 states showed job growth of at least two percent last year, the same pace as in 2012. The number of jobs added nationwide last year was 2.26 million. Final, revised numbers on state and city job growth for the year 2013 shows top 10 states for non-agricultural job growth, comparing 2013 to 2012:
1. North Dakota – up 3.6%
2. Utah – up 3.2%
3. California – up 3%
4, 5. Texas and Colorado– 2.9%
6. Nevada – up 2.7%
7. Idaho – up 2.6%
8. Florida – up 2.5%
9. Washington – up 2.2%
10. Arizona – up 2.1%Read More »Top 10 States and Cities for Job Growth
April is National Safe Digging Month
Call 811 before you dig. Whether you’re planting a garden, building a fence or remodeling your home, no project is too small to call 811. Damage from digging is a common cause of pipeline accidents. One easy, free call to 811 Underground Service Alert (USA) at least two working days before you dig gets your utility lines marked so you can dig safely. This free service will notify underground utility operators in the area of your planned work.
