Archive for August 2010
Retired banker completes 4,000-mile bike ride
Mike Earley can check “cross-country bicycle ride” off his retirement to-do list. Earley returned to Des Moines on Aug. 6 after completing a 4,124-mile two-wheeled odyssey that began on June 5.
“It was fun, but …
Read More2010 Best of Des Moines Business Record #2
And now for the rest of the story. Here are more winners in the Business Record’s 15th annual Best of Des Moines readers’ poll. Through online voting and paper ballots, our readers selected these 34 …
Too much information
Surveys reveal that today’s American corporate worker is disengaged, overworked, stressed out and eager to change companies.
So our next step seems both urgent and fairly obvious: No more surveys.
When things are going badly …
Read MoreOffice furniture sales bouncing back at HNI
Muscatine-based furniture maker HNI Corp. saw its office furniture sales increase 7.8 percent in the second quarter of 2010, compared with the same period a year earlier.
In a report to the Securities and Exchange …
Read MoreBusiness development companies are doing well
Dear Mr. Berko:
On several occasions, you have mentioned business development companies and praised their high yields. Please tell me what a business development company is and how it works. I have $30,000 to invest …
Read MoreJudge seeks a break from Casey’s lawsuits
A Polk County judge has said “no more” to lawsuits challenging attempts by Casey’s General Stores Inc. to block a takeover by a Canadian convenience store operator.
District Judge Karen Romano, in a ruling that …
Read MoreThe ‘open’ is the key
“A– B – C. Always Be Closing.”
You may know that line from the infamous sales movie “Glengarry Glen Ross,” where Alec Baldwin plays himself. It’s a throwback sales training line from the 1960s. The …
Read MoreMarketing plan musts
Every business should have a working marketing plan. That means it’s a document you are actively using. It’s not in a three-ring binder. It’s not gathering dust on a shelf.
Whether you already have a …
Read MoreCulver lets good news slip away
We thought Gov. Chet Culver’s campaign might make some hay with the national story about state debt loads. Iowa came off looking quite well-managed. Even after the Republicans pointed out other ways to analyze the …
‘New normal’ requires new actions
The last few years have been tough for all of us. As we come out from hiding under our desks and dust ourselves off, we are breathing a sigh of relief. We survived. Now what?…