Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons contest winners from October 2011 newsletter

The winner of last month's contest for the tickets to see Frankie Vali and the Four Seasons was Stephanie from Fastener Tool in Solon. As an added bonus, we also gave away twelve Frankie Vali CDs to go along with the tickets to the following readers:

• Charlotte Rowe - Mantaline, Stow
• Cindy Craver - American Way, Lordstown
• Dorothy Mitchell - Xaloy, Boardman
• Debbie Tefs - Hubbell, Wadsworth
• Pam Kochman - Radix Wire, Cleveland
• Ron Serich - Goodwill, Youngstown
• Linda Barron  - Toys R Us    
• Brandon Lands - Hygenic, Akron
• Christine Zaletel - Swagelok, Solon
• John Angelilli - John Zidian Company, Youngstown   
• Don Snyder - Aqua America, Canton

Tim's Talking About Ohio's Minimum Wage, a Lesson Against Payroll Scheming and Small Business Hiring Prediction

Ohio Minimum Wage Rate Rising

While you probably have heard by now that the Ohio minimum wage rate for most will increase to $7.70 per hour January 1, 2012 did you know that Ohio has only had its own rate since 2007? That's right, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2006 creating our own rate with an annual CPI review.

Perhaps no coincidence, state unemployment figures have been higher every year since. Since 2007 the Ohio rate has now increased from $6.85 to the upcoming $7.70 per hour and is $.45 higher than the current Federal rate.

And did you know that the Federal Minimum Wage Act created in 1938 set the first minimum wage at $.25 per hour. Currently 30 states have a rate that mirrors the Federal rate. The highest state rate is the State of Washington at $8.67 per hour. Several southern states have no state minimum wage and Georgia has the lowest rate at $5.15/hour.

Know Who You Are Doing Business With!

A former owner of a  Massachusetts based staffing company was sentenced to seven years in prison for running a $30 million under the table payroll scheme. Apparently Michael Powers paid the money under the table to workers over a five year period to workers to avoid paying the payroll taxes on the funds. The IRS will also get $9 million in past due taxes as part of the sentence.

Take A Lesson From The CAT

If you are a stock watcher you may have noticed that heavy industrial equipment maker Caterpillar has been on a roll lately having beat earnings estimates for the third quarter by about 25%. 

What you may not know is that Caterpillar has increased its "flexible" workforce 35.1% in that same quarter. The company's flexible workforce totaled 27,385 up 7,117 from the third quarter of 2010. Full time traditional employment was up 18.7%.

TD Bank Reports 16% Of Small Firms Hire

According to the survey 16% of all small businesses plan to create at least one new position during the  fourth quarter of 2011. Another 69% reported they plan to keep staffing levels the same.

Another 66% expect to meet or exceed revenue projections during the current quarter. The survey serves to point out the importance of small business in getting things turned around in this economy.

Tip of the Month: Give A Small Business A Chance...If You Can

With all the talk about "Small Business Saturday" coming up after "Black Friday" and before "Cyber Monday" it should be no surprise that we support using "locals" whenever we can here at Ryan Alternative Staffing.

When you are a small business owner (like us) and you've gone down that path of starting something from scratch, taking all the risks associated with being a start-up along with the daily grind of worrying whether you're going to make it you appreciate others in that same boat. But it is more than that...

Consider that 99% of businesses with payrolls in this country are small businesses and that they employ more than half of all workers and create 80% of all new jobs. This means that there is a good chance that a friend, neighbor or family member depends on those that support small business.

Small business accounts for about 60% of U.S. GDP and has created 93% or 21.9 million of the new jobs created in America since 1989.

Some say that if you want to get this country moving again small business is the engine to do this. You want to lower unemployment....create an environment to help start-ups. You want to increase the tax base....turn the creative juices of entrepreneurship loose.

The Clinton Administration created 20 million new jobs....many came from start-ups. Think about Amazon starting in a garage and now employing 30,000 people.

Ronald Reagan said in a 1988 speech to students at Moscow University of all places that, "The explorers of the modern era are the entrepreneurs, men with vision, with the courage to take risks and faith enough to brave the unknown. These entrepreneurs and their small business enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States."

The most important thing you (personally) or your company can do is obviously to support small business owners with your business. Supporting political candidates that support small business initiatives is another way. If you need a few more reasons consider these:

*Keeping Dollars In The Local Economy

*Local Job Creation

*Local Decision Making

*Local Prosperity and  Community Well Being

*Product Diversity*

All that small business owners ask for is a chance to provide you or your place of business their product or service. We don't expect special treatment and we know that we have to deliver the goods so to speak.

So the next time you get ready to call for temporary staffing services look past those "giants" and give us little guys a chance. It just may be the best move you've ever made.