Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP)

Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP)
Manila Times Jun 28 2009 9:12AM GMT
Source: c.moreover.com

Is a slip in employer-based health care coverage indicative of a struggling economy?
The public policy and research arm of Excellus made that conclusion in a recent study:

"Most indicators show that the downstate economy is faring much better than the upstate economy now, which likely explains the difference in the employment-based coverage trends."

I, however, think they are leaving out some important information. It's no secret that employers are shying away from health care coverage considering the outrageous costs in the United States--especially given the move to a more "service-based economy" domestically. In fact, a recent study proves my point:

"The decline in employer coverage was pervasive and felt throughout the country. When comparing the 1999-2000 and 2004-05 periods, 34 states experienced significant losses in coverage with Indiana, Utah, Maryland, and Missouri experiencing losses in excess of 8 percentage points. No state experienced a significant increase in their employer-provided coverage rate."

Given the cost of living in New York City, I can't help but to wonder if some service workers--those most likely not to receive benefits--have been driven to living outside of New York State and commuting. In fact, looking at the cited study, New York is the only state that posted any sort of gain in coverage.

With this in mind, I'm a little disappointed in Excellus for making that statement in their press release. Employer-based coverage fell 2.2%, so if that indicates our economy is struggling, then we should really pity the people in North Carolina as their drop is in excess of 5%. I believe it's simply a national trend and downstate is an outlier. Unfortunately, Excellus' public relations representative reported it a little differently on a local television station. I e-mailed Excellus a few days back with my comments, so if I hear back, I'll update you here.

Update 2/18/2007: I received no response from my e-mail to Excellus. I even noticed traffic from the Excellus domain to this blog. So, I'll assume I had a fair point. :-)

Source: brettdaly.blogspot.com

Razorsharks Bolt from the ABA
The Rochester Razorsharks opted to withdraw from the American Basketball Association playoffs--several other teams also opted out of the playoffs--and focus on a new league that they'll join next year called the Premiere Basketball League. Now, the obvious question becomes why did they opt to do this? It's quite the story. The final straw involved a planned playoff date that had been canceled because the opposing team's coaches couldn't get to Rochester because of travel delays tied to a storm. That's fair enough, although it could have been prevented had they not been forced to toss together travel plans at the last second because the previous round game was 40 hours earlier. The Blue Cross Arena was booked the following week because of the NCAA Hockey Regionals. The league was unhappy with the delay, so they tried to force them to move to another venue. Now, the Razorsharks average over 4, 000 fans, while many of the league's teams play in front of a couple hundred family members and friends in a local high school gym. So the fact they had season ticket holders and sponsorship obligations seemed to be foreign to the league. Rochester had nailed down a date the following week and informed the league. Then a couple hours later the league's CEO e-mailed out to the other owners requesting opinions as to whether Razorsharks should be forced to forfeit. Needless to say, they opted to leave before any sort of consensus could be determined based on their opponents' opinions.

Now, this was just the last event in what has really been a comical experience for a team that clearly operates at a much higher level than most of the league. Their last home loss--about a year and a half ago--was to a team that was out of cash. Consequently, the Razorsharks paid their travel costs so the game could be played and that was their final game. Rochester hosted the "Great Eight" last season with the league. However, there are rumors of the league not living up to reimbursement promises despite the event drawing well. Southern California left the league partially because the league never reimbursed them. This year, the Toledo Royal Knights--the second team in Toledo this season--didn't bother to communicate with Rochester at all regarding a road game, nor would they respond to calls. Consequently, the league's president--an individual who tried to arrange a hostile takeover of the ABA because of his frustration with the league's poor leadership--told them not to bother traveling that day. Toledo proceeded to fold. Then Rochester opted not to travel to a road game in Brooklyn--which was the second team in Brooklyn this season--due to the accommodations they arranged. As it turns out, the motel has a storied past including prostitution and a murder.

Ultimately, the league is completely dysfunctional. Less than half of the teams survive from season to season. Generally, all of the successful ones bail within two years. The CBA took a couple teams last year, the NBA's D-League has one, and it appears a number of teams will bolt to this new league next year. Whether the intentions with expansion are good or not, I don't know. The idea of a league with tons of teams so travel is modest makes sense. But so many of the teams are so amazingly undercapitalized that it seems the league is happy to take their $10, 000 or so in expansion fees and watch the inevitable collapse--there are no enforced standards. That has ultimately led to this league being seen negatively, or as a "total farce" and the "Always Bad Association" as a local columnist put it. There are some good teams, but they are all dragged down by the bad apples. Rochester's future will be much brighter in this new league, as will the futures of the other teams that opt to leave the ABA.
Source: brettdaly.blogspot.com

Family firms honoured at Coutts awards
This Is Money Jun 28 2009 12:32PM GMT
Source: c.moreover.com

Business owner thrilled about meeting Obama: Auto repair shop owner was in audience for White House town hall meeting
Individual.com Jun 28 2009 6:35PM GMT
Source: c.moreover.com

RIT Hockey Defeats Cornell 4-1

Congrats to the Tigers for beating #18 Cornell 4-1. RIT played the game at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester, and a program record 5, 142 fans attended--with 80% or so cheering for RIT. The Tigers dominated in special teams play with two power play goals and seven successful penalty kills, and that was the difference. Ultimately, it was a defining moment for this third-year Division 1 program: a lot of people got exposed to the team for the first time locally and it made a statement nationally.
Source: brettdaly.blogspot.com

Small businesses get health plan latitude: New law should ease health care costs for small businesses
Individual.com Jun 28 2009 6:36PM GMT
Source: c.moreover.com

Midtown Plaza's Final Holiday Season?

On December 1st, the City of Rochester will host a holiday celebration in Midtown Plaza for the second consecutive year. The event will consist of the annual tuba concert, a second stage for other performers, free monorail rides, and the event will conclude with the lighting of the Liberty Pole. This event was extremely successful last year, and it could be even more successful this year.

The reason it could be is this may be the final holiday season for this historic retail center--the first downtown indoor mall in the country. Earlier this year, it was announced that PAETEC Communications will utilize the site to locate its corporate headquarters. It's wonderful news for the most underutilized section of downtown, even if it's a little sad since it marks the end of Midtown.

The fact the property has been largely abandoned by its current ownership mixed with that announcement has left Midtown as lean as ever in terms of stores. Hopefully its remaining loyal stores like Fauna's Gifts and Peebles will be helped with finding space nearby. The good news for these businesses is the addition of hundreds of new workers should make their stores as viable as ever.

Update: I visited the event late in the afternoon, and like last year, it was packed. Here is a Democrat & Chronicle article on the event.
Source: brettdaly.blogspot.com