Business Insurance Group

The Resilient Coasts Blueprint

A Coastal Risk Symposium, hosted by the Travelers Institute takes place today at the Maritime Center in Charleston, S.C. with the purpose to “bring together business, government and community leaders to identify strategies and solutions to protect and insure the coastal region.”

Part of the discussion will focus on the Resilient Coasts Blueprint prepared by the Heinz Center and Ceres. The Blueprint concisely states a proposed strategy to address risks posed by coastal development and the commercial insurance costs associated with such risks. It proposes cost effective and common sense solutions to mitigate risks and losses.

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Flood and Storm Victims SBA Deadline is November 23

The Small Business Administration is urging victims of the Atlanta Georgia area flooding that occurred from September 18 through October 8, 2009, to complete and return applications for emergency assistance and loans by November 23, 2009.

The SBA is concerned that many business and home owners will not have settled with their insurance company by that time. Thus, the victim will not know what portion of the damage will be covered by insurance and what portion will need to be covered by a loan. The SBA is urging victims to complete and return the paperwork even if the amount of the insurance settlement is unknown.

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Business Trips and Your Children

When we travel on business trips, we are always concerned about having the right materials, staying connected with the office, and ensuring that we have our laptop and personal effects. What we often do not think about is our children at home. Depending upon the age of your children, it can be quite traumatic when you leave town unexpectedly. Many children will not respond very well to our leaving. How then do we handle our business out-of-town, while at the same time making sure our children understand?

We can help our children to understand business trip much easier before we leave.

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Open Enrollment Tips and GINA

It is open enrollment season for many employer-sponsored health plans. 2010 figures to be an interesting year as employers look at ways to trim costs and provide for their employees. Employers provide such benefits to encourage retention and to retain high-value employees and open enrollment offers the employer the challenge of educating the employee about their benefits. I have an article with helpful tips for employers working through open enrollment.

Another factor this year is the effect of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA).

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Business Building Insurance and Business Interruption Insurance

Business Building Insurance

If your business is run out of a building that you own then purchasing business building insurance is something you should definitely consider. Another important point to remember is what is actually inside your building. The stock inside some buildings can be worth more than the buildings themselves and also any other furnishings that you have might need some cover if they are worth a lot of money. This is a point that many people overlook when purchasing insurance for buildings as they assume that if the building is insured then everything inside it is too.

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Generating Referrals For a Growing Business

In the world of business, there are precious few ways to actually increase your bottom line without any investment whatsoever. These business opportunities are very far and few in between, so when one presents itself, you have to pay attention and capitalize on it. Referrals in one of the few ways of increasing business that is not only free, but it is available to every business, large and small. It does not matter if you are a tiny home based business, or a big time corporation, your referrals can make or break you.

Generating referrals is not as simple as doing a good job and hoping that customers will spread the word.

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Tips for Getting a Management Position

Getting a position as a manager can seem somewhat challenging. Most companies hire the candidates with the most potential. If you have never worked in a manager position prior to now, you might not know how to get this job. Those who are not applying from within may have an even more challenging time finding a position which allows them to manage a business and its employees. Here are some tips for getting a management position.

Relating any experience that you have related to the manager position that you are trying to get is ideal. So what if you have never worked at a steakhouse?

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Illegal Questions to Ask During a Job Interview

If you are doing job interviews, there are many questions that you may want to ask the person that you could potentially be hiring in the future. It is important to keep in mind that there are a number of questions which are actually illegal to ask. Not only will they make the person you are interviewing feel uncomfortable, but they can also get you into problems with the law. Here are some of the questions that you should avoid asking during a job interview.

Racial Questions

Always avoid asking someone what their race is.

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