Happy 75th anniversary to M&M’s! I’m proud to represent such an iconic American candy that is made right in Hackettstown! Such a source of New Jersey pride.
Financial Services Committee Passes Two Garrett-Sponsored Bills
Bills would enforce Constitutional rights and give Main Street businesses new tools to succeed
Mar 2, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Today the Financial Services Committee passed two bills introduced by Congressman Scott Garrett (NJ-05), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises. The bills were H.R. 4638, The Main Street Growth Act, and H.R. 3798, The Due Process Restoration Act.
“One of the biggest concerns I hear from my constituents that the executive branch has run wild and Congress needs to regain control to protect the Constitutional rights of all Americans. For that reason, I’m pleased that today the Financial Services Committee passed my bill to restore the due process rights of all Americans by allowing them to have their case before the SEC heard by a federal court. I’m also happy to announce that my bill to allow Main Street businesses to raise capital by accessing public markets passed the committee. Because if we want to revive America’s economy, we need to give Main Street businesses the tools they needs to innovate and succeed.”
H.R. 3798, The Due Process Restoration Act Would:
Provide a mandatory right of removal allowing the defendant to request that the case be moved to a district court
Grant a right of removal to defendants who are subject to a cease and desist order and monetary penalty that the commission is seeking
Raise the burden of proof for cases that remain in the ALJ to a higher “clear and convincing evidence” standard
The Main Street Growth Act Would:
Authorize the creation of “venture exchanges” which would be registered as a national securities exchange with the SEC and be specifically tailored to list the shares of emerging growth companies and companies that issue shares under the newly finalized “Reg A+”
Exempt venture exchanges from Regulation NMS, Regulation ATS, and would be exempt from extending unlisted trading privileges to companies that list on them;
Subject venture exchanges to all of the existing anti-fraud and investor protection statutes administered by the SEC
Permit all investors— not just Silicon Valley billionaires or the well-connected—to invest in companies that list on venture exchanges.
Posted by Laurie Ehlbeck On March 01, 2016 2 Comments
By Laurie Ehlbeck
We haven’t even made it out of the first quarter of 2016 but there is already plenty for small businesses in New Jersey to be concerned about on the upcoming legislative calendar. Senator Sweeney and Speaker Prieto seem determined to continue to challenge the economic stability of our state by introducing bills to nearly double minimum wage, mandate all employers provide sick leave and attempt to convince the voters that a pension payment must be constitutionally required. Sweeney and Prieto are creating what may ultimately amount to the most hostile session in state history in terms of damage caused to the small business community.
When it comes to minimum wage it is imperative that as a society we are honest about what it truly is. Minimum wage is not now, nor has it ever been, a vehicle in which to feed a family 4. It is an entry level wage that is earned almost exclusively by teens and young adults seeking work experience and a smooth transition into a career. Raising the minimum wage again, especially to the rate of $15 will have one direct effect. It will result in a loss of job opportunities for those seeking to expand their skill sets. It will not alleviate poverty. It will not empower the middle class. It will leave teenagers wondering what to do after school.
According to a recent study, 63 percent of workers who earn less than $9.50 per hour are the second or third earner in their family and 43 percent of these workers live in households that earn over $50,000 per year. In spite of what the proponents would have you believe, minimum wage earners are not an impoverished, disenfranchised group of struggling single mothers just trying to make ends meet. Most are teenagers from middle class families and many more are sharing the responsibility of providing for their families, not breaking under the burden of putting food on the table.
Main Street speaks out: Top candidate for small biz
Elaine Pofeldt, special to CNBC.com
As Americans go to the polls for Super Tuesday, one big contingent that may wield tremendous influence is the small-business rank and file. The nation’s 28 million small businesses represent 54 percent of all U.S. sales and have provided 55 percent of all jobs since the 1970s,according to the Small Business Administration.
This should be a day of reckoning for the candidates as Main Street tries to get its voice heard. According to a recent Manta survey, a stunning 60 percent of small-business owners plan to vote in their state primaries and caucuses. Tuesday is the biggest single day for the seven presidential candidates in both parties to receive delegates, with voting taking place in 12 states, including Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia.
What’s driving small-business owners to the voting booths? According to John Swanciger, CEO of Manta, a social network for small-business owners, “there are issues squeezing small-business owners from every side — the economy, taxes and health care. They are looking for a candidate who understands how their sector is being impacted.”
Who comes out on top? So far, small-business owners said their No.1 pick is Republican candidate and business mogul Donald Trump in Manta’s poll. Thirty-eight percent of small-business owners said the businessman would be the best president for small business, while 21 percent said Democratic candidate Clinton would be.
Ridgewood NJ, Within the timeframe of a year and a half, about 80 percent of new businesses fail, according to Bloomberg Business research.
And, throughout the past 30-plus years, the amount of new businesses has drastically declined, according to Gallup. During the economic meltdown of 2008, it was the first time in several decades in which more businesses failed than new ones were started. About 70,000 more businesses fail than are launched.
“We see it all the time in our communities – signs on doors that read, ‘Due to circumstances beyond our control we have to close our business…’ What business owners today don’t seem to understand is that what’s required, not only to survive but to thrive, is absolutely within their control,” says Pamela Herrmann, author of the bestseller “The Customer Manifesto, How Business Has Failed Customers And What It Takes To Earn Lasting Loyalty,” ranked No. 3 on the list of customer service books every business owner should read by Business.com.
“The truth is, what is required is way outside their skill sets. The typical business owner has no idea how to create leverage, how to utilize new technologies, how to strategize on any level that makes them competitive or how to stop the hemorrhaging of cash in the form of failed online marketing investments.
Herrmann is co-founder, along with Patty Dominguez, of CREATE Buzz (www.CreateBuzzNow.com), a Fortune 50 branding expert which is changing the way small businesses connect with their customers – both online and offline. Dominguez and Herrmann review four mistakes – and ways to correct them – to keep businesses thriving:
• They miss their biggest revenue opportunity. “When we look at traditional marketing, so many solutions providers are focused on customer acquisition and how to get prospects into their marketing funnel – which is totally necessary and valid,” Dominguez says. “However, the biggest revenue opportunity is in knowing how to keep these customers, because that’s where the higher profits are in the lifecycle of a customer.”
“We teach our small business clients not only how to get new customers but more importantly, how to keep their existing customers,” Herrmann says. “Most small businesses don’t have the foundational strategy for how to build their business for growth. Once you have that in place, marketing tactics such as word of mouth online can be fully leveraged, and that is the key to organic growth.”
• Entrepreneurs not only track the wrong metrics, they don’t even know what they are. In the absence of a strategy, business owners make marketing decisions based on short-term data, like how much money is in the bank or how many sales they made last month. This is reactive — not proactive.
“In life and in business, it’s often not the ability to answer a question, but rather whether or not you’re asking the right questions,” Dominguez says.
So, what are some of those questions? – The duo have come up with the following:
How many new leads did you get this month?
How much did it cost you to acquire that new lead or customer (CAC)?
What’s the average value of a single transaction?
What is the lifetime value of your customer (LTV)?
• Businesses don’t manager their message across all customer touch points. Technology brings customers to us from so many sources. Most businesses are not aware of all the ways consumers are using technology to find businesses to transact with. Businesses should go through the process of creating a Customer Journey Map so that they can see all the touch points across all channels and first measure how well they are doing and then identify gaps and opportunities. The goal in this process is to know exactly what your customer is thinking, feeling and doing throughout their engagement at touch point. This one exercise alone will show you where your profits are being won or lost.
• They don’t know the fundamentals of marketing that are the cornerstones to any long term growth strategy. Just like an archer tries to hit the bull’s-eye, an entrepreneur tries to reach her customers. No matter how many arrows that may be in her quiver, if she doesn’t know how to aim, she’ll probably miss with each attempt. The same is true with marketing: you can spend vast amounts in a campaign, but you need to know the who, the how and the why of your aim.
Dominguez, a Fortune 50 business strategist, says: “You need to know who you’re marketing to. Why are you marketing to them? What are their wants and needs; what keeps them up at night? Are there emotional triggers that make your marketing relevant? What is your brand promise and what makes you different from the guy down the street? And, you when you do you this effectively, you shift from sinking money into fixing problems and into growing your business through strategic decision making.
About Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez
Pamela Herrmann and Patty Dominguez cofounded CREATE Buzz (www.createbuzznow.com), an online training experience which helps business owners and their employees get powerful, positive and practical customer engagement habits that build loyalty. As CREATE Buzz, Herrmann and Dominguez provide deep insights and strategic planning on how to make your marketing dollars convert more sales. They co-host Customers For Life podcast and co-host The Morning Would Show providing daily motivation. The duo have a very big vision of helping one million companies leverage customer loyalty in the digital age, and they’ve influenced thousands of entrepreneurs with their straight talk about growing business from a place of strategy.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. – The Pinnacle Companies announced today that it will open New Jersey’s first SerendipityLabscoworking location at 45 N. Broad Street, the iconic, totally renovated Lincoln building across from the RidgewoodNJ Transit train station. The three-story, 8,500-square foot space provides a vibrant coworking area, dedicated offices and team rooms. Members will also have access to an upscale lounge, ideation studio, work bar, event venue space and a café. The entire Lincoln building has been upgraded with a new lobby, modern elevator, new windows and HVAC systems.
“Independent professionals, entrepreneurs, remote and mobile workers working in and around Ridgewood will now have a premium workplace and meeting venue offering a level of hospitality that rivals boutique hotels,” says Brian M. Stolar, CEO of The Pinnacle Companies, an award-winning leader in urban redevelopment and the exclusive SerendipityLabs area franchisee for Northern New Jersey. “OurRidgewoodcoworking members can walk to great restaurants, fitness clubs, coffee shops and the train to Manhattan, which is just across the street. Corporate memberships will be available to provide access to the growing SerendipityLabsnetwork locations.”
SerendipityLabs has urban and suburban locations opening in nine states. It is one of the fastest growing coworking networks nationally and in the Tristate area.SerendipityLabs offers a range of membership options including day passes, monthly coworking lounge access, full-time dedicated private offices, and team rooms for companies needing project space.
“SerendipityLabs is a different kind of coworking provider. Our members come from a cross section of industries that include healthcare, finance and technology, many of whom have memberships paid for by their employers. Others are independent consultants or start-ups. Our IT infrastructure meets the highest standards. The upscale work environment is a lifestyle brand that is infused with hospitality and energy,” said John Arenas, CEO of SerendipityLabs. “As we expand across the nation, we are excited to help our new Ridgewoodcoworking members unlock their full potential and improve their lives.”
SerendipityLabs in Ridgewood will produce a full schedule of daytime and evening seminars and networking events designed for entrepreneurs, mobile workers and corporate members.
Two major mainstream media reporters pulled out of previous plans to work with a booming small business when they learned its founder backs GOP frontrunner Donald Trump for president, emails obtained exclusively by Breitbart News show.
The emails are exchanges between the two MSM reporters—one a freelancer who writes for business magazine Inc. who’s also written for the New York Times Magazine, Time, Fortune, Esquire, GQ and more, and the other a writer for Forbes Magazine—and executives at 25K Startups, a small business on Long Island that serves as an incubator for innovative business ideas.
The emails, in which the two separate writers are extraordinarily explicit, offer what may be the clearest look at bias in favor of liberalism against conservatism ever seen—and are basically proof that there are people in the media infrastructure who are deliberately wielding their positions of influence to support political candidates and causes they admire while harming those they oppose.
The story began in early December when, as the emails show, 25K Startups’ Founder and Managing Partner Michael Sherman reached out to Paul Keegan—the freelancer who’s written for Inc. and many other major magazines—about asking him to consult on media strategy for his company.
“It takes a certain kind of stupidity to find yourself ranked dead last” Reader
New Jersey’s high property and income taxes contribute to its standing as the nation’s least attractive tax climate for businesses, according to a Washington tax policy group’s annual ranking of the 50 states. Samantha Marcus, NJ.com Read more
Ridgewood Restaurant mémoire introduces Fall 2015 Brunch Menu
mémoire, a fine dining restaurant offering seasonal, American eclectic cuisine in a casual NYC-style atmosphere, announced its Fall 2015 brunch menu.
Ridgewood Nj, Mémoire Owner and Executive Chef, Tom Finnelli said, “This is the first significant change in our brunch menu since we began offering brunch in January. Besides adding seasonal components to the dishes, we added more lunch items and elevated the existing breakfast items. For example, our LOBSTER EGGS BENEDICT is now served with a celery root & potato cake (in place of the original jalapeño biscuit) and a cognac sabayon (in place of a traditional hollandaise). Our “STEAK” & EGGS are served with crescent farms long island duck breast with a pumpkin celery root hash, sunny-side up egg, naval orange confit and a roasted plum sauce. It’s truly a great brunch menu and I’m excited to introduce it on Sunday.”
About the Menu: Many of mémoire’s dishes are interpretations of classics, such as their LOBSTER EGGS BENEDICT and “STEAK” & EGGS. Other dishes, such as ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS, AUTUMN HARVEST SALAD and CINDERELLA PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST, are what you might call, fall on a plate. Traditional breakfast dishes are offered, such as omelets and pancakes, but in a more refined way. There is even a children’s menu offering eggs, pancakes, french toast, pizza, pasta and chicken.
Green Business Recognition Program Now Accepting Applications
Click Here to learn more about the Green Business Recognition Program
The Village of Ridgewood’s Green Team Advisory Committee has created a voluntary Green Business Recognition Program to promote green practices and increase the visibility of those entities that have successfully demonstrated a commitment to sustainability.
All privately owned businesses with a physical location within the bounds of the Village of Ridgewood may participate in the Green Business Recognition Program. Participation in this free program is entirely voluntary.Interested parties may download and complete Ridgewood’s Green Business Application and Checklist. The completed checklist and any supplemental application materials should be submitted to the attention of the Green Team electronically ([email protected]). Businesses are encouraged to contact the Green Team for assistance—a team member will be dispatched for an in-person meeting to facilitate the application process.
Businesses that satisfy the requirements for recognition will be designated a Green Business by Ridgewood’s Green Team. A representative from the Green Team will present each recognized business with a certificate suitable for public display. The name of each recognized business will be posted on social media outlets administered by the Green Team as well as other websites as appropriate. The designation of Charter Participant shall be granted to those businesses that achieve recognition during the inaugural year of this program.
RCNG – Ridgewood Chamber Networking Group
AM – worth getting up early to be part of–
AM Networking in Ridgewood
Tuesday and Thursday
7:30am-8:45am
ConnectOne Bank
171 E. Ridgewood Ave.
201-445-2600 for more information
email: [email protected]
*******************************
PM NETWORKING IN RIDGEWOOD!
27 Chestnut Street
RCNG – Ridgewood Chamber Networking Group
every Wednesday,
Meet/Greet 5:30pm
Networking 5:45-6:45pm
rsvp 201-445-2600 [email protected]
************
RYPE- Ridgewood’s Young Professional Exchange
Networking for ages 40 and under Professionals.
Next Networking
Thursday, September 10th, 6pm
call 201-445-2600 [email protected]
meeting at 27 Chestnut Street.
go through restaurant’s patio and
take elevator to first floor.
Invite your business friends to join us!
rsvp to Allison- [email protected]
*************
Woman’s Networking
BBLB-Brown Bag Lunch Bunch meet on
Tuesday’s – alternating between 9am & 11am
call for dates of times-201-445-2600
women supporting women at its best!
mark your calendar!
chamber office-27 Chestnut St.
This networking is designed to place real value on the advise and wisdom of today’s business women.
Engage, Encourage, Empower!
for more information call 201-445-2600
N E T W O R K I N G
still the best way to do business
The Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce is a
member of the ICC – Inter-Chamber Consortium.
The ICC is an organization of several Bergen County Chambers that come together to work with each other to help build relationships for
the area business owners.
ICC MONTHLY MEETING SCHEDULE
Cliffside Park Chamber of Commerce
September 14, 2015.
MegaNet Networking date to TBA
If there’s one phrase that can inspire patriotism, it’s the American Dream. That concept was defined by James Truslow Adams as being the “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” The pursuit of this dream has driven the American people for generations, and recently, it has driven them directly into ABC’s Shark Tank.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Business in America has changed drastically in recent years. At a time when business idols are college drop outs who built companies from their garagesand Silicon Valley is a household name (and a tv show!), the goal of entrepreneurship has trumped all. The idea of rising through the ranks of your company has been surpassed by fast-paced success stories about startups improving and conquering old industries in record amounts of time (looking at you, Uber). This shifting business environment paired with the underlying hope to be the next overnight million-dollar company is what makes Shark Tank so interesting.
AUGUST 12, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015, 10:42 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
A renaissance of sorts is taking place in downtown Ridgewood, one of many business districts to nearly bottom out during the recession born in the previous decade.
In late 2009, two years after the collapse of the once-robust housing market, The Ridgewood News identified roughly 40 vacant storefronts in the Central Business District (CBD), and a handful of others teetered financially. That was, however, as low as the times would go.
Fortunes began to change as merchants made smarter business decisions and consumer confidence grew.
“It felt like a whole different time back then, but you could sense a turnaround coming,” according to Joan Groome, executive director of the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce.
Just one year after reaching basement numbers, the amount of downtown vacancies was slashed in half. Groome had accompanied the newspaper on a walking tour of the CBD in late summer of 2010 and counted just 20 empty storefronts.
She was back out there with The Ridgewood News last week, cutting through Tuesday morning humidity to evaluate the downtown business climate on the eve of this weekend’s Summer Sidewalk Sale. During the stroll, she remarked on the business district’s recovery and the community-wide effort to improve the CBD.
Non-Accredited Equity Crowdfunding Investors Need a Path to Liquidity
Jul 27, 2015 by Scott Shane In VC & Angel Capital
PeerRealty, a real estate crowdfunding platform, recently introduced CFX, the U.S.’s first secondary market for equity crowdfunding shares. For accredited investors, this exchange will improve the liquidity of equity crowdfunding investments.
Unfortunately, only accredited investors can use the platform. Equity crowdfunding investments made by non-accredited investors remain as liquid as ice.
This lack of liquidity creates a big problem. With the implementation of the rules for Title IV of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in June, non-accredited investors — people with less than $1 million in net worth or $200,000 in annual income if single and $300,000 if married — can now buy shares in private companies through equity crowdfunding portals.
But non-accredited investors can’t sell those same shares. Unlike accredited investors who can go to PeerRealty to sell their securities, unaccredited investors have to wait for the companies in which they have invested to go public or get acquired to cash out. And if venture capital and angel group investments are any guide to the time to exit for young companies, then these unaccredited investors will be waiting five to ten years for liquidity. Of course, that’s if the companies in which they have invested are the kind that will be purchased or go public.
Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC) Daniel Gallagher has recognized this problem, calling for a solution to the ill-liquidity of crowdfunding securities in a September 17, 2014, speech.
Specifically, he said, “I’ve called for the creation of ‘Venture Exchanges’: national exchanges, with trading and listing rules tailored for smaller companies, including those engaging in issuances under Regulation A.”
Congressman Scott Garrett, the New Jersey Republican who chairs the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises of the House has taken the issue to Capitol Hill. He has put forth a discussion draft of the Main Street Growth Act (PDF) – a bill that would “amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to allow for the creation of venture exchanges to promote liquidity of venture securities, and for other purposes.”[/fusion_text]
RACEFASTER (in Bookends) 211 E. Ridgewood Ave. ribbon cutting 1pm June 20, 2015 a great fit!
GiGi’s Boutique 48 E. Ridgewood Ave. ribbon cutting 11am June 27, 2015 fashion perfect!
Interim Healthcare Tuesday, July 7, 2015 NEW ADDRESS join us 27 Chestnut Street take elevator to first floor ribbon cutting 5:30pm join the celebration!
