The Spring, 2009 Inner Circle International newsletter is now available as an attachment to this blog. Our franchisor in Cleveland produces the publication four times per year to bring news and views to Inner Circle members around the country and in Canada.

Radio on the web is growing. Deidre Hughey who lives just outside Raleigh, NC hosts a weekly Blog Radio program during which she interviews the author of a business book. This past Wednesday, May 20, 2009 was my turn to be interviewed. Deidre is an excellent interviewer. . If you interested in hearing all or part of the podcast of the program you can listen to it on the book's website: www.runningyourowncompany.com.

On February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("the Stimulus Act") was signed into law. The Stimulus Act provides a subsidy for COBRA premiums for employees who are involuntarily terminated between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. Employers must provide an updated notice of COBRA coverage and subsidies to all employees who were terminated after September 1, 2008. Employers must provide this notice no later than April 18, 2009.

Attached is a letter received by Al Rubeling (Inner Circle 34) from the law firm Lee & McShane.

 Maryland House Bill 819 passed by a margin of 101-34 March 30, 2009 and tightens the definition of contract employees and establishes fines and penalties for misclassifying them. The bill has not yet passed the MD Senate but is expected to because it is being heavily pushed by Governor O'Malley. Should the law make it through to the Governor's signature it will take its place next to the IRS' 20-Question Test that is focused on the same issue.

Many business owners are reviewing alternatives for holding down labor costs during this economic downturn. One option that has been frequently discussed in Inner Circle meetings is furloughs-asking each employee to take a day off per week without pay. This enables employees to keep their jobs and to do something to help the company. It also enables the owner to keep good people for when the turnaround comes.

No, this is not another post about Big Old Detroit. But the last time I can remember hearing the phrase "unibody construction" was about how automobiles are being manufactured. But Apple's new Macbook and Macbook Pro line of laptops sport a "unibody construction." Apple claims this makes them lighter and more durable. Imagine finding out the hardware if this is true by accidentally dropping your new Macbook Pro on the driveway. Turns out it is - check out this blog.

Over the past 15-20 years, I believe there has been a shift in management philosophy. It used to be that the definition of management was planning, organizing and controlling. Most likely, those tasks have not gone away. But here's a new task, one that arches over all the others: building an organization of people in the right jobs and giving them the ability to succeed. In his landmark book. "Good to Great...", Jim Collins reports on his research into highly successful companies.

Much of the Roundtable time in Inner Circle meetings is devoted to discussing the issues associated with hiring and keeping good people and what to do with the bad ones. The problems sound especially acute in building and managing the sales force. Several patterns have emerged from facilitating these many discussions: There are two different strengths in sales people and there are two different overall sales strategies. The strengths are "opening doors," also known as business development and closing the. It sounds like most sales people are good at one or the other but not at both.