Colorado Gubernatorial Energy Forum

LIVE - SENATORIAL AND GUBERNATORIAL ENERGY FORUMOCTOBER 14TH FROM 9:45 am TO 12:30 pm

The candidates will provide their views on the future of the Colorado energy economy, followed by a moderated Q&A session. A panel discussion focusing on the opportunities for Colorado business and jobseekers in the energy industry will also be held.

This forum is sponsored by:

Colorado Business Roundtable Consumer Energy Alliance Colorado Energy Coalition Vital for Colorado Farm Bureau Colorado South Metro Denver Chamber Colorado Motor Carriers Association Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce Action 22 - Giving voice to Southern Colorado Metro North Chamber of Commerce AABE - Denver Area Chapter Colorado Women's Chamber of Commerce CACI - Colorado Association of Commerce & Industry Denver South Economic Development Partnership Western Slope Club 20

U.S. Net Energy Imports at Lowest Level in 29 Years as Domestic Production Keeps Booming

Net energy imports, as a share of U.S. energy consumption, continue to fall due to increased domestic production in areas such as the Bakken Basin, Marcellus Shale region, Eagle Ford shale, and the Permian Basin.  Last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported net imports have declined to 10.9% for the first six months of 2014 — the lowest level in almost 30 years. Total domestic energy production is currently outpacing the United States ever increasing energy consumption, helping lessen dependence on energy imports, says EIA analyst Allen McFarland.

He continues by breaking out each source of growth by energy type, "The increase in total energy production was almost entirely concentrated in petroleum and natural gas. Petroleum accounted for 52% of the 2014 year-to-date increase, natural gas for 27%, renewable energy for 9%, and nuclear electric power for 2%. In contrast, total coal production fell 1%. The increased liquids production reflects the use of advanced drilling methods, including hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling."

Full report published by the EIA:

Total U.S. net imports of energy as a share of energy consumption fell to their lowest level in 29 years for the first six months of 2014. Total energy consumption in the first six months of 2014 was 3% above consumption during the first six months of 2013, but consumption growth was outpaced by increases in total energy production. These changes led to a 17% reduction in net imports compared with the first six months of 2013.

Total energy consumption increased every month in 2014 compared with the same month in 2013. However, 81% of the total increase in consumption came in January and February, reflecting the effect of colder weather during the polar vortex. Natural gas accounted for 55% of the 2014 year-to-date increase, coal for 24%, renewable energy for 12%, petroleum for 8%, and nuclear electric power for 3%. Of the total natural gas consumption increase, the residential and commercial sectors accounted for 69% of the gain, again reflecting the cold winter, while 30% of the increase came from the industrial sector, continuing a long-term trend toward higher industrial use of natural gas.

The increase in total energy production was almost entirely concentrated in petroleum and natural gas. Petroleum accounted for 52% of the 2014 year-to-date increase, natural gas for 27%, renewable energy for 9%, and nuclear electric power for 2%. In contrast, total coal production fell 1%. The increased liquids production reflects the use of advanced drilling methods, including hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. These techniques have led to higher production in areas such as the Bakken Region, Marcellus Region, Eagle Ford play, and Permian Basin, and have greatly increased U.S. oil and natural gas production.

Total energy imports in the first six months of 2014 fell 6% compared with the first six months of 2013, almost entirely because of decreasing petroleum and natural gas imports, which fell 6% and 5%, respectively. Total energy exports increased 8% compared with the first six months of 2013. The increase was almost entirely the result of a 21% increase in petroleum product exports.

Richard Branson Is Right: Time Is the New Money

In the Participation Age, A New Form Of Payment Is Emerging: Time. Richard Branson just announced he would be giving Virgin employees unlimited vacation. He's either nuts or knows something others have yet to discover: You'll make more money if you give people their time back.

Why We Trade Time for Money

The Industrial Age taught us the only way to make money was to trade time for it. The deal was clear, and always the same: You give me eight to 10 hours of your day, and I'll give you some money. But in the Participation Age, something new is emerging. Companies are realizing that when you give people back their time, they will make you more money. It seems counter-logical, but it's really quite intuitive. As usual, Branson is moving on an idea that traditionalists will only discover by watching him and the other early adapters in action.

Why Would Unlimited Vacation Work?

Why give up on a vacation system that's been in place for 170-plus years? Because it was a bad idea then, and with a work force that did not grow up in the shadow of the Industrial Age, it's an even worse idea today. Almost no one under 40 can relate to a time-based system that makes no sense in a results-based work world.

Branson didn't figure this out; he's actually a late adapter, which makes a lot of the work world archaic and completely out of touch with how to make money today. Fewer than 1% of U.S. companies give unlimited vacation. In fact, America gives the second-lowest amount in the world, behind only South Korea.

The data is in: When you give people control of their time, they make you more money. W. L. Gore Inc., the pioneer in rejecting the Industrial Age, is a $3 billion company with 10,000 stakeholders. They've had unlimited vacation since the 1960s and continue to grow exponentially.

Semco, another great example of a Participation Age company, started making pumps in 1951. It was taken over by Ricardo Semler in 1981 and transformed into a great workplace, including unlimited vacation as just one of many principles that brought humanity back to the workplace. In 1981, it was a $4 million company. Today it's a $1 billion company and growing, and is in a myriad of industries that Semler could have never imagined. Stakeholder turnover is less than 1% per year.

Some technology companies have been operating this way for years as well, and a growing number of traditional as well as new industries are adopting unlimited vacation. Evernote and NetFlix are just two examples. They are all learning that anything that gives people back control of their lives is proving to be better for the company. Just the opposite of what our Industrial Age forefathers believed.

Pay Raises That Encourage More Vacation

Stakeholders become deeply invested in your company as you bring humanity back to the workplace. The downside? They can start acting like old-style business owners and have to be heavily encouraged to take time off. To combat this and put teeth into our unlimited vacation position, our company, Crankset Group, gives all of our stakeholders $1,500 a year in vacation money (Evernote gives $1,000 in vacation money and FullContact gives $7,500). But you only get it when you turn in receipts that prove you're using it for vacation.

There are Industrial Age detractors. Articles likes those recently in Time magazine view this cynically. But they are like listening to someone who drew the short straw in a high school debate and had to argue the positive effects of indentured servitude. The arguments against unlimited vacation are tortured at best.

The reality is simple. Give people control over their time, and they will build a great company, not for you, but with you.

In the Participation Age, time is the new money.

Connect & Collaborate - Medina Alert

When Jose Medina was fatally hit by a hit and run driver in January of 2011, a taxi driver who saw the crime, followed the car for as long as he could. The day before, that cab driver received Taxis On Patrol training, which instructed drivers what to observe and report, to help investigators solve such crimes. Because he could track the make, model and license plate number, authorities knew who they were looking for, got the word out, and the pilot of the plane she was on to escape extradition, grounded the plane until the guilty party could be arrested. It's the ideal example for citizens and police to come together to catch a suspect, and the inspiration for the creation of the Medina Alert. The Medina Alert is based on the Amber Alert, but modified to encourage citizens to report information on hit and runs that cause bodily injury or death.

Larry Stevenson, came up with the Medina Alert concept and together with Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey they put the bill before Colorado legislators. Join us this Saturday for a complete interview on the Medina Alert from it's conception, to implementation, as well as the new Medina Alert phone app.  Learn how you can keep informed of unsolved cases and share information that could help catch the guilty.

Please download the Medina Alert app from the iPhone app store or Google Play on an Android phone - then stop by our Facebook page to tell us you installed the app on your phone. We would love to see how many people will choose to participate in justice this weekend!

 Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.

Hidden Code May Reveal the Secret of Tesla's 'D'

Rumors and speculation have been following Elon's hint at a mysterious Tesla announcement during tonight's 7PM press conference.

About time to unveil the D and something else pic.twitter.com/qp23yi59i6

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 2, 2014

As originally reported by Angelo Young of the International Business Times, some clever digital investigation into Tesla's website's javascript coding reveals a “Dual Drive Motor” which seems to be suggesting the 'D' may stand for an All-Wheel Drive or Dual-Motor version of the Model S. There's also “Driver’s Assistance” mentioned in the javascript, which sounds like it could be a sort of smart cruise control or crash protection. The fully-featured vehicle will possibly be called the P85D, based on this photographic evidence.

ENHANCE.....

Tesla has already promised consumers an AWD SUV known as the Model X - though that may or may not be the ‘something else’  to which Musk was referring.

Traditional Education: The Sacred Cow Is Slain

The last great monopoly of the Industrial Age is dying. None too soon.  Our traditional education system is the last great monopoly of the Industrial Age and is awkwardly out of synch with the Participation Age in which we live.

Education Won’t Make You Successful

The present system was designed in the mid 1800s specifically to feed the Factory System, for the benefit of a few Industrialists, and to the detriment of the rest of us. It’s still stuck there, focused on churning out employees who are taught two things: a specific skill, and that they should never challenge the teacher’s brilliant and finished view of the world. This sets them up very well to be cogs in a corporate machine, but not to be learners, owners, Stakeholders, or self-managed adults in the Participation Age.

Education Is Not Correlated to Success

There are many reasons why we should not rely on a formal education system that, a century and a half later, is still deeply committed to closed markets and the status quo:

1. Top CEOs—People who never attended or never graduated from college are the number one source of CEOs for S&P 500 companies. (Harvard was number three.)
2. Wealth—One out of five of America’s millionaires never attended or finished college. Many of the rest would say college didn’t help. Almost none could show a clear correlation between school and wealth.
3. Personal well-being or happiness—A college degree leads to lower levels of happiness for twenty-three to twenty-five-year-olds, compared to those twenty-three to twenty-five-year-olds who got an apprenticeship or vocational training.
4. Learning—A full third of college graduates gain no measurable skills during their four years in college.
5. Productivity—High school graduates waste the least amount of time, followed by those with a bachelor’s and MBAs, with PhDs being the least productive.
6. Annual income—Millions of nonattendees and nongraduates make significantly more money than college graduates.
7. Lifetime income—The idea that college graduates make an extra million dollars in their lifetime is an urban myth perpetuated by a system that needs your money to keep it afloat. It has been debunked many times. High school grads can regularly make as much or even more, and with much less debt.

If Not Traditional Education, Then What?

For most of us there are other, better ways: become an apprentice, be a doer, not a thinker, or chase your dream and start a business. Before the education system was formalized in the 1850s, 80% of adults owned their own business. Today it’s reversed. This should not be surprising, since the education system was designed specifically to churn out highly skilled employees taught not strike out on their own. It worked.

But the giant is dead on it’s feet. It just hasn’t fallen yet. Here are just a few of the myriad of better education options emerging in the Participation Age.

The Sudbury Valley School is a K-12 model, with students coming from the full economic strata. There are no classrooms and no syllabus. The adults function as facilitators, not teachers, and learning happens in the context of doing, which research regularly shows is one of the best ways to learn. A staggering 42 percent of Sudbury graduates are involved in entrepreneurial pursuits.

Sudbury is only one example of Participation Age primary learning that ranges from charter schools, to homeschooling, to a myriad of cocreation initiatives.

The online world is also helping break the mold. Research shows that kids being educated online are as social or more so than their traditional counterparts. KhanAcademy.com , an online learning phenomenon, is attracting millions who are rejecting the didactic preaching/teaching model for a learn-by-doing model. And ColoradoConnectionsAcademy.com is one of many like it springing up online across the nation. Coursera.com , started in 2012, is now offering hundreds of free online classes from dozens of elite universities, giving anyone in the world free access to a great education.

Faster, Please

The traditional Industrialist Age education system works hard to maintain a closed market, and is focused more on destroying the competition than getting better. But the Participation Age and its hallmark of sharing are encouraging the development of a myriad of new learning models that are replacing the old standard. It can’t happen soon enough.

As seen on Inc.com

The Value of a Penny - Thanks to the HTSUS

Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States, HTSUS, duty rates

---

Why the Importer Checked the HTSUS

A client recently asked his vendor to charge him one cent more for the glass bottles he imports. This rather odd request was actually a very astute business move.

The Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the United States (HTSUS) lists every product under the sun and states the rate of duty for each product. This very large book has its own rules for interpretation to aid in determining the proper classification for any given product. Duty rates, of course, can vary from zero to very high rates (38% to even 110% from certain countries).

Now to our client. The HTSUS reads as follows for certain glassware: “Glassware of a kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes” with the following subheadings:

1. of glass-ceramics (our bottles didn’t fit here)

2. drinking glasses (our bottles didn’t fit here)

3. glassware of a kind used for table or kitchen purposes (not here)

4. other glassware (here is where they go, but note more subheadings)

5. of lead crystal (our bottles didn’t fit here)

6. other (here is where they go, but again more subheadings)

7. glassware decorated with metal flecking, etc. (not here)

8. pressed and toughened (not here)

9. other (here we go, but still more subheadings)

10. smokers articles, etc. (not here)

11. votive-candle holders (not here)

12. other (this is it, but again more subheadings)

13. valued not over $0.30 each (duty = 38%)

14. valued over $0.30 each but not over $3.00 each (duty = 30%) - valued over $3.00 each (more subheadings)

15. cut or engraved (not here)

16. other (more subheadings)

17. valued over $3.00 each but not over $5.00 each (duty =11.3%) - valued over $5.00 each (duty = 7.2%)

Why the Importer Volunteered to Pay More for His Bottles!

It so happens that the importer paid $3.00 each for the imported bottles. That gave him a duty rate of 30%. When he realized that the duty rate would change to 11.3% if the cost of the bottles increased to $3.01, he promptly contacted his vendor and re-negotiated the price. So, by raising his cost by a penny (which equals one-third of a percent) he reduced his duty rate by 18.7% from 30% to 11.3%. Smart move!

Now the question is, "Was his action legal?" Of course! Every importer has the right to negotiate for the best price for his product. In this case it so happens that the best price was a penny higher! But was his action ethical? Again, yes of course! Just as with income taxes, there is nothing unethical about engineering your taxable income to achieve the most favorable tax rate; the same is true for importing.

What is both illegal and unethical is to declare a purchase price different than the amount actually paid. It would be fraudulent if the importer called his vendor and said, “I know I am paying you $3.00 per bottle, but would you state on your invoice that the price as $3.01?” That’s what people go to jail for! Be sure the documents presented to Customs accurately reflect the true transaction.

This illustration also shows how complex the HTSUS can be!

Contributed by Patrick Gallagher

Gallagher Transport Int'l, Inc.

(303) 335-1000

© 2006 Patrick Gallagher

www.gallaghertransport.com

Used by permission from "More Bankers' Insights on International Trade: 101 Practical Lessions."

The Future of Commodities

Commodities as they are traditionally known, consist of things like agricultural products and fossil fuel resources, but what if we widened that lens and thought about commodities differently? This issue delves into not only commodities as we know them but also commodities like time and people. We're interested in what drives the direction of all types of markets and how our view of them has evolved and changed over time.

Life After A Sugar Detox

A few months back I went on a 21-day sugar detox and was curious as to how it would affect my diabetes and blood sugar levels. I will preface this follow up by saying that without completely divulging my health status, high cholesterol and high blood pressure along with diabetes runs in my family. While I’m the recipient of those genetic traits, over the years I’ve done everything within my power to slow the progression.  Banana Icecream

I’ve read tons of literature on managing diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. And while there was attention given to fruits and vegetables, the common thread seemed to involve heavy emphasis on whole grains, low/no fat foods, and calorie counting. Over the years I followed that mantra and yet my symptoms still gradually worsened.  Stomach issues plagued me since childhood. I’ve always had a little paunch I affectionately call my Buddha belly. I worked out three to four times a week without losing a pound. Things seemed rather hopeless, and I resigned myself to just having to endure poor health and a possible short lifespan. The South Beach Diet came out, which introduced a new concept of eliminating all grains and sugar (except for artificial sweeteners) for the first week, but keeping things low fat, then slowly reintroducing grains during weeks two and three. I successfully completed all three weeks but didn’t lose any weight, and was always hungry.

 Grain-free sandwich bread

Prior to embarking on the sugar detox, I already started cutting out grains mainly to curb my carb consumption. The side benefit was I had fewer stomach issues. The 21-Day Detox really was my introduction to the paleo lifestyle. Much like the South Beach Diet in that it’s low in carbs, there is a big exception. Instead of emphasizing low/no fat, and the heavy use of artificial sweeteners, I enjoy liberal amounts of fat in the form of nuts and meats, and some dairy like butter and heavy cream. (Die hard paleo enthusiasts would scoff at my use of dairy). The only allowed sweets came in the form of fruit, while honey and stevia are acceptable post sugar detox.

 Paleo oven-fried chicken with roasted broccoli

Adopting this lifestyle has been successful in several ways. One success is my recent blood work. My A1C went down from 7.2 to 6.7, my blood pressure is normal, as is my total cholesterol, which went down a whopping 109 points. All of this occurred by eliminating grains and sugar while enjoying foods like bacon, meats, fish, poultry, whole eggs, nuts and unlimited veggies. Contrary to popular belief, fat is our friend! It satiates, and more importantly, fat is flavor! The real culprits are refined carbs in the form of sugar and grains. My pallet has become more sensitive. I can taste the natural sugars in things like whole milk! The caveat to these changes is my body is sensitive all fast foods and convenient frozen meals, which means I spend a lot of time preparing many meals from scratch. Planning is essential. However, it’s a small price to pay considering the benefits of delicious real food and great health results outweigh this small inconvenience.

Here is a terrific recipe to introduce anyone interested in a grain free lifestyle.

 Grain free/gluten free muffins made from almond flour

Dry Ingredients:

2 ½ cups blanched almond flour (regular almond flour/meal will work just fine)

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda or arrowroot powder

Wet Ingredients:

2 large eggs

¼ cup melted or softened coconut oil or unsalted butter (use full fat! No using fake stuff for this recipe)

1 or 2 ripe bananas, or 2/3-1 cup of other kind of fruit like peaches or plum or even mangos (yes mangos!)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. In a small saucepan, add coconut oil or unsalted butter with fruit of choice and other wet ingredients except the egg and mix until just combined and the oil/butter is melted. If using diced apples, I’d sauté the mix until the apples are softened. (I usually add cinnamon and nutmeg whenever using apples to give the “apple pie” flavor.) Just be sure your mixture is cool enough so that you don’t get scrambled eggs when you’re ready to add the eggs. Once it’s cool enough, add all wet ingredients in either blender or food processor and mix only until the eggs are nicely incorporated.

In a large mixing bowl, mix in all remaining dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. It should look like thick cake batter. Scoop into a lined 1 dozen muffin tin and bake for 20-30 minutes, when the tops are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

You can turn these into “cupcakes” by simply adding frosting of your choice. The nice thing about these muffins is, because they’re made from almond flour, you can reheat them for about 30 seconds in a microwave without them turning into hockey pucks! Enjoy!

Balance Doesn’t Work – You Really Can’t Have it All – At Once

Doing anything remarkable almost always requires that something else gets ignored.  

“Having it all” is an Industrial Age charade. Starting a successful business isn’t something you can do while living a “balanced” life. The bucolic suburban life of the 1950s was missing one thing – significance. People who live remarkable lives don’t live balanced ones. They don’t want one, either. Do you want a successful life? Then stop seeking balance.

Teeter-Totters rule. When a teeter-totter is perfectly balanced, nothing is happening. The family sitcoms of the 50s, like Ozzie and Harriet, taught us to seek “balance” so we could live highly predictable, secure, safe, and unremarkable lives. But think of anyone who has accomplished great things in business, spiritual life, justice, etc – the more remarkable their impact, the less balanced their lives.

Integration, Not Balance In the Participation Age, we bring our whole self to work, and we dissolve the lines between work and play. We leave at 10 a.m. to see our kids in the only fifth-grade play in which they will ever be the lead raccoon. We take bike rides or go for walks at 3 p.m., and work in the evenings or “weekends”.

Full Engagement, Not Balance Fifteen years ago I was offered a great salary and significant ownership to run a company in Napa Valley. But we were fully out of balance, focusing on kids at the time. It was an offer of a lifetime, but it was easy to say no. Imbalance required it.

During the first year of building the Crankset Group (and earlier businesses), I worked seven days a week. There was no balance at all. Seven years later, I have every Friday off, every other Monday off, the last week of every month off, and a month a year – 60% of the year. My wife and I get to choose to ride a bike, build businesses in Africa, visit a 3to5 Club in Ireland, or go on a vacation. People on teeter-totters are always intentionally out of balance. It’s how the fun happens.

Get More Done in Less Time Here’s the rub for startups. Too many business owners go into business looking for an immediate Ozzie and Harriet “lifestyle business”–assuming that they can step right in working four or five days a week. Success almost never comes that way. It was the willingness to go all in and be completely imbalanced on the front end that allows me to be imbalanced now in the direction of free time.

Momentum doesn’t come from balance, but from giving it your all up front. An airplane burns up to 50 percent of its fuel just getting to its cruise altitude. Most businesses do, too.

Shoot for Next Year, Not Tomorrow Full engagement is tied directly to wanting the best in the long term, not right now, and wanting it badly enough to go all in—abandoning anything that the Balanced Life folks would recommend.

Find something to throw yourself at and do it with everything you have. Then take a break from that and throw yourself at something else just as hard (playing with your kids, another business, writing a book, etc.). I love my teeter-totter life. If you don’t have one, don’t expect to live a remarkable life.

Is Your Job a Balance Trap?

The Industrial Age company you work for might want you to live a balanced life and leave your personal stuff at home. It’s a trap. Find another company to work for—there are plenty of Participation Age companies out there who invite you to live an unbalanced, fully engaged, fully integrated, and remarkable life, and the number is growing fast.

Choose the Unbalanced Life

Live out your highest priorities – everything else should play second fiddle to those. And yes, you’ve got to choose. You can’t have it all – right now. Go all in on the front end and reap the rewards down the road.

As Margaret Thatcher, who lived an imbalanced life, said, “One’s life should matter.” If you live a balanced one, yours won’t.

article as seen on Inc.com

by Chuck Blakeman, Author of the #1 Rated Business Book of the Year, Making Money is Killing Your Business and Top 10 business book, Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea

www.ChuckBlakeman.com

Connect & Collaborate - Downtown Project

Las Vegas is known for the strip. For the entertainment, the gambling, the shows. It's a city that attracts tourists, and tourists see little else beyond the flashy, glittering facade which draws them in. Strange as it may seem, people live there too, and the vast majority of Las Vegas' population doesn't live on the strip. They live in the rest of the city that visitors don't see. But because so much attention is focused on the Las Vegas Strip, as a major source of revenue and employment, it's not far-fetched to say that other parts of the city suffered from neglect.

The Downtown Project is a plan to turn that around. As  Kim Schaefer, Communications Director for the Downtown Project tells us, the revitalization project has already transformed downtown Las Vegas with new office and retail space, family-centered activities, as well as various forms of adult entertainment, and shopping.

Downtown Project took off in January of 2012 with a five-year-plan and $350 million fund, which included first, acquiring land and property, followed by a focus on funding in year two. The majority of 2014 saw fruits of the project - lead by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos and 800 investors and co-owners - as office space became available with special rates and lease conditions for businesses that might be starting up, with a need to move on in a matter of months.

The area also features a container park, home to shopping, dining and a giant tree house where kids can play. It's now a place that attracts families, where people can socialize, in an area that was once sketchy, which people avoided.

The Colorado Business Roundtable sees the Downtown Project as a source of inspiration for revitalization - something we in Denver can consider as light rail stations connect parts of our city and providing new access and development in areas that could thrive.

To learn more about the dramatic changes, listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.

Podcast links will be available the Monday after our air date. Check back for updates if you missed the broadcast.

International Space Station Upgrading Earth Observation Technologies

The International Space Station, or ISS, is recognized worldwide as a testament to the ingenuity and drive of the human spirit and an inspiration to future astronauts. Through 2014, NASA aims to give the floating observation station even more tools to monitor the Earth.  The additional hardware will give scientists much more data and a unique perspective from space.  Typical Earth-orbiting satellites fly at altitudes above 400 miles up while the ISS operates around 240 up, meaning that it will give observers a whole new look at Earth from space, providing scientists a cross-reference for satellite observed imagery. "We're seeing the space station come into its own as an Earth-observing platform," said Julie Robinson, chief scientist for the International Space Station Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It has a different orbit than other Earth remote sensing platforms. It’s closer to Earth, and it sees Earth at different times of day with a different schedule. That offers opportunities that complement other Earth-sensing instruments in orbit today."

Started on September 19th, the first round of new equipment will be sent up with the Space X Commercial Resupply Services flights, adding the ISS-RapidScat, which will be used to better study ocean winds for climate research, weather predictions and hurricane monitoring.  In total, there will be 6 new additions to the station, all aimed at giving us a better understanding of what is going on on our planet.  

Banks Create Draft - y Situations

Documentary collection, sight draft, time draft, bill of lading, at sight, draft, demand for payment, drawer, drawee, payee, tenor, accept the draft, trade acceptance, bankers’ acceptance, sight, time, beneficiary, issuing bank, endorse, negotiable, letter of credit

---

While Speeding on the Interstate Highway, He Asked about the Form of Draft

A client called from his cell phone as he drove to the bank with a set of documents to present for payment on a letter of credit, which expired at the end of the day. While speeding on the interstate, he asked about the format of a sight draft. As best I could with words, I tried to create an image in his mind of what a draft looks like. I also informed him he could purchase some from an office supply store, or we could give him one from our supply cabinet.

When he asked if he needed a printed draft, I said, “No, we will permit a hand-written form.”

Then he asked, “Can I design a form on any kind of paper?” I assured him those details had nothing to do with the legal purpose of a draft as long as it contained the correct criteria.

Approximately 30 minutes later he rushed into the bank with the documents and his hand-written, hand-designed form. Hastily sketched on a brown paper bag that earlier had carried his lunch, it had all the components and criteria for a proper draft and we found no reason to refuse it.

Many international transactions require a document referred to as a "draft.” While some people have an idea of what and when to use it, they often have questions about the technicalities and the form. While various financial transactions require a draft, we will limit our discussion here to the use of a draft in typical international transactions. (To request a sample copy of a draft, send an e-mail to [email protected]).

Definition of a Draft

A draft can simply be defined as a “demand for payment.” The major components of a draft include the drawer, who demands the payment; the drawee, who makes the payment; the payee, who receives the payment; the tenor, which indicates the date of payment, and the amount of the draft or the amount of the payment demanded. The tenor of the draft determines a sight or a time payment. The drawee honors a sight draft, identified with a tenor “at sight,” by paying it when “sighted.” A time draft indicates payment a certain number of days after a date or an event for the payment, for example, “30 days after the bill of lading date.” In summary, the drawer demands payment from the drawee and instructs the drawee to make payment to the payee of a certain amount on a certain date.

In a typical documentary collection payment, the exporter is the drawer, the buyer is the drawee, and the exporter is the payee. In a typical letter of credit transaction, the beneficiary is the drawer, the issuing bank is the drawee, and the beneficiary, or beneficiary’s bank is the payee. The payee endorses the draft, making it negotiable.

What is a "Time" Draft"

If the buyer successfully obtains extended payment terms, a “time draft” becomes the proper term to describe the payment. In this scenario the drawee accepts the draft after the documents arrive at his bank. The drawee signs a notation across the face of the draft, obligating himself to pay on the agreed upon maturity date, often tied to the bill of lading date, such as 30 days after the bill of lading date, or tied to the date of acceptance of the draft, or some other criteria.

When the drawee of a time draft is the buyer, the accepted draft becomes known as a “trade acceptance” to distinguish it from a “bankers’ acceptance,” a time draft drawn on and accepted by a bank. The accepted draft, similar to a promissory note, represents money owed by one party to another party. Because a bankers’ acceptance presumably carries less risk, the holder prefers it to a trade acceptance.

Used by permission from "More Bankers' Insights on International Trade: 101 Practical Lessions."

Why Did The SBA Just Gift Millions To For-Profit Businesses?

The SBA just gave away millions in corporate welfare with no strings attached, to venture- capitalists accelerators. This is wrong on multiple levels.  

The U.S. Small Business Administration just announced the award of millions of dollars in grants to 50 "accelerators," which are designed for venture capitalists to sift through countless startups to find the few they think can make them money. But the rationale, efficacy, and fairness of this program all need to be challenged.

The Rationale--Accelerators Produce More Jobs (NOT)

Over the last decade, the SBA has shifted its focus away from the 98 percent of small businesses with 1-19 employees, to work with very large corporations with up to $36.5 million in revenue and/or 1,500 employees. This accelerator grant program is another example of that shift.

The SBA says accelerators produce a lot of jobs, but the evidence suggests the opposite. Over the last five years, the approximately 200 accelerators in the U.S. have created between3,300 and 4,800 jobs, or a measly 700 to 960 jobs a year, at a cost of $130,000 per job created. Small businesses add around 600,000 businesses and three million jobs every year, or an average of 15 million jobs every five years; all without handouts from the government.

The Efficacy--Accelerators Product High-Growth Companies (NOT)

The SBA says accelerators produce high-growth companies. The evidence suggests otherwise.

The best data on job creation from the Kauffman Foundation shows 100% of net new jobs are created in the first twelve months of a new business. 98% of those will never have more than 19 employees (and don't want more), and less than 00.06% have more than 500. And most importantly, nobody can figure out which startup will be the freak that will grow quickly. Not a single business that has gone through an accelerator program over the last couple decades has become "high-growth", and generated tens of thousands of jobs.

In contrast, McDonalds started as a hot dog stand in 1937, and didn't start growing until eighteen years later. It was not built to be big, "high-growth", or even make hamburgers. Accelerator owners would have laughed at it.

Sara Blakely designed and started selling panty hose from her apartment because she didn't like the way her panty hose fit. In a few short years, Spanx became a billion dollar company without the help of an accelerator, or even a single penny of outside investment. And no one, including Sara Blakely, could have guessed it would become huge.

In 1996, two college kids started a company called Backrub on their college campus server. Three years later they moved out of their garage and renamed it Google, which lived in obscurity in the backwaters of the Internet for another couple years. These kids would have never survived the "pitch deck" process to get into an accelerator.

The accelerators never recognized these or any others like them, and the overwhelming evidence is they never do. The fact is, good ideas don't need to be coddled. 81 percent of the fastest growing businesses in America never took a dime of venture capital, and those that achieved the highest financial return also took no vc money. Not one of the fastest growing businesses in America on anyone's list over the last twenty years has come through an accelerator.

Throwing free money at accelerators in not an effective use of SBA funds. They would be better off lending it to small business owners with interest.

The Fairness Issue

The SBA was formed to help small business owners get interest-bearing loans, not to give free money to wealthy vc's. One recipient of the handout, the Arizona Center for Innovation, is owned by Tech Parks Arizona, which owns 5.2 million square feet of commercial office space producing over $100 million a year in revenue. Do they really need a government handout to make more money?

Just as questionable, many other grant recipients formed their accelerator in the last few months, possibly just to get the grant. Some don't have a website yet. Some haven't even opened. One is a rental kitchen that opens this month and will rotate chefs in their for-profit restaurant area. How is that "high growth"? With no track record at all, the SBA is throwing money at all these, no strings attached. It's mind-boggling and a terrible investment practice that no accelerator with integrity would support.

How does any of this giveaway make sense? This is crony-Industrialism, and an affront to the millions of small businesses slugging it out in the trenches, who are more deserving, but won't see a dime of this giveaway. The SBA has a lot of explaining to do.

by Chuck Blakeman, Author of the #1 Rated Business Book of the Year, Making Money is Killing Your Business and Top 10 business book, Why Employees Are Always A Bad Idea

www.ChuckBlakeman.com

Article as seen on Inc.com

DAP: Door Delivery by the Steamship Line – A Good Idea? demurrage charges, VACIS exam

DAP (Delivered At Place) Incoterms® Rule

Sometimes our clients purchase goods with the DAP (Delivered At Place, replaced the former Duty Unpaid rule) Incoterm® where the shipper pays for the cost of delivery, and the shipper arranges for the steamship line to deliver the goods right to the consignee’s door. This sounds mighty convenient, but we don’t recommend it. From the following example I think you will see why.

Recently a client imported a full, refrigerated container of frozen food products from Europe. The security inspectors with Customs in Norfolk decided to schedule this container for a VACIS exam (a non-intrusive exam by gamma rays). In addition, an agricultural inspector with Customs in Norfolk decided to schedule a "tailgate" exam on this shipment. In other words, he wanted to open the doors and look inside.

Avoid Demurrage Charges

Steamship lines allow a limited number of days free time before they begin assessing demurrage (storage) charges. Typically, scheduled exam processes are slow. Knowing this and realizing that the last free day fell on Friday, we pressed the terminal to conduct the exams quickly. They were completed around 3 P.M. EST on Friday.

You’ll never guess the steamship line’s response when I told them the container was now ready for delivery! Their answer: “Sorry, we cannot dispatch a truck this late in the day. The container can’t be delivered until Monday. And oh, by the way, demurrage charges of $750 are due as of Monday!”

The steamship line had no incentive to expedite the container for Friday delivery. In fact, they had a $750 incentive NOT to have it delivered on Friday. If the buyer had used a more appropriate Incoterm® other than DAP, we would have been authorized to arrange the delivery. We would have phoned our trucker on Thursday to make sure he was able and prepared to deliver the container on Friday, even late in the day on Friday. If our regular trucker had been too busy, we would have called another company. Under the circumstances we had no leverage with the steamship line. They quite happily said, “No dice,” and collected the demurrage charges.

DAP Gives the Importer No Control

If the buyer had chosen to use any Incoterm® other than DAP (or the other D Term, DDP) we would have been authorized to arrange delivery. This goes back to the age old saying: The more control you exercise over your supply chain, the better off you are. When you lose control it can, and often does, cost you money.

Contributed by Patrick Gallagher

Gallagher Transport Int'l, Inc.

(303) 335-1000

© 2008 Patrick Gallagher

www.gallaghertransport.com

Used by permission from "More Bankers' Insights on International Trade: 101 Practical Lessions."

Marissa Mayer, The Old School Manager, vs. Ricardo Semler, The Participation Age Leader

Mayer manages to the Lowest Common Denominator. Semler leads to the Highest Common Denominator. The difference is dramatic. Last year, the CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer, created shock waves throughout the tech world by dictating that “work from home” was no longer permitted. She summarily herded everyone back into the Office Day Care Center to be closely supervised like seven year olds. A few years earlier, a large multi-national company headquartered in Brazil named Semco, threw a party for their leader, Ricardo Semler, to commemorate his 10^th anniversary of not making a decision.

Managing to The Worst vs. Expecting the Best

LCD Management (lowest common denominator) asks, “What’s the most incompetent or laziest thing somebody could do?”, and then creates an environment to make it hard to get away with it. In contrast, HCD Leadership asks, “If given a clear vision, what is the best possible thing people could do without being managed?” HCD leaders then create the kind of environment that will attract self-motivated, self-managed achievers. Both of them are self-fulfilling prophecies.

LCD Managers create an environment where people will live down to our worst expectations of them. HCD leaders understand that the art of leadership is to know how few decisions the leader should make.

Ricardo Semler is perhaps the best, low-profile CEO leader in business today. Mayer is a high-profile CEO manager, using personal superpowers to hold everything together - for now. As a result, the futures of Yahoo and Semco are going in dramatically different directions.

Centralized Decision-making vs. Everyone is Capable

LCD managers assume they are the most motivated, qualified, committed, invested, and experienced. With all those superstar qualities, it would be foolish to have others making decisions. That’s why they are paid the big bucks. Mayer is infamous for regularly having a few dozen people waiting outside her office for hours, as she solves problems and makes decisions for them one at a time.

HCD Leadership believes most people are inherently motivated, qualified, committed, and invested, and that they make better decisions than someone in a hierarchy.  Semler doesn’t make decisions anymore because decisions are made where they will be lived out. Stakeholders throughout the company are responsible for Semco entering a variety of industries and growing dramatically year after year, from $4 million 29 years ago to $1billion+ today. As an HCD leader, instead of making decisions others can make, Semler is free to ask questions, cast vision, and work with others to build the future of the company.

Superpowers vs. Delegation

Mayer is a supermanager – which allows her to get away with a lot in the short term. But it is not sustainable. When she goes, the energy goes. She has entrenched herself in decision-making, making her nearly indispensable. While at Google, Mayer pulled 250 all-nighters in five years and held up to 70 meetings a week. She sleeps four hours a night. In contrast, Semler trained others to make decisions. There are now six co-CEOs who rotate leadership every six months, allowing Semler to function at the highest levels of leadership and not make decisions. As with any great leader, he has worked hard to get out of the way. He is fully dispensable, while nobody could replace Mayer.

The Results Are In

Semco gets hundreds of unsolicited resumes every month, and no one leaves. In the worst 10-year recession in Brazil’s history, revenues grew 600%, profits were up 500%, and productivity rose 700%. Innovative Stakeholders have taken them into profitable industries they could have never dreamed of entering, and they continue to grow exponentially. And unlike Yahoo, Semco hasn’t told people how or where to work for over three decades.

LCD management may get quick, short-term results, but Yahoo’s future will never look like Semco’s – it’s too reliant on a very high-profile, LCD superhuman manager. Very impressive in the short-term, but very old school.

Why They Lost Their Shirts with a Documentary Collection Payment

Documentary collection, sight draft, documents against payment, D/P, time draft, bill of lading, invoice, packing slip, insurance certificate, inspection certificate, protest, documents against acceptance, D/A, at sight, draft, customs, maturity date, open account, notary public, acceptance of the draft, International Chamber of Commerce

The Buyer Refused Payment

A customer of a bank in Minnesota, for which I worked, imported shirts from a supplier in Greece. The buyer and seller agreed to payment terms on Documentary Collection with a payment 60 days after acceptance of the draft, easily calculated once the buyer accepts the draft. On the maturity date, the treasurer informed us he would not make the payment.

Protesting Non-Payment of the Collection

After we informed the bank in Greece that we could not collect the payment, the bank in Greece requested us to perform a rarely used technique. They asked us to protest non-payment of the draft – a formality sometimes used to provide material evidence, if needed, in a legal proceeding, or sometimes nothing more than a bluffing technique.

I asked a coworker, a notary public, to accompany me to the buyer’s business. The treasurer invited us into his office. We explained that the bank in Greece requested us to either collect payment or protest non-payment. We produced the draft with his signature on it and bluntly asked, “Will you pay this draft or not?”

Without hesitation he shouted, “No, I’m not going to pay that draft. We ordered large shirts and received small instead. Our customers primarily consist of big Norwegian men,” he emphasized, “and they can’t wear the small shirts.”

We thanked him and returned to the office where we prepared a notarized statement that we had witnessed non-payment by the buyer and sent the notarized statement with a letter to the bank in Greece along with an invoice for our services. When the Greek supplier finally realized they would not receive payment, they agreed to exchange the small shirts for large shirts and the buyer subsequently authorized payment.

The buyer and seller agreed to a “documentary collection,” one of the four methods of payment used internationally. When paid immediately, banks refer to the draft as a “sight draft,” “documents against payment” or simply, “D/P.” If the buyer and seller agree to a delay in payment, the transaction becomes a “time draft,” “documents against acceptance” or simply “D/A,” as illustrated in this lesson.

Understanding Risks of the Collection Payment

In a documentary collection method of payment, both the buyer and seller bear some risk, and, likewise, both have a measure of security. Therefore, I refer to this method of payment as a “compromise” payment. With a sight payment, the buyer has the protection that the seller can receive no funds until he has proved he has shipped the goods. This prevents the seller from using the money for a weekend ski trip or some other frivolous use. The seller, on the other hand, has the protection that the buyer cannot receive the goods without paying for them.

Logistically, the transaction begins when the seller delivers the goods into the hands of the transportation company, which issues a bill of lading as proof of shipment. The seller prepares a draft and attaches the bill of lading and other documents such as an invoice, packing slip, insurance certificate, inspection certificate, etc., and delivers all documents to his bank with the request that the bank attempt to collect the payment.

The seller’s bank then couriers the documents to the buyer’s bank with clear and precise instructions to: “collect payment from the buyer before releasing the documents.” Without the documents, the buyer cannot claim the goods and clear the goods through customs. When the buyer authorizes payment, the bank releases the documents and the buyer claims the goods.

Since the buyer pays on receipt of documents only, he will not see the goods until after payment. If the goods do not comply with the order, the buyer has little recourse. The buyer can mitigate the risk by arranging for inspection of the goods at the port of departure. (The buyer cannot inspect the goods at the port of arrival because he needs the documents to see the goods.)

The seller assumes the risk that the buyer may not pay. In that case the seller can exercise one of four options: (a) renegotiate with the buyer and try to induce him to make payment and accept the goods, (b) return the goods at the seller’s expense, (c) find another buyer, or (d) abandon the goods.

When the seller presents a time draft, as in the shirt story, the bank requires the buyer to indicate his acceptance of the draft by signing and dating a notation that reads “Accepted” across the face of the draft. The seller must consider the risk that the buyer may not accept the draft. In that case the above four options remain available to the seller.

After the buyer has accepted the draft, the bank will release the documents and the buyer can claim the goods. Ideally, the time period until maturity date will sufficiently allow for the buyer to liquidate the goods and collect payment before the maturity date. On the maturity date the buyer instructs the bank to remit the payment to the seller.

If, however, the buyer refuses to pay the accepted draft on the maturity date, the seller loses all of the previously mentioned options. Selling goods on a time draft basis falls only one degree short of open account. With open account terms the seller agrees to allow the buyer to receive the goods and pay for them at a future date.

Sellers have an advantage with a time draft because they hold the accepted draft which becomes tangible legal evidence as proof that the buyer owes the money. Once buyers accept a draft they have an obligation to pay at maturity. If buyers fails to pay, they risk facing legal action by the seller. In some countries, the buyer’s name may find its place on a “black list” which would effectively prevent them from further trade.

In a D/A transaction, the buyer's risk is accepting the draft before he sees the goods. If he wishes to mitigate this risk, he can arrange inspection of the goods prior to shipment.

The International Chamber of Commerce has published guidelines to promote uniform handling and to prevent misunderstandings when processing documentary collections. The publication # URC 522 is available from the ICC at 212-206-1150 or at www.iccbooksusa.com.

Used by permission from "More Bankers' Insights on International Trade: 101 Practical Lessions."

TechStars Offering Equity-Back Guarantee

Startup accelerator TechStars is announcing a new 'equity back guarantee'.  The mentorship-driven program - based in Boulder, Colorado - has grown and expanded into other cities including New York City, Boston, Seattle, San Antonio, Austin, Chicago, and London. Companies that make the program give up 6% equity in order to gain access to the experience and and connections of the TechStars network.  They're so confident, that starting in 2015 they are willing to return the equity if startups aren't completely satisfied in the value exchange.

The group is already highly selective and accepts less than 1%  of the companies that apply. However, they can only select from those that actually do apply. While the founders of TechStars say the value is clear for graduated companies, they want to attract even more high-quality applicants who may be hesitant before getting to know the program.

In Brad Feld's post on the matter, he writes about living out the "give before you get" philosophy.  He then concludes with lighthearted confidence, "While I wish my lawyers, accountants, and investment bankers offered a money back guarantee, I accept that isn’t changing anytime soon. However, I encourage all accelerators and entrepreneurial service providers to consider offering this. After all, our mission is to help entrepreneurs."

TechStar's Announcement can be be found at http://www.techstars.com/equity-back-guarantee/

Today Techstars is announcing an equity back guarantee that goes into into effect for all companies participating in a Techstars program starting in 2015 and beyond. The reason for this is quite simple. We firmly believe in the value of the Techstars accelerator program and in the long term value of our network. This makes it easy to take this step to “put our equity where our mouth is.”

Over the years, but especially now that we’ve scaled up to 13 different locations, we’ve seen more companies coming to Techstars not only for our accelerator program but also to leverage the ongoing value of the Techstars network. Techstars is now a massive interconnected network of over 3,000 successful entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and corporate partners. That network value lasts a lifetime, whether you’re starting your first company or your fifth.

Some of the founders we’ve funded over the years have been skeptical of the value of Techstars on the front end. Most of those ended up talking with the alumni of Techstars and ultimately got comfortable and made the leap of faith. But we’ve noticed a very clear and consistent pattern: they’re never skeptical of the value after the Techstars program ends. In fact, they tell us consistently that it was completely worth it. The equity back guarantee completely removes this up front concern that some may have.

Now, if you’re a founder who wants to get efficient and focused feedback, challenge yourself to be better, build your network, and leverage the massive Techstars network, you can do it in a completely risk free way. You can participate in Techstars under our standard terms, which now includes this equity back guarantee for every single company. At the end of the Techstars program, your company will have 3 business days to lower or eliminate our equity position if they’re not satisfied with the value of Techstars.

In the Techstars tradition of #givefirst, we’re proud to offer our equity back guarantee to ensure that every company we work with is completely satisfied with the value that we provide. We hope to see your company applying to Techstars soon. You quite literally have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

Unmotivated Employees Won’t Like Where The Work World Is Headed

The world continues to shift in favor of those who want to do something, contribute, create, innovate, make meaning, and own their lives.  

The time is ripe for entrepreneurs, but will employees survive the next evolution? Maybe, but they're going to have to change, now.

The work world is shifting in favor of those who want to do something, contribute, create, innovate, make meaning, and own their lives. Recent studies show the workplace is headed in a participatory direction that will not accommodate traditional employees stuck in Industrial Age management structures.

The Evolving Workplace: Expert Insights is one such study. They identify seven trends. We'll look at four of them that do a great job of identifying where "work" and the "workplace" are headed.

Trend #1: Crowdsourcing and Crowdsource services. People will work everywhere and some will never meet. Just-in-time labor will reduce the number of permanent employees. Productivity will become more important than hanging around the boss. Thirty percent of Japan's workforce is already crowd-sourced.

Participation Age implication: The big elephant in the room is that kissing up to cover up for lousy productivity will be much harder for employees to do remotely. The lazy guy with a great personality might actually have to start working.

Trend #2: Productivity measured in outputs, not hours. This study says the whole world is moving in that direction.

Participation Age implication: This is a results-based culture, replacing the traditional time-based culture. In our company, we have no office hours, and no vacation or sick time. We expect people to produce, and then go play with their dog (or vice versa). The Industrial Age taught us to trade time for money, but in the post-modern economy, time is the new money. People want freedom from the 9-5 and will produce more if treated like adults who are in charge of their productivity.

Trend #3: Values vs. rules. Values, which guide and encourage personal initiative, will be more prevalent than rules, which box people in, dull their thinking, and keep them from innovating.

Participation Age implication: This trend highlights the importance of hiring people who reflect your values and who you can trust (since you're no longer measuring time, but results). Stephen Covey's research showed that employer/employee trust is one of the most valuable factors in someone being productive. Going forward, hiring for culture, which cannot be taught, will replace hiring for skills, which can be taught. Skilled employees will have to learn to live in business community, not just produce in a vacuum.

Trend #4: Employee-led innovation. The best innovation will come from the "bottom up," not from management or R&D departments.

Participation Age implication: When we lead with values and not rules, we turn employees (supervised children) into Stakeholders (self-managed adults). Stakeholders take responsibility for their time and produce results without being monitored. More importantly, they will come up with great ideas on how to move the company forward. Management won't have to tell employees what to do; the Stakeholders will be the innovators that move the company forward.

Most revealing line from the report: "Strong resistance is expected from many parts of the labor force [to measuring output instead of hours].... The gap will widen between the best workers and the worst in terms of opportunities and earnings, contributing to greater income inequality and therefore potential social unrest."

In other words, a time-based culture lets people appear productive by simply having a car in the parking lot, and they will protest having been exposed as a drain on the company.

Having a job vs. working; Time-Based vs. Results-Based
 The future doesn't bode well for Industrial Age employees who don't mind going to work (time-based job), but don't want to actually work while they are there (results-based work). But it looks very bright for Stakeholders who want to "make meaning", not just money, to take ownership, and get a life at the same time.

The work world continues to shift in favor of those who want to do something, contribute, create, innovate, make meaning not money, and own their lives. It should encourage all of us to move from being employees to Stakeholders.

article as seen on Inc.com

Connect & Collaborate - Colorado Succeeds

The state of education should be everyone's concern. Not just those with children in school, or heading off to college. After all, our workforce is only as good as our students, and our students are only as good as the education available to them. If we want our state to succeed economically, it's in everyone's best interest to be interested in what is going on in our schools.

That is specifically the thinking behind Colorado Succeeds, a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of business leaders committed to improving the state's education system for workforce development and economic growth.  Our guests on Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA are Kristina Saccone and Scott Laband, Vice President and President, respectively of Colorado Succeeds.  Their goal is to engage the business community in improving our state by investing in education.

Business and industry can provide valuable feedback in terms of the skills and knowledge they need to see in graduates, and whether or not the school system is producing them.  As Scott Laband explains, "Colorado's education system should be the cornerstone of our state's economic vitality."

Listen in and find out how you or your business can get involved. We'll discuss education reform, education-to-workforce, school choice and more.

Learn more by visiting ColoradoSucceeds.org, ColoradoSchoolGrades.com and by tuning in for our full conversation Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 –  Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.