BusinessHub

Many things impact the housing market including interest rates, employment rates, and the overall state of the economy. The unemployment rate in the U.S. is currently sitting at a 49-year low of 3.6%, as of May 2019¹, with Vermont boasting the lowest unemployment rate of 2.1%.

When it comes to buying or selling commercial real estate, the process can be complex. However, whether you are buying or selling, considering potential property tax implications early in the process can benefit you long after you’ve closed on the property.

Recently, I sat down with Brett Morgan, SVP of Sales, to talk about the prevalent threat of cyber attacks and how these threats can affect businesses. Check out our video to learn:

Cloud computing has given consumers and businesses access to all sorts of information when they need it at their fingertips—whether they’re sending emails from home, accessing files during a lunch meeting, or uploading a presentation at the office. A 2018 White House report cites that 93% of businesses and organizations utilized some form of cloud computing for software, platform, or infrastructure services¹.

An employee handbook is a critical element of your business, but it can also be overwhelming to develop when you consider all of the information that should be included.

Your employee handbook sets proper expectations for new hires and should be a valuable resource for existing employees to review policies and find pertinent information that they may have forgotten, such as your FMLA policy or disability benefits.

As the 21^st century progresses and moves forward, our reliance on technology has grown at an exponential pace. As a result, hackers have become some of the most dangerous criminals in the business world. You can’t see them and you don’t know where they’re located, but they manage to access “secure” networks, steal sensitive data, and interrupt monetary transactions. No matter the size of a company, a cyber attack can cause catastrophic damage to a business.

Cyber attacks and data security breaches have become a recurring trend in today’s society—just ask Facebook’s, Mark Zuckerberg. This year alone, there have been well over 100 noteworthy data breaches or leaks across a broad spectrum of industries, including major brands such as Blackrock Inc., Instagram, Dunkin Donuts, and Fortnite¹.

I just returned from the American Society of Safety Professional’s (ASSP) annual conference in New Orleans. It was a massive event with over 5,000 people in attendance. The conference included a great exhibit hall with 200+ exhibitors from around the globe. The speakers and breakout sessions were great, which brings me to the reason for this blog post.

Running a company is no easy task, especially in our ever-changing business landscape. The law is constantly evolving, and with the myriad of options for providing employee benefits, it can be difficult for business owners to keep up! Between health benefits, tuition reimbursement, paternity leave, and retirement savings plans, how are business owners supposed to keep track of what benefits are required by law?

In 2006, the Pension Protection Act enabled employers to automatically enroll their employees in a 410(k) plan. Since then, businesses have increasingly been automatically enrolling their new team members into 401(k) plans during their onboarding process.