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Why Independent Businesses Must Do More Than Donate

October 25, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

RG4N worked to keep Austin Neighborhood & Small Independent Business friendly.

RG4N worked to keep Austin Neighborhood & Small Independent Business friendly.

Next month, it will be four years since I became the Business Liaison Chair for Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N).

I chose to get involved because I am a business owner, a small business activist and I live and work in the area.

Last night was the VIP opening of the more neighborhood-sized WalMart on Anderson Lane in Austin, Texas. The RG4N board was invited and several of us went including the original President, Paige Hill.

Our efforts to stop the supercenter were not about size as much as about the impact of that size. That impact includes traffic, litter, security, safety issues for those with disabilities, crime, air and water quality. It was also about the impact on locally owned stores that do not fare well with a big box, especially a WalMart, nearby. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Activism, Networking, Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: Activism, Alamo Drafthouse, Austin, Big Box, Business Neighborhood, community, Encore Music, Genuine Joe's, Impact, Independently-owned Business, Jason Meeker, Kids & Cats, Locally-owned Business, Neighborhood Associations, Networking, Paige Hill, Responsible Growth for Northcross, RG4N, Scandinavian Design, Scott Gray, small business activist, Small Business Owners, supercenter, Texas, Thunderbird Coffee, WalMart, Zingers

Getting Real About Who’s a Small Business

September 23, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

I’ve said for years there’s a problem. The issue of the Bush tax cuts just points this out in spades.

I saw Keith Olbermann’s Countdown program, “Small in Name Only” on MSNBC on September 22, 2010, about the “kooky” (their word not mine) definition of small business. It isn’t weird, it’s just flexible as the Small Business Act intended it to be. Maybe it needs work. I certainly think so.

This is what the SBA (Small Business Administration) says on the FAQs page of their website. You can check me out on this.

“Size standards define the maximum size that a firm, including all of its affiliates, may be to participate in federal government programs that are reserved for small businesses. The Small Business Act states that in determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary from industry to industry to reflect industry differences accurately.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Activism, Government Legislation, Research, Small Business Advocacy, Small Business/Entrepreneur History Tagged With: Austin, Bush Tax Cuts, Countdown, Definition, IRS, Keith Olbermann, legal entity, NAICS Codes, SBA, SBIR, Small Business Act, Small Business Size Standards, Small Business Sizes, Standards, Statistics, taxes, Texas, Texas Workforce Commission, Vernon's Civil Statutes

Austin Small Business Summit, Now What?

August 11, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Austin City Manager Marc Ott

Austin City Manager Marc Ott

I wrote a post in April about Austin’s March Small Business Summit.

I have not seen City Manager Marc Ott’s proposed budget. I am curious to see if he followed Council’s directive and included anything about how the City will try to address the needs and wants expressed by the 40 business representatives that were part of the original Summit.

According to the resolution that passed in June, Ott has 120 days to come back to Council with a report and policy recommendations to enhance the City’s effort to facilitate growth of locally-owned businesses.

That means there may be nothing in the budget. If his budget passes, it looks like it will mean higher sales and property taxes (and they wonder why we aren’t  hiring or buying). [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: Austin, City Budget, City Manager, Economic Development, Good Business, Locally-owned Business, Marc Ott, planning, Policy Recommendations, Promotion, Property Tax, Regulation, Responsibility, Sales Tax, Small Business Growth, Small Business Summit, taxes, Unfair Competition, Visionary

The Networker Magazine Remembered: Overtime Roach Article Reprised

August 3, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

Austin, Texas’ small business and entrepreneurial history is long and full. There were special support meetings called “Satellite Network Meetings” all over town and even in Round Rock long before there were Meetups and Bootstrap groups.

    Masthead banner from The Networker 1981, originally sponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women, City of Austin.

Masthead banner from The Networker 1981, originally sponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women, City of Austin.

And, there was The Networker, a small monthly publication especially for women. From June 1980 to its last issue in August 1987, I wrote, managed or was its editor. We covered politics, interesting women, events around town, the arts, business, sports, education, healthcare, and jobs. We covered issues from the ERA to “Should women fear computers?” And, yes, that was the title of an article. We covered women magicians like Judy Wilkes and Valerie Cordell, early aviators like Pearle Ragsdale, truck racer Shawna Robinson, women firefighters and women at war. Young and old, of all colors, creeds, and backgrounds were included in our news.  We even did some interesting articles about men including Cactus Pryor and cartoonist Ben Sargent. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Networking Tagged With: Austin, Austin Commission on the Status of Wmoen, Ben Sargent, Bootstgrap Austin, Cactus Pryor, Developing Entrepreneurs, Dorothy Hartshorne, Eleanor Richards, entrepreneur, Helen Handley, Jane Dinsmoor, Judy Brown, Lu Russell, Mary Margaret Navar, Mayor Ron Mullen, Meetups, Meg Wilson, Nadea Gizelbach, Network Satelllite Meetings, Networking, Networking Day Proclamation, Overtime, Pearle Ragsdale, Small Business History, Texas, The Networker Magazine, Women Magicians, Women's Conference, Women's Network Brunch

Adequate Government Brings Neighbors & Businesses Together

July 31, 2010 By Jan Triplett 2 Comments

There must be a better way to bring neighbors and businesses together. And, I went tonight to see if I could find someone to lead the way and what an adequate government could do.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White is running for TX Governor.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White is running for TX Governor.

I was invited by Bijoy Goswami of Bootstrap Austin to attend an event sponsored by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) in Austin that was billed as an “Intimate Conversation with Bill White”. Bill White, former mayor of Houston, is running against Rick Perry for Texas Governor this fall. It turns out that White is an honorary EO member.

It was intimate as promised. I was about two feet away from the man who started by saying that he was pleased to be here for this “job interview” which brought some chuckles. In his prepared remarks, he said if he were “hired”, he would run the state like a customer-centered business. He would focus on what people want, not what the state wanted to “sell”. Sounds pretty good.

When Q&A time came, I asked Mayor White a question about how he viewed the state’s role in something that is near and dear to my heart: the role of government especially in hard economic times when there are tough decisions to be made. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: 40K foot view, ADA, Allandale Neighborhood Association, Americans with Disabilities Act, Austin, Austin-bashing, Bijoy Goswami, Bootstrap Austin, business recruitment, Business Retention, Economic Development, Entrepreneurs' Organization, Faciiitator, George W. Bush, Governor Ann Richards, Governor Rick Perry, Governor's Business Leaders Network, Governor's Office on People with Disabilties, governor's race, Governor's race in Texas, Mayor Bill White, Mediator, ombudsman, Property Rights, Responsible Growth for Northcross, role of government, small business, small business activist, Texas, Virginia Roberts, Voting

Business Owners Should Celebrate April 1st

April 1, 2010 By Jan Triplett 2 Comments

Being a bit silly is OK.

Being a bit silly is OK. Business Foolery good for small businesses who carry the weight of family, employees, and community. Photo by Kenski 1970.

It’s April 1, April Fool’s Day, a day to be silly and cut loose. A must for those of us carrying the weight of being the nation’s economic engine because we own a small business. I could get into talking about “running out of gas”, “not running on all cylinders”, “breaking down”…but I will resist the temptation.

This is also a special day for me. It’s the day my business partner and husband proposed 28 years ago. He may have been hedging his bets, but I fooled him. I said “yes”.

So this post is dedicated to Daniel’s wonderful sense of humor and the recognition that all work and no play makes every business owner pretty dull and likely to end up at 45th St & Lamar in Austin, Texas, aka Austin State Hospital, formerly the insane asylum. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Growth Readiness Tagged With: April Fool's Day, Austin, Austin Kite Festival, Austin Rock Gym, business owner, CDB, Eats, Eeyore's Birthday, kite, Mayor of Austin, O Henry Pun-Off, owner wellness, Peter Pan Miniature Golf, Scarborough Faire, sense of humor, Shoots & Leaves, Spamarama, start and grow a business, Texas, Waxahachie

Fox TV Interview on WalMart at Northcross in Austin

February 3, 2010 By Jan Triplett 1 Comment

Fox News

Fox News

It’s been a long fight as Fox 7 Reporter Rudy Koski pointed out in a 2010 interview with me and people who were pro or anti a big supercenter in the center of Austin at Northcross Mall.

Are people tired of it? Some are. Almost five years is a long time to keep volunteers working together on an issue.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: activist, Austin, City of Austin, democratic process, dissent, Fox TV, Independent Business Investment Zone, neighborhoods, Northcross IBIZ, Northcross Mall, Responsible Growth for Northcross, Rudy Koski reporter, supercenter, Texas, volunteers, WalMart

Podcast: State of Texas Business Today

January 26, 2010 By Jan Triplett Leave a Comment

The Texas Tribune talks to small businesses.

The Texas Tribune talks to small businesses.

Podcast with Jan Triplett, one of the Texans giving their perspective on the State of the State

How are we doing? Since there is no legislature in session, the Governor will not give a state of the state address this January. So Ben Philpott of KUT radio (90.5FM) and the Texas Tribune asked some of us who are living through it to give our perceptions.

The interview, entitled “Their State of the State”,  is worth a listen. You’ll hear what I, the Comptroller’s representative R J Desilva, and others have to say about how well Texas business is doing. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business Management, Financials, Research, Sales, Small Business Advocacy Tagged With: Austin, Business Management, Central Texas, downturn, economy, small business, taxes, Texas

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(Forums are held on the 1st Thursday of the month, 11am Central with a focus session led by a mentor expert in that issue and lots of time for other attendees to talk about their business, comment, and share their expertise.)

• April 6 2nd Quarter BSC Lean® Success Forum™, 11am Central.
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