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CHICAGO, Ill — Carolyn Shelby, search engine optimization expert, host of the SEO 101 podcast and owner of Lafayette Online, will be presenting “How to Reorganize Management for Social Media, Search Marketing and Internet Advertising” on Wednesday, July 30th at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business at 6:00p (Central).

“This talk is aimed at upper management and executives who either think they know about social media, SEM/SEO and internet advertising, or who realize they only know the buzzwords and need a better understanding of the concepts and ideas,” said Shelby. “The goal of the session is to give these decision makers with a better grasp of the concepts involved, and help them start thinking about ways they can modify current business procedures to accommodate these new and emerging technologies.”

Shelby’s portion of the talk provides an explanation of search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and social media marketing. It covers the differences between each of these aspects of online marketing, what they can and cannot accomplish, and where they fit into traditional organizational charts.

Co-presenter David Dalka, Internet Marketing, Change Management and Mobile Search Marketing consultant, will then build on these fundamentals to discuss problems with decision cycle times and business processes and how they are not conducive to effective execution of new media strategies and tactics.

“C-level management needs a new generation of leaders to redesign organizations to efficiently align themsleves to take advantage of social media, search marketing and Internet advertising. This journey is still in it’s infancy!” Dalka explains. “It is more about moving back to the customer focused management style of Peter Drucker and the innovation of Tom Peters than it is about new technology.”

This Marketing Roundtable event is free and open to the public. Online registration is available at https://gsbsurvey.chicagogsb.edu/ViewsFlash/servlet/viewsflash?cmd=showform&pollid=alumni_roundtable!Marketing%20Registration. Online registration closes Tuesday, July 29th. Onsite registration begins at 6:00p on Wednesday, July 30th.

How To Reorganize Management For Social Media, Search Marketing & Internet Advertising

Speakers:
Carolyn Shelby, Social Media and SEO Consultant
David Dalka, Internet Marketing, Change Management and Mobile Search Marketing consultant

Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Time:
6:00p — Registration
6:30p-8:00p — Program
8:00p — Networking and Cash Bar

Location:
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Gleacher Center - Room 100
450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60611 USA

Register Online

WASHINGTON, DC — “High-impact” firms create Indiana’s new jobs and growth, according to a study recently released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Distributed across all industries, high-impact firms account for almost all employment and revenue growth in the national economy, the study concludes.

Of the 376,604 high impact firms identified by researchers nationwide, 6,777 are located in Indiana. That number represents 2.2 percent of Indiana’s firms. Of the 6,777 high impact firms located in Indiana, 181 are located in the Lafayette MSA.

The study High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited, defines high-impact firms as those whose sales have at least doubled over a four-year period and which have an employment “growth quantifier” (the firm’s absolute change in employment multiplied by the percent change) of two or more.

The study notes that such firms are found across all industries and in all geographic regions. It ranks regions, states, metropolitan statistical areas, and counties by their percentage of high-impact firms. The study finds, with some data limitations, that high-impact firms are not start-ups but are on average around 25 years old, and that they come in all size classes. The report also documents that over the periods studied, nearly all job losses came from large, low-impact firms.

“High-impact firms are important to Indiana’s economic growth and development,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy. “State policy makers would be wise to consider how their policies can encourage such firms.”

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

For more information, a complete copy of the report and rankings of high-impact firms by region, state, MSA, and county, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — There are aspects of farming that producers can’t control, such as grain markets, input costs and the weather, but employee management is one aspect that can be controlled and significantly affects an operation’s bottom line.

Sarah Smith, an organizational leadership and supervision specialist at Purdue University’s North Central campus, said according to Purdue’s Crop Costs and Return Guide, the 2008 budget for row crops shows that production agriculture costs relating to labor is $30 to $60 per acre.

“If your farm has eight key employees, full-time and primarily year-round, and you lose two of them this year to competitors or other work opportunities, that’s nearly a loss of $4,000 just in employee replacement costs,” Smith said. “This is an area that farmers can control and minimize employee turnover by offering good benefits, both tangible and intangible.”

It’s not unusual for a farming operation to experience a 25 percent turnover rate, but by providing benefits, they can substantially reduce their turnover rate, Smith said. And if you don’t have those employees in place during those crucial farming times like planting and harvest, the costs can become astronomical if you can’t get your crop harvested, she said.

Smith will discuss how employees can offer these benefits at reasonable costs during Purdue’s 41st annual Top Farmer Crop Workshop, which will be held July 20-23 in Pfendler Hall on Purdue’s West Lafayette campus.

Some of these benefits include offering a health care plan, accommodating requested time off, retirement options, disability benefits, as well as providing a good work environment where all employees are treated with respect.

“Farmers often think they can’t afford to offer these benefits to their employees,” Smith said. “But now employers have some feasible options to choose from that they can offer to help retain key employees.

“Many employers want to offer health benefits to a couple of key employees, but are unsure if it’s worth it because the monthly premiums are so high. One option available to them is to purchase a Health Savings Account (HSA). Then, instead of giving that employee a $1,000 bonus at the year’s end, that money can be put into an account for the employee to use for medical purposes. This allows the employee to have access to a good health care plan and makes it affordable for the employer to offer.”

Smith also said that there is often a misconception that disability insurance isn’t relevant because of Social Security.

“This is not the case,” she said. “There is lag time between the time of disability and when Social Security actually kicks in.

“Disability insurance is extremely reasonable and acts as a bridge to fill that gap. Because farming is such a hazardous occupation this is often very important for employees working in the field.”

Smith said another myth that farmers have is they can’t afford to offer a retirement plan. She said this shouldn’t matter.

Employers can offer simple plans such as an IRA account and provide automatic payroll deduction, which adds to the paperwork, but is often very important to attracting and retaining good employees, she explained.

“Even if you can’t match the amount the employee puts in or provide a percent, if you will just set up payroll so they can make an automatic deduction, it’s a huge benefit,” she said.

During Smith’s presentation she will also talk about legislative and legal changes and potential changes that affect employers. These include changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act, minimum wage and seasonal labor laws. Smith will provide resources to make sure employers are legally compliant and will answer any questions in regards to these issues.

More information about the workshop is available at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/topfarmer/conference.asp. Pre-registration is encouraged due to space limitations, but not necessary. Individuals can register by visiting http://www.conf.purdue.edu/TOPCROP or calling (765) 494-7220. Registration costs $300 for the first individual representing a farm and $100 for each individual after that. The cost includes two meals, refreshments, the opportunity to test farm plans using the B-21 linear programming analysis and a workshop proceedings binder. A registration discount of $100 is being offered for first-year attendees (only applicable to full registrations).

For questions and more information regarding the workshop, contact Bruce Erickson at (765) 494-9557 or berickso@purdue.edu. For questions regarding registration, please contact Tom Robertson at (765) 494-7220 or tlrobertso@purdue.edu.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — St. Elizabeth Regional Health and Unity Healthcare will be hosting the inaugural “Ultimate Pink Party” (formerly Celebration of Women) on October 10, 2008 at the Best Western in Lafayette, Indiana from 5:30-11pm.

Vendors and center stage for speaker presentations and entertainment will be in the main banquet room. Attendance is expected to be around 125 individuals consisting mostly of women from Tippecanoe and the surrounding counties. Applications for vendor sponsorships are currently being accepted.

This fund raiser benefits the YWCA Women’s Cancer Program. The YWCA Women’s Cancer Program strives to eliminate inequities in health care experienced by many women by removing barriers to access and promoting effective community-based outreach, education, and referrals to appropriate clinical services. The program provides low-cost or free screenings for breast and cervical cancers, including mammograms, breast ultrasounds, biopsies, Pap tests, pelvic exams, and colposcopies. The program serves women in Tippecanoe County and 22 other Indiana counties: Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Fountain, Greene, Hamilton, Howard, Jasper, Miami, Montgomery, Newton, Parke, Pulaski, Sullivan, Tipton, Vermilion, Vigo, Warren and White.

For more information about how to be a vendor sponsor visit www.ultimatepinkparty.com or call Michelle Kreinbrook at 765.446.5228 or email mkreinbrook@unityhc.com

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Unity Healthcare announces the opening of Miracles Rehabilitation, a comprehensive Physical and Occupational Therapy Service provider. The facility is located at 917 Sagamore Parkway West in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Located within the Miracles Fitness complex, Miracles Rehabilitation is the only facility in Indiana to have two clinicians with expertise in applied functional science (the study of authentic human movement). The office is staffed by David Cobb, Amy Cobb and Brandon Biggs. They are available Monday through Friday from 8am- 6pm.

New patients are currently being accepted. To schedule an appointment, call 765.463.2200. For more information visit www.unityhc.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Cellulosic ethanol made from corn stover and switchgrass could be the next big thing in liquefied energy. The biggest of the big - at least in Corn Belt states like Indiana - would likely be corn stover, a Purdue University study finds.

Corn stover is plentiful in Indiana because of the state’s large corn acreage and could be harvested less expensively than switchgrass, said Wally Tyner, Purdue agricultural economist and the study’s lead researcher. Also, with high corn prices, corn stover would provide farmers extra profit without planting additional crops, he said. Switchgrass is a primary crop and must be planted separately.

“For cellulosic ethanol in Indiana, corn stover is where it’s at,” Tyner said. “From a cost perspective, corn stover averages $40 per dry ton delivered to the ethanol plant while switchgrass averages $60 per dry ton. That’s a huge early advantage to corn stover.

“Then there’s the profit. Farmers would receive an average of $80 an acre extra profit for corn stover and $160 an acre average profit for switchgrass.”

Corn stover consists of the cornstalks and other plant material that remains in a cornfield after the ears have been harvested.

Switchgrass is a summer perennial grass native to North America. Depending on the variety and growing conditions, switchgrass plants can reach 12 feet tall. The plant requires little fertilization and is tolerant of poor soils, drought and flooding. Switchgrass reaches full yield potential three years after planting. One or two cuttings are possible each year, using hay or silage equipment.

The Purdue study compared the costs and returns of harvesting corn stover to the growing and harvesting of switchgrass for Indiana ethanol production. Tyner and his research assistants also examined the economic and environmental results of replacing some coal with the two types of biomass at electric power plants.

Using a corn stover yield of 4.25 dry tons per acre from a 160-bushel-per-acre corn crop and a switchgrass yield of 5 dry tons an acre, the study found that in the major corn-growing regions of northern and central Indiana, corn stover was the better cellulosic ethanol feedstock.

The economic numbers were better for switchgrass in portions of southern Indiana where soils are less conducive to growing corn, Tyner said.

“In our study we factored all of a farmer’s costs: labor, equipment, seed, fertilizer replacement, twine and net wrap for baling the cellulose, and everything else we could think of,” Tyner said. “We also added a profit margin of 15 percent above all costs to provide an incentive to farmers.”

With high oil and food prices and momentum gaining for cellulosic ethanol, full-scale production could come sooner rather than later, Tyner said.

“I think it is likely that in the next few years cellulose-based ethanol is going to become viable,” he said. “With $6 and higher per bushel corn it is already very close economically. And since the federal Renewable Fuels Standard calls for the production of 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022, of which 16 billion gallons have to be cellulose, cellulosic ethanol will advance.”

Before cellulosic ethanol can take off a number of issues must be resolved, however, Tyner said.

“The biggest issue is going to be contracting,” he said. “With a corn ethanol plant, if there’s not enough corn in one county you go to another county to get your corn, or get it from out of state. Corn moves cheaply and easily.

“Biomass, on the other hand, doesn’t. Cellulosic ethanol plants will need a local supply of corn stover and switchgrass. An investor isn’t going to sink $400 million into a cellulosic ethanol plant until they have a local supply of raw material locked up.

“Conversely, farmers are going to need assurances that no matter what happens in the marketplace - fertilizer prices triple, natural gas and propane prices do this, diesel prices do that, corn prices go up or down - that growing biomass is viable for them. So we still need to develop risk-sharing, long-term contracting mechanisms that will be acceptable to both the supplier and the ethanol producer.”

Those contracts will need risk indexes and language spelling out how the farmer and ethanol plant can get out of a contract, Tyner said.

“And then there are policy issues,” he said. “If the government really wants cellulosic ethanol to get off the ground, should it intervene with policies that reduce risk for investors, such as subsidies that vary with the price of crude oil?”

The study’s findings are contained in a report titled “The Economics of Biomass Collection, Transportation, and Supply to Indiana Cellulosic and Electric Utility Facilities.” The report, co-authored by agricultural economics graduate student Sarah Brechbill, is available online at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/papers/biofuels/Working_Paper_Fina.pdf .
Additional biofuels information is available on the Purdue BioEnergy Web site, located at http://www.extension.purdue.edu/bioenergy/ .

LAFAYETTE, Ind. and THESSALONIKI, Greece — John Edwards, athletic trainer and physical therapist, is traveling with the USA wrestling team while competing in Thessaloniki, Greece, for the 8th World University Wrestling Championships. The competition was held July 9-13.

Edwards is currently a staff athletic trainer and physical therapist at Lafayette Rehabilitation Services (LRS), a Unity Healthcare partner, in Lafayette. He is also Director of Unity Sportsmedicine. Since 1995, Edwards has provided outpatient physical therapy care at LRS for athletes at all levels of sports competition. Working with the physicians at Lafayette Orthopaedic Clinic, he also provides athletic training coverage for area high school football and basketball teams.

Edwards also served as a volunteer athletic trainer for the 7th FINA World Championships in 2004 and the FIBA World Basketball Championships in 2002. Both events were held in Indianapolis. Edwards additionally provided volunteer medical services at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in 2001.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -– Hard work and dedication paid off for Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union (PEFCU) Human Resources Manager Shaun Sengsanith as she earned her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification on June 26.

“Shaun’s commitment to personal and professional excellence is evident through her thoughtful leadership and effort in making PEFCU an employer of choice in Greater Lafayette,” said Jackie Hofman, PEFCU vice president of human resources and marketing. “We congratulate Shaun on this prestigious accomplishment and look forward to her continued success.”

SPHR certification is granted through the Human Resource Certification Institute, which is the credentialing body for human resource professionals and is affiliated with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Sengsanith prepared for six months prior to taking the comprehensive examination and had to demonstrate her strong background of professional human resource experience.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — There is a WorkKeys Assessment scheduled at The Lafayette Adult Resource Academy (LARA) on Thursday, July 17th from 5:30p to 8:30p. WorkKeys is a job skills assessment system for measuring, communicating and improving the common skills that are needed for success in the workplace.

Many employers are requiring job seekers to take the assessment. Upon successful completion of the assessment, participants can earn a Bronze, Silver or Gold certificate. The Governor of Indiana signs the Silver and Gold Certificates.

LARA is located at 1100 Elizabeth Street, Suite 3, Lafayette, Indiana. Anyone interested or who would like more information should call LARA at 765-476-2920 and ask for the WorkOne Express.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The forty-first annual Top Farmer Crop Workshop will be held July 20-23 in Pfendler Hall at Purdue University.

“Top farmer is designed to help commercial producers achieve their goals through improved management,” said Bruce Erickson, Purdue Extension cropping systems director and workshop coordinator. “We cover everything from the newest information on crop technology and management practices to helping farmers decide if a technology or management practice fits their operation.”

The workshop is a forum to debate cropping strategies with scientists, agribusiness leaders and other commercial producers, Erickson said.

The program will kick off at 3 p.m. (EDT) July 20 with a session designed specifically for farmers to utilize Purdue’s Crop-Linear Programming software presented by Luc Valentin, Craig Dobbins, Alan Miller, Roman Keeney and George Patrick, all from Purdue’s Department of Agriculture Economics.

“When farmers pre-register, a form with questions relating to their farming operation will be mailed to them,” Valentin said. “We ask that participants take the time to complete the form and bring it to the workshop and our teaching assistants will enter that information into the program. Results will be distributed during the workshop and specialists will be available to help farmers interpret what it means.”

Valentin said it’s beneficial for farmers who are planning on making significant changes to their farming operation participate in this program.

“For example, a farmer may have the opportunity to add 900 acres, but isn’t sure how it will affect the rest of the operation,” Valentin explained. “The software helps the farmer recognize some of the unintended consequences.

“It may show that the farmer can spend a certain dollar amount per acre to hire the crop to be custom planted. It may show that a larger planter is needed to get the crop planted in a certain window of time. It may show that if you switch to corn on corn there will not be enough drying capacity. By knowing some of these consequences, the farmer can make better management decisions to get their desired outcome.”

Pre-registration is encouraged due to space limitations, but not necessary. Individuals can register by visiting http://www.coonf.purdue.edu/TOPCROP or calling (765) 494-7220. Registration costs $300 for the first individual representing a farm and $100 for each individual after that. The cost includes two meals, refreshments, the opportunity to test farm plans using the B-21 linear programming analysis and a workshop proceedings binder. A registration discount of $100 is being offered for first-year attendees (only applicable to full registrations).

All Top Farmer Crop Workshop sessions and speakers are available at http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/topfarmer/conference2008.asp .

A few sessions and speakers include:

• Making your accounting pay its way — Indiana farmers Lori and John Frey have found a double-entry accounting system that has paid its way by identifying the real money associated with the various aspects of their operation.
• Do financially successful farmers use a different set of management skills? –Purdue Agriculture economist Jason Oliver shares the latest trends found in a survey regarding financial success.
• Sensors have the potential for fine-tuning nitrogen management — Purdue Extension agronomists Jim Camberato and Bob Nielsen will discuss and demonstrate how active sensors can be used to detect nitrogen deficiency, as well as detection strategies.
• Volatile weather, volatile prices, managing the risk — Iowa State University agricultural meteorologist Elwynn Taylor will compare what’s happened in the past to the current in regards to weather, prices and risk.
• Internet-based grain procurement could drive special markets — Jason Tatge, chief executive officer of Farms Technology, will give an overview of Web-based tools that allow farmers to take advantage of intraday future market rallies and automatically execute forward cash commodity sales.
• How feasible is robotic agriculture? — Simon Blackmore, project manager of FutureFarm Europe and director of UniBots Limited, runs Europe’s farm of tomorrow with guidance, advanced monitoring and precision control systems. Blackmore will talk about the next steps automation will tackle in improving production and efficiency.

Directions to Purdue’s West Lafayette campus are available at http://www.purdue.edu/campus_map/
For questions and more information regarding the workshop, contact Erickson at (765) 494-9557 or berickso@purdue.edu . For information about registration, contact Tom Robertson at (765) 494-7220 or tlrobertson@purdue.edu