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Food Establishment Permits

Marilyn — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:28:27 +0000

As we gear up for summer picnics and events, remember to obtain or renew your food handler’s permit early. Permits can be obtained through the Douglas, Lancaster and Hall County Health Departments or through the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s 14 statewide Environmental Health Specialists. Contact information for your area Specialist is available through the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s Inspector Map. Depending on location, there will be city and state applications and fees, payable at the time of the inspection. Permits are to be renewed each year by August 1 and are available on the NDA’s renewal website, which will be activated on July 1, 2010.

General Permit Guidelines

All food establishments will be inspected at least once every six months, or according to a risk-based inspection process. Restaurants that prepare-cool-reheat potentially hazardous foods will be inspected more frequently. Establishments that sell only pre-packaged foods will, on average, be inspected less frequently.

Additional inspections may be required:

Pre-inspection for New/Remodeled Food Establishments – Builders must submit copies of the plans for review and approval prior to building. Building plans and actual facility are checked for kitchen design, handwashing and warewashing facilities, restrooms, plumbing, and other physical aspects of the establishment.
Complaint Inspection – All complaints received by NDA are investigated.
Follow-up Violation Inspection – Conducted if violations are found during a routine or complaint inspection that require additional correction. If “critical violations” are found during any inspection, the Environmental Health Specialist will issue a compliance date that may range from immediately to a day or more.
Foodborne Illness Investigation – Conducted if a foodborne illness is actually confirmed through medical or laboratory testing.

Besides the food establishment permit, other types of food permits include:

Temporary Food Establishment: selling foods for immediate consumption.
Itinerant Food Vendor: Selling foods prepackaged at a permitted facility, including fresh or frozen meat and poultry.
Mobile Food Unit: selling prepackaged items and foods requiring limited preparation in a vehicle-mounted food facility.
Pushcart: selling prepackaged items in a non self-propelled unit.

Requirements for Food Establishment Operations are listed with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Lancaster County/City Health Department. Click for a copy of the Nebraska Food Code.

Besides permits for the facilities, you will also need permits for individual food handlers, now available online through the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health.

HIRE Act for Small Businesses

Marilyn — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:46:18 +0000

On March 18^th, President Obama signed into law the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment Act (HIRE). HIRE provides tax breaks for small businesses that hire and retain qualified unemployed workers. Provisions of the law include:

Tax Holiday. Employers receive a tax Holiday for their portion of the FICA tax for certain workers hired after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011. An employer is excused from paying its share of the 6.2% of the first $106,800 of wages for the qualified employees during the calendar year. The maximum value for each qualified employee is $6,621. This tax Holiday does not include the Medicare Hospital Insurance contribution (1.45% on all wages), the federal unemployment or state unemployment taxes, and other state employment tax.

Qualified employees are defined as:

Begins work after February 3, 2010 and before January 1, 2011 in either a full-time or part-time job.
The individual was employed a total of 40 hours or less during the previous 60-day period ending when employment starts. Individuals must complete an IRS form that affirms their previous unemployment.
Was not hired to replace another employee unless the former employee separated from employment voluntarily or for cause.
Is not related to the employer and does not own more than 50 percent of the business, either directly or indirectly

Business Credit. An employer can claim a tax credit if the employer retains a qualified worker hired under the HIRE Act for a minimum of 52 consecutive weeks. The credit is equal up to $1,000. If the employee quits or is fired before the end of the one-year period, no credit is allowed. To qualify for the full $1,000, the qualified employee must be paid more than $16,129.03.

To qualify, the retained worker:

Is employed on any date during the tax year;
Continues to be employed by the employer for a period of not less than 52 consecutive weeks; and
Receives wages as defined in Code section 3401(a) for such employment during the last 26 weeks of the period that are at least 80% of the wages received during the first 26 weeks of the period.

The act excludes employees who are not normally subject to include tax withholdings such as household employees and some agricultural labor.

For a calendar tax year employer, this credit will be available for 2011. For any other fiscal tax year employer, the credit may be spread over two years, but cannot be used in a tax year beginning prior to the ACT.

Consult with your tax adviser or accountant to determine if your business qualifies and whether it is advantageous for your business to hire additional employees. Specific documentation rules and regulations do apply.

Source: Littler Mendelson, PC.

Document: HIRE Act Signed into Law – What is Means to Employers.

Enabling a Virtual Office

Tonia Franklin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:54:38 +0000

By Randy BargerPublished: October 1, 2009
Posted in: 2009 Fall, Technology, Expand Omaha Magazine

In today’s economy, companies want to cut costs while maintaining current productivity levels with possibly fewer employees. That’s a tall task, but new technologies are allowing companies to create virtual, online working environments that are secure and easy to use while providing better performance and functionality than a traditional computing environment.

In a traditional computing environment, all employees physically come to an office to work on computers purchased, configured and managed by the company“s IT staff.

This computer management is a huge undertaking that“s necessary to keep data safe and computers running smoothly. Personalization and flexibility are sacrificed for security and performance.

The alternative is to deliver computing desktops and applications online to any computer – anywhere, anytime – that remain physically separate from an end user“s computer, transforming it into just an access point or terminal.

For more of this article, please visit http://www.expandomaha.com/2009/10/enabling-a-virtual-office/

CCR Federal Debt Flag Information

Marilyn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:18:38 +0000

Effective February 2010, a notification of outstanding federal debt will be active on the Central Contract Registration system. CCR receives updated data from the Financial Management Service (FMS), a bureau of the United States Treasury, for the Federal Debt Flag once per week. Any vendors with questions about the flag are to contact the FMS at 800.304.3107.

The Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system is a secured repository of vendor data used for governmentwide contracts. The preferred method for completing a registration is via the World Wide Web at www.ccr.gov. Businesses only need to register once. The information submitted will be accessible to all Federal agencies for conducting business. The business owner has access to update the information whenever necessary. Annual renewal is required to remain active.

A CCR Handbook is available at www.ccr.gov to assist with registration. It provides detailed instructions on data needed prior to beginning the on-line registration, as well as steps to help with the registration process.

For additional help with government contracts, contact Andy Alexander, PTAC Program Manager/Counselor, Nebraska Business Development Center. ph: (402) 554-6253

NBDC Offers Free Research Services

Marilyn — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:46:40 +0000

If you need high quality industry research and market data, Nebraska Business Development Center in the College of Business and Technology will provide it to you at no cost. A typical report provided to business clients would cost almost $1,000 if bought separately from other providers.

The licensed resources can provide timely financial data by sales or organizational structure within an industry sector, detailed GIS demographic and economic data for a geographical region, company market penetration by industry and geographical area, and detailed national industry reports with trends and projections. Compare your own business performance to the industry. Get a better look at the market and coming trends. See how demographic and economic characteristics are forecast to change.

Contact Odee Ingersoll, Director, Nebraska Business Development Center, College of Business & Technology, University of Nebraska Kearney. Phone: 308.865.8429

International Market Research at GlobalEDGE

Marilyn — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:40:28 +0000

Do you need information about a potential market in another country? Check out GlobalEDGE(TM).

Created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University, GlobalEDGE is a web-portal that connects international business professionals with information, insights and learning resources on global business activities.

The website includes:

More than 5,000 online global resources
Information on all countries, listed alphabetically and by continent
Information on all US States
In-depth analysis of selected industries
International business blog that provides insights in relevant global issues
Diagnostic tools
Strong international network

Specific business resources include, but not limited to: trade law, trade tutorials, cultural issues, living abroad, money exchange, market potential index, country comparisons, and so much more. There are even basic language guides to prepare you for international travel.

Doing Business Where?

Marilyn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:39:34 +0000

Interested in conducting business is another country? Do you need to find more information about the country’s business practices and policies? Here’s a web site that can help with the international research process: Doing Business.org

Subnational and regional Doing Business reports capture differences in business regulations and their enforcement across locations in a single country or region. They provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Select from over 183 economies, either by country or region. Compare rankings in starting a business, construction permits, registering property and enforcing contracts. This website lets you download subnational and regional Doing Business data, reports, and the ranking simulator to assess the impact of the reforms.

One location for Federal Forms

Marilyn — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:15:16 +0000

Lost and can’t find the Federal form you need? At Forms.gov you can search through more than 5,400 federal forms from over 172 federal agencies. You can search by the general topics such as: Taxes, Small Business, Social Security, Veteran benefits, and FEMA. You can also search by agency, form name, form number and by keyword.

Forms data is continually added and updated by agency partners.

Visual Merchandizing

Tonia Franklin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:35:01 +0000

Glenn Muske, Oklahoma State University, takes us on a tour of ways that business owners can create compelling visual displays that will draw the interest of customers without breaking the bank. This is an adobe connect webinar courtesy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.(http://www.extension.org/) To access the webinar, click on the title below.

Visual Merchandizing

Economic Gardening

Tonia Franklin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:14:15 +0000

Chris Gibbons, Director of Business & Industry Affairs for Littleton, CO discusses the opportunities and challenges in economic development rooted in growing jobs through entrepreneurship rather than chasing jobs by recruiting companies from outside. This is an adobe connect webinar courtesy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. (http://www.extension.org/) To access this webinar, simply click on the title below.

Economic Gardening