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Food Establishment Permits
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
On March 18th, 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.
Enabling a Virtual Office
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.
What in the World is a Wiki?
By Denise McGill Published: October 1, 2009, Expand Omaha Magazine
Posted in: 2009 Fall
It’s no secret that internal collaboration and knowledge management are the keys to business growth and success. Accomplishing both is no small feat given the dynamic and ever-increasing demands companies face today. Plus, there’s the difficulty of implementing and enforcing processes to effectively support your interactions among employees as well as with prospects, customers and partners.
Fortunately, wikis can help. Wiki software is used to create websites that allow multiple users to create, modify and organize web page content in a collaborative manner. Wikis are perfect tools for companies that need to manage these critical relationships. Your collaboration processes and technologies must keep pace with – or, ideally, stay ahead of – changes in your market and customer base.
Wikis are easy-to-use, flexible tools that enhance existing work flow processes, rather than requiring re-engineering. As such, wikis present an opportunity to revolutionize workplace collaboration, much like e-mail has revolutionized communication.
For more of this article please visit http://www.expandomaha.com/2009/10/what-in-the-world-is-a-wiki/
CCR Federal Debt Flag Information
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
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
One location for Federal Forms
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.
Renewable Energy and Economic Potential in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota
The most important issue awaiting action by this Congress for rural development in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota is renewable energy legislation. Expanding production of renewable electricity to 20 percent of the nation’s electrical generation has the potential to create a large number of new jobs in the rural Midwest and Great Plains, according to an unpublished analysis from the U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The state-by-state projections were prepared in conjunction with the laboratory’s report 20% Wind by 2030, but were never formally published. Here, we will focus on Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. To view this pdf file simply click on the title below.
Renewable-Energy-and-Economic-Potential
This article is from the Center for Rural Affairs’ October 2009 monthly newsletter. The authors are John Crabtree and Kim Preston.
Health Care: What If Rural Really Mattered?
After August’s rancorous health care debate, it seems time to return to the question, “What would it look like if rural really mattered?” Making health care coverage affordable for the rural self-employed should be a driving force in the reform debate. Over half the jobs in rural America are tied to small businesses or self-employment – on family farms, ranches and Main Street businesses. As a result, rural people who own or work for those businesses are twice as likely to be underinsured as urban Americans.
How to Find Funds in a Credit Crunch
By Joanne Cleaver | Oct 1, 2008 Inc. Magazine
Banks are cutting back, but capital is still available for worthy companies that know where to look.”We have one of those mortgages that’s all over the news right now,” says Dave Tiller.That mortgage is an option adjustable rate mortgage, which allows borrowers to pay less than the interest that’s accumulating on the loan — so the amount of the loan grows over time. Back in 2005, when Tiller refinanced his house, such loans were the latest thing. Tiller figured that paying $1,100 a month on the mortgage and deferring $1,400 a month in interest would maximize the amount of cash he had to invest in Studeo Legal, the Peoria, Arizona, legal-document management and consulting firm he was launching.
Then came the credit crunch. His five-bedroom home, appraised at $390,000 when he refinanced, is now worth just $320,000 — $10,000 less than he owes. Meanwhile, his monthly payment has ballooned to $3,000, which is $1,000 more than it would have been if he had been paying interest all along. That means he has less to invest in his business, and, thanks to the credit crunch, virtually no other options for finding capital.
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