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 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.

Social Networks: Ready to Join the Party? Selling Yourself On Facebook.

By Leigh Buchanan, Max Chafkin, and Ryan McCarthy | Feb 1, 2008 Inc. Magazine

Though roughly two-thirds of all North American Internet users visit a social network at least once a month–and they spend four hours a month on these sites on average, according to ComScore, a Web-traffic research firm–most marketers have so far steered clear of social networks.

“The perception was that social networks were these crazy free-for-alls, basically an extended bar night,” says Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and founder of Slide, a San Francisco–based widget developer. “But the fear of putting brands on social networks is starting to subside.” (In the interest of full disclosure, Inc.’s parent company launched IncBizNet, a social network for the owners of private companies, last fall. Operators are standing by.)

KFS Report on Credit Card Use

The Kauffman Firm Study reports that credit card debt reduces the likelihood that a new business will survive its first three years of operation. The report, The Use of Credit Card Debt by New Firms, states that for every $1,000 increase in credit card debt the probability a new firm will close will increase by 2.2 percent. However, the study did not find a statistical relationship between the use of credit cards to fund start-up costs and the subsequent business closures.