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This week powered by Indeed "See the garbage that people put up there." Ever thought about raising money for your business or next idea on Kickstarter? Take a day to peruse all the bad ideas on the website before you begin, says Kickstarter executive Meredith Graves. There's a lot of good, and there's a lot of bad. Learn from both. And if the process of asking strangers for money makes you nervous, check out more tips from her on how to get over the anxiety. Since Craig Fuller was very young, he's been immersed in the freight industry. In July 2016, he launched FreightWaves, which helps shipping companies better leverage big data to inform their business decisions. Check out his story, his journey to becoming the boss and his advice to other entrepreneurs. 1. Dreaming big: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce awarded NightLight Pediatric Urgent Care from Sugar Land, Texas, as the 2018 winner of the $25,000 prize for its annual Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award, presented by MetLife. The annual award celebrates the achievements of small businesses and honors their contributions to America’s economic growth. Meet the winner here. And check out other award recipients. 2. Paying up: Small business hiring is rebounding, and a record share of small-business owners in the U.S. say they’re raising overall pay to attract workers and retain employees amid one of the tightest labor markets in decades. Tell us how you are keeping up. 3. Monday motivation: Check out the story of these first-time entrepreneurs and why they took the plunge. 4. Stuntmen: From Heinz to Bezos, check out these 10 outrageous CEO stunts that changed business history forever. 5. Hire a veteran: Check out one of our Hiring our Heroes events coming to a town near you. Upcoming hiring fairs for veterans and military spouses include stops in California, Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas. Bonus: It's square, boring and enduring. But the cubicle has lasted the test of time. Here's why. ...And oh yeah, welcome to autumn!!! 3 Q’s with Russell Romey, owner of Ducarra Aviation and D&G Supply in Benton Harbor, MI Q: What gets you up in the morning? A: I am still excited every day to get to my unique small business and lead my five employees on tangible, constructive tasks with concrete results that benefit all of us. Coming from a large corporation as a project engineer, those type of days were few and far between. I was constantly working on schedules, budgets and status reports that provided no value to my other responsible tasks. I knew it was time to move on when we were literally having a meeting to schedule our meetings. Q: What words of advice do you have for the small business community? A: I would advise any other small business owner, if possible, to have a pet at work. We have a shop dog named Charlie that brightens everyone’s day with his antics and provides all with a happy diversion. We should all be as excited to be at work as him. He loves walking in the door each morning and knows the lunch schedule for each of us as a consummate mooch. Q: What song gets you pumped up? A: Any song from Hamilton gets me going. We have seen this show three times in Chicago. It is inspiring, informative and entertaining at a high level. You can find D&G Supply/Ducarra Aviation here and connect with Russell on LinkedIn. P.S. We'd love to feature your small business too! Hit us up at MainStreetMonday@uschamber.com 1. Why bad advice matters: You really don't have to (and shouldn't) listen to everyone. Here's a list of the worst advice 16 of the most successful modern entrepreneurs received, and why they are happy they ignored it. 2. The Iron Man speaks: Cal Ripken Jr. shared his advice for small business owners at our Small Business Summit last week in Washington D.C. 3.Why you should never, ever wing it: Those who are excellent at off-the-cuff speaking have a secret: They don’t wing it; they prepare. 4.Ten tips to support workplace diversity: Diversity is a journey, not a destination. Here are 10 tips to help your business benefit from the diversity all around you. 5. We're talking teams: A Stanford expert in workplace dynamics shows why teams fail, and three ways you can get better. If you missed our annual Small Business Summit check out portions of the day’s excitement at smallbusinessseries.com. This week is the Cybersecurity Summit here at the Chamber. The Chamber will be hosting Securing Cyberspace: Forging a Collective Defense. A second event, titled “2nd Global Cyber Dialogue" will bring together influential policymakers from the international community to discuss the most pertinent issues affecting cybersecurity cooperation. Also on Wednesday, join the Chamber Foundation’s Food Forward event. We will be bringing in entrepreneurs and business leaders to discuss the future of food and today’s growing and changing population. On Thursday, the Chamber is hosting the 7th annual Cybersecurity Summit. renowned experts will dive into a range of topics including automation and skills gaps, financial sector cybersecurity, incident reporting, a live hack, and more. Special Reminder: If you want to have more of a voice in what's happening each week in Washington we think you'd like our Main Street Leaders program, designed exclusively for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders across the country. Small business owners now have a distinct opportunity to convey to lawmakers the impact that decisions in Washington make at home. Check us out! What did we miss? Don't be shy. Let us know at MainStreetMonday@uschamber.com October is Cyber Security Awareness month and an important time to remember The 3 P’s to Security for Small businesses: Passwords, People and Patching. Why? U.S. businesses face daunting cybersecurity threats every day from malicious actors. These threats range from hacktivists, who deny services to customers, to criminals, who weaponize malware and monetize weaknesses in cyber defenses, to hostile nation states that steal confidential business information and intellectual property. A special thanks to our sponsor this week, Indeed. Looking to expand your company? Searching for your team’s next rockstar employee? Indeed is the most visited job site in the world, and the Indeed team is committed to helping you find the best talent for your growing small business. Click here to get started with Indeed. Have your own hot tips, stories or thoughts to share? Reaching out is super easy! We're at MainStreetMonday@uschamber.com. We can't wait to hear from you.
This week powered by Indeed
"See the garbage that people put up there."
Ever thought about raising money for your business or next idea on Kickstarter? Take a day to peruse all the bad ideas on the website before you begin, says Kickstarter executive Meredith Graves. There's a lot of good, and there's a lot of bad. Learn from both. And if the process of asking strangers for money makes you nervous, check out more tips from her on how to get over the anxiety.
Since Craig Fuller was very young, he's been immersed in the freight industry. In July 2016, he launched FreightWaves, which helps shipping companies better leverage big data to inform their business decisions. Check out his story, his journey to becoming the boss and his advice to other entrepreneurs.
1. Dreaming big: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce awarded NightLight Pediatric Urgent Care from Sugar Land, Texas, as the 2018 winner of the $25,000 prize for its annual Dream Big Small Business of the Year Award, presented by MetLife. The annual award celebrates the achievements of small businesses and honors their contributions to America’s economic growth. Meet the winner here. And check out other award recipients.
2. Paying up: Small business hiring is rebounding, and a record share of small-business owners in the U.S. say they’re raising overall pay to attract workers and retain employees amid one of the tightest labor markets in decades. Tell us how you are keeping up.
3. Monday motivation: Check out the story of these first-time entrepreneurs and why they took the plunge.
4. Stuntmen: From Heinz to Bezos, check out these 10 outrageous CEO stunts that changed business history forever.
5. Hire a veteran: Check out one of our Hiring our Heroes events coming to a town near you. Upcoming hiring fairs for veterans and military spouses include stops in California, Virginia, North Carolina, and Texas.
Bonus: It's square, boring and enduring. But the cubicle has lasted the test of time. Here's why.
...And oh yeah, welcome to autumn!!!
3 Q’s with Russell Romey, owner of Ducarra Aviation and D&G Supply in Benton Harbor, MI
Q: What gets you up in the morning?
A: I am still excited every day to get to my unique small business and lead my five employees on tangible, constructive tasks with concrete results that benefit all of us. Coming from a large corporation as a project engineer, those type of days were few and far between. I was constantly working on schedules, budgets and status reports that provided no value to my other responsible tasks. I knew it was time to move on when we were literally having a meeting to schedule our meetings.
Q: What words of advice do you have for the small business community?
A: I would advise any other small business owner, if possible, to have a pet at work. We have a shop dog named Charlie that brightens everyone’s day with his antics and provides all with a happy diversion. We should all be as excited to be at work as him. He loves walking in the door each morning and knows the lunch schedule for each of us as a consummate mooch.
Q: What song gets you pumped up?
A: Any song from Hamilton gets me going. We have seen this show three times in Chicago. It is inspiring, informative and entertaining at a high level.
You can find D&G Supply/Ducarra Aviation here and connect with Russell on LinkedIn.
P.S. We'd love to feature your small business too! Hit us up at MainStreetMonday@uschamber.com
1. Why bad advice matters: You really don't have to (and shouldn't) listen to everyone. Here's a list of the worst advice 16 of the most successful modern entrepreneurs received, and why they are happy they ignored it.
2. The Iron Man speaks: Cal Ripken Jr. shared his advice for small business owners at our Small Business Summit last week in Washington D.C.
3.Why you should never, ever wing it: Those who are excellent at off-the-cuff speaking have a secret: They don’t wing it; they prepare.
4.Ten tips to support workplace diversity: Diversity is a journey, not a destination. Here are 10 tips to help your business benefit from the diversity all around you.
5. We're talking teams: A Stanford expert in workplace dynamics shows why teams fail, and three ways you can get better.
If you missed our annual Small Business Summit check out portions of the day’s excitement at smallbusinessseries.com.
This week is the Cybersecurity Summit here at the Chamber. The Chamber will be hosting Securing Cyberspace: Forging a Collective Defense. A second event, titled “2nd Global Cyber Dialogue" will bring together influential policymakers from the international community to discuss the most pertinent issues affecting cybersecurity cooperation.
Also on Wednesday, join the Chamber Foundation’s Food Forward event. We will be bringing in entrepreneurs and business leaders to discuss the future of food and today’s growing and changing population.
On Thursday, the Chamber is hosting the 7th annual Cybersecurity Summit. renowned experts will dive into a range of topics including automation and skills gaps, financial sector cybersecurity, incident reporting, a live hack, and more.
Special Reminder: If you want to have more of a voice in what's happening each week in Washington we think you'd like our Main Street Leaders program, designed exclusively for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and community leaders across the country. Small business owners now have a distinct opportunity to convey to lawmakers the impact that decisions in Washington make at home. Check us out!
What did we miss? Don't be shy. Let us know at MainStreetMonday@uschamber.com
October is Cyber Security Awareness month and an important time to remember The 3 P’s to Security for Small businesses: Passwords, People and Patching. Why? U.S. businesses face daunting cybersecurity threats every day from malicious actors.
These threats range from hacktivists, who deny services to customers, to criminals, who weaponize malware and monetize weaknesses in cyber defenses, to hostile nation states that steal confidential business information and intellectual property.
A special thanks to our sponsor this week, Indeed. Looking to expand your company? Searching for your team’s next rockstar employee? Indeed is the most visited job site in the world, and the Indeed team is committed to helping you find the best talent for your growing small business. Click here to get started with Indeed.
Have your own hot tips, stories or thoughts to share? Reaching out is super easy! We're at MainStreetMonday@uschamber.com. We can't wait to hear from you.