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Attend the 67th annual Pacific NW Purchasing Conference hosted by NAPM-Spokane, an affiliate of the Institute for Supply Chain.

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In addition to her extensive knowledge on healthcare as a registered dietitian, she has trained as a Corporate Wellness trainer with the national nonprofit Wellness Council of America. She received her Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Principles training, Business Process Analysis/Improvement training and Value Stream Mapping training from Boeing.

With over 10 years as a registered dietitian, she began her healthcare professional experience as a clinical dietitian at Virginia Mason Hospital while the hospital was in the early stages of learning lean principles. In addition to understanding the hospital setting as a healthcare professional, she has also worked in community health for the WIC program and in pharmaceutical sales as a hospital supplier.

She has been a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association since 1981. She received her B.S. in Clinical Nutrition from Arizona State University and attended the University of Alabama, Birmingham for her graduate work and dietetic internship. She also attended Gonzaga Law School from 1993 to 1995.

She is currently a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Wellness Council of America, American Dietetic Association (also serving as an internationally accredited Continued Education Provider), American Society for Quality, Puget Sound Health Alliance and Washington State Dietetic Association.

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It is now estimated that about two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese and the prevalence has increased 61% in the last decade. There has been a 36% increase in healthcare spending associated with obesity in the last few years.

There is no question whether drastic measures like gastric bypass and gastric bands contribute significantly to the increasing cost of obesity and healthcare costs overall. For example, Washoe County School District in Nevada estimated in one year alone it spent $300,000 on direct costs associated with obesity, and $1 million on gastric bypass surgeries.

In randomly reviewing a center for bypass surgery’s website online, they state “although gastric bypass patients lose about 50% of their weight during the first year, less than 20% keep it off after 10 years. The problem resides in the fact that unless one modified their eating habits, they are able to work around the surgical solution by eating softer foods or just continue to eat in excxess despite feeling full. Ultimately, success depends on diet modification and exercise and not the gastric bypass procedure alone.”

As a seasoned dietitian who has seen extreme obesity countermeasures come and go, including jaw wiring and the round of gastric bypass surgeries in the 1980s, it always comes back to inclusion of the key basics of diet and exercise. Diet programs may produce weight loss over the short term, but keeping this weight off, with or without a gastric band, can be a problem and often requires making exercise and a lower calorie diet a permanent part of a person’s lifestyle. Success rates of long-term weight loss maintenance are low and range from 2-20%.

However, with health care reform changes and increasing support of corporate wellness programs, perhaps we are finally taking advantage of another key factor that has been known for a long time to potentially lead to successful long term weight reduction? The fact that weight reduction has been shown to be more successful in a “more structured setting” with 67% of people who lost greater than 10% of their body mass maintained or continued to lose weight one year later. An average maintained weight loss of more than 3 kg (6.6 lb) or 3% of total body mass could be sustained for five years.

The success of programs like Weight Watchers as a known “structured setting” support group based on the similar goal of weight reduction is well known, and other diet groups have utilized this group culture concept with success. Perhaps with changes in healthcare reform for corporate wellness programs and increasing awareness, we can finally take advantage of corporate wellness programs that also create the “structured setting” or support in the workplace necessary to have an impact on obesity? Perhaps if we combine a supportive corporate culture with a sense of personal responsibility to diet and exercise, we can even move toward the much needed cultural shift necessary to dramatically decrease obesity?

There are now some great success stories out there with corporate wellness programs. In fact, the Washoe County School District mentioned above successfully instituted a weight loss program after their costly year with obesity, and paid employees $10 per lost pound up to 25. Program participants missed three or fewer work days a year, producing a $15.60 cost savings per program dollar spent.

A 2004 University of Michigan study of 23,000 GM employees showed that non-exercising workers claimed at least $100 more per year in healthcare costs than exercisers. Obese sedentary employees who began exercising twice a week lowered their costs by $500 a year.

The Wellness Council of America estimates the cost per employee to be between $100 and $150 per year for an effective wellness program that produces a return on investment of $300 to $450. Below are the key healthcare reform changes that may potentially help us create even more corporate wellness programs and improve the effectiveness of the existing programs to reduce obesity.

Employers can increase incentives to promote corporate wellness programs.
Starting in 2014, employers can offer bigger incentives for employees’ participation in health promotion programs with wellness incentives increasing from 20 to 30 percent. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2009 Employer Health Benefits nationwide survey found that the average 2009 total premium for employer-sponsored health insurance was $13,375 for family coverage. This means that the additional 10 percent incentive increase calculates out to a credit of $1,337 per employee per year. The same survey found the single person coverage average for an employer in 2009 was $4,824, which would translate into a $483 additional tax credit in 2014.

The number of corporate wellness program participants goes up.
As outlined in various sections of the healthcare reform bill, millions of dollars will be spent on the development of a national health promotion plan which will include public education about the importance of community wellness, workplace wellness and health promotion programs.

Better information on benchmarking best practices in wellness programs
Federal workforce wellness programs will be evaluated and reported on to Congress by the Department of Health and Human Services. Best practices will be presented as well as program failures to help set guidelines for the future. The bill’s section 4402 states that the evaluations will include, but not be limited to, “absenteeism of employees, the productivity of employees, the rate of workplace injury, and the medical costs incurred by employees, and health conditions, including workplace fitness, healthy food and beverages, and incentives in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.”

Long term measurement of effectiveness of employer health policies and programs
By 2013, surveys will be conducted nationwide on worksite health policies and programs and assessed by the Department of Health and Human Services. These surveys will then be conducted on a regular basis periodically to measure the effectiveness of the programs and the impact on chronic disease prevention and health promotion long term. The report to Congress will include recommendations on how to implement effective employer-based health programs and policies. The surveys are outlined in Sec. 399 MM-1 of the bill.

Small businesses’ tax credits to rise to 35 percent, then to 50 percent
From now through 2013, eligible small businesses (fewer than 25 employees with average annual wages of $50,000 or less), can receive a tax credit of up to 35 percent of their contribution if they pay for at least half of their employees’ premiums. In 2014 and 2015, if small businesses buy insurance on the insurance exchanges (which begin in 2014), the tax credit rises to 50 percent. The savings might mean some additional funds available for wellness programs, which will reduce premiums over the long term. These changes are detailed in Sec. 1421.

$200 million in grant money to implement wellness programs
Companies with less than 100 employees who work more than 25 hours a week who do not currently have a wellness program can apply for a grant during a 5-year program beginning in 2011. This is referenced in Sec. 1048, and the program must include: 1) screenings and assessments; 2) methodology to encourage employee participation; 3) “initiatives to change unhealthy behaviors and lifestyle choices”, which would include counseling, seminars and online programs; 4) workplace policies to encourage healthier lifestyles in order for companies to qualify for part of the $200 million in grant money.

Quick unhealthy snack fixes from vending machines must have caloric content listed on clearly marked labels
This change takes effect next year and hopefully will make some employees think twice about eating that tempting candy bar or treat. Sec. 4205 holds this information.

So as a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association who has worked with obese patients or clients for over 10 years, I feel encouraged that we are moving a step closer to offering more support in the workplace as we try to create a culture of wellness that supports weight loss through diet and exercise.

However, what programs will we put in place to be successful long term as we move away from paying monetary incentives to encourage weight reduction? Somewhere down the road long term, ideally we may need to go back to basics of diet and exercise with the reward being better health. We need to create a shared vision with our workforce and a corporate culture that believes that better health is enough.

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August 2010 Flyer (Template) Census

To learn how Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR) affect your export business, attend this educational seminar and workshop to get the information you need to assist you wtih the exporting process.

Day 1: Seminar
WHEN:  August 11, 2010
WHERE: Seattle Airport Marriott

Day 2: Workshop
WHEN:  August 12, 2010
WHERE: Highline Community College

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September 29-30, 2010
Trac Center, Pasco

Network to success by tapping into the large manufacturing base in Eastern Washington.  Contact many of the over 3,500 successful manufacturers in Eastern Washington as well as suppliers and resource providers from throughout the Northwest.  Attend seminars on the best manufacturing practices, the state of manufacturing today and how to use technology to grow your business.

To register as an exhibitor or attendee, visit the TRIDEC website and click “membership and events info” followed by “Gesa Smartmap Expo 2010″.

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On the other hand, ICT also enables greater energy efficiency. It has played and will continue to play a critical role in reducing energy waste and increasing energy efficiency throughout the economy. U.S. businesses have realized that the rising cost of energy is a pressing issue and have begun to invest in Green ICT.

The goal of Green ICT is to increase environmental sustainability tgroughout the entire ICT lifecycle along the following four complementary paths:

Green use – reducing the energy consumption of computers and other information systems as well as using them in an environmentally sound manner

Green disposal — refurbishing and reusing old computers and properly recycling unwanted computers and other electronic equipment

Green design — designing energy-efficient and environmentally sound components, computers, servers, cooling equipment and data centers

Green manufacturing — manufacturing electronic components, computers, and other associated subsystems with minimal impact on the environment

The adoption of Green ICT principles and practices in industry can help U.S. manufacturers become more cost competitive and contribute to reducing our nation’s energy dependence. Energy-efficiency studies show that a combination of improved operations, best practices and state-of-the-art technologies can bring significant energy and electricity cost savings. For example, employing simple power management techniques, by adjusting settings to “standby or sleep” mode when personal computers or printers are inactive during business hours, can achieve at least a 20 percent reduction in electricity consumption and result in average savings of $50 per year for each PC. This means that power management of the 108 million desktop PCs in U.S. organizations could net around $5.4 billion.

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Become a Lean and Green manufacturer. 

To register, click here.

It’s exciting to consider the possibilities of selling your products outside the state of Washington. An increased sales force beyond your state borders means greater exposure for your products and the opportunity for more sales.

As exciting as that sounds for your business, it’s just as exciting for other states to have you selling to their residents and businesses. Because each sale – and the mere presence of one of your sales people within their borders – means the potential of added revenue to their state coffers in the form of numerous taxes. These include:

• Business activity taxes such as state income or franchise taxes
• Transaction or indirect taxes, such as sales and use taxes
• Taxes associated with deploying your labor force, such as payroll taxes and personal income tax withholding
• Property tax

To determine which of these taxes apply to your company, you’ll have to determine which of three categories you fit into. 

1. If you are a Washington-based company that is selling goods outside the state, but you don’t have a deployed sales force:
 Your business becomes subject to another state’s taxes when you establish what’s known in the state tax world as “nexus.” Nexus standards vary on a tax measured by net income and a sales tax.

You won’t have to pay state net income taxes if your only activity in another state is asking for orders and the orders are filled from an inventory outside the taxing state. However, companies often do more than just ask for orders. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court – in a case involving Wrigley gum – determined that the gum salesman crossed the line of merely asking for orders and caused Wrigley’s to be subject to the Wisconsin income tax when he carried merchandise to replace stale product, handled credit application issues with customers, and restocked store displays. The court determined that was more than simply asking for orders. If your company steps over the line of simply asking for orders, you’ll be subject to state income tax. It’s important to understand where the line is and make a business decision on whether you want to cross it. This only applies to products (not services), and you have to ship the products from outside the state where they are being sold.

All services – including warranty, installation, consulting, and training services – are subject to income tax. This involves services that go beyond simply educating a customer about the attribute of a product – if a person is actually providing the service in person in the state, rather than over the phone from outside the state.

For sales taxes, companies with nexus in the state where their products are sold are responsible for collecting, reporting, and remitting taxes on taxable sales. States will hold the company responsible for taxes they don’t collect, so it’s important to understand individual state sales tax rules. If everything you sell is subject to sales tax, and you have sales tax nexus everywhere you sell your products, you’re going to have to collect sales tax and remit it to each state where your products are sold. To establish nexus for sales tax, you must have a physical presence in the state where you are selling products. Having a physical presence includes having employees or independent contractors, and can extend beyond the obvious.

For example, recent laws passed in New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina make internet retailers liable for collecting the states’ sales taxes if they have “associates” in the state. Associate programs are used by internet retailers as a form of advertising.  Associates place a link to the retailer on their website, and every time a customer uses the link to access the retailer’s website and buys a product, the associate receives a fee. The law in these states creates a presumption that the associate is doing more than advertising for the retailer and imposes sales tax collection responsibility on the retailer. The legal standard for having a physical presence in a state includes not only employees in the taxing state but also using representatives who promote sales. This broad definition of physical presence may also include various forms of collaborative marketing agreements with marketing partners. The key is to understand these types of arrangements up front so you don’t face a large tax liability later on.

How do you know if the goods that you are selling are subject to tax? You’ll have to consult each state’s laws to determine what is taxable and whether any exemptions are available. However, in general, manufacturers often sell to distributors who resell their product. A sale for resale is not subject to sales tax, meaning sales to distributors for resale are not subject to sales tax. Sales to end users are generally taxable.

All states presume that sales of personal property and taxable services are subject to sales tax unless the seller can prove the sale is exempt. To meet this burden of proof, the seller will often need exemption documentation, which in the case of a sale to a distributor, is a resale certificate signed by the distributor verifying the product is not being sold directly to the end user.

Exemptions can apply to the type of product sold, such as food in many states.  An exemption may also extend to sales to a type of entity, such as certain non-profit organizations. A third type of exemption is based on how something is used. For example, machinery and equipment used in manufacturing operations is frequently exempt.  Proper documentation is required to prove the exempt nature of these sales.

2. If you are a Washington-based company with employees in another state:
Employing people in other states raises state tax issues for the company and its employees.  Like the state of Washington, other states impose taxes on employers related to the employment relationship.  A company with employees based outside Washington should expect to pay state unemployment and workers compensation insurance premiums to the states where the employees are assigned.  If the state where the employee is located imposes a personal income tax, then the company will also be required to withhold income tax from the employee’s wages.

Washington companies that have employees who live in one state, but travel on business to other states may have a duty to withhold the other states’ personal income tax from the employees’ wages and remit the tax to the destination state.  Income earned by employees while working in a state that imposes a personal income tax is usually taxable and the employer is required to withhold and remit the tax.  The employees are then required to file nonresident income tax returns in the states where they travel to perform work.  This is an issue even if employees are only in the state for a few days a year. Companies with employees that travel on business are advised to seek tax advice to determine how best to deal with balancing the burden of technical compliance with the potential exposure to tax, penalties and interest for failing to comply.

3. If you are a Washington-based company that is selling product through offices in several states – how do you determine how much tax you owe in each jurisdiction where you’re doing business?
This question involves taxes that are imposed on the level of business activity conducted in a state, such as net income taxes. Dividing net income, or another applicable tax base, among the states where business is done is called “apportionment.”  Apportionment is a concept that attempts to measure the economic presence of a business within the taxing state.  Most states use a formula that averages three factors – property, payroll and sales. When looking at sales of widgets, it’s easy to determine. But when looking at sales of financial services, telecommunications or digital technology services, it gets complicated. Manufacturers would look at where the company has people (payroll), property, and sales, and determine what percent of each of those is based in each state.  The average of these factors is used to determine how much of the company’s net income should be taxed. Sales receipts are based on where the customer takes delivery of the goods. Property is based on its physical location and payroll is assigned to the state where the employees normally work. In general, since states prefer to tax out-of-state businesses more heavily than in-state businesses, they often weight the sales factor more heavily than the others.

Also, note that Washington manufacturers pay manufacturing Business and Occupation tax on the value of the products they manufacture in Washington, regardless of where the products are sold.  If products are sold in Washington state, companies must also compute a selling tax, but will get a credit for it.  No credit is allowed against the B&O tax for income taxes paid to other states on income earned from the sale of products manufactured in Washington.  

Doing business out of state can be exciting and prosperous. And the states think that too. That’s why it’s imperative that companies doing business out of state know all the taxes that apply to them. Also, manufacturers considering expanding into another state can seek tax incentives from those states that are anxious to attract new businesses and family-wage jobs. It’s important to understand what kinds of discretionary and statutory incentives are available and take appropriate steps to secure them.  It is often advisable to seek professional assistance when negotiating with state or local governments for discretionary incentives.
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Ownership transition is deadly for the 90 percent of American small businesses that are family-owned or closely-held: by some estimates, fewer than 30 percent survive to the second generation and just five percent to the third. And these businesses are the very foundation of this nation, responsible for 45 percent of the United States’ Gross National Product (GNP). While 80 percent of them have 20 or fewer employees, they generate more new products, create more jobs, and contribute more to local communities than the “too big to fail” corporations grabbing headlines today.[i]

Let’s face it. The Baby-Boomer generation that created this growth is getting tired. Aging Boomers are considering their retirement options and many are reluctant to stay and fight through one more recession. This trying economy and gloomy market forecast are pushing many small business owners to step away from their role, resulting in one of the largest turnovers in management in the history of American family-owned business.

What can we do? First, recognize there’s a problem. Second, realize we need an integrated solution that brings together business owners, professional service providers, community partners and active citizens.

Professional service providers, such as financial planners, accountants or estate-planning attorneys must identify the best fit for the small business owner’s style and needs, and design solutions that are integrated with the strategic goals of the business and the personal goals of the family.

Public sector community partners can become aware of and support small businesses in a number of ways. Chief among them is providing education. Business owners need webinars, workshops and other non-traditional opportunities to learn about specific issues they face (succession planning, exit strategy development and hiring, for example). Small businesses also need employees trained in technical, mechanical, agricultural and customer service skills. University extension services and local Community Colleges are vital knowledge transfer agents in this area and should be supported.

Finally, as citizens of this national community, we all have a responsibility to protect and support our local family businesses. As a concerned citizen, you can:

Identify and support local businesses – think twice before shopping on the Internet for products you can purchase in your own town.

Join cooperative programs such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) designed to produce regular cash flow and sustain small businesses through seasonal ebbs and flows. CSAs let consumers buy seasonal food directly from a local farmer, usually by purchasing a membership share that will entitle them to fresh produce each week throughout the growing season. The membership fee enables the farmer to maintain cash flow and invest in the business throughout the year; all parties benefit.

Join business advisory boards and share your knowledge and skills. Advisory boards are small, committed groups of seasoned experts who come together to assist a business to meet its strategic potential. A well-formed advisory board can provide a cost-effective and highly valuable service that would otherwise be difficult for smaller businesses to access.

Let your elected officials know that you want to see programs and incentives aimed at small and medium LOCAL businesses – to both attract and retain them.

Family-owned and closely-held businesses endure or die out depending upon how effectively they plan for the future. With the help of professional service providers, community partners and active citizens, those that survive will re-create the energy and wonder that fueled the original entrepreneurial spirit that made this nation great.

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WHEN: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
WHERE: Howard Johnson, 9 N. 9th St., Yakima, WA
COST: $60 per person (includes continental breakfast and all seminar materials)
Click here to register.

In July of 2009, the Obama Administration announced a new strategy in its fight against illegal immigration…to focus on the employer. So far, the number of government audits and fines against employers has increased ten-fold, and it is the stated strategy of the administration to continue with these efforts with the result being fines and, in some cases, jail time.

Several companies here in Washington have been subject to I.C.E. raids and inspections. In March alone, over seven employers across the country were subject to enforcement actions which resulted in jail time and arrests.

This half-day workshop from Impact Washington and New Vision is designed to give you all you need to know to have a defense against an I.C.E. raid so you will be in complete compliance with immigration and I-9’s. In this workshop, you will learn:

1. What are the current legal requirements of employers regarding immigration and I-9’s. This includes a review of the NEW I-9 and important changes that you do not know about.2. How to correctly complete the I-9 and what are the most common errors. This alone can save you THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS in fines!3. How to conduct an internal audit.

Space is limited in this very important workshop. Reserve your spot today by clicking here, and gain the confidence that you have the knowledge to protect your company, reduce your fines and avoid severe penalties.

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