April 27th, 2008 11:42pm
Deborah Austin
Two Rock River Valley area winners in this year’s American Advertising Federation of Northern Illinois ADDY awards have qualified to go to the national ADDY competition June 10 in Atlanta.
And they are… (drum roll please)….
Manifesto Marketing, for its “Rock On” Desktop Kit and Invitation, for Aqua Aerobic Systems — and Wells Ltd, for its “Base Camp 2008 Capitol Campaign” for Harvest Bible Chapel of Rockford.
Both were silver winners in the AAF district competition March 27 and 28 in Muncie, Ind., where they were judged against ADDY winners from other ad clubs in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Any entry that wins gold or silver at the district level is eligible to compete in the nationals.
In case you didn’t know what the ADDY Awards are, they’re intended to honor excellence in advertising and cultivate high creative standards. They’re sanctioned by the national American Advertising Federation, of which the AAF Northern Illinois is the Rockford chapter.
(Incidentally, the ADDY Awards have been around a long time. I remember participating in a few myself, when I worked in radio back in the 1980s in Indiana.)
Actually the ADDY competition begins at the local level with the 210 AAF member clubs nationwide. One of those was the Rockford chapter, which held its local ADDY Awards competition Feb. 28 with a three-judge panel. From there, gold winners were eligible to advance to the district competition.
Here’s the entire list of winners — gold, silver and bronze — from that night in Rockford back in chilly February.
BEST OF SHOW:
OVERALL
GrahamSpencer, Scott Spencer
RACVB Summeriginals Radio
PRINT
Fetteli, Inc.
Rockford YMCA “Give me a Y” Ad
MEDIA
Comcast Spotlight
Kelley’s Market TV Campaign
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY
SALES PROMOTION
Velasco & Associates
FtWilliams.com Sales Packet
Client: FtWilliams.com
Bronze ADDY
Fetelli, Inc.
Jadabug Package Labels
Client: Jadabug Gourmet Coffee
Silver ADDY
Heinzeroth Marketing Group
“Yeah, I know I still got it!” Tray Liner
Client: Beefaroo Restaurants
Silver ADDY
OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING
Heinzeroth Marketing Group
“It’s noon and my brain is fried” Billboard
Client: Beefaroo Restaurants
Gold ADDY
NON-TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
Rick Wells, Ltd.
Base Camp 2008 Capital Campaign
Client: Harvest Bible Chapel of Rockford
Gold ADDY
CONSUMER OR TRADE PUBLICATION
Rick Wells Ltd.
Red Brand Hardware Retailer Campaign
Client: Keystone Steel & Wire
Bronze ADDY
Fetteli, Inc.
Rockford YMCA “Give me a Y” Ad
Client: Rockford YMCA
Gold ADDY
INTERACTIVE MEDIA
Heinzeroth Marketing Group
Belvedere Website
Client: Belvedere USA LLC
Bronze ADDY
Griffin Baker Design
Estwing Website
Client: Estwing Manufacturing
Bronze ADDY
GrahamSpencer
Little City, Big Life Website, Rockford Area Convention & Visitors
Bureau
Client: Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Bronze ADDY
COLLATERAL MATERIAL
Rockford Health System
Care for a Century Campaign
Client: Rockford Health Systems
Bronze ADDY
The Johnson Group
Corporate Brochure
Client: The Johnson Group
Bronze ADDY
Manifesto Marketing Design
“Rock On” Campaign
Client: Aqua Aerobic Systems
Silver ADDY
Rockford Health System
Rockford Memorial Development Foundation Endowment Brochure
Client: Rockford Memorial Development Foundation
Silver ADDY
Ginestra Watson
A.Vision Chicago: Gift Brochure
Client: A.Vision Chicago
Gold ADDY
Manifesto Marketing Design
“Rock On” Desktop Kit & Invitation
Client: Aqua Aerobic Systems
Gold ADDY
Rockford Health System
Annual Report 2007
Client: Rockford Health System
Gold ADDY
DIRECT MARKETING
Ginestra Watson
Arcron & Associates: Building Block Promotion
Client: Arcron & Associates
Bronze ADDY
RADIO ADVERTISING
GrahamSpencer
RACVB Winteriginals Radio
Client: Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Silver ADDY
GrahamSpencer
RACVB Summeriginals Radio
Client: Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Gold ADDY
TELEVISION ADVERTISING
OutHouse, Inc.
Change Your Smile…Change Your Life!
Client: Dental Dimensions
Bronze ADDY
Heinzeroth Marketing Group
Beefaroo 2008 TV Campaign
Client: Beefaroo Restaurants
Silver ADDY
Heinzeroth Marketing Group
The Cowboy Sings, Beefaroo
Client: Beefaroo Restaurants
Silver ADDY
Comcast Spotlight
Kelly’s Markets: How Clean?
Client: Kelly’s Market
Silver ADDY
Comcast Spotlight
Kelly’s Market: How Good?
Client: Kelly’s Market
Silver ADDY
Comcast Spotlight
Kelly’s Market
Client: Kelly’s Market
Gold ADDY
MIXED-MEDIA (CROSS-PLATFORM) CAMPAIGNS
GrahamSpencer
RACVB Summeriginals Campaign
Client: Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Silver ADDY
Heinzeroth Marketing Group
“Fresh for 40″ Anniversary Campaign
Client: Beefaroo Restaurants
Silver ADDY
PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGNS
Pablo Korona Moving Pictures
Nfactor Bus
Client: Nfactor
Bronze ADDY
ADVERTISING INDUSTRY SELF-PROMOTION
Yoffi Digital Press, Inc.
Self-Promotion Calendar
Client: Yoffi Digital Press, Inc.
Bronze ADDY
ELEMENTS OF ADVERTISING
Pitkin Studio
Eric Clapton Crossroads Antigua Illustration
Client: Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
Gold ADDY
JUDGES’ CHOICE
Amy Hutchinson, Madison WI
Rockford Health System
Annual Report 2007
Christie Walsh, Naperville, IL
Manifesto Marketing Design
“Rock On” Desktop Kit & Invitation
Jennifer Belvel, Dubuque, IA
Ginestra Watson
Credits: Corey Fraley
A.Vision Chicago: Gift Brochure
STUDENT CATEGORY
COLLATERAL MATERIAL
Jacob Ruef, Student, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater
2008 ADDY Call to Entries/Invitation
Client: AAF-Northern Illinois
Gold ADDY
April 23rd, 2008 12:50am
Deborah Austin
Mr. Edjuan Payne of Rockford came to visit me a few days ago, to tell me about his experiences with some Internet scams so I could warn other people about them.
Through popup ads on the Web, he found some out-of-state companies who promised him chances to get into home-based businesses. It sounded pretty good.
With one Internet offer, he signed up for a local conference put on by an out-of-state organization that promised to teach him how to acccess the govvenment grant, loan and subsidy system to get money that did not need to be paid back. He went to the conference, he said, “but I got bored, so I left. And they wanted $1,000 just to begin.”
He was fortunate that he left. He found out later, by consulting the Better Business Bureau, that the company had 90 consumer complaints filed against it over the past three years.
Another company’s offer did end up costing him money. It promised him a business selling credit-card swiping machines to local stores. He paid the company a fairly large sum by credit card to get the machines.
“They said it would take five to seven days to get the machines,” he told me. “After 14 days, all I got from them was a CD-ROM, and it was blank.”
That was when he knew he’d been scammed, and started checking on both companies and a few others with the Better Business Bureau. He filed a complaint there against the company with whom he’d spent money, and his credit card company is checking to see if he can recoup that money.
Then he got some Better Business Bureau reports on some other home-based business offers he’d been checking out. Total complaints filed with the BBB for four companies he’d been checking on: 498.
Mr. Payne just wanted to use his own experience to warn you our readers: Beware of Internet offers for home-based earning opportunities, and check out anything with the BBB before investing your money or time.
Dennis Horton, director of the BBB’s Rockford regional office, told me that such scams are an ongoing problem. These days they prey even more on unsuspecting would-be home-based earners.
“Everytime there’s a downturn in the economy or people lose their jobs, they start looking for ways to make money — and the Internet is a dangerous place to be when you’re doing that,” said Horton. “There are are multitude of scams out there, especially those that promise loans for new businesses, grants to start businesses, or work-at-home offers. We have seen an uptick in that locally, in the last one-and-a-half to two months.
“We get calls every day from someone who’s looking for that job that offers the opportunity to work at home and earn $3,000. We explain that’s not going to happen because if it were, we’d be the first to know! All those popups that people find on the Internet are really truly a dangerous place to start, because nine times out of 10, you are going to lose your money.”
Horton advised that when you’re checking out an Internet work-at-home offer, do a google search to find information similar to what the company is offering. “We’ve found that generally the same information you’re being asked to pay for in these offers is information you can get free on the Internet or from the library.”
And, of course, he added, check the company out with the Better Business Bureau.
You can contact the local office of the BBB at 815-963-2226. Or visit its Web site at www.rockford.bbb.org.
Take it from Mr. Payne, too. He knows from personal experience.
April 15th, 2008 07:13pm
Deborah Austin
The U.S. Small Business Administration recently launched a Web site for National Small Business Week 2008, which takes place April 21-25.
It would be nice to go. The week features events and speakers in Washington, D.C., and New York City. But if you can’t make it there — and many of us can’t — the new site brings webcasts and resources to us.
To access them, visit nationalsmallbusinessweek.com. Click on the schedule link to see the events and when they’ll be webcast. One of the site’s newest features is an interactive blog that will let sponsors, award winners and the public post content about Small Business Week events. In fact, except for the opening reception, all the award events and forums will be available through live webcasts. Also, multimedia content and information will be updated to the Web site in real-time during Small Business Week events.
Some of those events:
Health care Forum: “Cost and Coverage: Health care Chicken and Egg.” This takes place 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. April 22, The event addresses the argument between those who see cost as the paramount issue and those more concerned with coverage.
Trade Forum: “Going Global: Accessing New Markets.” The forum happens from 2:30 to 4 p.m. April 22 A panel discussion will focus on emerging markets access, and strategies for small businesses to tap into the global marketplace.
Energy Forum: “Meeting the Energy Challenge: Impacts & Opportunities for Small Business.” This forum will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. April 23. There will be a discussion with small-business executives about current energy policy and its effect on industry, agriculture, small business and other areas, as well as creating energy policy. A Consumer Energy Alliance representative will discuss national communications and outreach.
Procurement Forum: “Secrets of Building Alliance Partnerships with Prime Contractors.” The forum is scheduled from 2 to 3:30 p.m. on April 23 Panelists will include small-business representatives and large contractors who partner with them.
If the live webcasts don’t fit into your schedule, you can watch the events later. Archives will be available on the Web site after Small Business Week 2008 has ended.
There’ll even be post-event discussion of National Small Business Week 2008 activities. The Web site itself will be up for a year after the event.
April 10th, 2008 08:26am
Deborah Austin
Despite what your feelings may be about the Internal Revenue Service, I must say that Sue Hales, IRS spokeswoman in its Chicago office, has been extremely courteous, available and helpful in the last couple of weeks as I sought information to share with readers concerning last-minute income tax filing tips.
For recorded tax information from the IRS you still can call 1-800-829-4477. IRS help also is available at 1-800-829-1040. You can get locations of volunteer tax preparation sites near you by calling this second number, choosing option number 1 in the first recording and then option number 5 from the resulting menu. There will be a wait, but a representative will then come onto the telephone line and ask you some questions to help you determine what kind of help you need and which documents to assemble.
You also can visit the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov.
April 4th, 2008 09:20am
Deborah Austin
It’s no secret: The deadline for filing your federal income tax return is April 15. In case you still haven’t started, here are some tips and observations from the IRS office in Chicago.
First of all, you’re not alone. During the last few weeks of the tax filing season, the IRS expects Illinois residents to file about 2 million federal tax returns and an estimated 299,000 extension requests.
Tips to avoid stress at the eleventh hour:
Prepare Now—Make sure you have all the documents you need to file your tax return. Gather together your Forms W-2 (earnings statements) and 1099 (interest/dividend statements). If you own a home, you will need Form 1098 to get the amount of mortgage interest and real estate taxes you paid. If you itemize, make sure you have the receipts for all your deductions such as charitable donations and medical expenses. You will also need a Social Security number (SSN) for yourself, spouse and any dependents listed on the return. If you don’t e-file, check all math and data entries—including SSNs—to ensure they are correct and legible. Inaccurate or missing information could delay your refund.
“If you’re filing a paper return, allow yourself enough time to review the return after it’s finished,” said Sue Hales, IRS spokeswoman for Illinois, in a press release. “Double-check the accuracy of all math entries and Social Security numbers, attach all W-2s and appropriate schedules, and sign the tax return.”
Stimulus Payment—Don’t miss out on the economic stimulus payments. Payments will start going out the beginning of May to more than 130 million households nationwide. To receive a stimulus payment, you must file a 2007 tax return. Many seniors, veterans, and lower-wage workers are not required to file a tax return, but need to this year to claim the stimulus payment. They may be eligible for a stimulus payment if they had at least $3,000 in qualifying income from Social Security, Railroad Retirement or Veterans Affairs benefits or earned income such as wages, tips and self-employment.
“The only thing you need to do to get a stimulus payment is to file your 2007 tax return,” said Hales. “The IRS will do the rest. We’ll determine eligibility and calculate the amount of your payment.”
File Electronically – Even If You Owe—There’s no need to hold on to your return because you owe money. You can file electronically now and set your automatic payment for April 15th. You can e-file through a tax preparer, personal computer and tax preparation software or using the IRS Free File program. The IRS Free File program offers free tax return preparation and free e-filing to individuals with an AGI of $54,000 or less through a partnership with software companies. To Free File, go to the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov, click on Free File then Start Now, and select a software company with criteria that meets your needs and financial situation. Remember, you must access all Free File software companies through the IRS Web site.
Electronic filing has many benefits. E-filing offers faster refunds, more accurate returns, paperless filing, and confirmation within 48 hours that IRS has accepted your tax return.
“If you are due a refund, e-filing and having your refund directly deposited into your bank account is the way to go,” Hales said. “You should get your refund in 10 to 14 days.”
File for an Extension—Need more time to file your 2007 tax return? Request an extension and get an additional six months—until October 15th—to file your tax return. To get an extension, you must file Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Form 4868 can be mailed to the IRS or e-filed. All extension requests must be filed no later than April 15, 2008. Form 4868 is available on the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov.
“Extensions only provide additional time to file your return—not to pay,” Hales said “Estimate your tax liability and pay any balance due by April 15th.”
File Your Tax Return Even If You Can’t Pay—Even if you can’t pay the taxes you owe, you should file your return on time to avoid the late filing penalty. The late filing penalty (at five percent per month) is 10 times greater than the late payment penalty. Paying as much as you can with your return will help reduce interest and penalty charges. You can then request to pay the remaining balance in monthly installments by submitting Form 9465, Installment Agreement Request, with your return or when you get a notice from the IRS. Also, you have the option of using the IRS online installment agreement program available on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov. List the amount you propose to pay each month. The IRS will let you know if the request was accepted. There is a one-time $105 fee for entering into an installment agreement. The fee is $52 when payments are deducted directly from your bank account.
Check to See If You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—You may be eligible to get money back from the IRS. If you worked during 2007 and your income was under $39,783, you might qualify for the EITC. This credit could mean up to $4,716 in extra cash for eligible individuals and families. The EITC Assistant on the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov can help you determine if you are qualified.
Unclaimed Refunds—More than 50 thousand Illinoisans who haven’t filed a tax return for 2004 are missing out on more than $53 million in unclaimed refunds. To collect these refunds, 2004 tax returns must be filed with the IRS no later than April 15, 2008. Half of these unclaimed refunds would be for more than $608.
Need Tax Help or Forms? —The IRS has several options available for tax help and forms. Go to the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov to get tax forms and publications as well as tax information. Some local libraries and post offices have forms and are open evenings and weekends. Recorded tax information (on 150 different topics) is available by calling 1-800-829-4477. Toll-free telephone assistance is available by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. Free tax help is as near as a community center or local library for thousands of Illinoisans this year. Volunteers are on-site at 450 locations statewide and are ready to offer free tax return preparation and, at many sites, free electronic filing. Help is also available at some IRS offices. Call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to get the locations of the volunteer sites nearest you and check out the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov or call 1-800-829-1040 for IRS office locations and hours.
April 3rd, 2008 07:49pm
Deborah Austin
The Rockford Chamber of Commerce has launched a Speakers Bureau which makes Chamber-member professionals available as guest speakers for local meetings and events.
You can find a complete list of the speakers at www.rockfordchamber.com by clicking on the “Speakers Bureau” icon. There’s an online speaker request form and a list of speaker categories:
* Human resources and organizational development;
* Sales and marketing;
* Communications;
* Finance;
* Personal development;
* Customer service;
* Technology; and
* Continuous improvement.
Monetary charges or honorariums for the speakers are determined between individual event planners and speakers, said John Groh, chamber vice president, marketing and public affairs.
Here’s how the Speakers Bureau came to be. The chamber — when it was planning its own events and seminars for 2008 — sent out a “call for presentations” to its members, asking them to share their areas of expertise as prospective speakers, said Groh.
The number of responses to the request was so overwhelming, he said, “we thought, ‘how can we share this resource with the broader community?’”
April 1st, 2008 05:45am
Deborah Austin
It’s not always easy being the messenger.
Business reporters and editors may have the reputation of painting a bleak picture when it comes to economic trends. In fact, we often get blamed for making things worse when we report downward trends in housing starts or upward trends in unemployment.
But trust me, we get pretty excited reporting about growth and new business.
Last week when I was on vacation, outside the workings of the newsroom, I found myself checking on BusinessRockford.com from a different perspective – as a reader. And I was struck anew by the mix of “positive” and “negative” business news the Rock River Valley can see in just one week.
For instance the Rockford metropolitan statistical area – for the second year in a row – was announced as tops in Illinois in population growth rate. Growth, rather than shrinkage, is a big positive when developers and retailers are deciding where to build or expand.
But the same week, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced that the jobless rate for our region was up again for the seventh straight month in year-over-year comparisons.
Meanwhile Acument Global Technologies, formerly Textron Fastening Systems, announced immediate plans to add 50 workers to its newly formed Camcar Aerospace division, while putting several million dollars’ worth of equipment into two 18th Avenue Rockford plants – a site that once was the headquarters of Textron’s Camcar division. The company hopes to expand sales to $70 million within three years.
But in other news that week, Allegiant Air said it would end its passenger route from Rockford to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. May 31, due to high fuel costs and less-than-anticipated sales.
And yet – again, that same week – came another announcement of potential economic growth. Rockford-based Atometric Inc., a startup company based at Rockford’s EIGERlab, found a major backer in the Stateline Angels, a group of local businesspersons formed to help local startups with expertise and money. Atometric foresees a multimillion-dollar market in machining specialized parts for biomedical and genetic research companies.
All of that was part of our region’s business news in one week, and I’m just hitting some of the highlights.
As the messengers at BusinessRockford.com, we’ll keep reporting the numbers and what they show. We’ll keep telling the stories of new technology and new ventures, too.
It can feel like a roller coaster, as well as a reflection of our unpredictable economic times. But this region has hung on for the ride before, and has adapted creatively. We will do so again.
March 21st, 2008 12:53pm
Deborah Austin
If you didn’t file an income tax return in 2004 — and you were owed a refund – you still have time to file and claim one, says the IRS. Until April 15, 2008, that is.
The IRS has more than $53 million for about 50,000 residents of Illinois who have not filed their 2004 income tax returns, said spokeswoman Sue Hales. But won’t you be in trouble if you didn’t file sooner?
“Returns that qualify for refunds, if they’re filed late, are not assessed penalty or interest,” Hales said. “But if you don’t claim it within three years, it becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury.” For 2004, that three-year window ends this April 15.
Even low-income workers who may not have made enough money to reach the filing requirement in 2004 may have a refund of withheld taxes coming, she said.
Of course if you owed a balance due and did not file in 2004, then you would be assessed penalties and interest, Hales said. And if you thought you were owed a refund for 2004, but were audited and it was found additional taxes were due, then you also could be assessed penalties. Also, your refund check could be held if you have not filed tax returns for 2005 or 2006.
To find current and prior year tax forms you can go to the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov or call 1-800-TAX-FORM. If you need further help you can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.
Any returns must be properly addressed, postmarked and mailed by April 15.
March 19th, 2008 10:32pm
Deborah Austin
If you earned less than $40,000 in 2007 you might be eligible for as much as $4,716 in extra cash — through the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The Internal Revenue Service says as many as one of four taxpayers eligible for the EITC doesn’t claim it.
The EITC was created for lower-income working people and families. The amount of credit you get does vary according to income and family size. Amounts change each year. The IRS says that this year the maximum EITC is:
* $4,716 for a family with two or more qualifying children;
* $2,853 for a family with one qualifying child; or
* $428 for taxpayers at least 25 years old but under age 65, with no children.
The state of Illinois also has an EITC for state income tax.
If you need help finding out about EITC eligibility, you can turn to Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) sites. They’re often at community centers, libraries, schools and malls. VITA provide free tax return preparation to low and moderate income taxpayers, and TCE gives help to taxpayers age 60 and over. To find nearby volunteer sites, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.
March 17th, 2008 06:21pm
Deborah Austin
It’s hard, of course, to summarize a whole 26 pages of survey results in just a few column-inches or a few paragraphs on the Web.
Especially when the survey gives a voice to 85 Rock River Valley companies — with a total of more than 8,500 employees — and what they think about the business climate here. Specifically, their satisfaction level, or lack thereof, with about 40 different local factors from workforce stability to utilities to property tax assessment to schools.
In the past couple of weeks at businessrockford.com we’ve written some stories about that fourth annual survey — whose results were publicly released March 13 as the Voice-of-the-Customer Report by the Rockford Area Economic Development Council. (The customers are, of course, local businesses.)
I’d recommend you take a look at the whole 26-page report. It’s available online in pdf format here.
The summary report doesn’t just gauge business satisfaction, it points out our community’s strengths and opportunities for improvement.
“Our region’s job growth and capital expansion will be significantly enabled by how well we meet existing employers’ expectations for infrastructure and workforce,” says the executive summary.
On average, it adds, communities can expect 70 percent to 80 percent of their job growth and capital investment to come from existing employers.
If you’re one of those existing employers – and you probably are – take a look at the full report and see what you think.
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