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on orders over $25

Personalize It! (2" x 2")
You have questions?:
We have answers.
No party is complete without a little Flash! Celebrate life’s special occasions with a semi-custom “CLASSIC DIAMOND PERSONALIZED” party tat set, featuring:
  • (1) set of (*from 100) personalizable wedding inspired diamond Flash Tattoos
  • Up to two lines of customizable text in a pre-set font and layout as specified in the semi-customizable template
  • Color options: metallic gold foil, metallic silver foil color or black ink
  • Tattoos are individually printed on a 2" X 2" card
  • Pre-cut for easy set-up and display at events
  • Each party tat includes standard back with application instructions or you can upgrade your back to include your own custom text and icon of your choice
  • Premium foil and adhesive for a shine that last 2-6 days (on average) with proper care

Flash Tattoos are the perfect addition to weddings, birthdays, holiday parties, corporate events, charity fundraisers and everything in between. Use them as a fun activity for guests to apply at events, brighten up invitations or handwritten notes, a perfect party favor, promotional use on social media…the possibilities are endless!  Click here for more creative ways to use your personalized Flash Tattoos!

Click here to view our party guide with everything you need to know for planning your Flash Tattoo bar including downloadable checklist and application instructions.

You will be amazed by how quick and easy it is to apply your Flash Tattoo with the help of a little water.

Step 1: Clean and dry skin. You want to make sure your skin is clean, dry and free of any oils or the tattoo will not adhere. If you have lotion or any products on (even from hours earlier), use a little soap and water or a cotton ball soaked in rubbing alcohol to clean the area.

Step 2: Remove the protective clear sheet from the tattoo. For best application, ask a friend to help position your Flash Tattoo so your skin does not twist or stretch.

Step 3: Place the tattoo face down on your skin and hold a wet cloth against it for about 30 seconds. Peel the paper aside then pat gently with the wet cloth. Tada! Be sure not to twist or stretch skin until the tattoo has had time to set (at least 20 minutes). Flash Tattoos look best after they have had an hour or two to set into the skin.

Remember to keep oil-based lotions, sunscreens, body wash, perfumes, etc. off your tats! For more tips and tricks to apply and maintain your Flash Tattoos, visit the general section of our Frequently Asked Questions page. Shine on!

Of course you can rock Flash Tattoos from head to toe, but these tats aren’t just for skin! Throwing a party? Looking for a way to style those last few Flash Tattoos in your pack? Wondering how to use all those custom tats? Take your style to the next level with these creative ways to shine!

Party Favors | Pop your favorite custom and party-ready Flash Tattoos into glassine envelopes for guests to grab on their way home so the fun can last another 2-6 days!

Invitations | Add sparkle and fun to party invitations, thank you notes, holiday cards, and more with an assortment of festive Flash Tattoos.

Party Décor| Flash Tattoos give glassware, inflated balloons, and plastic favor bags a festive upgrade.

DIY Gifts | Customize leather notebooks, flower vases, and more with metallic and colorful tattoos that match the lucky recipient’s style.

Upgrade Your Accessories | Apply your favorite Flash Tattoos to mirrors, laptops (but be careful applying them!), leather jackets, shoes, and purses. You can even apply them to straightened hair!

Travel In Style | Customize leather or plastic luggage tags, hardshell suitcases, phone cases, water bottles, and passport pouches with custom tats or your favorite Flash collections so you can travel in style!

For more ideas on how to style your tats like a pro, click here!

FREE SHIPPING: Flash Tattoos offers free USPS First Class Mail Shipping on all domestic orders within the United States (including Hawaii and Puerto Rico) when you spend $25 or more on our site. Free shipping only applies to First Class Mail. Discount is visible at checkout if order total meets all requirements for free shipping, subject to certain exceptions.

PROCESSING TIME: All non-custom or personalized items are in stock and will ship within 24 hours of order placement excluding weekends and holidays observed by USPS, such as New Year's Day, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. All personalized and custom orders (both domestic and international) will ship within 3-4 weeks of order placement date. *Please note this time frame can be extended if waiting on proof approval.

DOMESTIC SHIPPING: Flash Tattoos offers first class, priority and express shipping. Click here to view shipping time and rates.

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: Flash Tattoos offers real time shipping rates for all international shipments from the US. Shipping prices are calculated based on real-time courier rates using the dimensions and weight of the package plus ship to location. A complete listing of countries we ship to is available by clicking here to view fully policy.

Returns Policy

When shopping on, please thoroughly read all product details and choose carefully as all products are final sale (unless defective), with the exception of Sunnies.

If you have received a defective product(s), we are happy to replace the order or offer a full refund via original payment method. Defective products must be reported to our Customer Support team within 30 days of the order shipment date.

For additional information click here to view Flash Tattoos full return policy.

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April 2017

Fledgling furry communities spread their wings at Eurofurence

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (6 votes)

With so many of the furry fandom's largest conventions originating in the USA, it tends to dominate global discussions of furry culture. In Europe, Germany stands as a major centre of the furry fandom with multiple conventions and events being held within its borders. But, for many other countries, the furry fandom is much smaller, or may just be starting out and is consequentially less visible.

Zik wrote a series on "foreign" furry fandoms for [adjective][species] in 2012 and 2013, covering Japan, Brazil, New Zealand and Australia, but many others were not discussed.

Last August, furs from all over Europe and beyond gathered in Berlin for Eurofurence, the largest furry convention outside of North America. Between all the furpiles and yiffing fursuit walks, art shows and other activities, some furs took the opportunity to speak about their own furry communities and the challenges faced with starting up the furry fandom in a country where it previously didn't exist.

Newsbytes archive for March 2017

Your rating: None Average: 3.5 (2 votes)

Contributors this month include dronon, Equivamp, Fred, GreenReaper, InkyCrow, RingtailedFox, and TyphonDog.

Furry Network's commission system - bringing the dealer's den home

Your rating: None Average: 3.5 (6 votes)

FurryNetwork.jpgBack in November 2015, Fur Affinity lost control of its forums. The dramatic departure of forum moderators caused an exodus of users to the up-and-coming Furry Network. This furry art site is owned by Varka, an entrepreneur better-known for his business of adult toy manufacture, Bad Dragon, then for online endeavors.

But coming into the furry art site operation with real world business experience, the toy maker and the staff of Furry Network have the potential to make a marketplace unlike anything currently offered by the slew of social art sites. In December 2015, they put forth their idea: a site that would help alleviate the fraud and hassle that furry artists run into when taking commissions from strangers on the Internet, by acting as the intermediary between artist and consumer.

This March, Furry Network made its big first step in the direction toward this goal. Their site’s commission system opened, to a handful of pre-selected artists, to test out the features. Users could request commissions directly on the page, and all status and interaction would then take place on the site. This story reviews my experience with the new system, and how it could change everything about the furry economy as we know it.

Update (Apr 10): The site will now be identified as "Furry Network" rather than "Bad Dragon" on billing statements.

Rocky Mountain Fur Con canceled following neo-Nazi associations, tax irregularities

Your rating: None Average: 4.1 (38 votes)

Colorado furry convention Rocky Mountain Fur Con has been canceled. Funds collected in advance of this August's event are to be spent on existing liabilities, and refunding attendees and dealers where possible; any remainder will go to the convention charity.

While their official statement cites rising security costs, the closure follows the controversial issues surrounding CEO Kendal Emery (Kahuki Liaru), and the "Furry Raiders" group. It has also been discovered by Flayrah that the convention's parent company's Federal tax-exempt status, obtained in 2009, had lapsed, and it had not filed taxes for a period of seven years, while still claiming to be a registered 501(c) non-profit. In this investigative report we can identify the issues that have contributed to the end of Denver's furry convention.

Are there too many furry conventions?

MFF co-founder Takaza J. Wolf passes away (1976-2017)

Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (9 votes)

A little over two weeks ago, the fandom received some very sad news:
A photo of Takaza cuddling a dog.

Which of the six furry conventions on May 26-28 will you be attending?

Rock Dog- Not Norm Of The North 2017, but not Zootopia 2017

Your rating: None Average: 3.8 (12 votes)

This has been a long time coming.

The movie? No, not the movie itself, but my review of it. To people who are only reading this review to get to my thoughts on the movie, I suggest skipping my little prologue. For those that would like some context, then read on.

Rock Dog has been on my radar for well over a year, potentially two years, though it's kind of hard to pin down the exact date. I saw the original trailer when it leaked at around the end of 2015 and was immediately interested.

The film was directed by Ash Brannon, a co-director of Toy Story 2 and the underrated masterpiece that is Surf's Up. I grew up with the latter film and was curious of this new project since Ash hasn't done a ton in the animation field since 2007.

I was so hyped for the film that I felt that it would surpass Zootopia. This belief had caused debates with many of the avid fans the film had garnered in the fandom. While my stance has softened on the Disney film, I still stand by some of the grievances I had with it. That being said I have decided that despite my desire to compare the two films, I decided to purely look at Rock Dog as it's own film and judge it on its own merits.

Wes Anderson's 'Isle of Dogs' gets poster and release date

Your rating: None Average: 3.6 (5 votes)

C-RwcEaUIAAKuiu_0.jpgWes Anderson, the writer/director best known in the furry fandom for his 2009 movie Fantastic Mr. Fox, will be returning to the stop-motion talking animal genre for his next movie Isle of Dogs, whose poster and release date (of April 20, 2018) was announced via Twitter on April 25.

The bare bones premise announced so far is that the movie will feature a Japanese boy searching for his lost dog. Though this premise isn't necessarily anthropomorphic, an earlier video posted by Anderson confirmed the dogs will have speaking roles. Though hard to make out, it has also been pointed out that some of the dog characters on the poster also appear to be wearing clothes.

The cast for the movie, listed on the poster, has been previously confirmed. It includes many recurring actors in Anderson's movies. Newcomers include Bryan Cranston and Scarlett Johansson, as well as multiple Japanese actors, including Yoko Ono.

Isle of Dogs will be Anderson's ninth feature, and only his second animated feature, after Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was nominated for an Ursa Major award as well as an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. In addition to the Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination, Anderson has been personally nominated three times for Best Original Screenplay and once for Best Director at the Oscars. All but the latest of his movies have also been added to the prestigious Criterion Collection, and his film Rushmore was added to the National Film Registry last year.

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South Florida Leatherbacks Announce Tryouts For This Sunday at Saint Andrew’s

(South Florida) The South Florida Leatherbacks have announced the tryouts for their Fall and Summer teams. This year, the Leatherbacks will be holding tryouts for teams at the U8, U10, U12, and U14 levels. Tryouts for the U8 and U10 teams will be held on Sunday, August 26th and will run from 1:30p to 3:30pm. Tryouts for the U12 and U14 teams will also take place on Sunday, August 26th and will run from 3:30pm to 5:30pm.

The South Florida Leatherbacks are a youth club lacrosse program bringing experienced and qualified coaches to train with and develop players into skilled athletes. As a Leatherback, players will be a part of a consistent training schedule with top coaches in the area to develop stick skills and lacrosse IQ. Weekly training sessions will help players develop their lacrosse skill-set while also competing in Fall tournaments.

This year’s Leatherbacks Fall schedule will include ten practices and three tournaments; two local and one travel.  Seasonal pricing will vary team to team based on player availability, player and parent input, and individualized team schedules. Potential tournaments for this Fall include the Gold Coast Shootout, Turkey Shootout, and Orlando open. The cost to tryout is $35.

For more information and to register for South Florida Leatherbacks tryouts, please visit

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Legacy Parkway Truck Ban Open House

Wednesday, Jan 16, 2019 07:00 – 08:30

On Wednesday, January 16th 7 - 8:30 pm, join FRIENDS and a broad embrace of communities at Foxboro Elementary School (587 Foxboro Drive North Salt Lake) to find out more about what you can do to keep trucks from being allowed on the Legacy Parkway.

The meeting will include a panel discussion with Gary Uresk, Woods Cross City Manager, Senator Todd Weiler, sponsor of a bill to keep the truck ban in place, Angela Keeton and Alicia Connell, Davis County residents representing clean air groups.

Why We Care

  • We live along the shores of something GREAT - Great Salt Lake.

    And whether we preceive it or not

    During its relatively short life as a remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville

    It has affected all of us.

    From the ancients who lived in the Great Salt lake wetlands

    To the growing populations of today and tomorrow

    The Lake affect continues to modify, influence and impress our lives.

    Lynn de Freitas, FRIENDS Executive Director


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Chocolate Brownies on Video

Chilli Chocolate Brownies from Food and the Fabulous on Vimeo. Produced by One Dog Chicken and Nawaal Deane

I worked on a video series project, intermittently between travels in 2013 with the energetic duo at One Dog Chicken, making different styles of videos. This one falls into a little more of the ‘food porn’ category, with very tight shots and lots of unctuous visuals of chocolate, and more chocolate. My ultimate chocolate brownies with chilli chocolate ganache….

You can have a look here at the awesome Food and the Fabulous intro video they put together, that we shot around Cape Town and in my home.

We had lots of fun, and have another video or two ready in the back end. The only reason we stopped shooting, is that I ran out of Randelas. Here’s hoping!

I’ve made this chocolate brownie many times. Everyone has a favourite recipe. This is mine. Add more or less crushed chilli for the kick you desire.

so, what happens next?

so, what happens next?

3 large free range eggs

1 t vanilla extract

1 T coffee granules, mixed in a little water

1 cup (250ml) brown sugar

170 g semi sweet chocolate (70 % cacao), broken up

170 g butter

1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (I use Cocoa Barry when I can)

1/2 cup (125 ml) + 2 T flour

1 t baking powder

3/4 t fine salt

100g semi sweet chocolate chips

and, chocolate action!

and, chocolate action!

For the Ganache

250 ml whipping cream

250 g semi sweet chocolate (70 % cocoa)

2-3 t chilli flakes, crushed

1. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and coffee granules in stand mixer or with a hand held beater for 10 minutes.

2. In meanwhile, melt 170 g chocolate with butter in bowl suspended over a pot of simmering water, stir with spatula until smooth

3. Sieve flour, baking powder, salt and lastly cocoa into a bowl.

4. Remove bowl with beaten eggs and add half flour, half slightly cooled chocolate mixture and stir. Add remaining flour and chocolate and mix through. Fold chocolate chips through.

5. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius in a greased 20 x 20 cm baking tin for 25 minutes until top is crusty and a skewer comes out clean but not entirely dry.

6. Prepare ganache by heating cream to boiling point in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add chocolate and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon until smooth. Add chilli flakes and taste. Allow to cool, it will thicken on cooling. You can also whip the ganache, allow to chill in fridge before doing this. I sprinkle with a little extra ground Mexican ancho chillli.

behind the scenes, egg cracking

behind the scenes, egg cracking

smothered chocolate brownies

smothered chocolate brownies

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NRA Applauds Lawmakers for Restaurant Proposal | Food Newsfeed
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NRA Applauds Lawmakers for Restaurant Proposal

April 01, 2011 Industry News
Industry News

The National Restaurant Association applauds Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Reps. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who this week introduced bipartisan bills to make permanent a 15-year tax depreciation schedule for restaurant improvements and new construction, leasehold improvements and retail improvements.

Under S. 687 and H.R. 1265, restaurateurs, their landlords and other commercial-property owners could write off the cost of improvements to property, as well as the cost of new construction for restaurants, over 15 years, rather than 39. The current 15-year schedule for these investments is set to expire at the end of 2011.

“We applaud Sens. Conrad and Cornyn, and Congressmen Gerlach and Neal, for supporting measures to create tax fairness and boost the economy,” says Scott DeFife, National Restaurant Association executive vice president, policy and government affairs. “This measure recognizes the realities of how often restaurants must renovate, and would provide much-needed cash flow to help small businesses reinvest in their operations.”

Restaurants serve more than 130 million guests a day at nearly 1 million establishments across the United States, absorbing a high level of daily wear and tear from guests and employees. National Restaurant Association research shows that restaurants renovate every six to eight years, on average. The 39-year depreciation schedule does not reflect economic realities, DeFife says.

The measure would also help create jobs across the economy. Every $1 spent in construction generates an extra $2.38 billion in spending in the rest of the economy. Restaurants spent more than $6.2 billion on construction of new restaurant buildings in 2009, creating 174,000 jobs in the economy.

The quicker depreciation schedules would apply to new restaurant construction as well as investments in property such as interior walls, wiring, partitions, plumbing, and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems in restaurants, offices and other commercial space.

News and information presented in this release has not been corroborated by FSR, Food News Media, or Journalistic, Inc.


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Cryptocurrency mining has turned out to be a big catalyst for both NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD). There's been a shortage of graphics cards in the market as miners have lapped up the chips to mine for cryptocurrency, leading to a massive spike in GPU (graphics processing unit) prices.

By some estimates, miners bought 3 million GPUs last year worth $776 million, and AMD was apparently the bigger winner. But at the same time, NVIDIA benefited from the jump in GPU prices as gamers had to pay a premium to lay their hands on their favorite graphics card. But it looks like NVIDIA'a and AMD's crypto-driven gains could hit a roadblock thanks to a recent development out of China.

Artist's rendering of a bitcoin.

Image Source: Getty Images

A dedicated cryptocurrency mining chip

Wall Street analyst firm Susquehanna recently found out that Bitmain, which makes cryptocurrency mining hardware, has developed an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that will be specifically used for Ethereum mining. Analyst Christopher Rolland believes that this new chip could hit the market in the second quarter of 2018, and could spell trouble for the GPU specialists as it is compatible with Ethash, an algorithm that's used for mining Ethereum as well as other cryptocurrencies.

Currently, the Ethash algorithm used to mine Ethereum requires a lot of memory, making GPUs the only profitable way to mine cryptocurrencies. Bitmain's ASIC chip has been solely designed for cryptocurrency mining, so it is expected to be more efficient at this task as compared to GPUs, which that are usually meant for gaming or data center purposes.

Susquehanna suspects that Bitmain could become the biggest vendor of cryptocurrency-focused ASIC chips, but says at least three other companies could be joining the fray.

Moreover, as the Ethash mining algorithm is used by other cryptocurrencies, it could be adopted by more miners once the chip hits the market. In fact, it is estimated that mining-focused ASICs could be 50 times faster than traditional GPUs.

Last year, Bitmain reportedly made between $3 billion and $4 billion in operating profit, according to analysts at Bernstein, which was at least identical to NVIDIA's $3 billion operating profit. So, NVIDIA and AMD are going up against a big fish in the cryptocurrency market, but which one of the two is better-placed to face the challenge? Let's find out.

Impact on AMD and NVIDIA

Rolland reportedly estimates that Ethereum mining accounts for 20% of AMD's total sales and 10% of NVIDIA's top line.

Cryptocurrency-driven demand was one of the biggest reasons behind a substantial increase in AMD's GPU market share during last quarter of 2017. The company tried to make the most of the cryptocurrency market by releasing specialized GPU drivers for mining purposes. What's more, AMD intends to boost the production of graphics cards to meet an anticipated increase in demand from miners.

As a result, AMD was able to steal a march over NVIDIA's GPUs despite having an arguably inferior product line-up. So, cryptocurrency mining has played a key role in AMD's growth over the past year and any weakness on this front could be bad news for investors. NVIDIA, on the other hand, could easily get over any loss in crypto-related sales thanks to fast-growing end markets such as gaming and data centers.

For instance, the company's gaming revenue had shot up 29% year over year in the most recent quarter, while data center revenue more than doubled. These two businesses together supply 80% of NVIDIA's total revenue, and their fast pace of growth means that the company is well-placed to overcome the challenge posed by Bitmain's new chip.


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Oil and gas investors have been through the wringer over the past few years. Even the most stable investments in this industry -- pipelines, processing, and logistics -- haven't been spared. Case in point: Shares of Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) have declined 18% over the past three years despite the company posting consistent revenue and cash flow growth. To top it off, there has been a slew of regulatory and tax changes in recent months that will have a significant impact on this particular industry.

So as part of Magellan's analyst day presentation, management tackled some of the questions these issues raise, and laid out its plans on how to grow the business. Here are the four key takeaways that Magellan investors should know.

Oil export terminal.

Image source: Getty Images.

No issue with FERC rule changes

On March 15, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a change to a policy related to master limited partnerships and the tax treatment for certain contract structures. The commission determined that any interstate oil or gas pipeline company couldn't charge an income tax recovery allowance when calculating what are known as cost-of-service contracts. A cost-of-service contract is a pricing model that calculates the cost to operate a pipeline and then attaches a fixed rate of return. Basically, the ruling says that master limited partnerships (MLPs) can't include income taxes as an operating cost because MLPs don't pay income taxes but instead pass the tax obligation onto their unitholders.

Of course, the moment that policy change was issued, MLP investors lost their minds and indiscriminately sold off pipeline companies, even though Magellan and others went out of their way to explain that this wouldn't have a material impact on the business the day of the announcement.

During its analyst day presentation, this was the first thing that management addressed. Management stated specifically that only 1% of the company's tariffs in 2017 came from these cost-of-service type contracts. A vast majority of the company's contracts are structured as indexed rate contracts. These are contracts that can increase what it charges customers based on what is known as the FERC index.

FERC has not issued any policy changes to the indexing method contracts that Magellan uses for a majority of its assets, and Magellan's management team doesn't expect it to, so it won't likely affect the outlook for the company.

Sticking with the MLP model for now

The reason a company structures itself as a master limited partnership is because of the tax benefits. MLPs are allowed to pass the obligation for taxes to their unitholders because they pass all of their earnings to individual unitholders. The owners of those units then pay taxes at their individual rates (39.5% for the top rate), and the MLP compensates owners by paying large distributions.

This was a very appealing option for companies in the energy business because it lowered the tax burden on the company and its stakeholders. Under the former tax laws, a C corporation would have to pay its corporate tax rate (35%), and investors would have to pay capital gains taxes on dividends (15%-20%). With the most recent changes to the tax code and the much lower corporate tax rate, that tax advantage is much lower than it used to be. So much so, in fact, that management went out of its way to explain why the MLP structure is still the best fit for Magellan.

From an investor standpoint, the thing that is encouraging is that management is open to changing its corporate structure if it best suits its investors. Management acknowledged that the benefits of being an MLP are diminished based on the changes to the tax code and this recent FERC ruling. The team said that if other changes were to occur to further reduce the benefits of the MLP structure, it would consider changing to a C corporation.

The partnership's biggest opportunity

Magellan has made its hay over the years with its refined petroleum pipeline network. There's no denying that it has been an incredibly profitable one because it has allowed management to grow its payout every quarter since its initial public offering at a 12% compounded annual rate. The problem, though, is that there isn't a whole lot of growth left in the pipe (pun fully intended).

Refined product demand in the U.S. has been flat for years and is expected to decline over time as more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles hit the roads. So unless the partnership can expand its network into other regions through significant acquisitions, there will likely only be limited growth options such as small extensions or capacity expansions. That kind of investment isn't going to move the needle like it used to for this $1.26 billion annual EBITDA business.

Management doesn't seem too concerned about this, though, because it has identified an outlet that is poised for immense growth and can leverage its existing assets: export terminals. Increasing shale production in the U.S. means that there is a growing need to export crude oil and refined product, and Magellan's crude oil and refined product networks in the Gulf Coast could easily support export terminals.

Magellan has one operational crude oil import and export terminal but has plans to build another three in the Houston Ship Channel and Corpus Christi, Texas. If all of these facilities were to be built, Magellan would have the capacity to move more than 2 million barrels per day of crude or refined products in and out of the U.S. Some of these terminals are already built into the company's capital plan, which is $1.3 billion through 2019, but there is much more waiting for the green light that could fuel significant growth for decades.

MMP Chart

MMP data by YCharts.

Investors' concerns are being heard, and management is reacting appropriately

Oil and gas pipeline companies are supposed to be these stable investments that have little exposure to commodity prices and pay out hefty cash dividends to their shareholders. Over the past few years, though, the industry has been anything but stable. Dividend cuts, debt woes, and corporate restructurings have wiped out billions in shareholder value. Ever since the Alerian MLP index was created back in 2013, it has declined more than 43% as a reflection of these volatile times.

Deep down, much of the oil and gas midstream industry's woes don't stem from the decline in commodity prices. The underlying problem for years has been management teams that have prioritized growth -- particularly distribution growth -- over anything else. This led to companies paying out every dollar available each quarter and relying heavily on the debt and equity markets to fund expansions. Unsurprisingly, companies that followed this path also happen to be the same companies the blew up and needed to make significant changes to their business model.

Magellan and a select handful of other MLPs have avoided this fate because they elected to partially fund expansions by retaining some of their operating cash flow. Now, many spurned investors in this industry have changed their priorities. Instead of seeking out payout growth at all costs, the focus has shifted to payout security. So those MLPs with high rates of retained cash are now en vogue.

In previous conference calls and presentations, Magellans' management has said it was comfortable running its business with a distribution coverage ratio of 1.1. From an investors standpoint, that is an OK but not great ratio. It leaves the company some wiggle room to get through tough times but doesn't leave much cash to fund growth.

With investors more concerned than ever about the sustainability of payouts, Magellan's management elected to change its payout guidance. Instead of targeting 8%-10% distribution growth for the foreseeable future, it has elected instead to target distribution growth of 5%-8% with a coverage ratio of 1.2 or greater. This will allow the company to fund more of those ambitious export terminal projects with internally generated cash and, according to management, eliminate the need to issue units as a funding source.

Investors might not get the growth they were initially looking for, but management has always leaned on the side of conservatism and long-term shareholder value.

What a Fool believes

The landscape for Magellan and the rest of the midstream industry is changing at a surprisingly fast pace for such a stoic industry. Between regulatory and tax changes, it can be hard for investors to completely understand the implications of those decisions on the stocks they own. Thankfully for Magellan's investors, its management team has gone out of its way to explain the changes and show why Magellan is still a good value proposition for its unitholders.

With a multibillion-dollar opportunity ahead of it with export terminals, it's encouraging to see management elect to take an even more conservative approach to its payout and preserve balance sheet integrity. If you are a long-term investor, it's hard to not like what Magellan Midstream Partners is doing right now.


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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) CEO Jim McNerney said his company is "very close" to getting its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet back flying again.

Two incidents involving batteries on 787s led the Federal Aviation Administration and regulators in other countries to ground the planes in January. Boeing is testing a redesign of the battery system.

"We have a high degree of confidence in the technical solution we are testing right now with the FAA," McNerney said at an aviation conference Thursday. "I think it will be sooner than later."

The Chicago-based company conducted a test flight with the redesigned battery Monday. McNerney expects the tests to conclude in a few days and said the data should be conclusive enough to convince regulators to let the plane fly again.

He called the grounding a "frustrating experience" but said regulators are putting safety first.

"They have the best interest of the flying public in mind," McNerney said.

McNerney has made few public comments to date about the 787 problems. Thursday's remarks came before a friendly crowd at U.S. Chamber of Commerce aviation summit.

The 787 was just one of several topics McNerney was asked about by Thomas J. Donohue, the head of the chamber.

Regarding the economy, McNerney said: "It's sort of bumping along. Very slow growth in the United States. Not fast enough to generate job growth."

Boeing, however, is doing better than the overall economy because airlines worldwide are replacing older planes with new, more fuel efficient jets. Purchases by developing countries are particularly strong, he said.

Boeing and European rival Airbus dominate the market for commercial aircraft, but McNerney expects to someday see strong competition from Chinese aircraft manufacturers. They have the money and technology to catch up with the two leaders, the Boeing CEO said. China also has a large enough -- and growing -- domestic market to buy the new planes, McNerney said.

The United States faces internal problems when it comes to aviation.

"This country has an infrastructure crisis," McNerney said.

Aviation is expected to grow in the next two decades but McNerney said not enough is being done to improve airports and air traffic control systems. Particularly, he said, the government needs to sort out funding issues surrounding a new satellite-based navigation system called NextGen.

The system promises to reduce congestion in the sky and let airlines fly more-direct routes, saving time and fuel. Airlines, however, have balked at spending the millions of dollars necessary to upgrade their cockpits until the government has upgraded its own system.

"It's going to slow down the growth in this country if we don't' get ahead of this," McNerney warned.


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It's important to maximize your Social Security benefits if you want to be as financially secure as possible in retirement. Doing so requires thinking carefully about exactly when you'll start claiming your benefits, because the wrong choice can be a costly mistake that can last the rest of your life. The longer you go without Social Security early on, the greater the monthly payments will be when you do choose to start getting them.

There's plenty of analysis that can help you figure out what your own personal ideal age for claiming Social Security might be. Yet for many people, the experience of their elders is a helpful learning tool. Thanks to the new 2018 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, you can see when current retirees decided to start taking their benefits and how it compares with your own ideas about Social Security.

Social Security cards with a $100 bill.

Image source: Getty Images.

When most people claim Social Security

By far the most popular age at which current retirees started getting monthly Social Security payments was when they turned 62. About 34% of those surveyed picked age 62 for their start date.

That's not surprising, because 62 is the earliest age at which most people can claim regular retirement or spousal Social Security benefits. There are only limited situations in which retirees can get benefits sooner, the most common being survivor benefits based on a deceased spouse's work history, which most survivors can claim as early as age 60.

By claiming at age 62, retirees were willing to take a substantially lower monthly payment. For those whose full retirement age was 65, the reduction amounted to 20% of what they would have gotten had they waited three extra years. More recent retirees with full retirement ages of 66 have seen typical reductions of 25% by claiming early, while for those in the future, the cut will rise to 30% because of the boost in full retirement age to 67.

Yet the trends are moving away from early claiming. The 2018 figure was down 6 percentage points from 2017's number of 40% for claimers at 62. That suggests that more people see the benefit of waiting a bit longer before taking their Social Security.

The big surprise at No. 2

Based on the tendency for people to take their benefits as early as possible, you might think that 63 would be the next most popular age for Social Security retirees. Yet even when you combine 63- and 64-year-olds claiming, they add up to just 9% of those surveyed.

Instead, the survey showed that retirees have more patience than you might think. Age 65 was the second-most popular choice. About 22% of retirees surveyed in 2018 took their Social Security when they were 65, up from 19% of those surveyed last year.

For generations, 65 has been the socially accepted age at which people chose to retire. Lawmakers and the Social Security Administration have sought to change that general idea, raising the full retirement age in part to encourage longer careers. But even though recent retirees have to take a modest reduction in their monthly payments when they choose to retire at 65, it hasn't stopped them from doing so. By contrast, only 16% of retirees first took their benefits between 66 and 69, and just 5% waited to max out their monthly payments at 70.

Waiting longer to boost your Social Security

Apart from the most popular ages for claiming, the big takeaway from the EBRI survey was that retirees have gradually waited slightly longer before taking Social Security, with the biggest percentage reduction applying to those taking benefits at their first opportunity at 62. Waiting as long as possible isn't always the best answer, but in general, being able to hold off on Social Security a bit longer can raise the amount of desirable guaranteed income that you can rely on lasting throughout your retired years.


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Me-First Leadership: Jim Yong Kim's Unfulfilled Promise At Dartmouth

"I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to tackle social problems around the world – but I came to Dartmouth because I’m convinced that those of you gathered here today will achieve far more than I ever could. Helping you do that is now my mission in life."

That's what Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim said in his September 2009 inauguration address. Apparently, his life mission had an expiration date of just two and a half years.

Kim, the first minority president at the College and first Asian-American leader of any Ivy League school, drew plaudits when he first arrived on campus. The co-founder of Partners in Health, a nonprofit health care provider in some of the poorest places on Earth, and former director of the HIV/AIDS department at the World Health Organization, Kim brought a global perspective to Dartmouth's rural New Hampshire campus. He encouraged students to confront social problems, most notably after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

As a Dartmouth student during his first two years in office, I watched as Kim began to tackle major issues on campus, including the budget problems resulting from a declining endowment during the worst of the economic downturn. He liked to quote his anthropologist roots and use his experience as a physician to inform his decisions with regard to alcohol policy and other challenges Dartmouth faced.

On Friday morning, President Obama nominated Kim to head the World Bank. Perhaps his focus on solving global problems and experience with affordable health care (see Kai Falkenberg's Forbes profile of Kim) will make him a good fit for that job. However, at Dartmouth College, the place that Kim pledged himself to less than three years ago, he will leave behind a disappointing legacy that is a cautionary tale of me-first leadership.

If you ever find yourself hired to lead a major university, do yourself a favor and avoid the following mistakes:

1. Establish Programs Consistent With Your Background, Not the College's — It's notable that Kim's biggest accomplishments at Dartmouth are those that allowed him to bring his interest in global health with him. In May of 2010, Kim announced a plan to create a Center for Health Care Delivery Science. The center on its own wasn't a bad idea, but when your most touted achievement does little to strengthen the College that already exists, it looks like you're trying to mold a nearly 250-year-old institution in your own image.

2. Leave While Projects You've Begun Remain Incomplete — The Learning Collaborative on High-Risk Drinking, another major Kim goal, put a target on dangerous alcohol consumption at college campuses through a national coalition of universities. The initiative was supposed to be a great way for Kim to leverage his experience in health care and turn an epidemic of binge drinking around. Instead, his imminent departure for the World Bank has orphaned the project without its charismatic champion.

3. Plead Impotency During Crisis — In recent months, Dartmouth has struggled to come to terms with allegations of fraternity hazing. During such a crisis, a great leader would have stood up and asserted himself to establish a process for dealing with the truth and helping the community heal. Instead, Kim was barely heard on the issue, and eventually gave meek testimony to The Dartmouth, the independent student newspaper. “This is not a monarchy,” Kim said. “I barely have any power — I’m a convener, and I’m a convener of people with very different views of where we should go."

4. Renege On Promise To Make Students The Priority — All of the above might have been avoided, ameliorated, or superceded had Kim stuck by his words in that inaugural address to make students his mission going forward. Instead, by jumping ship before his third anniversary, Kim's whirlwind presidency makes it painfully clear that he wasn't telling the whole truth. Perhaps when he first arrived, Kim saw the College as his mission, but now it serves only as a stepping-stone to an even better job.

Given Kim's world-changing talent and inspirational message, his potential for greatness in the hills of New Hampshire was obvious — and that potential may be realized more fully on a bigger stage. Unfortunately, this will be his lasting legacy at Dartmouth.

Brian Solomon was a Forbes staff writer from 2011 to 2017. He most recently covered technology startups, with a special focus on the on-demand economy of Uber, Airbnb, ...


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Use Emojis In Work Emails? You May Be Tainting Your Colleagues' Opinion Of You

Will smiley faces make you appear less competent? Pictured here is founder of World Emoji Day Jeremy Burge with a smiley face. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Sony Pictures Entertainment )

:( Frowny face. A study just published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that including a smiley emoticon (":)") or an emoji (a picture of a smiley face) in a work email may make people think you are less competent.

Really? (Emoji of a shocked and confused look.)

The study, conducted by Ella Glikson from Ben-Gurion University, Arik Cheshin from the University of Haifa and Gerben A. van Kleef from the University of Amsterdam, actually consisted of three experiments. The first randomly assigned 203 undergraduates (76% female) from the University of Amsterdam to receive one of four things — a photograph of a person with a neutral expression, a photograph of a person smiling, a greeting text without smileys, or a greeting text with smileys — and then asked the study subjects to rate the warmth and competence of the person who was shown in the picture or who sent the text.

The researchers found that study subjects rated the person smiling in the photograph as higher in warmth and competence than the person with the neutral expression. However, they rated the sender of the text with smileys as not significantly warmer and as less competent than the sender of the text with no smileys.

The second experiment recruited 90 English-speaking individuals (58% female) from 29 countries in North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. They had to read an email, rate the sender's warmth and competence, write an email in response and guess whether the sender was male or female. The results? Inclusion of smiley faces in the email didn't affect the perception of warmth but did lower the perception of competence. When the original email had a smiley face, the study subjects' email responses tended to contain less information. In addition, when the email had a smiley face, study subjects tended to assume that the sender was female. However, the assumed gender of the email sender did not affect the rating of warmth or competence.

For the third experiment, the researchers had 85 U.S. citizens (47% female), who were recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, read an email from a new employee to an unfamiliar administrative assistant containing a question about either a staff meeting (representing a formal situation) or a social gathering (representing an informal situation). The researchers then asked the study subjects to rate the warmth and competence of the sender. In the formal situation, including smileys in the email seemed to have no effect on the perception of the sender's warmth but reduced the perception of the sender's competence. In the informal situation, including smileys seemed to increase the perception of the sender's warmth but had no effect on the perceptions of the sender's competence.

The bottom line from this study: Smiley faces in texts or emails may not help you seem warmer but may make you seem less competent.

Note that these studies did not use an excessive number of smileys, such as a smiley after every word; that might suggest that the sender is a bit unbalanced. And the test emails did not appear to put a smiley face in inappropriate locations like "you're going to get fired :)" or pair them with inappropriate text like "I put marshmallows in everyone's shoes :)."

No, the study suggests that the inclusion of merely a smiley face or two can affect how people view you — yet another example of how people can use superficial things to judge people.

This may be bad news (":(") for the 76% of American workers who use emoticons in professional communications, according to a survey commissioned by Cotap and conducted by Kelton Global of 1,000 American workers with smartphones. The survey showed the breakdown of emoticon use: 64% happy face, 16% thumbs up, 7% winking face, 3% heart, 3% surprised face, 3% sad face, 2% thumbs down and 1% angry face.

However, the same survey showed that 78% of all surveyed did not feel very emotionally connected to those they worked with and that 33% wished they had better ways to express emotions when communicating in their workplaces. Moreover, 75% of those surveyed were interested in using emojis more often in professional communications.

This emoji is probably rarely appropriate at work. (Photo: Shutterstock)

One wonders whether the acceptability and perception of emoticon or emoji use will change as everything becomes more digital and mobile and those who grew up using such technology (e.g., millennials) increasingly set the tone at workplaces. After all, more and more work communication is occurring via modes that favor short bursts of text such as Slack, texts and, yes, Twitter. Moreover, as the reliance on electronic communications leads to less face-to-face contact among co-workers, people may need to connect emotionally through digital channels. Maybe one of these days I will be able to fulfill a longstanding ambition to write an entire memo in nothing but emojis.

Moreover, the new study has limitations. The sample sizes aren't that large and may not reflect the diversity of people out there. Could there be a selection bias for emoji-ists? Possibly. The researchers also did not report in detail on the backgrounds of the people, the workplaces or the professions represented in the sample. Some workplaces may be more welcoming to smiley faces than others. (Not sure how many times smiley faces are part of those operating nuclear reactors.) The communications modes of some workplaces may be more restricted than those of others. ("Doctor, why did you put smiley faces all over the patient's medical record?") Additionally, people differ in how much they use superficial appearance in judging people.

What, then, is the real bottom line? Should you use emoticons or emojis in workplace communications?

If you don't like using or have never used them, the workplace is not the place to start. (This holds true with almost any personal habit.) If you'd like to start, gradually ease into it. Begin by smiley facing under "safe" situations: around your friends, family or dog. Don't jump from never smiley facing to excessive smiley facing. Drastic change makes people wonder what happened to you.

If you would like to use emoticons or emojis at work, get a sense of your workplace's culture first. See what others are doing before easing into it. Don't go overboard. Maybe you don't want to be known as that "smiley face" person. Furthermore, individuals react to things differently. While one co-worker, boss or client may welcome smiley faces, another may not. Some tailoring of communication may be necessary.

These smiley face suggestions probably apply more to initial contact. For example, you may not want to email someone you don't know and say: "Can I work at your company :)" or "It would be great if our organization can serve you :)" or "Come by tomorrow so that we can see if we need to remove your gallbladder :)". However, once you've established your competence, smiley facing may be less likely to influence what others think about your abilities.

Finally, if you are at the receiving end of a smiley face, don't judge. It really shouldn't be a mark of competence in any way, unless the person's job is to generate as many smiley faces as possible.

Follow me on Twitter @bruce_y_lee and visit our Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Read my other Forbes pieces here

My career has spanned the worlds of digital and computational health, business, academia, medicine, global health, and writing. Currently, I am the Executive Director of...


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10 Affordable Ways To Fill A Large Blank Wall

It’s big, it’s intimidating, and nearly every apartment for rent in Baltimore, MD, or Houston, TX, has it. No, we’re not talking about that pile of laundry that you swear you’ll get to soon — it’s that glaring, huge white wall. Even if your landlord lets you paint, an unadorned expanse can make your otherwise lovely home feel a bit spare. But just because you happen to have a lease doesn’t mean you can’t come up with a creative solution. Here are 10 renter-friendly, temporary solutions from design experts that will bring some style to a bare wall.

1. DIY a triptych

Large, affordable artwork can be difficult to find. (And when you do discover a piece that doesn’t cost a fortune, it usually has all the character of something you’d find in a hotel room.) For something a little more wallet-friendly, create a custom piece yourself. Not the artsy type? Don’t abandon this do-it-yourself idea so fast. Skip the paint and scout out a few lengths of gorgeous fabric. (You won’t need much, so feel free to splurge on the good stuff.) Simply wrap a piece around an inexpensive, pre-stretched canvas and staple in place for a super fast work of “art.” Better yet, wrap three rectangular panels or canvases in fabric and then hang them together to create a triptych.

2. Turn to textiles

Tapestries, vintage quilts, or even antique blankets can be too lovely to keep folded and hidden away. Instead, hang the textile from the wall to bring unique character and texture to your space. (The simplest way to do this is to hang a curtain rod from the wall, then use clip-style rings to secure the textile.) To keep the look cohesive with the rest of your decor, focus on hue, recommends Jaclyn Isaac, interior designer and the blogger behind Dog Lady Design Files. “Make sure the colors work well with your existing decor or consider using (the wall) as a focal piece and pulling your (other) colors from that,” she says. Still not convinced? Consider this bonus of hanging a thin rug or other textile on the wall: It can help mute the sounds coming from your next-door neighbor’s apartment.

3. Curate a gallery wall

You can never have too much of a good thing — especially when it comes to art hung in groups. “Never underestimate the power of a well-designed gallery wall!” says Laurel & Wolf designer Abagail Leepin. “The colors, textures, and patterns eliminate negative space and enhance the finished feeling that you wish to achieve.” One idea that results in a perfectly balanced look is to hang two larger pieces diagonally from each other, then fill the empty space above or below each of those larger pieces with smaller pieces (sticking to similar colors or subjects will look extra pulled-together).

4. Consider wallpaper

If you think wallpaper is only for homeowners, this DIY proves you wrong. Simply frame remnants for a no-mess, no-messy-installation-needed way to enjoy a gorgeous new motif without a commitment. “Framing strips of wallpaper can make very effective and interesting statements,” says interior designer Heather Higgins of Higgins Design Studio. “They work best when they have a unifying theme like similar content, color, or pattern.” Select a thin white frame in the largest size possible to create the look of panel molding.

5. Shelve your art

If the idea of hanging multiple pieces makes you nervous, floating shelves like the ones above by Laurel & Wolf can be a great shortcut. “Rather than struggling to create the perfect gallery wall, get a long floating shelf and arrange your art in one great gallery line,” says Jaclyn Isaac. “You can switch out the art and objects as you please, change frames out when you’re updating your decor, and you don’t have to worry about spackling 18 holes in the wall.” If you’re also short on art, Isaac recommends repurposing calendars for ready-to-frame pieces. “You can get amazing photos that are guaranteed to look great together and large enough to take up an entire wall for less than $30,” she says.

6. Go bold, go mural

“A dramatic mural adds glamor to an enormous wall, especially when there are ultrahigh ceilings involved,” says Liza Nematnejad, a real estate agent with Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York, NY. A mural, she says, “can truly showcase an apartment if it’s done right, with an appropriate piece of art that fits the look and feel of the particular apartment.” Although a painted mural is out of the question for renters, there’s a clever way to capture this dramatic look: temporary murals. Much like removable wallpaper, these adhesive-backed murals install easily (just remove the backing and smooth on the wall), then peel off without a trace when it’s time to move. Tempaper’s Chinoiserie design mimics the look of a hand-painted mural, while Wallsome allows you to custom-print your favorite photos or graphics into a mural.

7. Get stuck on washi tape

Washi tape just may be the unofficial favorite craft material on Pinterest. The removable, colorful tape is just so versatile. One of our favorite ideas is using the tape to create a bold graphic statement, like this colorful home office from Domino magazine. A design that spans the entire wall tends to look higher-end than a few random stripes. The same goes for wall decals, like these too-fun mini-elephants from Southern Nest. When applied to the wall in neat rows, they take on the look of wallpaper.

8. Tackle just one (and you’re done!)

The best news? Decorating one large wall can have a huge impact. Says Heather Higgins: “Leave at least one wall in every room art-free, particularly in smaller spaces. Two is even better. This provides a resting place for your eye and prevents the feeling of ‘overwhelm.’” Consider this a designer-approved excuse to be lazy about decorating other walls.

9. Expand shelf options

Look beyond art when looking to fill a blank wall — especially if you also happen to have high ceilings. “Wide, tall bookcases are great for renters, don’t require any kind of wall installation, and can be moved from place to place,” Isaac notes. “If wide enough, they take up a ton of room and are a fun place to go wild with your collected objects.” Just don’t fill up the shelves completely. Instead, display individual pieces in edited groups on each shelf. (If you need the shelf space for storage, opt for attractive bins on the bottom shelves.) On the top shelf, you can lean framed pieces.

10. Hang that mirror, mirror on that wall

Like hanging art together gallery-style, a mass of mirrors offer a lovely way to fill a large wall. “I like to use old mirrors, whether huge ones or an assortment of small ones,” says Kathleen Perkins of Douglas Elliman, who frequently uses this trick when staging homes. “They reflect light and they are really beautiful.” Interesting mirrors can often be found at thrift stores or discount stores for less than the price of art.

What are your best decorating ideas for large walls? Share your tips in the comments below.

Trulia gives home buyers, sellers, owners and renters the inside scoop on properties, places and real estate professionals. Trulia has unique info on the areas people wa...


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Forbes CommunityVoice Connecting expert communities to the Forbes audience.What is This?

Forbes allows professional fee-based membership groups ("communities") to connect directly with the Forbes audience by enabling them to create content – and participate in the conversation – on the Forbes digital publishing platform. Each topic-based is produced and managed by the group.

Opinions expressed within Forbes are those of the participating individuals.

Nine Things Men Can Do To Better Support Women Leaders

Post written by

Expert Panel, Young Entrepreneur Council

YEC is an invite-only organization comprised of the world's most successful entrepreneurs 40 and younger.

The fight for gender equality in the workplace has come a long way in recent decades, but in many industries and corporate cultures, men are still a step ahead. Women often feel the need to prove themselves as serious professionals and leaders to their male counterparts.

Women can and do actively advocate for themselves in the workplace, but unless men participate, too, real change will be difficult to achieve. According to nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council, here's what men can do to better support the female leaders in their organization.

Members discuss a few things men can do to better support women leaders.

Photos courtesy of the individual members.

1. Balance Your Leadership Team

Balancing men and women in leadership roles provides checks and balances and a wider lens to see through. The male and female brain think very differently, and different thoughts create different information. Men can support women in leadership roles by opening their minds to the possibilities and advantages of a truly balanced leadership team. — Hillary HobsonHighest Cash Offer

2. Take Paternity Leave

Men can support women by insisting on women’s rights and taking paternity leave, thereby leveling the playing field that penalizes women when they take maternity leave. — Rachel BeiderMassage Outpost

3. Expose Yourself To Diverse Perspectives

Are there ways in which you're part of the problem? Do you have explicit biases that need to be addressed? Lack of exposure to diverse perspectives? Finding ways to connect with all types of women is a great way to gain a better understanding of our talents. Then, you can make changes in the way you treat women or foster cultures that hold us back. — Amber Anderson, Tote + Pears

4. Make Access To Opportunities Truly Equal

Encouraging female employees to self-nominate, and making sure they are given the same opportunities at work as male colleagues is a great start. This may mean examining how networking and even social events are held at your company, but it will make the whole team stronger! — Lizzy Jane Newsome YoppKappa Toys

5. Provide Genuine, Authentic Support

I wish more men would offer genuine support with pure intentions — as if we were their sister, who they are rooting for. Look out for us, have our backs, encourage us, support our efforts, and be there when we need to bounce something off you. In short, just authentically be in our corner. — Jackie Ducci, Ducci & Associates

6. Give Women A Safe Space To Share Their Opinions

Invite women to the table and be willing to listen. Invest in women; your time, your money, and your network. Provide a safe space to open the dialogue of what is needed. — Jess MoseleyTCS Interpreting

7. Never Put Limits On Women's Abilities

Be encouraging. Men should never put limitations on women's abilities. A strong man encourages and supports the women around him. A man should remind a woman that she is capable of accomplishing anything she sets her mind to and that the only thing holding her back is herself. — Taylor Irwin, Rocky Mountain Car Wash

8. Be Mindful Of Existing Gender Gaps

Be more actively mindful. Is there a capable woman who can do that role you’re seeking? Let her know. Is there an important meeting or gathering that is missing female representation? Send the invitation. Men in meetings can sometimes talk over women more than they do with other men. Watch for this. — Pokin Yeung, Absolute Games

9. Step Aside And Let Women Lead

Men can guide women by offering constructive feedback. They can encourage women by showing respect and enthusiasm. They can trust women by stepping aside and allowing them to lead. — Dalia MacPheeDALIA MACPHEE

Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invitation-only, fee-based organization comprised of the world's most successful entrepreneurs 45 and younger. YEC members repre...


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The Republic of Austria 1918-1934

In This Review

The Republic of Austria 1918-1934

By Mary Macdonald
Oxford University Press (for the Royal Institute of International Affairs), 1946
165 pp. $2.50

In this excellent little monograph the author seeks to explain why the war-born republic did not live up to its early democratic promise. The final chapter concerns the influence of foreign policy, and the 50-page appendix contains relevant documents.

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Renegotiations in International Business Transactions

In This Review

Renegotiations in International Business Transactions

By William A. Stoever
Lexington Books, 1981
380 pp. $27.95

Pacta sunt servanda may still be good international law, but international business contracts are challenged and changed with some frequency, especially by governments. Zambian copper, ITT in Chile, Indonesian oil and Kuwaiti real estate development in North Carolina do not lend themselves to much generalization, but Professor Stoever of Rutgers analyzes these cases most systematically, in the hope of easing future renegotiations (not preventing them).

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Eco-Scam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse

In This Review

Eco-Scam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse

By Ronald Bailey
St. Martin's Press/Washington: Cato Institute, 1993
228 pp. $19.95

This short, lively book examines eight cases where scientists, pseudoscientists, promoters, and journalists have successfully alarmed the general public with scenarios of prospective or impending disaster caused by human action or, as they would have it, human folly. The book looks successively at movements focused on nuclear weapons, global starvation, depletion of critical resources, global cooling, runaway DNA, nuclear winter, ozone depletion, and, most recently, global warming.

The author relates forecasts of imminent doom in the absence of drastic changes in public policies -- and, in some cases, in general life-style -- to the predictions of apocalyptics and millenarians, who have existed for at least the last 2,000 years and continue to survive numerous failed predictions.

Although the subject matter is very different, the mobilization of public support usually evokes similar antiestablishment, antimodernist sentiments and surprisingly often involves the same organizations and people. The movements are not only private in origin, however. Bailey suggests that NASA in 1992 misled the public about depletion of northern hemisphere ozone in order to build support for its budget.

Although fellow journalists are implicated in these major public scares for their gullibility, Bailey is not as critical of their role as he might be.

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10 Tips to Help You Sell Your Asheville Home!Asheville Home StagingTips

Asheville home sellers are fortunate that right now, we are in a sellers market! That means that you have a great opportunity to sell your home fast and for the most money possible.  The question becomes, how are you going to compete with all of the other homes for sale in Asheville?

Here are 10 tips to help you sell your Asheville home:

    1. Clear away all unnecessary objects – Go through each room and remove anything that isn’t 100% necessary! This includes end tables, collectibles, magazines, miss-matched chairs, extra pillows etc.  Don’t strip the room bare, but remove anything and everything that you can.  Your goal is to create a room that allows a potential home buyer to envision their own furniture and belongings in the room.
    2. Rearrange furniture to create more space – Go through each room and rearrange the furniture so that the room is as spacious as possible. As an example: remove chairs from bedrooms and extra chairs from dining areas.
    3. Clear the kitchen – Take a good, hard look at your kitchen, counters, tabletops and refrigerator.  What can you remove?  Consider placing small appliances, knife blocks etc… in a cabinet. Remove everything from the refrigerator. You can display everything again once you are in your new home!  And of course it goes without saying that your kitchen should be spotless!
    4. Remove all unnecessary items from all bathrooms – Remove all personal items from the counters. Place them in a basket or bowl and store them under the sink. Clean out the shower/tub of bottles and soap. Keep them under the sink and out of site. Make sure any towels that you display are clean and either new or not faded, and coordinate in color.
    5. Take down pictures and rearrange artwork – Clutter can happen on walls as easily as it can happen in rooms.  Too much artwork on the walls can make a room appear smaller than it actually is.  Go through each room and remove or rearrange artwork to be appealing and complimentary to the style of the decor.  Remember to remove any posters or taped artwork from your kids rooms!
    6. Paint – I can’t stress this enough.  Painting is one of the easiest and most affordable things you can do to freshen and update your home.  Paint in neutral colors only and pay attention to doors, baseboards and molding. A fresh coat of paint on the front door can work wonders!
    7. Clean the carpets – Have your carpets professionally cleaned and consider replacing any carpet that is badly stained or shows a lot of wear and tear.
    8. Clean all windows – Dirty windows are a big turn-off!  Make sure your windows sparkle and let in lots of sunshine and light.
    9. Remove all odors – This is crucial.  If you have pets or smoke, ask an expert how to remove the odor. Use caution when using plug-in air fresheners.  Not all people like the smell of fresh baked cookies!  If you decide to use plug-ins, be sure to choose a very light fragrance.
    10. Curb appeal – Stand out front and take a good look at your house.  Do you need to trim trees and shrubs? Fertilize grass or plant flowers?

Keep in mind that if a potential home buyer doesn’t like the outside, you’ll never get them on the inside!  And don’t forget the backyard and porches!

For more tips on how to sell your home, sign-up for our monthly newsletter or call us at 828-246-9303

Until next time,

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Interior Redesign & Online Decorating Services

Interior Redesign and Decorating ServicesOur Interior Redesign & Online e-Decorating Services are all about creating “REAL Rooms for REAL People™”. Whether we help you to re-purpose your very own furnishings, artwork and accessories or we design you a brand new look, you’ll get the decorating style, look and feel that you want, at a price you can afford!Read More

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EXETER — Join the Ashworth by the Sea and the Exeter Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, May 14, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

There is no charge. Admission is one business card for the prize drawings and one business card to post on the "Look Who's Here" board. Ashworth by the Sea is located at 295 Ocean Blvd Hampton.

Members of the Chamber, their guests, and any business seeking more information about Ashworth by the Sea or the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce are welcome to attend. Participants will have an opportunity to network and meet new members. Everyone is urged to bring a supply of business cards to exchange.

For further information call 603.772.2411 or visit www.exeterarea.org.


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Minnesota coach identifies the Harbaugh difference for Michigan

Minnesota dominated Michigan last season.
Rick Osentoski/Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota shut down Michigan's offense last season, claiming the Little Brown Jug with a 30-14 victory in Ann Arbor.

It sounds like the defensive coordinator of the Golden Gophers sees a greater challenge coming this time around with Jim Harbaugh having replaced Brady Hoke as the head coach of the Wolverines.

“That's the downhill running game,” Tracy Claeys said on the Big Ten coaches teleconference Tuesday. “They're doubling you a lot and not allowing the penetration.”

Hoke also wanted his offense to be able to dominate the line of scrimmage, but the Wolverines have been more effective more consistently on the ground this season.

They are averaging nearly 20 more yards rushing and eight more points per game than they did last season when they went 5-7. This year they have already won five games with five left to play.

“The other thing is their fullback carries the ball more than any team in 10 years,” Claeys said. “That's just getting back to no negative plays and they don't get themselves in a bad situation.”

He noted that is a different approach from the emphasis on creating explosive plays that exists at many programs across the country these days.

“Everybody talks about explosive plays on offense, and they want 20- and 30-yard plays,” Claeys said. “They're just at the point where we don't want any negative plays and keep the ball manageable and they've been able to do that and play well on special teams.”

(H/T Detroit Free Press)

MORE NEWS: Want stories delivered to you? Sign up for our College Football newsletters.


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Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson comment on their last-lap wreck in The Clash

Video Details

Hear what Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson had to say about their last-lap wreck in The Clash, and if it should raise concerns for the new Camaro.

- When there hasn't been a big wreck on a restrictor plate track in, I don't know, more than 70 laps, get ready because it's probably coming, and it did on Sunday. On the last lap as Logano was trying to make a pass on teammate Brad Keselowski-- Kyle Larson into the back of Jimmy Johnson, the pile up ensues. There was some talk about maybe these new cars, the new Chevys, having something to do with it? But here's what Jimmy and Kyle had to say.

JIMMIE JOHNSON: Larson and I were just talking about that in the care center. Need to go back and look at the video and see if he really did get me center, and if that could have been a contributing factor to it. Half the lap before that, I think the 41 got to me and pushed me pretty hard. And everything was fine, so in my head I kind of cleared that concern. And I was looking out the windshield sitting in a great spot, and unfortunately didn't make it back.

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, you know, that's the first time I have went to push somebody, and I hit him pretty solid and just turned him into the wall. So obviously I know I'm the one that started that, but I'd just like to see if I did hit him as hard as I think I did, or if our bumpers just don't line up as well with the new Camaros. But our DC Solar Chevy was a handful. I'll have a lot of work to do to just get it driving stable enough for me to run 500 miles next Sunday. So tough race I guess, I felt on edge the whole time. So like I said, I've got some work to do.

- All right, so both of those guys had questions after the race and we heard both of them mention that maybe it had something to do with the new body style. Casey, you said you talked to Jimmy Johnson today, what has he seen now that he's had a day to look at the film?

CASEY: Well they're just understanding how the cars are shaped. The new Camaro has a little bit of a pointed nose which they said in the broadcast, but also the rear bumper cover, as well, has an indention where the license plate would typically be on the vehicle on the road.

So that characteristic, between the point and the indention, they're thinking that maybe there's something there that doesn't marry up quite as nice as the Fords and the Toyotas do. So it's just a new element that they've got to take into consideration. And when you watch Kyle hit Jimmy right there, it was a solid hit, but it looked like he hit him pretty square so it's surprising that it caused what it did.

- Drew, you're part of that Chevy family, how concerning is it as we look ahead to Thursday and ultimately the 500 next weekend?

DREW: It's something else today, maybe to add to your stress level of what might go on. I think it's a small sample size though. You heard Kyle say how bad his car was driving. I think a lot of these teams, especially the ones that qualified up front, had their cars so trimmed out, they are a handful-- you saw that with some of them on Sunday. So it's a small sample size. I think we'll learn more on Thursday and then we'll know whether we just fix something Friday and Saturday to be ready to run the 500.

- If it is something with the license plate area, where that would be, what can you do about that? This is the body style, right?

DREW: Yeah, you just got to know. You gotta know. You can't hit somebody that you want to keep in front of you. And if you do hit them in front of you, you better be holding on tight.

- And sometimes that's easier said than done, because you get a big shot from behind, you got nowhere to go in the draft.

CASEY: Yeah, and I agree with Drew a lot. Definitely there's a different characteristic there, and that might be some of the problem. But there's way bigger rules that have changed for this class that I think are also causing some of these issues. So it will be interesting see how it all comes down. There is those things to keep in mind, but there's a bigger picture to there.


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Steelers confirm Roethlisberger set to start against Bengals

Ben Roethlisberger has missed four games with a sprained knee and bruised leg.

Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger is back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Coach Mike Tomlin confirmed the news on Tuesday, saying the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback is preparing to play Sunday against unbeaten Cincinnati after missing four games with a sprained knee and bruised leg.

"We don’t have any reservations or limitations about his availability," Tomlin said. "As I sit here today, we are comfortable with where he is in his overall availability this week."

Roethlisberger initially feared the worst after he left in the third quarter of a September win at St. Louis, but he was relieved to learn the injury didn’t end his season.

Now, he’s returning on the early end of the four-to-six week timetable that was projected, and just in time.

Pittsburgh, which went 2-2 without Roethlisberger, is 4-3 overall and 2 games behind the Bengals for the top spot in the AFC North.

Roethlisberger lobbied to play two weeks ago against Arizona, returning to 7-on-7 work and pushed harder last week prior to Sunday’s game at Kansas City.

He practiced in a limited capacity for three days last week and was listed as questionable on the injury report before the Steelers gave Landry Jones his first NFL start after he sparked the team to a come-from-behind win a week earlier.

The Steelers hope for the same boost from Roethlisberger.

He mentioned some discomfort in his knee late last week. Tomlin said the Steelers will keep an eye on their franchise quarterback during practice to make sure there aren’t any setbacks.

"I’m not going to monitor it personally," Tomlin said. "I’ll let Ben and the medical staff take care of that business, and I’ll just check in with those guys periodically, like I always do over the course of a work week."

Tomlin said Roethlisberger’s ability to move is taken into consideration when game-planning, but he doesn’t anticipate any issues.

"At this juncture, we’re not going to assume Ben will be limited from a mobility standpoint," Tomlin said.

It also shouldn’t be assumed that Roethlisberger will be able to step in and immediately perform like the elite-level quarterback, who ranked at the top or among the league leaders in several key statistical categories prior to his injury.

There may be a rust factor involved as Roethlisberger appeared in all 16 games the previous two seasons, but never missed more than four in a season.

"There’s always concern in that regard anytime someone is coming off an injury, but we’re not going to lose a lot of sleep over that," Tomlin said. "Ben has played a lot of ball for us, he has great continuity and recall from his time in the system.

"He’ll have a full week of preparation, and he participated in a partial capacity a week ago. Hopefully, all of these things will allow him to push past some of the anxiety associated with getting back there."

The Steelers are just happy to see their franchise quarterback return, particularly in a key division game against unbeaten Cincinnati.

"We are going to need him," Tomlin said. "Cincinnati is really rolling on all cylinders right now."

Notes: Steelers LB Terence Garvin will be out a couple of weeks with an MCL sprain. … Steelers CB William Gay could be limited in practice after suffering a shoulder injury Sunday against Kansas City. … Steelers DE Stephon Tuitt (knee) and S Will Allen (ankle) could return to practice after missing Sunday’s game.


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Edmonton Oilers name four alternates, but will go captain-less this season

Jordan Eberle, left, and Taylor Hall will once again serve as alternate captains. They will be two of the four total alternates.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Spor

The Edmonton Oilers are choosing to forego a captain this year, and will instead field four alternates throughout the year.

Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Andrew Ference will serve the alternates.

While Eberle still recovers from his shoulder injury, Matt Hendricks will fill in with his abscence.

Ference served as the team captain for the last two seasons.

The choice to not choose a team captain appears to open the door for the option to name Connor McDavid as the captain in the future.

The Oilers open up their season this Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.


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Our History

First Presbyterian Church’s heritage, history and growth have been intertwined with that of Lynchburg for over 200 years.  Our church was founded in 1815 (some 29 years after Lynchburg was established in 1786) and has served its congregation and the Lynchburg community in four different church locations throughout those years and will into the future.

As one of the oldest churches in Lynchburg, we are grateful to have had the opportunity to provide a constant spiritual and educational influence in the Lynchburg community.  A growing and transforming congregation has led in fostering new churches in the community as well as been leaders in education through the Weekday School and other educational opportunities.

The First Church

The First Church

Installed Pastor:

  • Rev. Dr.William S. Reid (1822-1849)

In 1813 Dr. William S. Reid began the work of the church through meeting with members of the community in their homes.  The beliefs and convictions of this group culminated in forming a new church, First Presbyterian Church, on March 20, 1815.  Dr. Reid was appointed pastor at an annual salary of $300!  At this time the congregation numbered 15, including two infants.

Perspective: When the church was founded, James Madison was the 4th President of the United States, and Ludwig von Beethoven had just premiered his Symphony No. 8 at age 45.

The Second Church

The Second ChurchThe 2nd First Presbyterian Church fronting on Main Street in Lynchburg.

Note the absence of a steeple!  The building was dedicated in 1858 and served our congregation for almost 41 years.

Installed Pastors:

  • Rev. Dr. C.R. Vaughan (1849-1858)
  • Rev. Dr. Jas. B. Ramsey (1858-1870)
  • Rev. Dr. E.H. Barnett (1870)
  • Rev. Dr. Richard Mc Ilwaine (1870-1872)
  • Rev. Dr. William T. Hall (1872-1896)

In 1854 a severe storm badly damaged the steeple of the original building, requiring the construction of a new building.  Then-Pastor Dr. Vaughan contemplated building the new church on the southeast corner of Church and 11th Streets, but property title difficulties caused the new church to be constructed on Main Street.

Perspective: During this period James Buchanan was our 15th President.  As well, Abraham Lincoln and Stephan Douglas had conducted the first of their famous debates and Theodore Roosevelt was born.

The Third Church

The Third ChurchThe 3rd First Presbyterian Church at 9th and Court Streets

Certainly the steeple is prominent here!

Installed Pastors:

  • Rev. F.T. McFaden (1896-1904)
  • Rev. Dr. Jas. D. Paxton (1904-1930)
  • Rev. Dr. F. Campbell Symonds (1931-1937)
  • Rev. Dr. Russell C. Stroup (1938-1950)

By the early 1880s the congregation had grown considerably.   By 1898 the congregation numbered 405 members and services were crowded at times. As well, the congregation was growing quickly – between 1896 and 1897 fifty-one members were added, an increase of 13%.

Perhaps more significantly, by this time a large portion of the congregation now lived south of Main Street, putting them farther from the 1858 church. Dr. Hall, pastor at the time, noted in 1892: “The growth of the city has been steadily away from the location, increasing the disadvantages every year... We are moving now to get a position where we will be as convenient as possible to the whole congregation.”

So, the cornerstone for the new (3rd building) was laid on July 5, 1899, at 9th and Court Streets.  Between the sale of the old property and contributions, the entire $49,000 was underwritten.

A new wing was added to the church in 1941 to house its Sunday schools and other community education programs.  When the property was transferred to the City of Lynchburg in 1998, these spaces would be, and still are, utilized by the Lynchburg Police Department.

During the World Wars of the 20th century, 57 men (7%) of the congregation served in the armed forces during World War I.  A total of 113 men and women served during World War II, 16% of the congregation at the time.

Dr. Russell C. Stroup, requested a leave of absence in 1942 in order to join the Chaplains Corps. He served in the 6th Infantry Division in the South Pacific and the Philippines, receiving the Bronze Star for heroism in action at Luzon. He returned to the congregation in 1945.

Perspective: In 1900 William McKinley was the 25th President.  The Lynchburg Foundry was established, the US went on the gold standard and three local colleges were founded: Randolph–Macon Woman's College (1891), Sweet Briar College, (1902) and Lynchburg College, (1903).

The Fourth Church

The Fourth ChurchThe 4th First Presbyterian Church

1215 VES Road, Lynchburg in 1952

Installed Pastors:

  • Rev. Dr. Emmett B. McGukin (1950-1967)
  • Rev. Dr. S. Albert Newman (1965-1966)
  • Rev. Herbert B. Barks (1967-1971)
  • Rev. Robert A. Helstrom (1970-1976)
  • Rev. Jerold D. Shetler (1971-1975)
  • Rev. Edward K. Beckes (1974-1977)
  • Rev. Timothy L. Croft (1976-1978)
  • Rev. Bernard K. Bangley (1977-1980)
  • Rev. Dr. John R. Killinger, Jr.
  • Rev. Dr. Robert H. Bullock, Jr. (1981-1983)
  • Rev. John H. Thompson
  • Rev. Dr. Richard Harbison (1987-1997)
  • Rev. Dr. Walter R. Smith (1989-2006)
  • Rev. Dr. James J.H. Price
  • Rev. Arthur F. Fogartie (1998-2001)
  • Rev. L. Tyler Downing (2001-2005)
  • Rev. Dr. John M. Scholer (2002-2014)
  • Rev. Meggan Means Farwell (2007-2012)
  • Rev. Peter A. Thompson (2016- Present)

As automobiles came into common use in the 1930s and 1940s, congregants increasingly moved to homes in the suburbs. By 1948 it was evident to members of the Session that the church would need to move.

“ . . . Seventy percent of our active membership now resides in the Rivermont-Peakland area.  Eighty percent of our Sunday School and eighty-seven percent of our cradle roll babies come from this section (of town).  “Since a church is a congregation rather than a building, we are already located in Peakland and it only remains for us to establish our physical facilities where our actual church is.”

The church building was completed 1952 at a total cost of $490,000.  Services began on September 6 of that year, conducted by Dr. Emmett McGukin in the new Sanctuary designed to hold 494 people. Dr. McGukin delivered the first sermon titled, “The Things Our Fathers Dedicated."  Dr. Stroup was present for the service and delivered a series of vesper services that month.

When the 3rd First Presbyterian Church building on Court Street was sold to the First Methodist Church, the contract of sale explicitly authorized First Presbyterian to remove five memorial windows and move them to the V.E.S. Road church.  Three of the windows are installed in rear Narthex wall, one is installed in the front wall of the Chapel, and the fifth installed in the rear wall of the Sanctuary over the antiphonal organ.

Plans for the new Sanctuary included installing new stained glass windows on both sidewalls.  Funds were raised, and the Sanctuary now features stained glass windows depicting important events in Biblical history.  To learn more about the stained glass windows at FPC CLICK HERE (link to facilities page or directly to pdf).

The growth of the Church School, Youth Groups, Men of the Church, Women of the Church, Weekday School, and other church organizations resulted in a 1999 church addition that continues to provide our Fellowship Hall, kitchen facilities, and a number of classrooms.

Expansion and growth continued with the “Our Time To Grow” campaign in the 1990s.  Included were an expansion of the Fellowship Hall, expansion of the Narthex, and the addition of our Columbarium Garden.

Our Mission

Celebrating God’s grace, Inspiring the next generation for Christ… each and every day!!!

Contact Us

1215 V.E.S. Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503

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© Copyright 2017. All Rights Reserved First Presbyterian Church of Lynchburg. Site by Stimulus Advertising


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In case you missed it, something pretty sensational happened during Spring 2018. The Labor Department announced that, for the first time since such records began being collected, the number of job openings exceeded the number of job seekers. Put another way, if every single unemployed person were to take a job we’d still have jobs left unfilled in our economy.

That’s a pretty remarkable situation to be in – and The Wall Street Journal did a great job of capturing some of the knock on effects for our economy.

Have a read of their article and you’ll see that the consequences of this situation are far-reaching. No wonder their article was even picked up and reproduced in part by The White House (here). It’s a good news story for many families, with those wanting to find meaningful employment increasingly able to do so. As the author notes, these are also labor market conditions allowing people to find more stable employment – and to attain health benefits and retirement savings that have eluded them in previous jobs. On the flip side, it also poses a challenge to the nation’s businesses. If staff simply can’t be found then projects may have to be mothballed and expansion plans put on hold. That’s quite a conundrum for business leaders to address.

A Golden Era For Recruitment Businesses

What caught our eye more than anything, though, was the knock-on effect this is all having on the hiring market – and on the fortunes of recruitment businesses in particular. Numerous examples are cited of companies having to loosen their hiring criteria and become better employers in order to counter the talent shortages they are facing. But that alone isn’t always enough – and in many roles isn’t an option if certain skills and experience are simply essential for the role.

In short, it’s the dream scenario for recruitment business owners. Employers are waking up to both the real costs of attracting enough quality staff – and to the costs the business faces if hires simply aren’t made. Both paint the services of a recruitment business in a very favorable light and are helping to drive up client demand in our sector considerably. No wonder more and more people are taking the career decision to leave their job and set up a recruitment business. The market conditions have rarely been better for someone thinking of taking the leap.

In the short-term the strength of the economy is a great reason to feel optimistic about the prospects for recruitment businesses to grow. But the fortunes of recruitment business owners are also looking good in the longer term. That’s because demographic shifts are making the kinds of talent shortages referred to above become much more of a long term trend our economy will have to adapt to.

As more of our population reach retirement age – and a lower percentage of the population are correspondingly in employment – these talent shortages are likely to be exacerbated. The rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning is also expected to have a pronounced effect on the types of jobs that will be created in the future and therefore the skillsets that will be in most demand. Whenever there are rapid changes in the economy we tend to see the conditions created in which companies find themselves struggling to recruit. Hence why the outlook for recruitment businesses isn’t just rosy in the short term.

Of course how you might take that leap in your own career is something we’re uniquely placed to help with. If you’re thinking you’d like to explore setting up a recruitment business as your next career move, do join us for a free webinar looking at the practicalities of doing so and making a success of this.

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FPC of Troy
560 Kirts Blvd.
Suite 102
Troy, MI 48084
Phone: 248-244-9646