These Are the Best of Times—For Business Brokers

Soaring unemployment. A plummeting stock market. Economic recession with no end in sight. Things don’t get any better for business brokers. “The best years we had were under Jimmy Carter, when unemployment was 12.5%, and mortgages were 20%,” says Jim Kops, owner of A-1 Business Brokers Inc. “[Business brokers] did very, very well, and that’s what I think is right around the corner.” Kops says two factors are driving his business these days: the plunge in stock prices and rising unemployment...

The New Economy

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Credit Crunch Brings FICO Into Focus Can You

By Ken Reibel

Contrary to the headlines, banks are still lending money. As long as you have excellent credit, your ability to secure a loan or a line of credit is largely immune to the current economic meltdown that has turned the nation’s top lenders into wards of the state. Those with less than excellent credit face higher...

The New Economy

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008

Can You Improve Your Credit Score?

By Ken Reibel

Yes, but be patient—unfavorable information cannot just be deleted. The data that go into your credit score can be divided into five categories. Payment history: This is the most crucial component of your credit. Make your loan, utility and other bill payments on time. Pay down large loan balances with more than just the minimum...

The New Economy

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008

Homeowners Challenged by More Than Mortgages

By Ken Reibel

It's not just mortgage payments that are keeping homeowners up atnight-housing expenses in general are on the rise. A recent study by the Center for Housing Policy, the research affiliate of the National Housing Conference, reveals that rising housing expenses, including property taxes, insurance, utilities and more, are impacting virtually all segments of the housing market, including renters.

The New Economy

Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008

Solar Panels Boost Hot Water Products

By Ken Reibel

Jack Daniels, co-owner of Milwaukee-based Hot Water Products, one of the largest distributors of thermal solar panels in the Midwest, isn’t one to go with the flow. “We’re not waiting for business to come to us,” says Daniels, whose partner, Howard Endres, began selling high-efficiency water heaters and boilers in 1998.

Cover Story

Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008

Serving the Garden

The connection between religion and environmental stewardship

By Ken Reibel

Environmental stewardship is firmly rooted in the texts of the world’s great religions. Jews and Christians both point to Genesis 2:15, where God tells Adam to abad, or serve, the Garden of Eden. The Koranic verse “There is not an animal on Earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings, but they are communities like you" could double as...

The New Economy

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

Credit Unions Thriving in the Chaotic Economy

By Ken Reibel

Welcome to the Brewery Credit Union, the best place to save and borrow,” says a friendly, recorded voice at the other end of the line. At a time when banks and other lenders look more like wards of the state than the venerated institutions they once were, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone is still happy to lend money, or...

The New Economy

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

Let It Ride

By Ken Reibel

When Glenda Carter was growing up barefoot in a small Mississippi Delta town, she and her friends had a favorite expression: “Let it ride.” “It meant, ‘Let it go, move on,’” Carter says. “If someone hurt themselves playing, the other kids would say, ‘Let it ride’—shake it off and move on.”

The New Economy

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008

Intelligent Traffic Signs

By Ken Reibel

What can you do with a stop sign that hasn't already been done? That question nagged Rick Bergholz, CEO of Traffic and Parking Control Co. (TAPCO) for decades. Eight years ago he found the answer: a solar-powered, Wi-Fi stop sign that detects cars as they approach the intersection. The technology morphed into Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), or what Bergholz calls "high-tech solutions to old problems."

The New Economy

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008

Rescuing Main Street

By Ken Reibel

The financial "bailout" bill will pass Congress and be signed by the president. The only questions are when that will happen and what it will contain. The "when" should be within days of Congress' return this week. The content is obviously more difficult.

The connection between religion and environmental stewardship

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