business

Oregon Friendly to Business?

Posted by Rick on in Analysis 0 Comment

Oregon Friendly to Business?

One of the common statements I read constantly is “Oregon is business unfriendly.” And people say that large companies are “fleeing” the State due to the environmental protections and high taxes here.

Well, Forbes Magazine disagrees with that. They say:

“Our ranking measures six vital categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. We factor in 37 points of data to determine the ranks in the six main areas. Business costs, which include labor, energy and taxes, are weighted the most heavily. We relied on 11 data sources, with research firm Moody’s Analytics as the most-utilized resource”

They peg Oregon in the #9 spot, behind Washington (#7) and Nebraska (#8). Utah comes in at #1 on their list, while interestingly, North Dakota is at #4.

The Small Business & Entrepreneur Site, doesn’t agree quite that much. Based on just tax information and only regarding Small Businesses, Oregon is firmly middle of the road.

“SBE Council’s “Business Tax Index 2012″ pulls together 18 different tax measures, and combines those into one tax score that allows the 50 states and District of Columbia to be compared. Among the taxes included are income, capital gains, property, death/inheritance, unemployment, and various consumption-based taxes, including state gas and diesel levies.”

The Tax Foundation puts Oregon at #13, only four places behind Texas (#9) which seems to be constantly touted as “the best” for Business.

Thumbtack.com Small Business Survey, in partnership withKauffman Foundation has an interactive map that puts Oregon at #20 overall. Their map measures a variety of figures, Ease of Starting a business, Tax Codes, Environmental Regulations, Zoning, Training Programs, and several others.

By any definition of the word, at least from those who get paid to think about it, Oregon seems to be decidedly business friendly.

Job Searching in Portland

Posted by Rick on in Lists 0 Comment

Job Searching in Portland

As I now find myself the latest victim of the poor economy, here is a list of job searches via Twitter that are specific to Portland Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest in general.

There is the twitter user name first, then the RSS feed of that user.


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/76015772.rss

http://twitter.com/ZuluJobsOR
http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/62178090.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/63858690.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/74228057.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/27772158.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/27772663.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/23449446.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/19788966.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/19790679.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/15455092.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/19789559.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/14523471.rss


http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/19791664.rss

http://www.tweetmyjobs.com/

How To: Create and Import vcf VCards

Posted by Rick on in Apple, Microsoft, Technology How To's 1 Comment

How To: Create and Import vcf VCards

VCards are simply virtual business cards used to exchange contact information. They are easily recognizable with the .vcf file extension. Vcards have rapidly become a universally excepted way of transferring contact information between devices. They can be sent to most phones such as Blackberries and iPhones, or to all the popular Email programs and multiple contact collection programs.

The first step in creating a VCard is actually the hardest. Below is an example of my own VCard:

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:2.1
FN:Rick Hamell
N:Hamell;Rick;;;
TEL;PREF;CELL:971.555.5555
EMAIL;INTERNET:rick@hamell.net
URL:http://RickHamell.com
URL:http://www.1nova.com/blog
URL:http://www.1nova.com/photoblog
UID:efc38667f3b9ab04495f9c54d2587950
REV:2008-10-27T20:47:59Z
END:VCARD

As can be seen it shows all the important contact info that would be found in any contact program. In addition to Email addresses it includes my phone number and URL to my website.

Many programs such as Apple’s Address Book, or Microsoft Outlook will allow exporting a contact to a VCard file. They can also be edited with a text file as long as the conventions in structure are observed. The easiest method is to use an online generator. I prefer Wacomenance.co.uk but the one at Vicintl.com is more streamlined and compatible. Keep in mind that while MOST programs should read all the fields in a VCARD, some will drop fields such as second and third email addresses.

After creating a card the next step is to import it in to the preferred Contact Program.

Microsoft Outlook:

  • Click on File menu, then choose Import And Export.
  • Click to select the Import a vCard file (*.vcf) check box, and then click Next.
  • Select the vCard file, and then click Open.

Microsoft Entourage:

  • Open Entourage
  • Click on Address Button
  • Drag .VCF file to upper right hand window of Entourage

Apple Address Book:

  • Simply Double Click on the .VCF Card

Mozilla Thunderbird:

  • Attach VCard in Email to self
  • Click on VCard
  • Click OK in “New Card for” Dialog Box

Keep in mind that VCards only really work well with one contact at a time. This is not the way to export or import a fully populated address book. Also, it’s best to be careful where the file goes as it could be used for malicious purposes. Only send the file out to people known to you.