Finally! Some good news about my home state of Arkansas. The Little Rock economy is ranked as the 7th BEST in the nation by Brookings Institution with regard to the strongest metropolitan economy in the country.

This D.C. based research group studied the performance of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country to determine the impact of the recession. Ranked number one was San Antonio, Texas which was followed by four other areas in the Lonestar State. Also rounding out the top siven was Oklahoma City. The weakest economic performance is Tampa, Florida, Bradenton, Florida and the worst is Detroit, Michigan.

This was the first in a series of interactive reports which will be produced quarterly. The MetroMonitor ranks the nation’s 100 largest metro areas for their economic performance based on indicators such as employment, unemployment rates, wages, gross product, housing prices and foreclosure rates.

For more information on this very interesting report, check out Brookings and MetroMonitor.

While I cannot take credit for this letter, I certainly have many of the same thoughts and feelings.  As an employer who is forced to make some slight reductions in staff and unable to provide for bonuses and pay increases, I appreciate these words.  Well said.

To All My Valued Employees,
There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country. However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.
First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You’ve seen my big home last year at the company Christmas party. I’m sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don’t see is the back story. I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn’t have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business — hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom’s for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn’t look like it was birthed in the 70′s.

My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had. So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don’t. There is no “off” button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of every day. There is no rest. There is no weekend.

There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden — the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations… you never realize the back story and the sacrifices I’ve made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy who made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for. Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don’t pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my “stimulus” check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? That’s nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don’t understand … to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn’t need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don’t defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it.

Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?   It’s quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I will fire you. I will fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child’s future. Frankly, it isn’t my problem anymore.  I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire.  You see, I’m done. I’m done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about.

Your Boss

With our current economy crisis most states across America are forecasting a large shortage in the amount of funding they typically receive from taxes and from the national government.  This means that many of the programs states were funding are being reevaluated and are either totally being cut or dramatically reduced.  One of the first programs facing large cuts across the country is support services provided for the Elderly and the disabled.

Most states are focusing on cutting programs that allowed low income seniors to remain independent and receive in-home care such as home health aids, cooking, cleaning, etc.  Many seniors depend on these services to maintain a very basic quality lifestyle as opposed to moving to a nursing home.  Many of the seniors who will have these services terminated are going to have to quickly reevaluate their living situation forcing those seniors without additional finances to leave the independent lifestyle they deserve and to which they have grown accustomed.   Many of these seniors will, of course, have to dip into their own small savings to pay for these services further straining what little money they may have left.

Currently 41 states are facing cutbacks and budget shortfalls forcing them to act to restrict the funding of non-critical services.  They are cutting funding from some of the most vulnerable.  These seniors are not able to work or take care of themselves, yet try to lead an independent lifestyle.  These cuts are going to force seniors to face the question of funding these services themselves, buy their own expensive prescription drugs, or purchase groceries to eat.

Typically, when seniors deplete their personal savings they are typically forced to move into a nursing home. Clearly, the majority of senior citizens prefer to avoid a nursing home.  To their credit, the Government, over the past 8 years, has been focused on keeping seniors at home through increased home based care in order to negate the high Medicare cost of providing care for senior citizens in nursing homes.  In anticipation that some day this proportion of spending be reallocated senior citizens may be in for a long haul and a rough time.

If you are a nurse and looking for a new job, check out this article just in from MSNBC.  Cash and prizes offered just for applying!

If you are a nurse and affected by this economy in a postive or negative way, please let me know what changes you are facing.  I want to hear from you.

We all know the economy is bad.  You can’t help but hear all about it every time you turn on the television, radio, or even surf the internet.  It is bad, but this is one of the scariest news stories to me.  Google layoffs, 10,000 workers affected.