Hiring

We just hired a new office manager at TriLibrium. We had one position and over 200 applicants. Given the economy and the time of the year, I wish I could hire them all.

I want to share with you some of the ways we brought our triple bottom line values to this process.

First, we did an EEOC hiring by widely announcing the position. We advertised on Craigslist, with the State of Oregon Employment Division, and on the Portland Green Drinks, B-Corp, and BGI websites. We also posted this on our company's Facebook page and tweeted it as well.

We used a very sophisticated, objective process that used an assessment tool, somewhat akin to Myers-Briggs, to help us identify the type of candidate we were looking for. Each applicant was given an opportunity to take the 5-10 minute online assessment and received a very detailed report about themselves as a result.

As opposed to sifting through 200+ resumes, we only looked at the resumes of the dozen people whose assessment score matched our profile and eight of these people were invited in for an initial 45-minute interview. (Please contact me directly if you'd like to speak with me about our process).

Upon meeting these eight candidates, I was amazed at how well the assessment tool helped us identify people who would be perfect for the position we identified. Most, if not all of these would not have been selected for interviews had we simply relied on their resume.

After the initial meeting, each candidate was invited back for a second, 90-minute interview. Each team member at TriLibrium was given an equal opportunity to interview and provide input in the selection process. It was OUR decision, not just MINE, and I know this openness leads to better buy in and decision making.

To eliminate bias, we used a weighted decision matrix with each team member voting. This process really helped us with our final decision as we struggled to decide between the top two candidates. Without this objective process, we might not have reached the same decision.

Finally, we sent a note of appreciation to each person who applied, took the assessment, and/or interviewed. This just seems like the decent thing to do and I got at least ten sincere emails and cards, from applicants, thanking me for letting them know they wouldn't be selected. It seems fewer companies are doing this anymore so the applicants send off resumes never to hear another word. I think this small gesture may end up leading to new customers as more and more people learn about us and the triple bottom line values that make us unique.

Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

This anime told the story about a group of people who has to move through time and space. Syaoran, Sakura, Kurogane and Fai has to travel to find the mysterious feather. In their continuing journey to find the feather that are the fragments of Sakura’s lost memory, the group move through time and space with Mokona the teleportation animal with a lot of other ability. To be able to do this they have to give their precious belonging to the dimension witch.

One of the episode of this Japanese animation tells us their journey to the “Land of The Birdcage” a seemingly peaceful country, they learn that the king of the country possesses a mysterious power. They learn that mysterious power comes from Sakura’s feather. This anime was created by Clamp almost all the character are taken from their previous works. Syaoran and Sakura comes from their previous anime Card Captor Sakura, Mokona comes from Magic Knight Rayearth and some other character also comes from their previous works.

Trigun

If you like gun fighting and action adventure animation, Trigun might be a great entertainment for you. This Japanese animation has a fun and hilarious character and story, the story revolved around a man named Vash. A gunslinger so dangerous, a $ 60,000,000,000 reward has been placed on his head.

Vash also known as the Humanoid Typhoon has been credited with the destruction of several towns, but miraculously there is no record of what happen to those who catch up to Vash. They either crawl away wounded (mostly from self inflicted damage) or they stagger away in disbelief that such a dork could possibly be the man they are looking for. This anime is a little bit funny with a lot of gun fighting scene.

Non-Business Energy Tax Credit

Time is running out to take advantage of energy saving investments in your principle residence. The Non-business Energy Property Tax Credit was increased as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I've written about these before (and here)but wanted to bring them to your attention once again as they are set to expire at year end.

First, to qualify, the improvements must be placed in service before January 1, 2011.

Here are some of the important facts to keep in mind:

• The law increased the credit rate to 30 percent of the cost of all qualifying improvements and raised the credit limit to $1,500 total for 2009 and 2010 combined
• The credit applies to improvements in insulation, energy-efficient windows, and energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems.
• For purposes of the credit, to qualify as "energy efficient", the product must generally meet certain standards. If you have questions, make sure you make the determination before you purchase the product to make sure you qualify.
• Manufacturers must certify that their products meet the standards and must provide a written statement to the taxpayer, either with the product or on their website.
• The improvements must be made to your principle residence located in the United States. A second home or rental property would not qualify for the particular credit.
• You must claim the credit on the tax return for the year that the improvements were made.

Oregon residents should also determine if their investment would qualify for the Oregon Residential Energy Tax Credit (RETC). Oregon residents might also qualify for special incentives from the Energy Trust of Oregon.

You should also check the Database for State Incentive for Renewables & Efficiency to what other local incentives might be available around the country.

Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Bill

President Obama signed the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (HR 5297) yesterday.

The Act expands loan programs through the SBA, strengthens small business preference programs for federal government projects, provides export incentives, and offers a variety of small business tax breaks. Many of the provisions are effective immediately.

These changes are in effect for 2010 and provide some great tax planning opportunities:

• Increased section 179 expensing
• Extension of 50% first-year bonus depreciation
• Zero capital gain tax rate from IRC Sec. 1202 small business stock
• Increased IRC Sec. 195 deduction for business startup expenses
• Five-year carryback of general business credits
• New deduction for self employed health insurance costs on the Schedule C
• Removal of cell phones from the definition of listed property

You can read more details in this Journal of Accountancy article on the House Bill.

Escaflowne

Hi there, do you like a robot animations (mecha anime) ? If you like it then maybe Escaflowne would be a great movie for you to watch. This anime told us a story about Hitomi Kanzaki journey to another world. Hitomi Kanzaki is a typical high school girl, with all the regular high school problems. But when a vision of a young man battling a dragon becomes a reality, her life changes forever.

Drawn into a strange vortex with the swordsman, Van, Hitomi is thrust into the strange world of Gaia. Entangled in a struggle over life and death, Van must learn to master the suit of armor, Escaflowne. Chased by the Empire of Zaibach, Van and Hitomi will encounter both allies and enemies in an effort to unlock the secrets within Escaflowne. This Japanese animation is one of the cool robot animation with unique mecha (robot) design. Thanks for reading anime hunt and have a nice day.

Biking to Work

This month is the bike to work commuter challenge sponsored by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. Today was the first day of the challenge and I started by riding 5 miles to Toastmasters for a 7am meeting and then 2.2 miles back into work. I feel good and can't wait to see the physical results of commuting by bike every day this month.

Team TriLibrium has a goal of 100% participation on 100% of the days in September. So far so good as everyone rode to work today.

The beauty of this event is the fact that it is a month long. The length will actually force me to deal with all the issues (clothes, showers, commute time, locks, lights, storage, rain gear, etc.) that need to be solved to make daily biking viable. I had a number of logistical issues this morning that I'll get solved before next week so the commute is easy and comfortable.

Having recently completed our FY2010 green house gas inventory, I know that 80 percent of our firm's CO2 emissions is from employee commuting. We will never be sustainable driving to work in single occupancy vehicles.

So many of the changes necessary for us to become sustainable are easy and simply need to be implemented. We know we can't go on driving everywhere like we did 20 years ago but when do we actually make the change? I am hoping that today was a day of significant change. For our firm to be sustainable, we can't rely on fossil fuels to get us around.

I'll also take this time to remind readers that the tax code provides a $20/month non-taxable fringe benefit to employees who ride bikes. I mentioned it in this earlier blog post.