Paradigm Partners Makes the Houston Business Journal's 2011 Houston Fast 100 List - Recognized as the 14th Fastest Growing Company in Houston

September 26, 2011 - Paradigm Partners, a leading international tax and cost recovery firm, has been named as the 14th Fastest Growing Company on the Houston Business Journal's 2011 Fast 100 List.  This honor is bestowed upon companies with the highest percentage of revenue growth in the Houston area.

In a letter about the Fast 100 List, John Beddow, the Publisher of the Houston Business Journal writes "The businesses on HBJ's 2011 Fast 100 list represent dedication, innovation and risk taking. Despite economic uncertainty, these businesses have proven themselves through stellar growth over the past few years." The Houston Fast 100 List is ranked by two-year growth and is open to any private company in the 10-county Houston Metropolitan area and that has been in business for a minimum of 5 years.

Proudly located in Houston, TX, Paradigm Partners was also recently recognized on Inc. Magazine's 2011 Annual List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies - The Inc. 500, where they achieved a No. 37 distinction in the nationally-tracked Business Products and Services category and a ranking of No. 9 in Houston, TX.

Saqib Dhanani, co-founder of Paradigm Partners, commented that "Paradigm Partners is honored to be recognized by the Houston Business Journal for its outstanding growth. We are particularly proud of this hard-earned achievement during the recent economic downturn. We congratulate our fellow Fast 100 winners for helping to maintain Houston as a thriving business hub."

"We wish to recognize our clients and thank them for their continued loyalty and support that served as a driving force behind our fast and steady growth. This award validates our strategy of maintaining focus on our core business while looking for and taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise" said Executive Vice President of Business Development, Brian Cameron.

Paradigm Partners is a professional tax services firm that provides R&D Tax Credit, Hiring and Location Incentives (WOTC, HUD, etc.), Cost Segregation, and IC-DISC services to manufacturing and retail clients in the U.S. and Canada. Paradigm Partners' staff includes some of the industry's most experienced attorneys, engineers, software developers, and audit experts.

CONTACT:  Brian Cameron at 281-558-7100 or email at BCameron@ParadigmLP.com for additional information about Paradigm Partners.

About the Houston Business Journal's 2011 Houston Fast 100 List
The businesses on HBJ's 2011 Fast 100 list represent dedication, innovation and risk taking. Despite economic uncertainty, these businesses have proven themselves through stellar growth over the past few years. The Houston Fast 100 is ranked by two-year growth. All of the companies on the list are headquartered within the 10-county Houston metropolitan area and have been doing business for a minimum of five years. Nominations to be on the Fast 100 list opened on June 13, and any private firm in the Houston area was invited to participate.

Changes to the R&D Tax Credit That Can Increase Employment

by

Zee Makhani and Brian Cameron

It has been well established that the R&D Tax Credit has been instrumental in increasing the amount of research conducted domestically, keeping manufacturing jobs here in the US as opposed to low labor cost countries such as China, as well as adding highly skilled and technical jobs to our workforce.

Originally enacted in 1981 by the Reagan Administration, this credit has been extended by Congress fourteen separate times. The latest extension was in 2010 and will last through the 2011 tax year.

Throughout America, business owners are faced with constant changes in economic policy, forcing them to be extremely hesitant before hiring, expanding, or investing in their businesses and ultimately their future. A report released by The Office of Tax Policy in the United States Department of the Treasury titled "Investing in U.S. Competitiveness: The Benefits of Enhancing the Research and Experimentation (R&E) Tax Credit" on March 25, 2011 shows that over 12,000 corporations and 64,000 individual owners claimed this tax credit, representing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

A common complaint that businesses have is the constant uncertainty in relation to taxes, regulations, health care costs, etc. With such poignant fears, who can blame them for being reluctant about bringing on new people? For companies that have taken advantage of the R&D Tax Credit, or for those companies considering taking the credit, the uncertainty that arises every year can begin to be mitigated by making this credit permanent. If companies cannot depend on the credit being there for them in a soft economy such as the one that we live in now, then they are more likely to continue their freeze on hiring.

"That's why, as part of corporate tax reform, the President supports making the R&E (R&D) tax credit permanent to give businesses the certainty they need to make these important investments. In addition, the Administration wants to expand the credit by about 20 percent, the largest increase in the credit's history, and simplify it so that it is easier for firms to take this credit and make the investments our economy needs to compete."

The above quote was taken from President Obama's FY2012 Budget proposal, page 37, urging the administration to expand, simplify, and make permanent the R&D Tax Credit. The end result would bring more jobs to Americans in several ways:

• Business owners would be certain that the Credit is available every year;
• More business owners would take the credit because it is easier to calculate; and
• The Credit would be larger, creating the necessary cash flow to hire new employees.

Apparently, there is agreement from several high ranking Senators. Another bill was introduced on September 19, 2011 by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and Ranking Member, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), to do what the President has proposed.  The Baucus-Hatch proposal, called the "Greater Research Opportunities with Tax Help Act of 2011 (GROWTH Act)", is cosponsored by eight other Senators.

"By giving businesses a leg up on the competition in this global economy, we can help them grow and create the jobs American families need. Our workers are facing competition from countries across the globe, so this boost to innovation and research here at home is critical to our economy," Baucus said regarding the bill. He added, "Making the research and development tax credit simple and permanent gives innovative American businesses the certainty they need to make job-creating investments and the ability to compete in markets across the globe."

Another long needed change to the R&D Tax Credit that is being considered, is allowing tax payers who are subject to AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) to use their R&D Tax Credit as a direct offset of said AMT. This is very similar to legislation passed in October of 2010, entitled 'The Small Business Jobs Act,' that allowed taxpayers to do just that, but only for tax year 2010.

In conclusion, the economy needs a boost and putting the unemployed back to work in high-paying jobs can help. By making a few minor changes to the tax code with respect to the R&D Tax Credit including making it permanent, there is a potential for adding hundreds of thousands of new jobs by small businesses.

One Valuable examples of solid strategic planning are found throughout history, and perhaps no better one can be identified than in the darkest hours of World War II. From the earliest days of the conflict, the allied forces - America, Great Britain and the Soviet Union - were united in their vision: take back the continent of Europe from Hitler. The overarching strategy for implementing the vision took much longer to achieve.

From as early as 1942, the Americans favored a cross channel invasion entering. Europe on the coast of France. Churchill campaigned for an invasion through Italy. Hating to abandon Great Britain's investment in the Mediterranean, Churchill felt that shifting men and landing craft back to the United Kingdom for an invasion whose success they doubted as unwise (they had been there, done that before, at Dunkirk).

The Soviets were angered that an invasion had been delayed from 1943 to 1944, and were suspicious of the motives and plans of their allies.

The officer responsible for the detailed planning for Overlord, the code name for the invasion, was Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Morgan. "Freddie" Morgan was not responsible for the overarching strategy of D-Day, but as early as 1941, he had been given the responsibility for planning a what if event. The allies' overarching strategy, firmly fixed by January 1944, was a multi-force invasion on the coast of France. Unknown to most, Freddie Morgan, from the overarching strategy given to him by Churchill and Roosevelt, developed the strategic plan for D-Day.

Guidelines for determining an overarching strategy:

• Broadly outline the major strategic thrust that will be required to realize the vision.
• Define in general terms the approach to the market and the timing of that approach.
• Include the economic estimates of the impact of executing the strategy successfully and the resulting effects on the firm's value estimated in terms of incremental Residual Income.

Remember from Overlord that the overarching strategy provides the foundation upon which the strategic plan will be developed. Once the overarching strategy is defined, the next important step is to determine how the organization must look if the overarching strategy is to be implemented successfully. For the overarching strategy to succeed, it is crucial that the right people be chosen to lead and to manage.

Next month's installment is titled "Don't expect your leader to have leadership skills."