New Year Equals New Opportunities to Utilize MBA Membership Benefits.
Since 2010, companies across the northern Gulf Coast from the Mississippi River to Pensacola have turned to the Magnolia Business Alliance (MBA) for assistance ranging from routine press releases to concentrated help with a serious business challenge. As we start a new year, we wanted to remind everyone of the services provided to EIGS and MBA member companies and encourage you to utilize these services to maximize your business success in 2012.
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Commentary From: Michael Liu, Sr. Vice President, Dutko Worldwide
As predicted here last month, the Euro zone mess continues to degenerate with the recent credit rating downgrades of many European countries (e.g., France, Austria, Spain), so expect the momentary Wall Street up tick to settle back into reality before the end of the first quarter/beginning of the second quarter, especially if Moody's follows S&P's lead.
And consumer confidence will get sour again with the expected battle over the payroll tax issue to arise anew in a couple of weeks and the unveiling of the President's 2013 budget that will show heavy cuts in all areas of discretionary spending and the Department of Defense (DOD). This of course will be driven by the mandatory cuts triggered by the failure of the Congressional "super committee" to come up with a more artful long term deficit reduction budget plan.
With full attention on his re-election campaign, the President will be in a tough situation hoping that unemployment numbers will improve, but ironically, justified or not, the nascent optimism among the general public could encourage people to get back into the employment lines pushing up the unemployment rate in the near term. Or another economic crisis brought on by global factors could cause the air to be let out of the balloon of any recovery forestalling a major increase in hiring here in the U.S.
As for the President's budget, expect major cuts in all discretionary spending programs, inclusive of NASA by at least 10% from FFY 2012 levels. Particular programs within departments may face cuts of over 20% or complete elimination. Sources at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) say that bureaucrats with the sharpest pencils are winning almost every battle with program managers and that the pending departure of OMB director Jack Lew to the White House to become Chief of Staff is making it even more difficult for individual programs to justify maintaining funding levels based on the merits. There are a few programs in the energy sector (yes, even with the Solyndra scandal), education, Small Business Administration and transportation that may get special help in the new budget, but nothing is being said about NASA being on that list. And as mentioned already, the DOD is looking at a 23% cut as part of its mandate to shed over $1 trillion over the next decade.
However, the byzantine battles that will be fought to "save" programs or modify program requirements will extend through the calendar year. Don't expect Congress or the White House to agree on a FFY 2013 budget by October 1, 2012. So if you have the need, desire or capacity to engage with Congress and the Administration on a budget issue, you have time…
Short takes:
On the GOP presidential primary battle front, expect the fight to carry through at least Florida and beyond even to Super Tuesday (March 6, 2012). Even should Mitt Romney win South Carolina, the new GOP rules that call for apportionment of delegates based on percentage of the vote received rather than a winner take all scenario, will support at least one or perhaps two challengers to continue the contest beyond January 20th. Should Romney win by a small margin or lose South Carolina, what has become a real brawl will definitely spill into the Sunshine State.
Governor Bryant should be congratulated on convincing former Netscape CEO and President Jim Barksdale to be the "interim" head of the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA). Mr. Barksdale brings much needed private sector experience to MDA's mission. Perhaps the Governor will be able to convince Mr. Barksdale to take the "interim" out of his title before too long.
Image of the Month
The Strait of Hormuz: Where Tensions remain high
The Strait of Hormuz, already making headlines and shaking energy markets as 2012 begins. Connecting the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, it lacks imposing geographical features like the Rock of Gibraltar or the Golden Gate Bridge. In an energy-conscious world, however, it may possess greater strategic significance than any passageway on the planet. Every day, according to the US Department of Energy, tankers carrying some 17 million barrels of oil—representing 20 percent of the world's daily supply—pass through this vital artery…
Read more: motherjones.com
Credit: NASA/Flickr
Items of Interest
New Report Predicts (GIS) Market to Reach US$10.6 Billion by 2015
Global Geographic Information Systems market is expected to witness significant growth driven by increasing adoption of the technology in industries such as oil and gas distribution, electric power, and other government sectors. Presently, GIS is used in wide range of applications including gas and oil exploration, identification of utility lines, and mapping and planning among others…
Read more: prweb.com
CDC Offers Interactive GIS for AIDS and other Health GIS News
DirectionsMag.com (blog)
Among other things it offers data for a number of diseases (AIDS, HIV, Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and primary and secondary syphilis and more to come), for a number of years (2000-2009) and unlike other visualization tools, is powered by GIS (ArcGIS for…
Read more: apb.directionsmag.com
Atlas Maps US Renewable Energy Resources…
REVE
A new geospatial application allows users to easily and accurately map potential renewable energy resources in the United States: wind energy, geothermal energy, concentrating solar power and photovoltaic solar energy. A new geospatial application…
Read more: evwind.es
GIS Technology Helps Health Care Industry Save Lives
DigitalJournal.com
The health care industry is using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to save lives. By analyzing geographical health care data, public health and hospital officials are able to make better decisions for patients, increase accessibility to services …
Read more: digitaljournal.com
Did you know real estate industry offers huge entrepreneurial opportunities using geospatial technology?
Most people don't realize how huge and pervasive the real estate industry is – certainly one of the dominant sectors in every economy worldwide. In developed economies such as the United States, real estate assets exceed the value of all publicly traded stocks and bonds. And the world is still trying to recover from the subprime mortgage crisis of several years ago. The huge size and great diversity of the real estate industry has created and continues to create innumerable, specialized geospatial business opportunities…
Read more: directionsmag.com
Global Perspectives
Indonesia to use GIS for forestry management
FutureGov Magazine
The Forest Utilisation Monitoring Centre (FUMC) located in West Papua, Indonesia, has unveiled plans to develop a forest and ecological GIS solution for its long-term ecological research for sustainable forestry…
[Read the full article]
Geospatial technologies will affect our future – Bangor Daily News
Geospatial technologies will affect our future. Bangor Daily News Moreover, the Internet and advances in information and communications technologies…
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the full article]
Sugar industry takes satellite route to map cane area
Hindu Business Line
India has joined the ranks of major sugar producers such as Brazil and Thailand in leveraging remote sensing technology to estimate the cane area. The first pan-India satellite survey jointly commissioned by Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) and…
[Read
the full article]
EIGS Insight (Full text)
New Year Equals New Opportunities to Utilize MBA Membership Benefits.
Since 2010, companies across the northern Gulf Coast from the Mississippi River to Pensacola have turned to the Magnolia Business Alliance (MBA) for assistance ranging from routine press releases to concentrated help with a serious business challenge. As we start a new year, we wanted to remind everyone of the services provided to EIGS and MBA member companies and encourage you to utilize these services to maximize your business success in 2012. Membership benefits include:
- Identifying and analyzing contracting opportunities;
- Writing and disseminating press releases;
- Hands on mentoring in preparing company financial records and accounting systems for DCAA compliance;
- Performing "red team" reviews and editing services on SBIR proposals;
- Developing partnerships among companies to jointly pursue contract opportunities;
- Informing companies of important developments in Washington D.C.;
- Helping companies work with their members of congress more effectively;
- The MBA Agile Methodology Adoption Assessment (AMAA), an assessment that provides a rating indicating the adoption level of agile methodologies within an organization;
- Workshops on technology transfer and commercialization, intellectual property protection, export policies and procedures, business planning, incorporation strategies, marketing, branding, accounting procedures, and social media;
- Collaboration with not-for-profit organizations including the Louisiana Small Business Development Center, the Mississippi Minority Business Enterprise Center, the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology, and the South Mississippi Planning and Development District;
- Routine interaction with universities including Louisiana State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the University of Mississippi to support and promote research and workforce development initiatives;
- Liaison to a wide range of federal agencies including NASA, the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force;
- Partnerships with major industry players with the potential to generate significant growth opportunities for small and medium sized businesses
MBA has provided over 2,000 hours of business training, over 500 hours of one-on-one mentoring, over 1,300 hours of business counseling, over 200 hours of technology commercialization and R&D assistance, and 70 hours of direct technology transfer support. Be sure to count yourself in these numbers in 2012!
MAGIC 2012 - Registration Now Open!