American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

I became aware of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 from a letter I received through Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community. Shawn S. Savage of the IRS granted me permission to post this information here:

Dear Partner:

We are pleased to provide you with the latest information regarding the new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to distribute to your organization membership and/or small business members/clients. We hope that the information will be helpful and we encourage publication in your association's/organization’s magazines, newsletters, e-mail distributions and/or website.

The new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is the subject of many conversations and is generating many questions. Many of these questions center on how will this affect taxpayers this filing season and next. We have placed information to help answer that question, and others, a special website:

Tax Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

The Service is working diligently to complete an analysis of this new legislation to determine its full effect on processes and forms and to implement them. We are committed to doing this as quickly – but more importantly – as thoroughly as possible and will be providing updates via IRS.gov. So, please monitor our Website for the latest information over the course of the next few weeks and months.

Thanks again for partnering with us to educate your organization and/or small business members/clients by sharing important tax information to ensure compliance with the tax laws.

I respectfully request a courtesy copy regarding the communication vehicle used to share this information with your members (i.e. newsletter, e-mail distribution, website posting, etc).

Again, thanks so much for your continuing partnership. It is greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Shawn

Shawn S. Savage
Internal Revenue Service
Senior Stakeholder Liaison
Communications, Liaison and Disclosure
68 Sewall Street
Augusta, ME 04330-6350
Phone: 207-491-1888
E-mail: Shawn.S.Savage@irs.gov

New Lobster ACEO

Lobsters are kind of a "Maine Thing" and I have enjoyed making fabric art lobsters since opening my Etsy shop. With the passing of the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, I voluntarily removed my stuff lobsters from my shop until the regulations--and the interpretation of those rules--become clearer.

As a result, I have been fiddling with lobster designs for my fabric ACEOs and think the design pictured here has potential. The idea is a lobster swimming over a bed of kelp (seaweed). I like the idea of an underwater view.

Cheers!--Janyce

Hugh Hewitt Interview with CPSC Chair Nancy Nord About CPSIA

I came across this March 13, 2009 interview by Hugh Hewitt. He is not someone I normally listen to, but this interview with Consumer Products Safety Commission Chair Nancy Nord about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act piqued my interest. It is worth the read. Here is the link: Nancy Nord Interview.

From reading this interview myself, I believe the CPSC is aware of the impact this law has on buyers and sellers of children's products. I also believe Chair Nord when she says that Congress, businesses, consumer groups and opinion leaders need to work together with the CPSC to bring about changes in a law that was passed quickly and without (IMHO) the appropriate consideration for the limitations this law puts on business people who are interested in producing safe products for children.

What is also clear is that exemptions for lead levels are limited. Trace amounts of lead, under this law, are considered illegal, even when, in actuality, the lead levels are so low they are not going to harm consumers. With this in mind, it is difficult to make decisions about which products to bring to market. Something I think might be safe today may not, in actuality be compliant with the law. The responsibility still falls back on the manufacturer (large or small) of products intended for children ages 12 and under. A heavy burden, particularly for small businesses and microenterprises. The CPSC is charged with enforcing the law as enacted. It is up to Congress to rewrite or amend the law so the CPSC can provide sellers with common sense regulations. And it is up to us, the citizens of this country to educate ourselves about this issue and start a dialogue with our local, state, and federal officials.

Phthalates, as the law is written, continue to be a banned substance and, to date, the CPSC has not approved testing procedures for this substance. So business owners are forced to make decisions about their products (i.e., destroy inventory) without appropriate guidelines and testing procedures in place. Frustrating and financially devastating indeed.

The Congress, when passing this law, knew they were tying the CPSIA's hands. I have heard this before and Chair Nord confirms it in the interview:

"You know, when the law was being enacted, the professional career staff of this agency went up and met with the Congressional staff. And with respect to exclusions pointed out to them, very explicitly, that the language that they were using was going to tie our hands, and that we should be able to have at least some sort of de minimus standard with respect to how these exclusions were going to be implemented. The Congressional staff’s response was that is exactly what we mean. We are not looking for a de minimus exclusion standard here. When we say there can be no lead in these products, that’s exactly what we mean."

I am still a supporter of the intent of the CPSIA. Safety is a good thing, especially when it comes to children's products. However, I shudder to think how much time and money and resources are being wasted regulating products that are already safe. If we know the products that are safe (already proven by scientific standards), would not it make more sense to focus on substances and products known to be unsafe?

I want to comply to reasonable safety standards. And I appreciate what information has been trickling down from the CPSC so I can begin to look at my inventory with the regulations in mind. I am, however, still unsure about how to proceed with some of my products. There remains, for me, a lot more questions than answers. I am still waiting for the day when common sense will prevail around this issue.

My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.

I read an excellent book over the weekend called My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D. Jill is a neuroanatomist who suffered from a stroke when she was 37 years old. This book gives a personal accounting of what happened to Jill as her body responded (or didn't respond) to the blood vessel exploding in her brain and how she newly perceived the world in the eight years it took her to fully regain her physical and emotional health.

Jill believes it is within each of us to find and reconfigure the patterns in our brain--at the cellular level--to live more positive, healthy lives. Personally, it was a good reminder for me how short life is and how much negative energy I spent last week and over the weekend thinking about the idiot who mooed at me on my walk the other day. As much as I despise ignorant behavior, I also made the choice to let his actions get into my head more than he deserved. I am letting it go and I am off in a minute to take my walk and enjoy the sun that is starting to come up in Maine this morning.

This is a quick read and packed with intriguing and useful information about the brain, strokes, and one woman's courageous journey. I highly recommend it.

Thoughts Upon Being Mooed

It is customary, on my morning walks, for me to see birds, squirrels, cats, dogs and, occasionally, groundhogs, raccoons, skunks and...once...an unhappy porcupine in a tree. It looked a bit frustrated that it was still out and about in the daylight. But yesterday, I encountered the strangest creature. Though not completely unknown in my lifetime, I rarely see one these days. My present day companions (both male and female) are kind, considerate, humanistic and humane creatures. Nothing at all like the thing I saw in my neighborhood.

It--this creature I saw on my walk--presumably had some intelligence, because it stood upright on a ladder and wielded a hammer. It spoke to another, similar creature who stood slightly above the first on the ladder. From all outward appearances, these seemed mature examples of the species.

However, as I walked by, the first creature, the one lower on the ladder opened its throat and made a long, loud mooing sound in my direction. Since I was, admittedly lost in thought planning my day, it took me a few steps to realize the sound was meant for me. I presume it was meant for me because both ladder-dwelling creatures looked in my direction and laughed. I suppose it is possible the lower creature was totally embarrassed at having such a noise erupt from its mouth just as I happened to walk by...and that is why both creatures laughed. However, I doubt it was an accident. The sound was clearly a moo.

So, let us just say this...moo...was meant for me. Curious, indeed. I am not sure what the creature wanted to tell me. My assumption is that it wanted to communicate with me somehow, even in its primitive form.

I certainly do not have the qualifications to interpret what this lower creature intended. I wonder, though, what does it get out of making such an odd noise? Does the creature think the sound, this mooing, makes it cool or macho or powerful...or what? I am baffled by it and would really like to know.

I also wonder how the creature would like it if its mother or sister or daughter or partner experienced such a moo? I would ask it, but I doubt it would have the capacity to give me an intelligent answer.

This is probably beyond the hammer wielding, ladder-dwelling creature's ability to grasp, but one small action--one wayward moo--does have a wide-reaching effect. Consider this: while the creature knows very little about me, I know a whole lot about it. I know where it works, what it does, what it looks like and how it represents itself in public. I could, in theory, spread the word about this creature in my own, small way, in my own, small community. It really would not think I would keep silent about the encounter, would it?

I know this blog is, primarily, a call to walk in others' shoes, to reach for understanding. Frankly, I would not want to swap places with this creature. I do not like bullying. And big bullying starts with small bullying. The sad thing is, this creature probably does not even remember the encounter. It is possible this mooing behavior is so normal for the creature it does not even recognize how disrespectful its action was. This is a sad, sad little creature indeed.

More than anything else--beyond my anger at having my peaceful walk disrupted by ignorant behavior--I feel sorry for the creature and hope, one day, it understands the power of one moo.

Women Work and Community "New Ventures" Class March 31 to June 16 in Bangor, Maine

If you have not heard of Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community (WWC), you are definitely missing out. This is an excellent program that helps people (men and women) improve the quality of their life by offering training, advocacy and assistance in four program areas: career building, business startup, money management and leadership development. The staff are wonderfully supportive and nurturing and the programs are free to participants.

WWC is offering the New Ventures Entrepreneurship Training at University College in Bangor, Maine. This is an in-depth coverage of topics such as: identifying your customer, competition (it helps to know their strengths and weaknesses and where you fit in to the whole scheme of things), marketing (how to identify your target market and where to focus your time and resources), record keeping (how to keep track of incomes and expenses so you know if you are making a profit in your business), taxes (what papers to file and some about how you do it), legal aspects of doing business (liability and insurance), financing (how to find the resources to grow your business), and operations (including short and long-term goal setting for your business).

It might sound intimidating (it did to me when I first signed up for the course), but the staff takes you through each aspect step-by-step. They not only help you identify what you need to do for your business, they show you how to lay the groundwork to make your business successful. An added bonus: you will have a working, written business plan by the end of the course! A lot of work, yes...but the pay off is a much clearer, focused direction for your business. (And remember, all this information and training is free!). Class size is limited to 15.

The training will be held Tuesdays March 31 through June 16 from 9:30am to 3:00pm. It is a sixty hour program. Applications for the program are due March 17 and the required orientation is March 24.

I can attest to the New Ventures program. I took it in 2005 and continuously look back on and use the materials I collected from the class. And, as an added bonus, I still keep in touch with some of the other business people from the class. We meet once a month and help each other work through challenges and celebrate successes.

I highly recommend the New Ventures program for people who have a viable business idea just starting out, as well as for people in existing businesses who have never written a business plan or want to look at their business with fresh eyes.

For an application or more information, call 207-262-7843, email Jane Searles (Regional Manager) at searles@maine.edu or visit the web site at http://www.womenworkandcommunity.org

Cheers!--Janyce

I Am Three Years Old Today!

Three years old on Etsy, that is!

I opened shop on 2/10/06--the weekend of one of Etsy's biggest crashes! They were a fledgling company, then, and still working out the bugs. This was before V2 and the changes and updates that have occurred over the past three years. So, why did I join? I was impressed by how responsive Etsy administration was to fixing the problem. It is easy to be professional and responsive when everything is going well. It is another to be responsive and gracious when things are going crappy.

I like to think I have grown over the past three years...not just in terms of business. I feel more comfortable in my role as business woman, artist, team member. There is a whole lot more to running one's own business--even a small one--than I knew. And I am still learning.

Actually, it is probably a good thing I did not know owning and operating a business is more complicated than working for someone else! Lots of things to learn about recordkeeping, marketing, pricing, marketing, photographing for the web, marketing, and making interesting, quality products. Oh, and did I mention marketing?

I feel like I am finally "getting it." Getting comfortable with being an artist. (I used to apologize for it). Getting comfortable with defining and sticking to an identity. (Too many choices, I did not know, at first what I wanted to make and how to implement my plan). Getting comfortable with being visible. (I am more introverted than not so being seen--both literally and figuratively--has always been a challenge for me). After doing shows, consignment, wholesale and sewing for someone else, I have, by process of elimination, decided I like working directly with my customers. I like the give-and-take that happens when small groups of people work closely together.

A "sojourn" is a "resting place along life's journey." The following (in no particular order) have been my "resting places" as I move through this life of art, cyberspace and business:

BF, Papillon, Friends and Family, Baxter State Park, Acadia National Park, The Atlantic, Thrift Stores, Women, Work and Community, Walks, Music, Art and Photography Books, Homemade Bread, Chocolate

I am grateful for all the successes and failures of the past three years--all of which have made me a better person. I look forward to unfolding whatever this new year holds in store!

Cheers!--Janyce