Veteran Entrepreneur Says The Best Teacher Is Experience

Exorbitant student loans constitute just one reason why young people eager to experience the world may want to reconsider college, says Ed Basler, a veteran entrepreneur.

There is now $1.2 trillion worth of college debt in the United States and the average borrower will graduate $26,600 in the red, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) Project on Student Debt.

"None of this guarantees a job or even that a college grad will be job-ready," says Basler, CEO of E.J. Basler Co., (www.ejbasler.com).

"After four weeks of business school I, the son of a businessman, had realized that the professor had no real-life experience running a business and that I wouldn't learn the practical principles necessary to succeed. But I stuck with business school for two years until I dropped out, and I haven't had any regrets 40 years later. Hands-on experience trumps a degree all the time."

Factor in the fact that necessary business skills evolve faster than the time it takes to earn a degree and the overall lack of preparation for the real world provided by college and the choice to save time and money is a no-brainer, says Basler.

Business owners and hiring managers should see past the college degrees of potential employees, or lack thereof, and focus on the content of an applicant's skills and character, says Basler, who offers, in his own words, the following tips for hiring.

•  Do not accept any bad attitudes. A bad attitude spreads like the flu, and if you don't stop it, it'll make your whole team sick. Good attitudes will spread too, so look to hire people with a positive nature. Is the prospective hire full of complaints about previous employers? Don't be surprised if you become the next target of such whining. No one is indispensable. I have interviewed people who were clearly bright and skilled. Yet, afterward, I felt like telling them not to let the door hit them on the way out. I've never regretted my decision to insist on good attitudes.

•  Hire friends very cautiously. They can become your best employees. Often, however, they are your worst, and they're hard to fire. Hire family members even more cautiously. Let them know the ground rules and expectations up front. And treat them like the rest of your employees. I hear horror stories all the time from business people who are suffering because of family involvement. But it can also work very well - it has worked out well for me.

•  Hire not only for skills but also for potential. Leaders can be made if trained and motivated properly. I've seen many a young person with no previous experience or knowledge of my business learn a trade or skill and prosper and excel. Many times, it's even an advantage to start from the beginning with someone who does not have the baggage of bad habits or practices from a previous employer.

•  Put people in the right positions. Test them for their personality and skill sets. There are many tests - one good one is the Meyers Briggs and the DISC profile. It's hard, sometimes, to understand where people fit, which is why we try to use testing to learn about their particular skills.

"A college degree is a generic qualification and is by no means the ultimate criteria by which you should hire talent," Basler says.

About Ed Basler

Ed Basler is a longtime entrepreneur and CEO of E.J. Basler Co., (www.ejbasler.com), which provides precision-machined parts and solutions to companies worldwide. He is a sought-after motivational speaker and president of Fresh Eyes Coaching, a firm that helps small businesses identify profit opportunities and obstacles. Ed and his wife, Cathi, also founded and ran a nationally recognized not-for-profit youth organization for 15 years. He is the author of "The Meat & Potatoes Guide to Business Survival: A Handbook for Non-MBA's & College Dropouts."

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced the launch of the administration's use of Meerkat, a mobile application that allows individuals to live-stream events through their Twitter account.

"Since taking office in 2011, Lieutenant Governor Reynolds and I have been committed to increasing transparency in state government," said Branstad. "By reinstating the governor's weekly news conference, establishing the Iowa Public Information Board, visiting all 99 counties each year, launching the 'Skype Your School' and 'Ask the Gov' initiatives, posting all open records requests each month and calling for a change in state law to open up state employee personnel records, we've made government more open. By using Meerkat, we're continuing to adapt and allowing Iowans to join us on the road and in our press conferences."

The Meerkat app is free to download and does not use any taxpayer funds.

"By using the Meerkat app, Iowans will be able to join us as we tour communities following natural disasters, as we visit a small business, listen-in to our weekly press conferences or even as we hit the trail for our annual 99-county tour," said Reynolds. "We encourage Iowans to follow our Twitter accounts - @TerryBranstad and @KimReynoldsIA - and join us live through the Meerkat app."

The application uses mobile devices, such as an iPhone or iPad, to broadcast events live to the account holder's Twitter feed. Users are then able to engage in real-time via Twitter. The administration will begin using the application regularly for their weekly press conference, but will continue to broadcast the press conference live via Branstad's YouTube pagewhere the video is then archived.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TOPIC: Scott County Extension Mater Gardeners Offer Trip to Chicago Botanical Gardens

CONTACT: Scott County Extension Office, 563-359-7577

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Scott County Extension Master Gardeners Offer Trip to Chicago Botanical Gardens

Join the Scott County Master Gardeners on a fun and educational bus trip to the Chicago Botanical Antiques, Garden, & Design Show on April 17th!  The price of $50 includes cost of the bus, your ticket in to the event, and coffee & muffins on the trip to Chicago.   Send your registrations to Scott County Extension Office, 875 Tanglefoot Lane, Bettendorf, Iowa by March 20, 2015.

March 24, 2015 Certified Handlers, Scott County Extension Office, 9:00 am-11:30 am

April 3, 2015 Pesticide Applicator Testing, Scott County Extension Office, 10:00 am-2:00 pm

April 28, 2015 Scott County Extension Council Meeting, Scott County Extension Office, 7:00 pm

Visit our events calendar at our web site: http://dbs.extension.iastate.edu/calendar/

WHO: Spring puts a hop in everyone's step - especially true for the Easter Bunny!  Join us at NorthPark and SouthPark Malls as the world's most famous rabbit makes his official appearance.


WHAT: Families are invited to visit with the Easter Bunny and capture this memory by purchasing a special photo of their children with the floppy-eared favorite.  Children also will receive a complimentary activity book, courtesy of National Geographic Kids Club when they visit, while supplies last. The Easter Bunny will be at both centers through April 4.

Of course, NorthPark & SouthPark Malls have all the "eggs"stras your family needs this spring.  From fresh and fun spring attire for the entire family to everything you need for warm-weather entertaining, both centers offer a strong roster of stores to help you make the most of spring.

 

WHEN: March 11 - April 4

Monday - Thursday 12pm-8pm

Sunday 12pm-6pm

WHERE: Von Maur Court JCPenney Court

NorthPark Mall SouthPark Mall

320 W Kimberly Rd 4500 16th Street

Davenport, IA 52806 Moline, IL 61265

(563) 391-6773 (309) 797-8450


FUN

FACTS:

  • Easter brings candy - this is the second top-selling confectionary holiday, with an estimated $2 billion spent annually

  • More that 1 billion eggs are hunted in the United States each year.

  • More than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps are bought during the Easter holiday. This makes Peeps the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy.

A Change In Thinking Can Lead To A Change In 
Behavior And Results, Says Sought-After Speaker

Hard times that sap your energy and leave you frustrated are an inevitable part of life.

Maybe you lost a job. Maybe your finances took a turn for the worse. Maybe your personal life is in disarray or a health problem emerged forcing a lifestyle change.

Such setbacks can leave people feeling afraid, uncertain, angry or unsatisfied, says Darlene Hunter, a renowned speaker and author of "Win-Ability, Navigating through Life's Challenges with a Winning Attitude," (www.darlenehunter.com).

Overcoming those emotions, she says, comes down to a person's mindset and perspective.

"Your attitude is a critical factor that can either hold you back or help you move forward," Hunter says. "Everyone needs to take the time to do a pulse check on where they are in their thinking. Is it positive or negative?"

A positive attitude comes easily when life is rosy. The real trick is persevering when things go awry so you can continue to strive toward your goals.

"The important thing to remember is that we cannot give up just because things do not work out the way we want," Hunter says. "We must be persistent and press our way through to the end."
Hunter offers five tips that can help change your thinking, which in turn will change your behavior and, ultimately, change your results.

•  Be a planner. To live your dream, you need to know what you want and have a plan for getting there. "Planning your day, week and month are critical ingredients to living your dream and purpose," Hunter says. The "how" and "why" elements are important factors in planning, as they guide you in the direction you want to go.

•  Be goal oriented. Once you set goals, the next step is to work on completing them. That's why it's important to set goals you can accomplish. Each time you can check a goal off your list, you are one step closer to what you ultimately want to achieve. "The sense of accomplishment that comes from reaching even the smallest goals will help you keep moving and striving to get your desired end," Hunter says.

•  Be driven for results. When you are driven, Hunter says, you have a compulsive and urgent desire to accomplish what you are seeking, whether it's a bonus, a promotion, additional knowledge in a particular area or some other goal. The important factor is to always know what you are seeking. Results-driven people focus on meeting objectives and delivering on the goals they set.

•  Have a winning attitude. You must be determined, dedicated and devoted to succeed. "You should never give up on your goals and dreams simply because something goes wrong or you are not getting where you hoped to be fast enough," Hunter says.

•  Be focused. When you are focused, you have a clear perception and understanding of what you want to accomplish and where you need to go to get there. "Think about long-distance runners who will run a 26-mile marathon," Hunter says. "They find their pace and then they stay with it. They may get weary and tired, but they find their zone and stay focused and concentrate on what is needed to get to the end."

"Plenty of stories can be told about people who failed in the beginning, but made it to the top of their profession because they did not give up after being told they weren't good enough," Hunter says.
"The ability to keep trying and pushing no matter how many failures or obstacles you hit is the power of perseverance and is what 'Win-Ability' is all about."

About Darlene Hunter

Darlene Hunter, (www.darlenehunter.com), is president of Darlene Hunter & Associates, LLC, a motivational / inspirational speaker, author, life and business coach, and award-winning radio talk show host. Her new book, "Win-Ability, Navigating through Life's Challenges with a Winning Attitude," is her fourth on the theme of perseverance. She is the host of "The Darlene Hunter Show", winner of the Fishbowl Radio Network 2013 Distance Show Of The Year Award. Hunter has been a top performer in management for more than 30 years.

Thurs., April 30, 7:00 p.m.
Chonda Pierce
Its a Girl Thing
find tickets

Open about her faith and personal experiences, Pierce uses her gift of humor to help others. In 2013, Chonda was certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for her eight gold and three platinum long-form DVDs, making her the best-selling comedienne of all time. Chonda Pierce will be joined by special guest Warren Barfield.

Iowa legislators are moving fast on two bills that would repeal the state's existing law that requires background checks on all gun sales.  HF 527 has already passed out of the Iowa House, and SF 425 passed out of a Senate Committee yesterday, and is expected to get a vote on the full Senate floor soon.
Repealing background checks is extremely dangerous.  How do we know?  Because when Missouri repealed its law that required handgun purchasers to pass a background check, it resulted in a 23 percent increase in the firearm homicide rate throughout the state.  The law's repeal correlates with an additional 55 to 63 murders a year in Missouri, controlling for changes in policing, incarceration, burglaries, unemployment, poverty, and other state laws that could affect violent crime.  Nearby states saw no similar rise in firearm homicide rates.
That means there is significant evidence that if lawmakers succeed in passing these bills, dangerous people will be able to arm themselves and more Iowans will be killed with guns.
What's more, 88 percent of Iowans support background checks on all gun sales.  Not only is this effort misguided and dangerous - it's wildly unpopular.

Iowa/Illinois Quad Cities - On Sunday, March 22, 2015 the Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad Cities ("MCC QC") will celebrate its 35th Anniversary, as well as its current pastor's 10th Anniversary of being called to the congregation. The public is invited to attend the 11:00 am worship service and to join in a potluck dinner following the service.

35 Years of Ministry in the Community began In the fall of 1979, eleven years after the founding of what was then known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, a group of individuals from both Iowa and Illinois began discussions about forming a local congregation of MCC in the Quad Cities.  Under the guidance of Rev. Reid Christensen, pastor of MCC Illiamo in Quincy, Illinois, the group came together to form an advisory board and later began worshipping in the living rooms of members' homes.  The first facility rented as a Church building was a small, single room building at 1618 W. 3rd Street in Davenport.  Founding members Jim Moore and Peter Pond spent many hours crafting and renovating items for use in our first and subsequent buildings.

The Church organized the first Gay and Lesbian Pride Picnic for the Quad Cities, held at Scott County Park in June of 1982 and has worked tirelessly for equal rights and marriage equality on both sides of the Mississippi River.  MCC QC is a member church of Churches United of the Quad City Area, and helps feed the hungry by supporting our local food pantries, by serving a meal at the Salvation Army feeding site once a month, and by participating in the annual Quad Cities CROP Hunger Walk campaign. The Church owned a building in Rock Island until an electrical fire required a move to a facility at 31st and Harrison Streets in Davenport. In 2013 the congregation sold that building and in 2014 purchased the current facility at 2930 W. Locust St. in Davenport, formerly a Blockbuster Video store.

Rev. Rich Hendricks grew up only a few blocks away from that current Church location.  "The property was a part of 'Gruber's Gladiolas' farm and I used to walk to Wilson Elementary School by cutting through the pasture.  My very first job was planting gladiola bulbs in those fields.  I remember I wore shorts and my knees were raw and bloody from the dirt clods at the end of the first day.  With some help from my Grandma Vada's Watkins' Salve, band-aids and determination, I went back the next day and kept working that summer."

Hendricks graduated from Drake University and has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.  "After three years of practicing corporate law, and starting to raise a family, I knew that pastoral ministry was my true calling," says Hendricks, who received his Master of Divinity degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.  After coming out as a gay man in 1999, Hendricks moved to Chicago and practiced nonprofit law until becoming credentialed in the Metropolitan Community Church.

In October of 1994, Hendricks answered a call to come help MCC QC perform public "I Do" ceremonies - Civil Unions blessed by the Church in a public way to call attention to the need for marriage equality.  "It turns out MCC QC needed a pastor, and I accepted their call in January, 1995.  Never in a million years would I have thought my journey would lead me back to Davenport, Iowa - and then back to the very neighborhood where I grew up!"

Time Capsule  Time is a wonderful, funny, fickle thing it seems.  "Since we have come such a long way in our 35 years of existence, we thought we should commemorate our journey with time capsule," says Hendricks.  The time capsule is to be dedicated Sunday the 22nd and is not to be opened for 40 years.  It will be sealed in a "mouse hole" opening in one of the new building's metal beams in the social hall.  The contents will include items indicative of MCC QC's history - and a thumb drive filled with pictures and memorabilia from current life here.

Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson  Presenting the message of "Seeing Jesus" at the 11:00 am service is the leader of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson.  Dr. Wilson was elected to the position of Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) in 2005, following the retirement of the Founder of MCC, Rev. Elder Troy Perry, and in July 2010, she was re-elected for a term of six years.  She is only the second person, and the first woman, to serve in that role since the founding of Metropolitan Community Churches in 1968.

Dr. Wilson has been the official delegate of MCC to the World Council of Churches General Assemblies in Canberra, Australia (1991); Harare, Zimbabwe (1998); and Porto Alegre, Brazil (2006).  In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed Rev. Wilson to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Following President Obama's re-election in 2013, Rev. Wilson gave a Scripture reading at the Inaugural Prayer Service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and was the first openly gay clergy member to participate.

Dr. Wilson's published works include : Outing the Bible: Queer Folks, God, Jesus, and the Christian Scriptures (LifeJourney Press); Outing the Church: 40 Years in the Queer Christian Movement (LifeJourney Press); Nossa Tribo: Gays, Deus, Jesus e a Bíblia (Metanoia); Our Tribe:  Queer Folks, God, Jesus and the Bible (Alamo Press); with Fr. Malcolm Boyd, Amazing Grace. Rev. Wilson's prayers and poems are included in Race and Prayer, edited by Malcolm Boyd and Chester Talton (Morehouse Press).

MCC QC - where you and your spiritual journey are welcome

The Iowa State Education Association stands with the Davenport school district superintendent Dr. Art Tate, parents, students, and other community members.

When the state Legislature refuses to comply with the law and set supplemental state aid for FY 16 and FY 17 and repeatedly threatens to set it too low, they place Dr. Tate in an untenable position of violating the law in order to take care of his students. We are proud of his decision to take care of his students.

There is an easy solution. Setting supplemental state aid at 4 percent would negate the need for school districts to contemplate violating state law.

Additionally, legislators have an obligation to follow the law as well and listen to their constituents. Shame on them for calling out the Davenport schools for flouting the law when in fact, they have broken their own laws for the past five years. And, shame on them for characterizing our school funding emergency as "beating a dead horse", when school districts across the state are shouting that they have received inadequate funding for too long and cannot make ends meet.

Legislators need to pay attention to the message out of Davenport. Iowa's students are not "worth-less" than the Walmarts, Targets, and other big corporations that will enjoy over $51 million in tax breaks the Legislature just approved at the expense of our public schools. They are not worth less than the $600 million surplus legislators are holding onto for a rainy day, and they are certainly not worth less than a re-examination of our state budget in an effort to find the resources needed to make them a priority.

Pass 4 percent SSA and make sure Iowa's students are not worth less than.

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The ISEA is a professional association made up of nearly 34,000 educators who are dedicated to supporting and protecting a quality public education for all Iowa students.

LINCOLN, Neb. (March 11, 2015) – Tavender Jones of Story City, Iowa, is looking forward to teeing it up in the state where his passion for golf started. Jones will be one of an estimated 20,000 athletes from across the country competing in more than 60 sports in the 2015 State Games of America (SGA) July 28th - Aug. 2nd in Lincoln, Nebraska.

At the age of 19, Jones is already a highly decorated golfer. While golfing for Roland-Story High School, he won 10 meets during his junior and senior seasons. At the 2014 Iowa Games, he placed among the top five in Adult Individual Stroke Play, earning the opportunity to compete at the 2015 SGA.

Jones' love for golf began while growing up in McCook, Nebraska. "I played at the Heritage Hills Golf Course every day and would spend countless hours there. I played in youth tournaments as much as I could," said Jones.

Since moving to Iowa, he has golfed in the Iowa Games every summer. Jones is excited to take his game to the national level this summer at the 2015 SGA.

More than 600 athletes from 35 different states have registered for the SGA thus far. Registration remains open through May 15. Medalists in the Iowa games from the 2013 summer games through the 2015 winter games are eligible. Entry into a developing sport event is open to all competitors with no qualifying required. Those interested can find a list of developing sports, eligibility, and registration information at www.sga2015.com.

The State Games of America is sanctioned by the National Congress of State Games. The Nebraska Sports Council (NSC) will organize and oversee the event. The NSC's Cornhusker State Games recently celebrated its 30th anniversary and is one of the largest State Games events in the nation.

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