CHICAGO - August 29, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn issued the following statement regarding Standard & Poor's action today.

"Today's action is no surprise.

"Over and over again this summer, I made clear that if we do not act on pension reform, the state of Illinois would suffer the consequences. Now it has.

"Eliminating our $83 billion unfunded pension liability is vital to getting our financial house in order.  Today's action by Standard & Poor's is more evidence that we must act.

"I cannot act alone. We must work together to make the tough decisions necessary to correct poor financial decisions made by previous governors and legislatures over decades that created this situation today.

"We cannot fix these challenges overnight but, as we have shown with the Fiscal Year 2013 budget by reducing our Medicaid liability by more than $2 billion, paying down $1.3 billion in bills, and taking discretionary spending to below 2008 levels, steady progress can lead Illinois to sound financial footing.

"The only thing standing between Illinois and comprehensive pension reform is politics.

"We must put politics aside. Pointing fingers will not resolve this problem. Inaction on pension reform is unacceptable and unfair to our children.

"We must address the unfunded pension liability and we can only do it together. I am inviting the four legislative leaders to a meeting in early September to work on pension reform. Illinois cannot move forward without it."

 

 

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Moline, IL - Junior Achievement of the Heartland has been awarded one of Junior Achievement USA's (JA) highest honors, the Silver Summit Award. The award is given to local JA offices that have reached outstanding success in financial health, program quality, management effectiveness and program growth for three consecutive years.

"These Summit Award winners represent the best Junior Achievement has to offer," said Jack E. Kosakowski, president and chief executive officer of Junior Achievement USA. "They set the standard by which Junior Achievement's success is measured at the local level. Their commitment and dedication to young people is reflected in their achieving this honor."

"We are thrilled to receive the Silver Summit Award," said Barbara VenHorst, president of JA of the Heartland. "We would like to thank all the classroom volunteers and hundreds of corporate partners who joined with our board and staff to empower more than 55,000 young people in our 24-county area to own their economic success. We look forward to helping even more students develop the confidence they need to succeed in the 21^st century workplace."

About Junior Achievement® (JA)

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.  JA programs are delivered by corporate and community volunteers, and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship.  Today, JA reaches four million students per year in more than 120 markets across the United States, with an additional six million students served by operations in 119 other countries worldwide.  Visit www.ja.org for more information.

Locally, Junior Achievement of the Heartland serves 24 countries in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and Grant County in Wisconsin. Approximately 55,000 kindergarten through high school students benefit from JA programs each year.  Visit www.jaheartland.org for local information.

 

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Entrepreneur Shares How He Traded Suit & Tie
for Flip-Flops & Cut-Off Jeans

Dreams come true, but not through wishful thinking, says John Berglund, a corporate executive turned "flip-flop perfumer."

After successful careers as an attorney, lobbyist, trade-association executive and bowling industry magnate, Berglund tired of the corporate rat race.  He was also tired of winters bundled in layers of long johns, shoveling snow.

"Everybody has their own version of paradise," says the author of A Beach Less Traveled: From Corporate Chaos to Flip-Flop Perfumer, (www.abeachlesstraveled.com). "Whether it's New York City, the Great Smokey Mountains or my personal favorite, the French-Caribbean island of St. Martin, paradise is within reach - with a little planning."

An essential part of that was deciding what to do for a living once he got there. Berglund would embark on his new career path as a perfumer with his wife of more than 30 years, Cyndi. How did he do it? He shares the strategies that worked - and some that didn't.

• Dream big ... and do it: Berglund remembers sunning on a pristine beach with his wife, listening to the gentle sounds of wind and turquoise seawater lapping on the shore. When Cyndi heard him order an adult beverage in French, she shook his arm to wake him for the morning commute to work ... in the dead of winter in Wisconsin. He was dreaming - literally. "I'd always had a high standard of living, which I've enjoyed, but it was time for me to risk a completely foreign scenario - in terms of business and lifestyle - and follow this dream."

• Business trends: Boutique perfumeries are where boutique wineries were three decades ago - they're personal, fun and interactive, Berglund says. They're not just about walking into a store and choosing a bottle from a shelf. He offers his customers a hands-on experience customizing their scents, and by using local ingredients, he offers visitors a meaningful souvenir of their stay. Berglund envisions his new business as a model at several vacation destinations.

• Fortitude amid real-world challenges: A dream is the spark to the journey, but moving to St. Martin, where the natives speak French and Dutch, and starting a business takes work. The hurdles for Berglund included the search for property, anxiety on closing the property deal, remodeling, acclimating to life there, obtaining a business license, moving and the language barrier. "These problems may be deal-breakers for many people, but part of the excitement of doing anything worthwhile is the fact that it's not easy," he says.

• A history of business sense: Creating an unprecedented cottage industry may seem like a long shot layered in wishful thinking. "But this isn't my first rodeo," Berglund says. "I've made several career moves throughout my life, and no matter how unlikely, I always came out okay." He acknowledges, however, that he was in the right phase of his life to pull off such a change. Plan and prepare so you're ready for change, he says. Risk is involved.

• Loved ones: Even though Berglund's children were grown and he was capable of achieving his dream, he needed to make sure Cyndi was on board. "You can do all the planning and troubleshooting that is necessary for a dream to work, but the one thing that can change the minds of the most passionate is the opposition of a loved one," he says. "It's worth a discussion with your family early in the planning process."

About John Berglund

John Berglund began his career as the chief county prosecutor at age 24 and then transitioned into a lobbyist and trade-association executive. Another career shift led him to being voted the bowling industry's most influential person for a decade. He followed his passion for chemistry, which he studied in college, and left the "rat race" for his Caribbean perfumery in St. Martin. Berglund lives with his wife of more than 30 years, Cyndi, who has significantly contributed to his dream job in paradise. The couple has two grown children.

WASHINGTON -Senator Chuck Grassley is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to consider additional remedies to help Iowa farmers withstand one of the worst droughts in years.

"I heard directly from farmers at my town halls, in addition to the people calling my office, about issues that they are encountering, beyond low yields, because of the drought," Grassley said.  "It's a tough situation out there for these folks.  The weather conditions of this growing season have been challenging enough as it is for Iowa farmers without further complications."

In a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Grassley urged the Secretary to extend the emergency haying period to September 30, 2012.  Grassley said that when USDA opened up CRP land for haying and grazing, farmers had a relatively short window to take advantage of the opportunity compared to when farmers harvest hay on CRP land under mid-contract management situations.

Grassley also wrote that he was concerned about the logistical difficulties of inspecting corn for aflatoxin as it relates to crop insurance claims.  Grassley said that farmers often are not aware of the presence of aflatoxin, or at least aware of unacceptable levels of aflatoxin, until they are sitting at the grain elevator and the elevator's sample shows levels are too high for the elevator to accept.  At that juncture, the farmer must take his crop back to the farm and find something to do with it in a timely manner so he or she can get back to the next load of corn coming out of the field.  The requirements set forth by the Risk Management Agency state that if the crop is not tested by the crop insurer prior to placing it in the bin then no indemnity can be paid for that portion of the crop loss.

The text of Grassley's letter is below.  A copy of the signed letter can be found here.

 

August 28, 2012

Secretary Tom Vilsack
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

During my recent travels around the state of Iowa I have been able to observe the harmful effects of this persistent drought.  My staff and I have heard from numerous farmers dealing with the hardship of this year's extreme conditions.  Even though temperatures have cooled a bit and some parts of the state have finally received some much needed rain, farmers are still dealing with the consequences of this drought.  I appreciate some of the steps the Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken to assist farmers.  However, there are still actions your department can take to help farmers deal with these difficult circumstances.

First, while I appreciate USDA opening up Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land for haying and grazing, there is still another step USDA could still take to help farmers wanting to harvest hay on CRP land.  Due to how long it took USDA to finally open up CRP land for haying and grazing, farmers have had a relatively short window to take advantage of this opportunity compared to when farmers harvest hay on CRP land under mid-contract management situations.  Under mid-contract management practices, farmers are able to hay CRP land up to September 30^th.  But under the rules for emergency haying, farmers have to harvest the hay on CRP land by August 31^st.  Under these near historic drought conditions, this shorter period for emergency haying on CRP land simply doesn't make sense.  I urge you to consider extending the emergency haying period to September 30^th of this year.  While much of the grass on CRP land has suffered under the heat, every little bit will help farmers looking for ways to feed their livestock.

Another issue farmers have been contacting me about is the Risk Management Agency's (RMA) and crop insurance companies' handling of aflatoxin contamination in the corn crop.  As reports suggest, the hot dry conditions are exacerbating the aflatoxin issue in many parts of the country.  Under RMA's "Loss Adjustment Procedures for Aflatoxin" (Revised August 2012), RMA states farmers must have their crop tested for aflatoxin prior to putting it in grain bins.  However, farmers are concerned with the logistical challenges this requirement will present them.

Often times, farmers are not aware of the presence of aflatoxin, or at least aware of unacceptable levels of aflatoxin, until they are sitting at the grain elevator and the elevator's sample shows levels are too high for the elevator to accept.  At that juncture, the farmer must take his crop back to the farm and find something to do with it in a timely manner so he or she can get back to the next load of corn coming out of the field.  The requirements set forth by RMA state that if the crop is not tested by the crop insurer prior to placing it in the bin then no indemnity can be paid for that portion of the crop loss.

I am concerned on a couple fronts in this regard.  First, given the large number of claims that are going to be reported to insurers this year based simply on lost yields, will there be enough adjusters to deal with this added challenge of timely serving farmers dealing with aflatoxin contamination claims?  In addition, are RMA and the crop insurance companies doing enough to inform farmers of the requirements when aflatoxin contamination is a concern?  What is RMA doing to help ensure farmers are aware of the requirements for when they have crop damaged by aflatoxin?  Is there any flexibility that RMA can provide so our farmers don't run into a logistical nightmare of having trucks full of corn with no where to put it while they wait who knows how long for an insurance adjuster to come and test the corn?

The weather conditions of this growing season have been challenging enough as it is for Iowa farmers.  I urge USDA to do all it can to assist farmers dealing with the short time frame for harvesting hay on CRP land.  In addition, USDA should do what it can to assist farmers who have aflatoxin contamination claims so farmers aren't caught off guard and end up with the added challenge of potentially losing out on indemnity payments.

I appreciate your consideration of my questions and requests.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or my staff.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley
United States Senate