Cape Business Trends newsletter October 29, 2007
Women: A powerful market
Cape Business invites you to a special breakfast seminar featuring three presentations to assist you in marketing your services and products to the ever-growing women’s market on Cape Cod and beyond.
Speakers include Patricia M. Annino, author of Women & Money and a partner in the Boston law firm of Prince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye LLP; Geri Denterlein, principal of Denterlein Worldwide in Boston, a public relations and strategic marketing company; and Kathey Hickey Fulham, Osterville-based CPA and Master of Science in taxation.
The event will be held Wednesday, November 7, 2007, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Cape Codder Resort & Spa; the cost is $35 per person.
To learn more and register for this special event, click here.
Cape demographic trends
Growth in year-round Cape residents from 2000 to 2006 has virtually ceased, rising only by 2,600 people. More year-round residents are now moving away from the Cape than to the region. The Cape has experienced 5,000 more deaths than births over the same six-year period. This occurs very rarely anywhere – only 10 other counties in the nation recorded more deaths than births.
This is one highlight offered up by Peter Francese, director of demographic forecasts for the New England Economic Partnership, on Friday at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit on “Challenges and Opportunities” for the region.
Among his other points:
• The greatest growth on the Cape is in Falmouth and Mashpee. This is a big change from the 1990s, when all but three towns grew more than 1 percent a year.
• The Cape is losing working age adults, 35-44, and their children. The largest age group is 45-54, but nearly one in four residents are age 65-plus. The Cape median age is 45.7, with men at 44 and women at 47. This is among the highest median numbers in the country. The loss of children and families age 35-44 will mean slower growth in retail sales.
• Cape Cod’s significantly older-than-average profile creates a far greater imperative to build workforce housing than for most other counties in the state. But other incentives to encourage young people to stay may also be needed.
For a more complete report on Francese’s presentation, click here.
A new employer-assisted housing program
In response to the growing housing crisis on Cape Cod, the Housing Assistance Corporation and Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association have joined forces with local and state government, civic groups and local business leaders in a new community action campaign called home@last.
The campaign will provide tools to garner support for the creation of more housing choices on Cape Cod, offer programs for employers that can help maintain the workforce and use community outreach in several towns to educate residents.
The home@last campaign will feature the state’s first regional employer-assisted housing program, the Cape Cod Employer Assisted Housing Program, which will leverage state funds with a one-to-one match from local employers and be administered by HAC. The program will provide financial assistance to local employees in need of aide for apartment rentals or home purchases.
Among companies and organizations offering up matching funds are Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, Shepley Wood Products, Cape Cod Times, Cape Cod Healthcare, Cape Cod Potato Chips, Cape Cod Restaurants, Wise Living and the town of Barnstable.
For a complete report, including a FAQ on the program’s what, why and how, click here.
Holiday retail sales forecast
Our Retail Details guru Doug Fleener offers up this early forecast of the holiday season.
The annual holiday predictions have been coming out and to no one's surprise the outlook is less than stellar.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) expects overall holiday sales to increase 4 percent to $474.5 billion. "Retailers are in for a somewhat challenging holiday season as consumers are faced with numerous economic obstacles," said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. "With the weak housing market and current credit crunch, consumers will be forced to be more prudent with their holiday spending."
The 2007 holiday sales increase is expected to fall below the ten-year average of 4.8 percent. That would represent the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002, when sales rose 1.3 percent.
“I like the folks over at Gallup Research,” said Fleener. “They're predicting consumers will produce an overall increase of 5 percent to 6 percent over spending last year. What's funny is that they're reminding people that they had to decrease last year's prediction by mid-November and it might happen again. The luxury segment will stay strong with 35 percent of shoppers forecast to spend more than $1,000 this gift-giving season.
Fleener’s personal prediction: “I'm going with a prediction of 15 percent up but will revisit it in mid-November.”
For more on the retail outlook, click here.
H2-B visa process may soon go electronic
In a few years, businesses seeking approval to hire foreign temporary workers will be able to complete a streamlined electronic process online. In the meantime, you still face a bureaucratic three-stage, multi-agency, six-month application procedure.
While paperwork is still mandatory, it now can be found at one central government website. It must be filled out accurately and completely in two two-sided originals with required attachments. The site is www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/h-2b.cfm, which includes instructions, frequently asked questions, a step-by-step presentation and a Payroll Summary Report.
The month-by-month payroll report is essential to show that your employees in a specific requested occupation increase significantly during peak times of your business. One full calendar year report is required, but you can submit two years if it bolsters your case.
To apply for temporary foreign workers, you must show:
• Seasonal, intermittent, one-time or peak need
• Seasonal and peak need is no more than 10 months
• No U.S. workers are available (you placed an ad)
• You will hold to specific working conditions (place, time, duties, prevailing wage)
Employer action required on Social Security mismatch
A few months after employers file year-end W-2 forms with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, they may receive letters saying employees’ Social Security numbers do not match with federal data.
In an attempt to root out employers who hire illegal workers, new federal regulations require employers to take specific action on these letters. If that employee is still working for the business, the employer has an obligation to address the mismatched information.
According to attorney Matthew Lee of Tocci, Goss and Lee of Centerville and Boston, employers must inform the affected employees that they have received this Social Security mismatch letter and that the employee has 30 days to rectify the information.
“If your employee cannot produce a clarified Social Security mismatch, then you, the employer, must terminate that employee or risk de facto hiring of an illegal worker,” Lee said. He noted, however, that a lawsuit has been filed and a temporary restraining order placed against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from enforcing the regulation. If the complainants lose this case, however, employers will be required to follow a strict timetable for action to clear up the mismatch.
Attorney Lee will lead a breakfast forum on this and other employee verification regulations to assure employees are authorized to work in the United States. It is on Thursday, November 8, 2007, 7:30- 9 a.m. at the Community Action Committee, 115 Enterprise Road, Hyannis, in conjunction with the Hyannis Area Chamber of Commerce.
Health & Wealth newsletter
Cape Business publishes Health & Wealth every three months and mails it to the 20,000 highest-assessed homes on the Cape, including primary addresses of second-home owners. Significantly, nearly three-quarters of those second-home owners live elsewhere in Massachusetts – which means they are coming here many weekends a year.
Now, we will be offering a monthly e-mail newsletter that will highlight articles and advice to fortify your family’s and employees’ wealth and health. It’s also how we will invite you to special events including financial seminars and wine tastings at outstanding restaurants across the Cape.
The newsletter also will feature special opportunities offered by our many Health & Wealth business partners.
To register, click here.
Hot jobs and corporate taxes
Stay tuned for our upcoming Hot Jobs edition in November. In the meantime, this latest statewide employment report: The unemployment rate for Massachusetts dropped to 4.4 percent despite the loss of 2,100 jobs in September. The unemployment rate was 5.1 percent a year ago, but the state has gained 26,600 jobs since Jan. 1.
On the other hand, the Tax Foundation issued a report that concluded that the state's slow economic growth (and recent loss of population) is partly due to the fourth highest corporate tax in the country, the second worst unemployment insurance tax in the country, and the fifth worst property tax system in the country. The result is the 34th fastest income growth between 2003 and 2006 (2.5 percent below the national average) and 48th fastest growth in total economic output. The foundation thinks addressing corporate taxes, unemployment insurance and property taxes is likely to have a bigger positive impact on the state's economy than higher spending on education, transportation infrastructure, and crime prevention.
Recent polls on sales tax holiday and casino plans
The state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses recently polled its members across Massachusetts about casino issue and the sales tax holiday. A clear majority (67.9 percent to 26.6 percent, with 5.5 percent undecided) thought the sales tax holiday was an economically positive event and worth the lobbying effort.
Only 50 percent endorsed the plan for three "resort" casinos in the state while 41.8 percent opposed and 8.2 percent remained undecided. Finally, members were almost evenly divided when asked whether the impact of casinos would be sufficient to warrant our involvement in the issue. 40.3 percent said 'yes', 39.7 percent said 'no' and 20 percent were not sure.
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