| Tax issues' complexity grows
Many small-business owners meeting with their accountants this month and next may find that year-end tax planning and projections for 2008 are a little more complicated than usual because of the uneasy economy. "We're finding a lot of clients due to the economy aren't doing as well as they've done in previous years," said Jeffrey Berdahl, a certified public accountant with Berdahl & Co. in Center Valley, Pa. "We're not seeing as much of top-line revenue growth." For many business owners, that means cash flow isn't as healthy as they'd like. And so decisions typically made toward the end of the year -- for example, whether to buy new equipment or whether to set up a retirement plan -- need to be thought through even more carefully. As always, what businesses do for the balance of the old year needs to be considered in the context of projections for 2008.
Small timber operation tries to take up job slack
WALLOWA (AP) — In the timber industry the saying is: A job in a mill equals two in the woods.If that holds, at least 28 people in the forests of Oregon’s northeast corner have jobs thanks to Community Smallwood Solutions, a busy little post-and-pole mill in this economically troubled Wallowa County town."As long as the shift is running well, we can put out four loads of hops poles a week," Ben Henson, the mill’s general manager, said.Small operations can’t replace big ones, and the indefinite closure of the Wallowa Forest Products mill last July still hurts. About 50 people lost family wage jobs, and the true effect remain to be seen, Wallowa Mayor Ron Gay said."We’re surviving, but the economy is soft and I think it will get worse next year," Gay said.Community Smallwood Solutions isn’t a cure, but it helps.With 14 workers, it makes jobs for contract loggers and truck drivers, supports the hops industry and sells to retail outlets in the Willamette Valley.Henson and others say they think the company will take off."There are plans to bring in more equipment and expand some of our product lines, and that could mean going to another shift."The company was established nearly four years ago with support from Wallowa Resources, a nonprofit group that promotes forest and watershed health while creating family wage jobs and business opportunities.Joseph Timber in the upper Wallowa Valley, now out of business, was a partner at first.
New push on health care in the works
The failure of his massive health-care plan to pass the Illinois General Assembly this year hasn't discouraged Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who will ask the legislature next year to create a state-regulated pool of affordable private health-insurance policies for individuals, families and small businesses. .
Economy makes tax planning harder
NEW YORK: Many small-business owners meeting with their accountants this month and next might find that year-end tax planning and projections for 2008 are a little more complicated than usual because of the uneasy economy. ''We're finding a lot of clients due to the economy aren't doing as well as they've done in previous years,'' said Jeffrey Berdahl, a certified public accountant with Berdahl & Co. in Center Valley, Pa. ''We're not seeing as much of top-line revenue growth.'' For many business owners, that means cash flow isn't as healthy as they'd like. And so decisions typically made toward the end of the year for example, whether to buy new equipment or whether to set up a retirement plan need to be thought through even more carefully. As always, what businesses do for the balance of the old year needs to be considered in the context of projections for 2008.
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