| Small business group recognizes lawmakers
The California Small Business Association and Roundtable recently recognized three legislators as its Small Business Legislators of the Year.
Winners are chosen annually for their efforts to promote small business survival and participation
�All three of this year�s winners have taken significant efforts to listen to the small business community,� said Betty Jo Toccoli, president of the association and chair of the roundtable.
Winners are nominated by leaders of the association and selected by a vote from the group�s legislative council composed of 1,600 small business owners. In most cases, the winners of the vote then go back to group administrators for a final interview before receiving the award.
Ms. Toccoli said other award standards require that the legislator hold a small business advisory council and participate in the state-recognized Small Business Day in May in order to be eligible for the award.
Valero Reports Its Profit Fell Almost 21%
Valero Energy Corp., the nation's largest independent oil refiner, said Tuesday its third-quarter profit dropped almost 21 percent from a year earlier. The company had warned earlier that lower margins would hurt its results for the July-September period, and the adjusted results came in above Wall Street expectations. Valero's shares rose nearly 3 percent in premarket trading. Chairman and CEO Bill Klesse also said the company will explore a sale of its Aruba refinery. Net income fell to $1.27 billion, or $2.09 per share, from $1.6 billion, or $2.55 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 2 percent to $23.70 billion from $23.24 billion. The company said refining margins in West Coast areas were substantially lower as gasoline and diesel margins fell compared to last year. Margins for other products, like asphalt, lube oils and petrochemical feedstocks, were also considerably lower, Valero said.
Loss of grants leaves local groups reeling
For 10 years, since 1997, the Gallatin Project grant provided local programs with about $220,000 a year to help victims of domestic and sexual assault. Five different public agencies and nonprofit organizations have used the money to offer legal counseling for victims, childcare for families in crisis and domestic-assault investigation training for police, among other things.But last month, the U.S. Justice Department notified the agencies that the grant would not be renewed for the coming year.According to a letter addressed to Bozeman Police Lt. Rich McLane, local administrator of the grant, the federal agency got $122 million in requests for grants, but had only $33 million to disburse. There just wasn't enough money to go around.The loss of that money leaves gaping holes in the organizations' budgets, forcing budget cuts and pushing one group to consider closing down until more money can be found.
Future business leaders lend a hand to education in Ecuador
ST. GEORGE- The Dixie State College chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America PBL business club is reaching across cultures to help improve education and economics in Ecuador.
The club is launching a program called Project Awakening in collaboration with Universidad Technologica Indoamerica, a university in Ecuador, with the goal of collecting 100 computers and sending them to some 20 rural schools in the spring.
Javier Martinez, project coordinator, said there is a large class divide in Ecuador, and while wealthy children attend well-equipped private schools, other children attend schools that are largely ignored by the Ecuadorian government and are subject to class discrimination. He said computers would help those children develop the skills and knowledge to overcome those obstacles.
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