Business Generation

We’ve gone from the chamber of commerce small business mixer to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. And we’ve learned a lot along the way. How is your social networking going? Let’s review some links below then share your own thoughts on social networking and how it works for your business.

Self-development

Do you keep a calendar? Keeping up your social media networking is perhaps the hardest part of what you do. Basic social skills are easy when some one’s invited you to an event. But what if it’s just you and your computer?

In-House Social

New trends bring social media in-house. Getting social networking into the hands of collaborative employees is the focus of a new business networking platform called Jive. Follow the link above to learn more.

Google

It’s a bird, it’s a plane. No, it’s actual

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NEW YORK – BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc., the third-largest U.S. warehouse-club chain, was sued by an investor claiming its proposed $2.8 billion takeover price is “grossly inadequate”.

Leonard Green & Partners LP is acquiring the company at a “substantial” discount to its true value and BJ’s directors locked up the deal by agreeing to “impermissible” deal-protection devices, lawyers for shareholder Maxine Phillips said in the complaint filed on June 29 in Delaware Chancery Court. Phillips is seeking to represent all BJ’s shareholders in her bid to bar the deal.

Directors “have effectively placed a cap on BJ’s corporate value at a time when the company’s stock price was recovering from the recent economic decline,” lawyers for Phillips said in the complaint.

Under the agreement, Leonard Green and CVC Capital Partners will pay BJ’s investors $51.25 in cash for each share they hold. The takeover gives the firm

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While most consumers have embraced paperless methods of payment, including credit card, debit and wireless, paper check transactions are still extremely common. That’s why your business owes it to the customer to provide secure, convenient check processing services. With the generous variety of check acceptance solutions available on the merchant services market today, taking care of customers whose preferred method of payment is paper checks has never been easier. Plus, with sophisticated encryption technology, you’ll be able to offer your customers a never before seen level of security, so they’ll know that their money is in good hands. And you’ll know where your payments are. That’s just good accounting.

With you merchant service provider’s simple processing solutions, you can cut down deposit time for maximum convenience. Plus, with

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PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Supreme Court unanimously turned away the effort by two manufacturers to invalidate the power purchase agreement between National Grid and alternative energy developer Deepwater Wind that had been approved by the R.I. Public Utilities Commission, in a decision released late Friday.

The agreement had been approved by the PUC last August by a 2-to-1 vote, and it followed by five months a rejection of an earlier version of the power purchase agreement, largely done on a determination that the price of the electricity to be generated by a demonstration wind power project off the coast of Block Island was too high.

In the interim, the General Assembly and then-Gov. Donald L. C

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WASHINGTON – Consumer spending unexpectedly stagnated in May as employment prospects dimmed and rising inflation caused Americans to cut back.

Purchases were little changed, the weakest outcome since June 2010, after a revised 0.3 percent gain the prior month that was smaller than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.1 percent gain. Prices excluding food and energy rose more than forecast.

Walgreen Co. is among retailers that indicated 9.1 percent unemployment and higher gas and grocery bills have prompted shoppers to pare back purchases of less essential goods. Federal Reserve policy makers said the restraint on purchasing power may prove temporary as commodities prices start to decline, allowing the economy to pick up later this year.

“The quarter is going to be very slow,” said Christopher Low, the chief economist at FTN Financial in New York who correctly forecast household spending. “Th

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There are many good reasons to start your own business from the independence it can bring to your lifestyle to the noble role you can play in helping to grow the economy, create jobs and opportunity and improve the world through a great product or service. In fact, the hardest part about becoming an entrepreneur is figuring out where to start. Whether you have some knowledge already or are going on a vague notion that this option may be for you, we hope this roundup will be a place to start. Good luck on your journey!

Self-development

Celebrating Independence Day with entrepreneurship. As July 4 approaches, serial entrepreneur Amy Lindgren suggests one way to declare independence in your own life may be to start your own business. Whether your ultimate goal is improved control over finances or over your own life and the way you live it, starting either a full-time or side business may be a possible answer.

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