Feed Editor 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT The ANLA NewsBrief provides industry-specific news and information to nursery and landscape professionals nationwide. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps industry professionals informed of topics that impact their business. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/anla/rss.xml en Last year, the federal Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) launched a record number of I-9/immigration compliance audits. ICE audits are ongoing. Now, the Department of Labor has followed suit, and has deployed 250 new wage & hour investigators targeting employers. Users of the H-2 temporary and seasonal worker programs are especially being targeted, but all green industry employers should prepare. Click here for freshly updated compliance tips from ANLA. 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2a5c90f230c 1 Millions of people log onto social media Web sites daily, prompting such varied organizations as Gaithersburg-based MedImmune, the American Red Cross and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to follow. But simply creating an account on Facebook or Twitter rarely equates to being plugged in. 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2a5cc7d8924 2 The National Retail Federation announced that it welcomed a House-Senate conference committee's decision to include a fix for rapidly rising debit card swipe fees in the final version of financial services reform legislation. "The conference committee has struck a blow for small retailers and their customers," NRF SVP and general counsel Mallory Duncan said. 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c290acba41bc 3 With preferences for carrying and using cash continuing to drop, more consumers expect merchants to accept debit or credit cards for payment. But not all merchants do, especially those that lack physical storefronts. Some industry insiders believe mobile-based products might help encourage them to accept electronic payments. But which is better? Cell phones with card swipes or payment-software applications that run on smart phones? 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c28c5a9050cc 4 When Jan Spencer destroyed his suburban driveway, turning it upside down to create a water feature, and create room for a permaculture garden, it must have been hard to predict the chain reaction that would follow. Having now planted a (semi-successful) edible garden on his carport roof, established some serious rainwater harvesting infrastructure, and ripped out his laurel hedge in favor of a food forest, the man is moving on to create similar change in the rest of his neighborhood. 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2909a454815 5 New studies by the Hay Group and the Corporate Leadership Council, which were cited in the Economist, note that employees are getting fed up. Factors include overwork, underpayment, and underappreciation. As a result, as many as six in 10 are looking to exit, according to the Hay Group. Some 85 percent of those not looking are staying still because the job market remains weak. So what's a manager to do? 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c28e8d318ddb 6 Chief executive officers in the U.S. turned more optimistic in the second quarter, expecting stronger sales and additional hiring in the next six months, a survey showed. The Business Roundtable's economic outlook index rose to 94.6 in the April-to-June period, the highest level since the second quarter of 2006, the Washington-based group said today. Readings higher than 50 are consistent with economic expansion, and the measure increased from 88.9 in the first quarter. 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2a5d105e442 7 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that USDA is accepting grant applications to assist rural businesses and create job opportunities through cooperative development centers. "Cooperative development centers create jobs by providing rural businesses owners with technical and managerial skills to improve their operations," Vilsack said. "The Obama Administration is working to create a path of opportunity for all hard-working Americans to enter the middle class, and strengthen small and mid-sized communities. These centers further that effort." 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c29432a9ddb5 8 Consumers looking to go "green," might assume all things organic are better for the environment; however, according to a new study, organic pesticides may not necessarily be as environmentally-friendly as conventional ones. Researchers at the University of Guelph compared the environmental impact of six pesticides, four conventional and two organic, used to kill soybean aphids. Aphides are small sap sucking lice insects, and the main pest affecting soybean crops across North America. 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2949357f34c 9 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2941042ce3a 10 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c29ecf99bc86 11 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c294782128a2 12 30 Jun 2010 08:01:22 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c29ecb080b9b 13