Our Very Own Running Man

We are suckers for a good charity, especially one for children.  So we were delighted to find out one of our LE friends, Gerhard, ran 163 miles for one such charity.  That was 52 hours of non-stop running from Cocoa Beach to Clearwater Beach, starting Friday night and ending at midnight on Sunday.

Volunteers were set up the whole way to run or bike with him for several miles at a time and also a support vehicle to carry all the provisions that he may need, including rain gear for when it started raining on Sunday afternoon. 

When he finished at midnight on Sunday it was really windy, cold & wet conditions on Clearwater Beach.  The weather was so bad, cruise ships were not allowed back into the Port of Tampa on Sunday as they were worried they wouldn’t safely make it under the bridge they pass through to get back to port. 

He was doing this to raise money for the Sunshine Foundation whose sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children, ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to the financial strain that child's illness may cause.

If anyone would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so by either

Making checks payable to Sunshine Foundation

Mail to

Gerhard Treviranus

1731 Vintage St

Kissimmee, FL 34746

Or going online to www.sunshinefoundation.org/donations click on Donate Now and reference ‘Gerhard’s Run’ in the Notes/comments section of the donation page.

Run Gerhard, Run!

’Tis the season for Scammers!

Do you ever feel like everyone is out to get you?  Well, don’t dismiss that feeling all the time.

There’s a new scam out that is aimed at business owners.  The email you receive will start out with this:

Do not disregard this message. Your email address was provided by the
Florida Division of Corporations regarding YOUR COMPANY’S NAME.

NOTICE

ANNUAL REPORT ORDER NOW DUE:

Then the email will go on to list your federal tax ID number and lots of other personal information.

It even goes so far as to say that, “Your email address was supplied to us by the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.”  This is not true!

When one of our clients called this morning to ask what this was, we immediately took action and called the Department of State.  They have NOTHING to do with this company.  Another clue was the fact that it’s too early to even file annual reports.

This is a SCAM and should be disregarded.

The real truth?  You DO need to file annual reports after the 1st of the year, but not through Arvitas.  Annual reports can only be filed through SUNBIZ.ORG.

Ever have a question about something like this, call us.  We are here for you.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the gals at Licenses, Etc.!

Our holiday gift to you:

Installed and Honored, Congrats to ALL!

Congratulations to those of you honored at last week’s Collier Building Industry Association Installation held at the Olde Cypress Club in Naples, FL.

Thomas Wegwert is now officially the 2011 President of the CBIA.  All the board members and all council members (for the Sales & Marketing Council, Remodelers’ Council and the Business Builder Council) were installed along with Tom.  Our very own Lisa Adams was one of the associate members to be installed as Secretary of the Sales & Marketing Council.

In addition to the installation, several well deserved awards were distributed to members.  Congratulations to them especially for the recognition they received.  It is because of their dedication to the local building community that our association continues to lead the nation.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

·         Builder of the Year:  Thomas Lykos of The Lykos Group, Inc.

·         Associate of the Year:  Stacey Herring of Fifth Third Bank

·         Remodeler of the Year:  Bill Varian of Varian Construction Company, Inc.

We are thankful for all of those that work to build our organization and keep the CBIA strong. 

Congratulations, November licensees!

Congratulations to the following Licenses, Etc. clients who were approved in November:

• Matthew O'Brien of Wesley Chapel, FL.
• Ray Orasi at ASAP Remodeling, Inc. of Largo, FL.
• Steve Randel at S&R Quality Construction, Inc. of Islamorada, FL.
• Bryan Meklir at BBMK Contracting of Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• Melissa Kuzak at Advanced Roof Systems, Inc. of Wellington, FL.
• Isabelo Rodriguez at Accutilities, LLC of Miramar, FL.
• Christopher Hedges at Hedges Heating & Air, Inc. of Riverview, FL.
• Jordan Poppa at Poppa Construction of Naples, FL.
• Jeremy Smith at JKM Building Services, Inc. of Middleburg, FL.
• Robert Sarduy at Kingdom Air Conditioning, Inc. of Miami, FL.
• Robert D. Smith at Specialized Roofing and Contracting, Inc. of Largo, FL.
• David Hobgood at David Hobgood Construction, LLC of North Palm Beach, FL.
• John El-Koury at Freewheeler Construction Corp of Islamorada, FL.
• Gene Yacobacci at Radon Mitigation Services, LLC DBA RMS Environmental Construction Services of Punta Gorda, FL.
• Richard Ivans at FKI Logistex, Inc. of St. Louis, MO.
• Brian Panter at Unique Impressions of South Florida, Inc. of Cooper City, FL.
• Pamela Fajardo at Home Renovation Group, LLC of Cape Coral, FL.
• Casey Dooley at Mike Dooley, Inc. of Tavernier, FL.
• Marc Devisse at Tri-Town Construction, LLC of Fort Myers, FL.
• Maynard Baker at National Electric Contracting, Inc. of Tampa, FL.
• Jim Houser at Trim by Knotts, Inc. of Bonita Springs, FL.
• Gerhard Treviranus at Gerhard, Inc. of St. Cloud, FL.
• Jeff Puterbaugh at J & L Refrigeration & AC, Inc. of Naples, FL.  

We're also pleased to share the newly created or revamped Social Media Networking pages for these fine businesses we get to call clients:
 
Tri-Town Construction:

• Facebook:  www.facebook.com/TriTownConstruction
• Twitter:  http://twitter.com/tritownconstrct

Kitchens by Clay:

• Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/KitchensbyClay
• Twitter:  http://twitter.com/KitchensbyClay 

KleanPros

• LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/company/kleanpros-inc.
• Manta: http://www.manta.com/c/mtg6wzy/klean-pros-inc
• Merchant Circle: http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/KleanPros.877-495-5326

Be sure to follow them all on Facebook and Twitter. Would you like to be set up on Social Media Networking sites, too? Call Lisa at 239.963.5369.

Winding Down the Year

As the end of 2010 approaches, there are several things to do for your business to finish out the year and prepare for the new one:

Talk to your CPA - Find out if there is anything you need to do to cut your tax bill. December may be your last chance to take advantage of special programs with tax benefits.

Check deadlines - Make sure none of your county or state licenses, permits or other requirements don't expire on 12/31 and if they do, take care of it now before the holidays take over and you forget. Also check on anything that expires in January so you can be prepared. Florida Annual Reports aren't due until 5/1, but you can start filing on 1/1. Need help tracking all your deadlines? Check out our License & Business Maintenance Services.

Review your goals for 2010 - What did you hit? What did you miss? Why did you miss them? What can you still accomplish in December? What can you do differently next year?

Prepare your goals for 2011 - Create your plans of action while you're at it. If you want to boost revenues by 20%, how are you going to do it? Create a monthly schedule so you can be working on these goals every month.

Plan your marketing and advertising for 2011 - How and where are you going to advertise? What kind of special promos are you going to offer? Create your plan and budget - this is NOT the place to be cutting back. You can't increase revenues without new customers. Don't forget to include the most cost effective marketing resource - Social Media Marketing. It's how businesses keep in touch with prospects and customers these days. Find out more about our Social Media Marketing Services.

Get your license! - If you've been procrastinating on a new license you've already tested for, what are you waiting for? All the fees and expenses you've paid so far might be tax deductible. Why not finish the process? If you're testing in December, you can still get your application submitted - and possibly approved - before the end of the year. Another goal accomplished! If you haven't tested but there is a license you want to obtain, start working on it. Register for the next exam (February), contact the schools, get your books and talk to us. There's no time like right now to get your license!

We all know how December turns chaotic with the holidays, vacations, employees on break, special closures, parties, etc. And then January blows right by as we recover from the holidays, catch up on what didn't get done in December and prepare for the new year. By being a little proactive, you can set yourself up to finish 2010 on a high note and start 2011 with a bang!

Thank You to Our Veterans

Regardless of the economy, regardless of how broken our country sometimes seems, regardless of how much we struggle right now, we still live in the greatest country on Earth. We can still have hope. We can continue to fight the good fight. We can keep working hard to make it through and eventually succeed. In many parts of the world, this is far from true. Only we have the American spirit. Only we can keep it alive!

Thank you to our veterans and active-duty military personnel for all of this. Thank you for protecting us so we can live safely. Thank you for protecting our American dream. Thank you for instilling and reminding us of that American spirit.

If you don't believe there are any real heroes anymore, you only need to walk into a VA hospital. Your belief will be renewed. Thank a veteran today! Better yet...hug one!

The gals at Licenses, Etc. each have a personal connection - as in family - who are active duty or recent veterans. We appreciate every one of you!