Business Columns

Organizers of a campaign to raise wages for direct-support workers brought their message to Springfield last week.

“Is my worker an employee or an independent contractor?” That is a common question asked by business owners.

When listening to all the 24/7 noise about the financial markets and especially this 50-month-long bull market for stocks, it always appears that the loudest noise has come from what I will call the perma-bears. They have been screaming that the sky is going to fall any minute for millions of minutes now – and yes, they will be right eventually, going down in the history books for calling the next big stock market collapse when it does eventually happen.

I read an interesting article recently by Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn where he wrote: “Opportunities do not float like clouds. They are firmly attached to individuals. If you’re looking for an opportunity, you’re really looking for people. If you’re evaluating an opportunity, you’re really evaluating people. If you’re trying to marshal resources to go after an opportunity, you’re really trying to enlist the support and involvement of other people. A company doesn’t offer you a job, people do. Opportunities flow through congregations of people. Those with good ideas and information tend to hang out with one another. You will get ahead if you can tap the circles that dish the best opportunities. In fact, it’s how people have gotten ahead fo