If you’re unemployed or looking to re-educate and change careers, you can identify training opportunities for green jobs by county or region.

If you have a business, the No Worker Left Behind program will assist you in moving into green industries — by providing consulting and employee training resources to facilitate the development of employee skills and expertise for green jobs within your company. Here’s a resource page containing links to several local and regional green initiatives. There’s a mailing list to receive information about green jobs in Michigan here.

What Dot Com bust?
In Internet Years, 2001 is the equivalent of the Silent Generation — everyone who was there is grateful that today is not yesterday — and everyone younger doesn’t remember why it was so bad. Google’s efforts come at the time when the venture capital industry has finally regrouped, and refunded after a several-years slump, flush with cash and ready to push investment into small technology startups with renewed vigor. Investments in venture funds topped $1.3 billion in the first half of 2007, up 30% from a year earlier. Venture capital funds are not so happy about the Google development: one partner at a large VC firm says the purchase of startups not long after making a small investment “very inconsistent with the venture community’s strategy” of providing guidance and making several rounds of investments.

The pool is definitely getting more crowded: according to the Wall Street Journal, Google is only the latest technology giant to seed startups with a venture capital arm, following Intel, Motorola, Comcast, and Disney’s Steamboat Ventures.

The king is dead, long live the king
Industry commentators point out that the venture capital model has seemed dead for a while now — Google may just be adding some nails to the coffin. Back in 2005, Paul Graham was ahead of the curve in describing what he calls the “venture capital squeeze”:

deals now want less and less money, because it’s getting so cheap to start a startup. The four causes: open source, which makes software free; Moore’s law, which makes hardware geometrically closer to free; the Web, which makes promotion free if you’re good; and better languages, which make development a lot cheaper.

According to Graham, Sarbanes-Oxley and other burdens of public company structure have made acquisition the preferred route for most startups to achieve success. Taking a small investment from a large company like Google allows the innovative engine of a startup company to be what it wants to be: a tightly-knit group of technology innovators who can keep working the way they like and focus on leveraging their creativity to explore and develop different alternative implementations of their core technology, rather than turning some part of their attention to transitioning to commercial product implementation.

Nice reference to the Crustacean Period, and a strong suggestion that here in Michigan we have to evolve our economy and the way we do business, lest we be annexed by Downwardly Mobilovia.

The book explores the nuances in “community” and “civil society” and how these connect to economic activity and regional heath. Bishop’s point: traditional civil society is still alive in many economically troubled cities and regions like Birmingham, Ala, Cincinnati and Grand Rapids, MI (ranking high in volunteerism, voting and churchgoing). A new civil society has arisen among the creative class in places like Seattle, New York City, Boston (and Ann Arbor) — where bike trails, clubs, museums and broad acceptance of same-sex couples flourish and bring people together in a cohesive community. The most community-cohesive places in America can be either the most economically stagnant parts of the country or the most vibrant. According to Bishop, we are sorting ourselves recursively into more and more cohesive communities based on our lifestyles and views, and this has huge consequences economically, and for politics (including the upcoming presidential election). Here’s the Amazon link for the book — The Big Sort is finally going to be on my nightstand this week.

• founded their $1,000,000-plus company, on average, at 39 years of age
• more than 90% have completed a college degree
• four times as likely than the general public to have attended an Ivy-League university
• spending an average of 16.4 years in employment, prior to founding their startup company
• only 37% have computer science or engineering degrees, and 3% have liberal arts degrees

The entrepreneurs surveyed were executives of companies started between 1995 and 2005 heading up companies with revenues of at least $1 million. http://tinyurl.com/4bzdld (Wall Street Journal Online — subscription required).

Interesting to me: no mention of the gender breakdown. While the Bill Gates stereotype of the ‘20-something college dropout who strikes cyber gold in his garage’ is apparently dead-wrong, I’d be interested to know whether the stereotype of the relative scarcity of women entrepreneurs is dead-right.

Proposals are included in the bill package to give tax breaks for the development of entertainment industry infrastructure in Michigan, and for Michigan-based job training related to film and video production. Assistance is to be made available to companies making movies, documentaries, TV series and specials, and for an assortment of new media ventures, including video game, Internet and interactive programming. The emphasis is on supporting feature and creative production: producers of live sporting events, game and award shows, and adult entertainment would not be eligible.

The proposed law is part of a sustained effort to welcome film and entertainment businesses and startup activity to the state. A law which took effect in January 2007 gives film and production companies a break on the Michigan state sales tax. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) initially sponsored that legislation. According to a Screen Magazine article commenting on the legislation and reporting on an interview with Huizenga, these bills “were crafted after seeing what other states, like Louisiana, Illinois and New York, had done to provide incentives.”

Business owners who are subject to the new services tax must register with the State of Michigan, Department of Treasury, and start collecting and paying the tax as of December 1, 2007. This applies to all business owners providing a service which is on the COMPLETE LIST of services subject to the new tax.

For business owners who are individuals WITHOUT EMPLOYEES, the State’s paperwork and online registration are extremely misleading, and following them may result in unnecessary legal and tax consequences.

No employees = no need for a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
If an individual doing business in Michigan is NOT going to have employees, he or she does not need to obtain a Federal Employer Identification Number, either for the federal government, or for the state. This is true whether the form of business is (A) a sole proprietor, (B) an independent contractor, or (C) a single-member LLC. (A single-member LLC without employees is a “disregarded entity” for federal tax purposes and the owner usually files federal income and self-employment taxes on Schedule C on a regular Form 1040. Once an LLC has multiple members or owners, it must have an FEIN).

An individual using any of these typical forms of business — (A), (B), or (C) — without employees — does not use an FEIN in filing taxes and returns with the IRS or other taxing authority, but uses his or her SSN as the TIN (Tax ID Number) instead. (PLEASE NOTE: this not specific or individual legal advice, but general information. Some tax situations are unusual. Business owners should always check with your tax attorney, tax accountant or tax preparer about a specific situation.)

Of course, at the time a business hires employees, the business owner DOES need to apply for an FEIN, and will need to advise the IRS and the State of Michigan’s Department of Treasury of this change.

Subcontractors are NOT employees
What if an individual who owns and operates a business, uses individuals or companies who provide services to their business, as subcontractors or independent service providers? Subcontractors and independent contractors are NOT employees, and individuals who are business owners in categories (A), (B) or (C) above do NOT need to get an FEIN for hiring these types of workers, or for registering with the State of Michigan for the new services tax. Business owners are frequently confused about whether they have employees, by the common use of the word “employ” to refer to the hiring of any worker, where the worker can be EITHER an employee OR a contractor.

Here’s an example — an individual business owner named “John Doe” who is a consultant providing consulting services (which are services subject to the new 6% Michigan services tax) may hire and “employ” an individual worker “Jane Deer” for any business purpose (and this could include using Jane Deer to provide consulting services through John Doe’s business to John Doe’s clients).

As long as the IRS and Michigan rules for independent contractors are met*, Jane Deer is in a contracting relationship with John Doe. Jane Deer is NOT an employee of John Doe. People, the media, government forms, and business contracts and agreements all use the word “employ” casually to refer to workers whether they are employees or contractors — do not confuse the use of the word “employ” with an employment relationship.

*NOTE: The tax and labor law consequences of incorrectly classifying a worker as an independent contractor — when the worker is really legally an employee — are dramatic. A business owner cannot make a worker into an independent contractor simply by calling the worker a “contractor” or by signing a contract stating that the worker is a contractor rather than an employee — the legal relationship is determined by applying a legal test to the work situation. State and federal tax penalties to a business owner for incorrect classification of a worker can be 40%-100% of the amount paid to the worker, or more.

If you have questions about whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, you need to consult with a business attorney or accountant immediately. (If you contact Arborlaw, I can help you with this legal issue.)

Individuals who are Michigan business owners should ALWAYS file the paper Form 518
I called the Michigan Department of Treasury’s Sales, Use and Withholding (SUW) Tax Division to confirm that an FEIN is not needed to register a business for the new services tax where the business owner is an individual with no employees.

As instructed by the Customer Service Representative at Treasury, here’s what an individual Michigan business owner WITH NO EMPLOYEES needs to do:

• Download the State of Michigan’s paper form for registering a new business. (Form 518 — downloadable as a PDF from the Michigan Treasury website). Do not use online registration if you are a sole proprietor or independent contractor with no employees.

• Leave line #1 (FEIN) of Form 518 blank. Do not fill this in with your Social Security Number (SSN) or another Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

• Check #13 (Use Tax) rather than Sales Tax. According to the Department of Treasury, all references on their website and in the press which state that the new tax is a “sales tax” applied to services, are incorrect. The State’s Department of Treasury considers the new services tax to be “use tax” and is handling filings and payments of the new services tax as a “use tax”. If you file for a number and check the box for “sales tax” rather than “use tax”, it will cause problems with your account with the SUW Department of Treasury.

• Complete Form 518 and send it in the mail.

Why individual business owners SHOULD NOT use online registration
Michigan’s online registration procedure does not let you register a business for the new services tax (or for sales or use tax) without an FEIN — even though an FEIN is not legally needed or required for sole proprietors, independent contractors, or single-member LLCs. The State of Michigan assumes that all new businesses will have employees and has simply not provided on its website for online registration for businesses without employees.

Reasons to avoid getting a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
Individual business owners who are never going to have employees (even if they use independent contractors) usually want to avoid getting an FEIN. Having an unnecessary FEIN will create another official connection between the individual taxpayer and the IRS — that of an employer needing to file withholding tax returns and payments.

Applying for an unneeded FEIN will cause the IRS to generate and send employment-related quarterly tax forms to the taxpayer via mail. The business owner will then be required to file information returns quarterly and annually (941’s and 940’s) about the “employer’s share” of federal withholding taxes — which in the case of an individual owning a business with no employees, will always be zero. Individual business owners have very thin resources and do not need this additional administrative burden.

Form 518 does not require an individual to have a business name
Individuals who are business owners filing for the new services tax (or for the sales or use tax) also do not have to file for an assumed name or business name for their business with the county clerk — even though Form 518 also asks for this. It is perfectly acceptable for a business owner to do business under his or her own legal name.

Don’t trust Form 518 OR Michigan’s online registration process for new businesses
The Department of Treasury’s Form 518 is very poorly written — but Michigan’s “streamlined” online registration process for new businesses is even less complete — it assumes all businesses are alike for tax purposes. Since most business owners registering new businesses do NOT have employees, both the paper form and the online registration form are misleading, and will cause many business owners to file incorrectly for an unneeded FEIN.

Needless to say, the State of Michigan is very unprepared for this new tax. Due to the overwhelming opposition, the services tax may eventually be repealed, but unfortunately all service providers covered by the COMPLETE LIST of services listed in the text of the new law must register and prepare to collect and pay the tax, because the liability starts on December 1.

This article contains general information and does not constitute specific legal advice for any particular individual or company. Readers should consult with a business attorney, accountant or tax preparer to determine what action to take in a specific situation.

Some excellent examples of the raw commercial power of lifestyle branding can be found in Sanrio’s billion-dollar-per-year merchandising of HELLO KITTY® and BADTZ-MARU® and other trademarks over their wide variety of well known character-products — and, of course, the equally ubiquitous DISNEY® and STAR WARS® themed merchandise . . . [a]ll of this economic activity is only possible through comprehensive branding, merchandising and licensing campaigns — and these in turn are only possible through a comprehensive legal program emphasizing aggressive trademark and service mark registration and protection prior to mass marketing and distribution, and including active policing and enforcement of correct trademark and service mark use by business, by the public, and in the media.

While new tactics for capitalizing on brands and logos come and go (metatags!) the general advice for startups and entrepreneurs is still the same: Trademark early and often.

Details are announced in this May 15 post.

Thanks to Ann Arbor SPARK for the newsfeed.

I’m calling this program “Lemon-A-Squared” because I know there are Pfizer people out there who can make lemons out of lemonade. Here’s the fine print: “Lemon-A-Squared” applies to legal services for company formation only. Applicants must pay all filing fees to governmental agencies in full. Related business name, trademark, and copyright services are not included in the pro bono grant; neither are standard-form agreements typically needed by new business clients such as consulting agreements, end-user licenses and other licensing agreements, web development agreements, and independent contractor and subcontractor agreements. Let’s stoke the engine of capitalism!

If you meet these qualfications and would like to apply for a “Lemon-A-Squared” pro bono legal services grant, contact the law firm.

When someone asks what you do, chances are they really don’t want to know what you do. That’s because the elevator speech question is really about people being people. The question is about someone needing something to break the ice.

This brings to mind the phrase “you can win the battle but still lose the war.” Rather than blurting out your elevator pitch, or trying to evoke the other person’s elevator pitch in one sentence or less, try something personal (and shockingly uncommon) that shows genuine interest, like “Are you the new guys in the building down the hall?”