Solar, wind energy a missed opportunity for Cuba - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;

RAMON GORDO, Cuba (AP) — The sleepy country setting that farmer Juan Alonso calls home hasn’t changed much since he was born 74 years ago, with the two rustic wooden houses nestled among palm trees against a backdrop of green hills and clear skies.

Incongruously perched atop the homes are the only visual clues that his 150-acre (60-hectare) farm inhabits the 21st century: the gleaming solar panels that revolutionized the lives of Alonso and his family.

‘‘Just imagine, you toil all day in the field and then when you get home you have to grope around doing things with a gas lantern, with a torch to illuminate the patio at night,’’ Alonso said, describing life during decades past. Now his family has electric lights, a television and a DVD player. ‘‘It’s a change as radical as night to day.’’

Cuba is proud of its success in using alternative energy to bring electricity to isolated hamlets like Ramon Gordo, 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Havana. Some 2,000 schools and at least 400 hospitals are lit up by solar panels in rural areas not plugged into the national grid. But scientists say the island, blessed with year-around sunshine and sea breezes but plagued with chronic energy shortages, could be doing much more on the national level, and that its communist government is missing a golden opportunity to reduce its dependence on subsidized oil from uber-ally Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is sick with cancer.

It is vital that Cuba expand its energy horizons ‘‘so it doesn’t remain at the mercy of political changes in the region that could affect it adversely,’’ said Judith Cherni, an alternative energy expert at the Imperial College London Center for Environmental Policy.

The urgency to find alternative energy sources was driven home last month when an exploratory offshore oil well drilled by Spanish company Repsol turned out to be dry, a setback to Cuba’s hopes for a big strike that could be a boon for the limping economy, though exploration continues.

Despite recent essays by revolutionary hero Fidel Castro on impending global catastrophe due to climate change, Cuba gets just 3.8 percent of its electricity from renewables, a pittance even by regional standards and far behind global leaders.

In the nearby Dominican Republic, where a 2007 law establishes tax breaks for investment in alternative energy, renewables account for 14 percent of electrical generation. Germany, the gold standard for high-tech green energy, gets 20 percent of its considerably larger electrical consumption from renewables, mostly from wind.

The reality in Cuba today is that wind and solar energy sources are almost exclusively for local consumption and there has been little attempt to expand them to augment the national grid, which is powered mostly by fossil fuels. Scientists say the country lacks the investment and expertise for such a move.

Around the region, examples abound for Cuba to emulate. Central American nations are using hydroelectric facilities to harness the power of rivers. Caribbean islands are passing laws stimulating foreign investment in renewables. Wind and solar farms are popping up where viable. Faraway in Europe, and nearby in the United States, individuals with solar panels can get paid for any extra energy they generate that goes back into the grid.

‘‘Possessing apt natural resources to generate energies is a tremendous boon, but that alone is not enough to create energy,’’ said Cherni.

Another obstacle to boosting renewable energy is a stubbornly fixed mindset that equates development with oil.

Memories are still vivid here of the ‘‘Special Period’’ of the 1990s, when the island’s economy tanked with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ushering in years of hunger, prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages. People thumbed rides to work on the back of bicycles as cars sat idle and empty-tanked.

To cope, Cuba began installing its first solar panels, building small hydroelectric plants, restoring old windmills and extracting gas from animal waste.

But after Chavez’s election in 1998 in oil-rich Venezuela, Cuba once again embraced fossil fuels wholeheartedly with the appearance of a new benefactor and ideological ally willing to help keep the lights on. Today Caracas provides nearly half Cuba’s petroleum needs, shipping about 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island on beneficial terms while Cuba sends doctors and technical advisers to Venezuela.

‘‘Cuba is a nation that is dependent on oil, yes, but in addition the culture of its leaders and technicians, of its common citizens, is one of fossil fuels,’’ said Alejandro Montesinos, a renewable energy expert at Cubasolar, the island’s chief NGO for sustainable energy.Continued...

View the original article here

Solar, wind energy a missed opportunity for Cuba - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;

RAMON GORDO, Cuba (AP) — The sleepy country setting that farmer Juan Alonso calls home hasn’t changed much since he was born 74 years ago, with the two rustic wooden houses nestled among palm trees against a backdrop of green hills and clear skies.

Incongruously perched atop the homes are the only visual clues that his 150-acre (60-hectare) farm inhabits the 21st century: the gleaming solar panels that revolutionized the lives of Alonso and his family.

‘‘Just imagine, you toil all day in the field and then when you get home you have to grope around doing things with a gas lantern, with a torch to illuminate the patio at night,’’ Alonso said, describing life during decades past. Now his family has electric lights, a television and a DVD player. ‘‘It’s a change as radical as night to day.’’

Cuba is proud of its success in using alternative energy to bring electricity to isolated hamlets like Ramon Gordo, 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Havana. Some 2,000 schools and at least 400 hospitals are lit up by solar panels in rural areas not plugged into the national grid. But scientists say the island, blessed with year-around sunshine and sea breezes but plagued with chronic energy shortages, could be doing much more on the national level, and that its communist government is missing a golden opportunity to reduce its dependence on subsidized oil from uber-ally Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is sick with cancer.

It is vital that Cuba expand its energy horizons ‘‘so it doesn’t remain at the mercy of political changes in the region that could affect it adversely,’’ said Judith Cherni, an alternative energy expert at the Imperial College London Center for Environmental Policy.

The urgency to find alternative energy sources was driven home last month when an exploratory offshore oil well drilled by Spanish company Repsol turned out to be dry, a setback to Cuba’s hopes for a big strike that could be a boon for the limping economy, though exploration continues.

Despite recent essays by revolutionary hero Fidel Castro on impending global catastrophe due to climate change, Cuba gets just 3.8 percent of its electricity from renewables, a pittance even by regional standards and far behind global leaders.

In the nearby Dominican Republic, where a 2007 law establishes tax breaks for investment in alternative energy, renewables account for 14 percent of electrical generation. Germany, the gold standard for high-tech green energy, gets 20 percent of its considerably larger electrical consumption from renewables, mostly from wind.

The reality in Cuba today is that wind and solar energy sources are almost exclusively for local consumption and there has been little attempt to expand them to augment the national grid, which is powered mostly by fossil fuels. Scientists say the country lacks the investment and expertise for such a move.

Around the region, examples abound for Cuba to emulate. Central American nations are using hydroelectric facilities to harness the power of rivers. Caribbean islands are passing laws stimulating foreign investment in renewables. Wind and solar farms are popping up where viable. Faraway in Europe, and nearby in the United States, individuals with solar panels can get paid for any extra energy they generate that goes back into the grid.

‘‘Possessing apt natural resources to generate energies is a tremendous boon, but that alone is not enough to create energy,’’ said Cherni.

Another obstacle to boosting renewable energy is a stubbornly fixed mindset that equates development with oil.

Memories are still vivid here of the ‘‘Special Period’’ of the 1990s, when the island’s economy tanked with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ushering in years of hunger, prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages. People thumbed rides to work on the back of bicycles as cars sat idle and empty-tanked.

To cope, Cuba began installing its first solar panels, building small hydroelectric plants, restoring old windmills and extracting gas from animal waste.

But after Chavez’s election in 1998 in oil-rich Venezuela, Cuba once again embraced fossil fuels wholeheartedly with the appearance of a new benefactor and ideological ally willing to help keep the lights on. Today Caracas provides nearly half Cuba’s petroleum needs, shipping about 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island on beneficial terms while Cuba sends doctors and technical advisers to Venezuela.

‘‘Cuba is a nation that is dependent on oil, yes, but in addition the culture of its leaders and technicians, of its common citizens, is one of fossil fuels,’’ said Alejandro Montesinos, a renewable energy expert at Cubasolar, the island’s chief NGO for sustainable energy.Continued...

View the original article here

Solar, wind energy a missed opportunity for Cuba - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;

RAMON GORDO, Cuba (AP) — The sleepy country setting that farmer Juan Alonso calls home hasn’t changed much since he was born 74 years ago, with the two rustic wooden houses nestled among palm trees against a backdrop of green hills and clear skies.

Incongruously perched atop the homes are the only visual clues that his 150-acre (60-hectare) farm inhabits the 21st century: the gleaming solar panels that revolutionized the lives of Alonso and his family.

‘‘Just imagine, you toil all day in the field and then when you get home you have to grope around doing things with a gas lantern, with a torch to illuminate the patio at night,’’ Alonso said, describing life during decades past. Now his family has electric lights, a television and a DVD player. ‘‘It’s a change as radical as night to day.’’

Cuba is proud of its success in using alternative energy to bring electricity to isolated hamlets like Ramon Gordo, 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Havana. Some 2,000 schools and at least 400 hospitals are lit up by solar panels in rural areas not plugged into the national grid. But scientists say the island, blessed with year-around sunshine and sea breezes but plagued with chronic energy shortages, could be doing much more on the national level, and that its communist government is missing a golden opportunity to reduce its dependence on subsidized oil from uber-ally Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is sick with cancer.

It is vital that Cuba expand its energy horizons ‘‘so it doesn’t remain at the mercy of political changes in the region that could affect it adversely,’’ said Judith Cherni, an alternative energy expert at the Imperial College London Center for Environmental Policy.

The urgency to find alternative energy sources was driven home last month when an exploratory offshore oil well drilled by Spanish company Repsol turned out to be dry, a setback to Cuba’s hopes for a big strike that could be a boon for the limping economy, though exploration continues.

Despite recent essays by revolutionary hero Fidel Castro on impending global catastrophe due to climate change, Cuba gets just 3.8 percent of its electricity from renewables, a pittance even by regional standards and far behind global leaders.

In the nearby Dominican Republic, where a 2007 law establishes tax breaks for investment in alternative energy, renewables account for 14 percent of electrical generation. Germany, the gold standard for high-tech green energy, gets 20 percent of its considerably larger electrical consumption from renewables, mostly from wind.

The reality in Cuba today is that wind and solar energy sources are almost exclusively for local consumption and there has been little attempt to expand them to augment the national grid, which is powered mostly by fossil fuels. Scientists say the country lacks the investment and expertise for such a move.

Around the region, examples abound for Cuba to emulate. Central American nations are using hydroelectric facilities to harness the power of rivers. Caribbean islands are passing laws stimulating foreign investment in renewables. Wind and solar farms are popping up where viable. Faraway in Europe, and nearby in the United States, individuals with solar panels can get paid for any extra energy they generate that goes back into the grid.

‘‘Possessing apt natural resources to generate energies is a tremendous boon, but that alone is not enough to create energy,’’ said Cherni.

Another obstacle to boosting renewable energy is a stubbornly fixed mindset that equates development with oil.

Memories are still vivid here of the ‘‘Special Period’’ of the 1990s, when the island’s economy tanked with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ushering in years of hunger, prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages. People thumbed rides to work on the back of bicycles as cars sat idle and empty-tanked.

To cope, Cuba began installing its first solar panels, building small hydroelectric plants, restoring old windmills and extracting gas from animal waste.

But after Chavez’s election in 1998 in oil-rich Venezuela, Cuba once again embraced fossil fuels wholeheartedly with the appearance of a new benefactor and ideological ally willing to help keep the lights on. Today Caracas provides nearly half Cuba’s petroleum needs, shipping about 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island on beneficial terms while Cuba sends doctors and technical advisers to Venezuela.

‘‘Cuba is a nation that is dependent on oil, yes, but in addition the culture of its leaders and technicians, of its common citizens, is one of fossil fuels,’’ said Alejandro Montesinos, a renewable energy expert at Cubasolar, the island’s chief NGO for sustainable energy.Continued...

View the original article here

Solar, wind energy a missed opportunity for Cuba - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;

RAMON GORDO, Cuba (AP) — The sleepy country setting that farmer Juan Alonso calls home hasn’t changed much since he was born 74 years ago, with the two rustic wooden houses nestled among palm trees against a backdrop of green hills and clear skies.

Incongruously perched atop the homes are the only visual clues that his 150-acre (60-hectare) farm inhabits the 21st century: the gleaming solar panels that revolutionized the lives of Alonso and his family.

‘‘Just imagine, you toil all day in the field and then when you get home you have to grope around doing things with a gas lantern, with a torch to illuminate the patio at night,’’ Alonso said, describing life during decades past. Now his family has electric lights, a television and a DVD player. ‘‘It’s a change as radical as night to day.’’

Cuba is proud of its success in using alternative energy to bring electricity to isolated hamlets like Ramon Gordo, 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Havana. Some 2,000 schools and at least 400 hospitals are lit up by solar panels in rural areas not plugged into the national grid. But scientists say the island, blessed with year-around sunshine and sea breezes but plagued with chronic energy shortages, could be doing much more on the national level, and that its communist government is missing a golden opportunity to reduce its dependence on subsidized oil from uber-ally Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is sick with cancer.

It is vital that Cuba expand its energy horizons ‘‘so it doesn’t remain at the mercy of political changes in the region that could affect it adversely,’’ said Judith Cherni, an alternative energy expert at the Imperial College London Center for Environmental Policy.

The urgency to find alternative energy sources was driven home last month when an exploratory offshore oil well drilled by Spanish company Repsol turned out to be dry, a setback to Cuba’s hopes for a big strike that could be a boon for the limping economy, though exploration continues.

Despite recent essays by revolutionary hero Fidel Castro on impending global catastrophe due to climate change, Cuba gets just 3.8 percent of its electricity from renewables, a pittance even by regional standards and far behind global leaders.

In the nearby Dominican Republic, where a 2007 law establishes tax breaks for investment in alternative energy, renewables account for 14 percent of electrical generation. Germany, the gold standard for high-tech green energy, gets 20 percent of its considerably larger electrical consumption from renewables, mostly from wind.

The reality in Cuba today is that wind and solar energy sources are almost exclusively for local consumption and there has been little attempt to expand them to augment the national grid, which is powered mostly by fossil fuels. Scientists say the country lacks the investment and expertise for such a move.

Around the region, examples abound for Cuba to emulate. Central American nations are using hydroelectric facilities to harness the power of rivers. Caribbean islands are passing laws stimulating foreign investment in renewables. Wind and solar farms are popping up where viable. Faraway in Europe, and nearby in the United States, individuals with solar panels can get paid for any extra energy they generate that goes back into the grid.

‘‘Possessing apt natural resources to generate energies is a tremendous boon, but that alone is not enough to create energy,’’ said Cherni.

Another obstacle to boosting renewable energy is a stubbornly fixed mindset that equates development with oil.

Memories are still vivid here of the ‘‘Special Period’’ of the 1990s, when the island’s economy tanked with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ushering in years of hunger, prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages. People thumbed rides to work on the back of bicycles as cars sat idle and empty-tanked.

To cope, Cuba began installing its first solar panels, building small hydroelectric plants, restoring old windmills and extracting gas from animal waste.

But after Chavez’s election in 1998 in oil-rich Venezuela, Cuba once again embraced fossil fuels wholeheartedly with the appearance of a new benefactor and ideological ally willing to help keep the lights on. Today Caracas provides nearly half Cuba’s petroleum needs, shipping about 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island on beneficial terms while Cuba sends doctors and technical advisers to Venezuela.

‘‘Cuba is a nation that is dependent on oil, yes, but in addition the culture of its leaders and technicians, of its common citizens, is one of fossil fuels,’’ said Alejandro Montesinos, a renewable energy expert at Cubasolar, the island’s chief NGO for sustainable energy.Continued...

View the original article here

Solar, wind energy a missed opportunity for Cuba - Boston Globe

var archivedState=0;

RAMON GORDO, Cuba (AP) — The sleepy country setting that farmer Juan Alonso calls home hasn’t changed much since he was born 74 years ago, with the two rustic wooden houses nestled among palm trees against a backdrop of green hills and clear skies.

Incongruously perched atop the homes are the only visual clues that his 150-acre (60-hectare) farm inhabits the 21st century: the gleaming solar panels that revolutionized the lives of Alonso and his family.

‘‘Just imagine, you toil all day in the field and then when you get home you have to grope around doing things with a gas lantern, with a torch to illuminate the patio at night,’’ Alonso said, describing life during decades past. Now his family has electric lights, a television and a DVD player. ‘‘It’s a change as radical as night to day.’’

Cuba is proud of its success in using alternative energy to bring electricity to isolated hamlets like Ramon Gordo, 90 miles (150 kilometers) west of Havana. Some 2,000 schools and at least 400 hospitals are lit up by solar panels in rural areas not plugged into the national grid. But scientists say the island, blessed with year-around sunshine and sea breezes but plagued with chronic energy shortages, could be doing much more on the national level, and that its communist government is missing a golden opportunity to reduce its dependence on subsidized oil from uber-ally Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez is sick with cancer.

It is vital that Cuba expand its energy horizons ‘‘so it doesn’t remain at the mercy of political changes in the region that could affect it adversely,’’ said Judith Cherni, an alternative energy expert at the Imperial College London Center for Environmental Policy.

The urgency to find alternative energy sources was driven home last month when an exploratory offshore oil well drilled by Spanish company Repsol turned out to be dry, a setback to Cuba’s hopes for a big strike that could be a boon for the limping economy, though exploration continues.

Despite recent essays by revolutionary hero Fidel Castro on impending global catastrophe due to climate change, Cuba gets just 3.8 percent of its electricity from renewables, a pittance even by regional standards and far behind global leaders.

In the nearby Dominican Republic, where a 2007 law establishes tax breaks for investment in alternative energy, renewables account for 14 percent of electrical generation. Germany, the gold standard for high-tech green energy, gets 20 percent of its considerably larger electrical consumption from renewables, mostly from wind.

The reality in Cuba today is that wind and solar energy sources are almost exclusively for local consumption and there has been little attempt to expand them to augment the national grid, which is powered mostly by fossil fuels. Scientists say the country lacks the investment and expertise for such a move.

Around the region, examples abound for Cuba to emulate. Central American nations are using hydroelectric facilities to harness the power of rivers. Caribbean islands are passing laws stimulating foreign investment in renewables. Wind and solar farms are popping up where viable. Faraway in Europe, and nearby in the United States, individuals with solar panels can get paid for any extra energy they generate that goes back into the grid.

‘‘Possessing apt natural resources to generate energies is a tremendous boon, but that alone is not enough to create energy,’’ said Cherni.

Another obstacle to boosting renewable energy is a stubbornly fixed mindset that equates development with oil.

Memories are still vivid here of the ‘‘Special Period’’ of the 1990s, when the island’s economy tanked with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ushering in years of hunger, prolonged blackouts and fuel shortages. People thumbed rides to work on the back of bicycles as cars sat idle and empty-tanked.

To cope, Cuba began installing its first solar panels, building small hydroelectric plants, restoring old windmills and extracting gas from animal waste.

But after Chavez’s election in 1998 in oil-rich Venezuela, Cuba once again embraced fossil fuels wholeheartedly with the appearance of a new benefactor and ideological ally willing to help keep the lights on. Today Caracas provides nearly half Cuba’s petroleum needs, shipping about 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island on beneficial terms while Cuba sends doctors and technical advisers to Venezuela.

‘‘Cuba is a nation that is dependent on oil, yes, but in addition the culture of its leaders and technicians, of its common citizens, is one of fossil fuels,’’ said Alejandro Montesinos, a renewable energy expert at Cubasolar, the island’s chief NGO for sustainable energy.Continued...

View the original article here

Entrepreneur dumps business for basketball - Globe and Mail

The latest news and information for entrepreneurs from across the web universe, brought to you by the Report on Small Business team. Follow us on Twitter @GlobeSmallBiz

Same skills, different game

Serial entrepreneur Adam House has set aside his business plans to pursue a career as a professional basketball player, according to a feature story at xconomy.com.

The Rochester Razorbacks may not be an NBA team, but becoming a shooting guard in the Premier Basketball League is no easy feat. Most of its players hail from Division 1 U.S. college teams.

The 33-year-old grew up in Birmingham, Mich., just northwest of Detroit, where he played high-school basketball. Mr. House also worked at Rock Financial, a Quicken Loans company, where he was schooled by Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He left a small liberal arts school in Kentucky after his freshman year and got a job at a direct marketing firm in Florida. In 1998, he formed a startup that created direct marketing campaigns for financial services companies, building it into a multimillion-dollar business.

After selling a later business, mobile services platform Velocitude, to Akamai in mid-2010, he was weary of the start-up game and turned to basketball, uprooting his family and moving to Rochester.

Mr. House has yet to play in any of the team's first eight games, saying he needs to get up to speed and in game condition.

“I think it is just bringing the same leadership that you do to a start-up to a team.”

Liberia makes small-business inroads

Entrepreneurs working to create jobs in Liberia face a business environment rife with challenges: poor infrastructure, expensive power and, for some, prohibitively high taxes. Despite the hurdles, Isobel Coleman writes in a blog post for Council on Foreign Relations, there's no shortage of effort or ideas. A business incubator in downtown Monrovia is funded with help from the Soros Economic Development Foundation, and the government has been "working hard" to get credit to small and medium-sized companies seeking loans. Goldman Sachs has kick-started the 10,000 Women initiative: a free four-month program for Liberian women who aspire to launch their own ventures. They learn about finance and accounting, and receive access to computers and a resource library with help from the program’s administrators.

What's in a winery name?

A new study conducted by Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., looks at the effects of different winery names on sales. The study, conducted by associate marketing professor Antonia Mantonakis, set out to discover whether a name has any effect on people’s perception of quality. Turns out, it does. Test subjects were given the same wine, but in two groups, with two different winery names. One group was told the sample was from easy-to- pronounce Titakis Winery, while the other veered toward the tongue-tied side, Tselepou Winery. Both names are Greek, both have three syllables, but pre-testing showed Tselepou was tougher to pronounce in English. Though they were all drinking the same wine, on a scale of one to seven, Tselepou was rated higher. "The fluency, or how easy something is to verbally process, is kind of a hot topic in marketing right now," Ms. Mantonakis says.

EVENTS AND KEY DATES

Tech firms connect with tech talent

MTLStartupTalent hosts its second event Feb. 16, connecting startups and technology companies that are hiring with talent looking for employment. More than 500 professionals will get the opportunity to meet 25 hiring startups from Montreal. Looking for a job or new challenges? You’re the perfect candidate.

Opportunities tied to sustainability

The Schulich School of Business at Toronto's York University is hosting a Sustainability Boot Camp for Business Leaders on Feb. 22 that will deliver "the core knowledge you need to assess sustainability as an opportunity for innovation, competitive differentiation and profitable growth." There are three sessions, starting at 11 a.m., and focus on sustainability fundamentals, sustainability strategies, and making sustainability sustainable – the leader’s role.

EDITOR'S PICKS FROM REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS

Hot type

Multilingual keyboards, which today dominate at big retailers, have led some customers to return their purchases and others to seek keyboard replacements. Some laptop customers have been out of luck trying to find the model they want with the keyboard they need. The bottom line is that for less expensive consumer systems, manufacturers are settling on the one keyboard that works for all of Canada: the multilingual model.

FROM THE ROSB ARCHIVES

Will a hockey-mad culture embrace floorball?

NHL stars such as Henrik and Daniel Sedin grew up playing floorball, a European version of floor hockey, the second-ranked sport behind soccer in Sweden. It’s a limited-contact sport, which means fewer injuries, and it’s relatively inexpensive to buy equipment and rent facilities. In a story from June, 2010, we profiled entrepreneur Juha Mikkola, who was hoping to continue making inroads in Canada’s hockey-mad culture by selling floorball as an off-ice activity that helps players improve their skills.

Got a tip on news, events or other timely information related to the small-business community? E-mail us at smallbusiness@globeandmail.com

Join The Globe’s Small Business LinkedIn group to network with other entrepreneurs and to discuss topical issues: http://linkd.in/jWWdzT

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Genworth sees opportunity in CMHC's limit - Globe and Mail

Posted on Monday, February 6, 2012 1:23PM EST

1 comment

Canada’s second-largest mortgage insurer plans to take advantage of government constraints on its Crown corporation rival, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

Genworth MI Canada Inc. executives are making it clear that they see a business opportunity emerging as Ottawa hems and haws about whether to loosen CMHC’s shackles once again.

At the moment, CMHC is restricted to having $600-billion worth of mortgage insurance outstanding. Ottawa places limits on the Crown corporation because its insurance ultimately creates risks for taxpayers. It has increased the limit a number of times in the past, and raised it dramatically this decade, with the most recent move being from $450-billion to $600-billion in 2008.

The amount of insurance that CMHC had in force hit $541-billion at the end of September, meaning the Crown corporation is now bumping up towards its limit.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has not specifically stated that he won't increase the limit, but he has signalled that he wants CMHC to figure out a way to operate within it for now. Given the large amount of risk that taxpayers have already assumed from mortgage insurance, many industry watchers suspect that Ottawa won’t be hiking the limit again any time soon.

“Given economic conditions and concerns around personal leverage/housing in Canada, we would be surprised to see the government increase CMHC’s limit in the near term,” TD Securities analyst Jason Bilodeau wrote in a note to clients.

Some economists have speculated that, by leaving the limit alone, Ottawa will cool the housing market. Banks must insure mortgages when a borrower owns less than 20 per cent of the property. By increasing or tightening the supply of mortgage insurance, Ottawa is able to affect the broader housing market.

But, by maintaining the current limit, Ottawa may finally be lending a hand to the private-sector mortgage insurers - namely Genworth and Canada Guaranty - which have long complained that the government has given CMHC an unfair advantage, mostly by guaranteeing a larger proportion of its insurance. (CMHC’s insurance is 100 per cent backed by the government, while private sector mortgage insurance is backed to the tune of 90 per cent).

If Ottawa keeps the limit where it is, it will serve to level the playing field a bit for the private sector competitors that have been disadvantaged.

On a conference call with analysts Friday, Genworth CEO Brian Hurley brought up CMHC’s limit, and said “I just want to clarify that our business has plenty of capacity for 2012 and beyond.”

The private sector players still have lots of room to do business before they hit the $250-billion limit that Ottawa places on them collectively. And, new legislation that’s expected to pass in the next few months will increase that limit to $300-billion.

“There is plenty of runway for both entities in the private sector to grow with multiple years of production opportunity ahead of us,” Mr. Hurley said.

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To be a successful business, you need an army - Globe and Mail

Jennifer Prosek thinks of herself as the general of a business army: a team that’s committed, aware of the terrain and always ready to take action.

But in contrast to a military hierarchy that depends on following orders from the top, the CEO of public relations company CJP Communications in New York encourages soldiers in her force to act like entrepreneurs who think independently. The results are higher engagement and more loyalty, the author of Army of Entrepreneurs told a Canadian Management Centre conference in Toronto last week.

The Globe and Mail’s Wallace Immen asked for details:

What’s the advantage of an army of entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs act more like owners than employees. They’re clear about the mission and about their contribution. Because of that they’re more focused and productive. They’re empowered to make decisions, willing to take risks and they’re always looking for opportunities for growth. I believe you can change anyone’s mindset to think more like an entrepreneur and many can be developed into stars because of it. I’ve found most people want to be more entrepreneurial, but they don’t want to become actual entrepreneurs and go off on their own.

Why is entrepreneurial thinking important now?

Every company is looking to achieve more growth in a slow-growth world. This is a way to inspire more innovation and growth without burning people out when trying to do more with less. I think because the job market has been tight, some managers have decided they can spend less time focusing on retention and motivation. That’s a massive mistake because in any economy your top performers always have opportunities to leave. And the moment that the economy starts to grow, there’s going to be a huge exodus out of many organizations.

How did you decide to amass an army?

In the mid-1990s I had bought out my partner and was looking for ways to make the business grow and prosper. What I realized was that even though I was a natural entrepreneur and creating new business came easily to me, other people at the firm simply didn’t have the tools, context, skills and outlook they needed to promote the business and its capabilities. What it took was actually a change on my part to help build the staff I needed.

And you gave them a boot camp in entrepreneurial skills?

My epiphany was to realize that many people in public relations have never been to business school and didn’t understand the keys to running a successful business. I started by teaching a half-day workshop for employees on the fundamentals of making a business successful: things like setting financial goals, receivables collection and profit margins.

Now that we’re a larger organization (45 employees), I have a trainer who knows the industry come in and do the workshops, and we run about six a year. They aren’t mandatory, but people want to attend because it can make them more successful in what they do. Employees say they appreciate that we’re teaching them something beyond their essential job skills and it helps them see new possibilities.

What can any organization do to encourage entrepreneurial thinking?

Over-communication is essential. Employees who feel they have as much information as management does feel empowered to make decisions in a more owner-like fashion than an employee-like fashion. And I would make sure that you regularly communicate about the health of the organization because we’re in a time when people are enormously worried about their job security. Keeping people in the loop cuts down on gossip and that makes people more secure and productive.

Second, make the organization as flat as is reasonable. I literally broke down walls, so managers and employees sit together and can freely engage each other.

And provide clear incentives. There always has to be a reward for aligning and feeling like the work employees are doing is not only good for the company but good for them.

The incentive you give sounds incredibly tempting.

We call it a Commission for Life: 5 per cent off the top of any new business an employee brings in. All the employee has to do is set up a meeting that leads to successful new business to get 5 per cent of the revenue from that account for the life of the business – as long as they remain with CJP. Not only does it encourage employees to align their own financial and professional goals with the company’s growth and success, it’s an incentive to keep them in the organization. Everyone in the company makes finding new business a goal and 80 per cent of employees now are collecting regular cheques for their successes.

In the corporate environment with narrower profit margins, you clearly need some other nudge, like one-time bonuses. But if people aren’t making the effort to look for opportunities to get people walking in the door, no one can prosper.

Think about the economics of having to replace employees: Even an entry level employee, if you have to go to the market to replace them, it costs at least 30 per cent of the annual salary to replace them. So anything you can do to keep employees engaged and in the organization ultimately helps the bottom line.

You’ve also replaced annual reviews. How does that work?

Managers sit down with their employees for about 15 minutes every 100 days to review the goals they set and results. On a scorecard, you get a green if it happened, yellow if it’s still in progress or red if it didn’t happen.

They’re incredibly simple and focused on what management and the employees agree are the major things to focus on in the next 100 days. We find this 100-day plan creates the structure and more immediate deadline people need. A lot of people have trouble with follow through – it’s not that they can’t follow through it’s just that in the clutter of daily life it’s easy to get distracted and put things off. Setting 100-day goals works because it creates short-term successes and the energy and belief that you can do more.

The annual review creates anxiety because you’ve got to summarize a year and in the end you’re graded and you can run into surprises that could have been avoided if you’d discussed issues early. I think managers are also guilty of not promoting people fast enough – they see annual reviews as a way to put off discussions about changes. But if people are meeting their goals and outperforming and ready to move up halfway into the year, it gives the opportunity to do more for the person.

How can you make changes like these stick in hide-bound organizations?

Actions speak louder than words and it’s about leadership in the organization setting out a plan and living by it themselves. That gets everyone on board believing it is an authentic change and a set of behaviours they can align to. Leaders need to become more accessible and keep office doors open or literally take down the walls and encourage dialogue.

Entrepreneurs want to feel they can walk up to the boss and say “Hey, I have an idea and I’d like to run with it.”

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Franchise opportunities pop up for every budget - Globe and Mail

The latest news and information for entrepreneurs from across the web universe, brought to you by the Report on Small Business team. Follow us on Twitter @GlobeSmallBiz

U.S. President Barack Obama said today that he will raise the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration to a cabinet-level position.

It's part of a broader plan to merge the SBA with five other government offices as a single, streamlined agency, according to this Wall Street Journal report and this report from The Washington Post.

The president asked Congress to give him the power to consolidate six federal agencies including the SBA as well as the Commerce Department, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corp. and the Trade and Development Agency, the Post reported.

He is elevating SBA director Karen Mills to a cabinet-level position, but Mr. Obama did not specifiy whether she would have higher authority or additional responsibilities in the elevated position.

The president said that Ms. Mills had done "an outstanding job" leading the agency, and would "make sure that small-business owners have their own seat at the table in our cabinet meetings," the Journal report said.

One reason for the move, the Journal said, was to counter perceptions that small business was being slighted in the reorganization.

The merger is designed to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses and save money by eliminating duplicate government functions; it would cut more than 1,000 jobs and save about $3-billion over the next decade, the Post reported.

With a single agency, “we’d have one department where entrepreneurs can go from the day they come up with an idea and need a patent, to the day they start building a product and need financing for a warehouse, to the day they’re ready to export and need help breaking into new markets overseas,” the Post reported that Mr. Obama told small businesses leaders at the White House.

Franchise opportunities pop up for every budget

Fresh-popped snack seller Doc Popcorn is a fast-growing franchise company, with 54 outlets opened in the past five years and another 200 in development. One A secret to its success: from mobile carts to full-scale stores, franchisees can buy their way into the company in a variety of models to suit their budget, according to this story in The Wall Street Journal.

And that, according to the Journal story, is a "fast-growing trend" in franchising, with more companies offering more business models at different price points.

With tight credit and cautious investors, this flexibility has become key to expansion, according to the story.

Doc Popcorn franchises invest up to $150,000 to open a store, versus $100,000 for a mall kiosk or $70,000 for a mobile cart, the story says. Similarly, the Huntington Learning Center tutoring service offers two models of investment to potential franchisees.

One consultant warns in the story, however, that franchisers offering tiered models run the risk of losing control of their brand image, with some features not necessarily working well in every kind of setting.

And some franchisees that have invested heavily in, say, a standalone store, may not take well to others selling the same brand, especially if rivals, from a cheaper mobile cart, the story also warns.

Canada falls in entrepreneurial opportunity ranking

Canada fell from from second place in 2011 to sixth place in 2012 in the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI), a ranking that compares the entrepreneurial characteristics of 79 nations, identifying the entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses of their economies.

It might not feel like the conditions would pave the way, but the United States ranked as the best place to start a business -- mostly because, while entrepreneurship has fallen in most countries, it fell less there, the report said.The U.S. still had a long way to go to make up lost ground, calling it "a society in distress," and saying that "does not bode well for entrepreneurship."

The report also noted that the world as a whole is "operating at about 30 per cent of its entrepreneurial capacity," and said "drivers of entrepreneurship have deteriorated" around the globe.

The rest of the top ten included Sweden, Australia, Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium and Norway, with the Netherlands and Taiwan tied for tenth place.

For a more detailed look at the report, click here.

Perks of working for a small business

There are many good reasons to choose a small employer over a big one. What's so good about working for a small business? This piece lists five, including having more of a voice; greater independence; learning on the job; less red tape and more flexibility; and, great fodder for your resume.

EVENTS AND KEY DATES

Move above the radar

Want to be among the startups to pitch at Under the Radar, an innovation showcase and deal-making forum? You have until Jan. 20 to apply to be among the emerging startups fthat get to present to top IT executives wanting to team up with and acquire new technologies for the next conference being held April 25 and 26 under the sun in Mountain View, Calif.. For more information, click here.

Cast your best small business-book award nomination

Make your nomination for the best small business book award being sponsored by Small Business Trends, which recognizes business books relevant to small businesses and entrepreneurs. You can put forth any number of books, including your own; eligible books were published between Nov. 10, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2011. Nominations close on Jan. 31 and voting will take place between Feb. 1 and Feb. 16. For more information, click here.

EDITOR'S PICKS FROM REPORT ON SMALL BUSINESS

Car dealer test-drives Twitter promotion

This week's Case Study: Schlueter Automotive Group has rejuvenated its marketing efforts with an online strategy that includes asking customers to test-drive cars and tweet about their experience.

FROM THE ROSB ARCHIVES

Lifelong dream takes flight

Flying has been in Dax Wilkinson’s blood ever since he took his first flight in a bush plane at the family cottage as a child. Now his business, Red Canoe National Heritage Brands Inc., which is also largely devoted to aviation, has given him the means to realize his lifelong dream of owning his own plane, according to a story that was part of our "Splurge" series last June. Also check out the accompanying photo gallery of his plane.

Got a tip on news, events or other timely information related to the small-business community? E-mail us at yourbusiness@globeandmail.com

Join The Globe’s Small Business LinkedIn group to network with other entrepreneurs and to discuss topical issues: http://linkd.in/jWWdzT

Our free weekly newsletter is now available. Every Friday a team of editors selects the top picks from our blog posts, features, multimedia and columnists, and delivers them to your inbox. If you have registered for The Globe's website, you can sign up here. Click on the Small Business Briefing checkbox and hit 'save changes.' If you need to register for the site, click here.

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UNICON Study: Mobile Learning Offers Growing Opportunities for Executive Education Programs Around the Globe - Consumer Electronics Net

Company News: Page (1) of 1 - 01/12/12January 12, 2012 -- Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) January 12, 2012

New research from UNICON (International University Consortium for Executive Education) reveals that many business schools across the globe have untapped opportunities to provide innovative executive education learning programs facilitated by mobile technology. The UNICON report, Going mobile in executive education, is based on research conducted by UNICON member Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom. It analyzes the potential impact of mobile technologies on the executive education learning landscape around the world. The report looks at mobile learning, and how portable technologies -- smartphones , PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), handheld computers and personal media players -- can support and extend the reach of teaching and learning.

The report finds that some learning providers are embracing mobile learning and developing new approaches to learning. Included in the report are detailed case studies of: Abilene Christian University (USA), The Open University (UK), Ashridge Business School (UK), Harvard Business School (USA), Seton Hill University (USA), IMD (Switzerland), EPIC, (UK), and Skill Pill, University of Cape Town (South Africa).

While the research highlights examples of innovative applications of mobile learning in business schools, universities and the private sector around the globe, it concludes that many more executive education providers today could be maximizing the vast potential of mobile devices for learning.

The future of executive education is about choice and personalisation. Our survey makes clear that providers should not wait for the industry to settle, said UNICON Chairman Bill Shedden, who also serves as Director of the Centre for Customised Executive Education at the Cranfield School of Management in Bedford, England. Our recent State of the Industry survey also found that while many executive education providers are moving cautiously, they have begun experimenting with technology and in many cases are taking more technology initiative than clients expect or demand. In other words, executive education clients look to university-based providers to help them understand what new technology is important.

The global nature of businesses and the growing capabilities of powerful mobile devices mean that adopting new technologies in learning is essential to continuing to attract clients in the competitive executive education market, Shedden continued. UNICON is dedicated to helping its members learn more about how to effectively adopt new technologies and to remain industry leaders in university-based executive education programs around the globe.

Mobile technology can help provide executives with pre- and post-course support, and the latest mobile learning applications can extend their access to a multimedia-rich education. It also provides a means for participants to stay connected with one another as professional resources after a program ends. Other benefits of mobile learning identified by the report include:
    Just enough learning highly applied, easily digestible learning for busy executives.    Just-in-time learning convenient, flexible and relevant learning at the exact moment learning is required.     Just-for-me learning learning can be accessed via mobile devices in many different ways, which means that there are opportunities for it to appeal to many different learning styles.    Mobile devices can facilitate collaboration. SMS texting reminders, knowledge sharing forums and ask a question forums enable and enhance interaction between participants and instructors.

Research Fellow at Ashridge Business School and UNICON report co-author Dr Carina Paine Schofield noted, Advances in mobile technologies and high levels of mobile phone penetration are changing the way that learning is being adopted and used in educational contexts, and it has evolved into more than e-learning with a phone. Mobile learning offers easier access to learning materials so students can be more productive with their time. It empowers executive education providers to serve up learning in multiple formats audio, visual or text to suit individual learning styles.

Ashridge Business School was one of the first executive education providers to establish an online learning resource. Its online learning platform, Virtual Ashridge, lets students home in on certain interests and choose a style of learning that fits their personality without information overload: some may want to listen to an audio file or read text, while others may want to take part in an online discussion.

Director of Learning Services at Ashridge Business School Tony Sheehan said: Mobile learning offers a powerful opportunity to introduce learning on demand. It allows individuals to connect to executive education at a time that suits them and in a way that can support current business challenges. Learners are no longer dependent on the classroom, as mobile devices allow learners to connect in times of reflection a long train journey, a daily commute where the mind is alert and open to new insights.

During these times of austerity, mobile and e-learning tutorials also provide a cost- and time-efficient way of educating staff that avoids the travel and accommodation costs of off-site courses, Sheehan added.

About UNICON
Founded in 1972 as an association of executive education program directors, UNICON has evolved from an informal common-interest group into an incorporated non-profit consortium committed to advancing the field of university- and business school-sponsored executive education. Membership is composed of nearly 100 educational institutions from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.

UNICON is committed to the principle that academically based executive education provides a combination of thought-leadership at the highest levels of rigor, masterful learning environments and practical application that cannot be replicated by non-academic providers.

The organization sponsors and conducts research studies that bring to the forefront this unique value of business-school-based executive education. It also provides industry/operational knowledge and networking opportunities for members through conferences, workshops, research, benchmarking, website, newsletters, job postings, discussion boards and forums and other activities.

The UNICON report, Going mobile in executive education: how mobile technologies are changing the executive learning landscape, was written by Dr. Carina Paine Schofield, Trudi West and Emily Taylor of Ashridge Business School.

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Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9097448.htm.

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