Power Up Your Profitability: Revenue generation & cost optimization
KPIplus+ is a joint program between SNPA and SLP Solutions and a first-of-its-kind performance tool for newspapers.
Planned for launch early in the fourth quarter of 2016, KPIplus+ will deliver actual newspaper performance data on a variety of production metrics.
MORECribb, Greene & Cope Annual Publisher Confidence Survey
Newspaper owners and executives are encouraged to participate in the Annual Publisher Confidence Survey.
The survey asks 11 questions that provide direct feedback from publishers on revenue, profit and other current trends in the publishing industry.
MORELawsuits filed to stop DOL overtime rule
On Sept. 20, a coalition of more than 55 Texas and national business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Texas. The lawsuit asks the court to vacate and set aside the Department of Labor's new overtime rule, set to take effect Dec. 1. Further, it asks the court to issue an injunction, postpone the effective date of the overtime rule, and to maintain the status quo, pending the court's review of the lawsuit.
A second lawsuit was also filed by the attorney generals of Nevada, Texas and 21 other states to enjoin the new rule.
MORESNPA members elect new officers/directors for 2016-17
SNPA members elected officers for 2016-17 at the News Industry Summit in Sarasota, Fla.
Read this article to see who has been elected as additional SNPA officers and as members of the Board of Directors.
Tom Silvestri is elected chairman of SNPA Foundation Board of Trustees
The SNPA Board of Directors elected five trustees for the SNPA Foundation at its meeting in Sarasota on Wednesday, Sept. 14.
The trustees, in turn, elected their officers – also that same morning.
Read this article to see who has been nominated as the three Foundation officers, as well as trustees. MORE
Local advertisers are agitated (and doing something about it)
Borrell Associates has been busy this summer vastly expanding its annual survey of local advertisers. That research is now complete, and the analysis is available for download.
MORENominees announced for SNPA Foundation Board of Trustees
The trustees, in turn, will elect their officers – also that same morning.
Read this article to see who has been nominated as the three Foundation officers, as well as trustees. MORE
Chris Reen nominated as president of SNPA for 2016-17
SNPA members will elect officers for 2016-17 on Thursday morning, Sept. 15, in Sarasota, Fla.
Read this article to see who has been nominated as additional SNPA officers and as members of the Board of Directors.
If you have not registered for the conference yet, please register right away. Costs increase $100 per person on Thursday. MORE
Machinists union abandons unit in Omaha
This month, Mike Zinser looks at a newspaper that withdrew recognition of a bargaining unit, legislation that would limit the Department of Labor's Final Rule on overtime, and whether Title VII covers sexual orientation.
MORESharing power and developing our staff
We are, each of us, the sum total of all our experiences. One problem and/or situation affects us in others.
When employees feel strong, involved and needed, they get extraordinary things done while those who feel weak and insignificant consistently underperform and want to flee.
People who feel powerless tend to hoard the power they have. For example, powerless leaders usually adapt petty and dictatorial styles where political skills are utilized. "Covering your rear" and "passing the buck" are modes used to handle difficulties. Powerless employees tend to follow orders and avoid taking any initiative.
Sharing power is the answer. It lets workers know they are responsible for doing their own jobs – doing what they're paid to do – to help the organization succeed. It helps management and non-management realize the need not "to major in minor things" and continue to ensure that accountability is part of the day-to-day operation.
Read this article for some methods that should be incorporated to ensure this approach is being effectively applied.
MORENLRB independent contractor status update
The National Labor Relations Board has held that companies do not violate the National Labor Relations Act solely by misclassifying employees as independent contractors. Bottom line: the decision to classify an individual as an independent contractor rather than an employee will not, by itself, subject an employer to liability under the National Labor Relations Act.
MoreDevelop a plan now to address Department of Labor's proposed overtime rule
The U.S. Department of Labor's rule to increase the salary threshold for the overtime exemption of executive, administrative and professional employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act has not yet been finalized.
The March 7 proposed rule was open for comments for a 60-day period. The Department of Labor received more than 116,000 public comments. The Department of Labor sent its final draft of the rule to the White House and the Office of Management and Budget on Aug. 12. The text of the final rule has not been made public.
When the final rule is published with an effective date, many expect unions and worker advocates to mount legal challenges to the rule. Even though the final rule may be challenged, it would be wise to be developing a plan now to address this huge budgetary issue.
This column focuses on the standard salary threshold, which will have the most dramatic impact on your company, and offers an action plan to address the standard salary threshold increase.
MoreSNPA / Inland Merger: Looking ahead to preserving and promoting First Amendment values
As we celebrate joining together SNPA and Inland, it is worth at least a moment to honor the first principles of the newspaper industry that gave rise to both groups. And those, without a doubt, are freedom of the press and the parallel right to know and to distribute news.
Honoring those principles requires some reflection on the industry's singular role in building America's First Amendment foundation. And it is safe to say that SNPA's and Inland's member newspapers can fairly take credit for shaping the free speech and free press tradition of the republic like no other industry and, for that matter, like no other country on earth.
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