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From the desk of Bob Meyer...
07/13/2010
Barbados Government Barters For 20% Ownership Stake In Four
Seasons Hotel
The Four Seasons Barbados is restarting construction (in
September) after the Barbados government agreed to guarantee
a Caribbean bank $60 million construction loan for the
110-room hotel with 35 for-sale villas. In return for the
loan guarantee the government received a 20% ownership
stake.
TeleTrade International Announces Trading
Volume
According to 39-year barter veteran Gary Lasater, CEO of
TeleTrade International, his worldwide platform did a
second-quarter trading volume of $33,368,716.
For more information
click
here.
Banks Selling Gold To Take Advantage Of High
Prices
Banks are selling gold at a record rate, according to a
216-page report released last week by the BIS (Bank for
International Settlements � the central bank for central
banks). The international agency has purchased 349 metric
tons of gold since December, allowing banks to raise a
record $14 billion.
Facebook Creates
Virtual Currency
Facebook is working with MOL Global, a Malaysian
online-payment company, to sell �Facebook Credits� through
prepaid cards. In essence the partnership makes the
purchasing of Facebook Credits a virtual currency. The
credits will be used to buy online games and applications on
the social-networking site.
These credits will be able to be acquired through MOL�s
network of more than 500,000 outlets, such as 7-Eleven
stores and cyber cafes. As the virtual currency effort
expands it will add value to the Facebook brand�s valuation.
Americans Catching Up On Bills
Good news � the number of consumers behind in their credit
card payments fell to an eight-year low in the first quarter
of 2010, according to the American Bankers Association. They
report that a mere 3% are delinquent on their payments.
All
back issues of "From the Desk...� can be accessed by
clicking
here.
(Please feel
free to forward our newsletter to your friends and
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newsletter for your convenience.
See you next week. . .) |
Groenwald Enjoying
Business Success Once Again
By Bob Meyer
From time to time I write about people who have left the commercial
barter industry, but were very instrumental in its development. One
person who gave untiringly, year after year for over two decades, to
our industry was Susan Groenwald. Here�s an update:
On
a recent Sunday evening, Marcia and I met with Keith and Sue
Groenwald for a 3-hour sunset dinner overlooking the beautiful Dana
Point Marina in Southern California. Inasmuch as we hadn�t seen one
another for eight years we had a lot of catching up to do.
The
Groenwald�s came into the barter industry in 1980 and they jumped in
with both feet by hosting national conventions, pioneering new ways
of doing business, and becoming very active and supportive of the
industry�s only trade association � the International Reciprocal
Trade Association.
The
Groenwald�s had the Chicago franchise for Barter Systems
International, and later went independent creating Chicago Barter
Corp. Keith left the industry several years later and Sue carried on
as Chicago Barter Corp�s leader. (Her leadership capabilities were
recognized when named as the National Businesswoman of the Year by
the National Association of Women Business Owners in 1999.) The
company grew to 80 employees in four locations, prior to selling out
to a venture capital firm in the 2000 dot.com era.
After being out of the barter business for several years Sue joined
DeVry Inc. in January 2006, focusing on the transition and
development of the company�s subsidiary, the Chamberlain College of
Nursing. (Many in the barter industry didn�t know of Sue�s
occupation prior to barter, which was nursing. In addition to having
an RN and Master�s degree she edited five textbooks on cancer
nursing, one of which won the American Journal of Nursing Book
Award.)
It
was Sue�s job to expand the nursing college ... and what a job she�s
done. When she took over, just three years ago, they were limping
along with a couple of campuses. Under her management today they
have locations in St. Louis (MO), Columbus (OH), Jacksonville (FL),
Phoenix (AZ), Arlington (VA), and four in suburban Chicago.
They presently have over 4000 students distributed throughout their
seven campuses, plus some students enrolled online in either the RN
to BSN completion program or the masters degree in nursing program.
According to Groenwald, �I can tell you that opening a campus is
much harder than opening a barter company! The education industry is
highly regulated, especially healthcare, so we have to write
applications, submit to site inspections, and gain approval from
boards of nursing, boards of higher education, as well as three
different accreditors. It�s quite a lengthy and cumbersome process,
but well worth the effort.
�I
like that the college is part of a larger company (DeVry is a NYSE
traded company) that has a great reputation for quality and
integrity, as well as rich resources, but that my job is very
entrepreneurial � growing a business from almost the ground up. And
we are solving a national healthcare problem by helping reduce the
nursing shortage.�
Keith imports specialized high-end plywood from Russia and Canada,
among other places, that is distributed to companies making dies for
the packaging industry (for boxes). He is general manager of the
company and has been there about two years. He, as well as Sue,
loves his work.
It
was terrific seeing them both again, happy, healthy and so
successful in their transition from the barter industry.
Is Your Trade Exchange Missing Out On
Valuable New Business?
If
your barter company�s listing on BarterNews.com isn�t current, you
are definitely missing out on new business. The web site
BarterNews.com receives heavy traffic � with over 150,000 page-views
every month. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives check the
thousands of articles, the weekly �Tuesday
Report,� and the �Contacts
Section� of our site. They use the latter to find barter
companies with which to do business.
Is
your barter company�s listing up-to-date?
To
keep your listing current is very easy. See the links below to (A)
update any changes to your company�s listing, such as new location,
phone number, web site or other information, and (B) if your company
has not been listed.
Here�s how to get on board:
To
make changes to your listing
click here.
For
new listings
click here.
Over 43 Million
Americans Are Poor Credit Risks
Recessions are ended by consumers spending again, but with the
following figures announced and tens of millions out of work, one
has to wonder about a recovering economy.
According to figures provided by FICO, 1/4 or 25.5% of all consumers
(43.4 million people) now have credit scores of 599 or lower. This
means they are highly unlikely to get credit cards, auto loans or
mortgages, under the tighter lending standards most banks are now
using.
�
International visitors look for BARTER CONTACTS in our Global Barter
Section. If YOUR exchange isn�t listed see the forms on the lower
left of the page. (Click
here.)
�
Attention trade exchange owners...thousands of visitors every month
visit our BARTER CONTACTS section on our web site where we have
names & addresses of barter companies in the USA. If YOUR exchange
isn�t listed, or the information is incorrect, you can correct the
situation by using the forms to the lower left of the USA map. (Click
here.)
Click here
www.barternewsblog.com.
From our BarterNews
files of 1999:
Staggering Barter
Agreement Jump-Starts New Business
Talk about an agreement that helped both parties ... Union Bank of
Switzerland (UBS) decided to give their business to new computer
services start-up Perot Systems in 1996. They did so because, in
addition to a good price and a promise of extra-special service,
they were given an option to buy 7 million shares of Perot Systems
stock at $3.65 a share, when the company went public.
Perot Systems made such an agreement because they needed a
substantial contract, and had to �outbid� their bigger rivals IBM
and EDS.
The
UBS contract accounted for 25% of Perot�s revenue. On the second day
of trading after going public in February 1999, less than three
years after the contract and barter agreement was signed, Perot
Systems� stock was selling at about $61 a share. And UBS was holding
a $400 million windfall!
How
did founder Ross Perot fare on this barter deal with UBS, an
agreement that admittedly jump-started his new company? His 38%
stake in the company was valued at $1.4 billion. (Additionally, it
was the substantial UBS contract that enabled Perot Systems to go
public as quickly as it did.)
The
barter technique (and perspective) used by Ross Perot isn�t limited
to super huge deals. You can, and should, use the concept �
regardless of your company�s size. What�s required is an awareness
by you that a barter component can be the determining factor in a
new business contract.
What should you offer? That depends on the situation, which a little
research will reveal. However, an exceptionally versatile commodity
you�ll always want to consider is trade credits. They�re valuable
and can be used in a variety of different ways by the other party.
