STETSON
COMMUNITY COMES TO AID OF HOMELESS TEENS FEATURED ON 60 MINUTES --
Dozens of Stetson University students, employees, alumni and top
administrators did a double-take last week while watching a 60 Minutes
segment about central Florida families who are homeless. One of the main
subjects of the story, Arielle Metzger, 15, was wearing a Stetson
T-shirt during her interview. The Seminole County teenager, who lives in
a truck with her brother Austin, 13, and father Tom, talked about the
importance of education and how she wants to become a lawyer to help
children and homeless people. The Stetson community immediately felt as
if Arielle was one of their own. Stetson has decided to guarantee the
brother and sister a financial aid package to cover the full cost of
attending the university. Further, three students from Stetson’s Bonner
Scholars Program will reach out to Arielle and Austin as mentors as they
conclude their public school education, and the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority
at the DeLand university is raising funds to help support some of the
immediate needs of the Metzger family.
SCORE WORKSHOP
ON STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS –The Volusia/Flagler SCORE will
present a free seminar on how to start a business. The session will
cover marketing, pricing, legal structures, financing and a business
plan. The seminar is December 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Daytona Beach
International Airport. Reservations are required and include free
parking. To register go to: score 87.org or for information call
386-255-6889.
TAX CREDITS FOR
EMPLOYERS, PROGRAMS FOR VETS -- Two new tax credits for employers
and programs to help get veterans back to work are in effect. For
employers there are the Returning Heroes Tax Credit and the Wounded
Warrior Tax Credit programs. For veterans there are the Veteran Gold
Card, My Next Move for Veterans, the Veterans Job Bank, and an HRSA
pledge to help vets become physician assistants. For information go to:
tinyurl.com/6mzs6a6.
WEBSITE SOURCE
FOR DOING BUSINESS WITH THE STATE -- MyFloridaMarketPlace is the
state's online exchange for buyers and vendors. This is a source for
centralized procurement activities, streamlining interactions between
vendors and state government entities and providing tools to support
procurement for the state. More than 139,000 vendors have registered
with MyFloridaMarketPlace, which is part of the Florida Department of
Management Services. Since 2002, 32 state agencies using the system had
placed more than 986,000 purchase orders and spent more than $9.3
billion. For information go to:
tinyurl.com/selltoflorida.
SBA HAS RADIO SHOW -- SBA Radio’s Small Business Advisory is a
radio show that provides small businesses with information from the
Small Business Administration. It air Thursdays at 2 p.m. EST. For
information, go to:
businessleader.com/wsradio/radio_showspage.aspx?id=22.
WHAT ARE YOUR CHANCES FOR AN IRS AUDIT? -- The IRS audit rate for
individual returns rose to 1.11 percent in 2010, the highest since 1997.
The IRS audited 8.36 percent of the returns with incomes of $1 million
or more -- one in 12. Other classes of returns with audit rates more
than twice the average were filers with incomes of at least $200,000;
business returns with gross receipts more than $25,000, such as Schedule
C filers, and returns where the earned income credit was claimed. For
common audit triggers, go to:
Kiplinger.com/links/auditredflags.
TAX BREAK FOR HIRING THE UNEMPLOYED – There is a tax credit of up
to $1,000 per worker if you retained employees who qualified for the 6.2
percent payroll tax exemption in 2010 – employees who worked 40 hours or
less in the 60 days prior to their hire date. The credit is 6.2 percent
of their 2011 wages, but is capped at $1,000 for workers making over
$16,129. This break is available if the workers remain employed for 52
consecutive weeks, as long as their pay in the last 26 weeks of the
period is at least 80 percent of their wages for the first 26 weeks.
Check with a tax advisor to confirm you qualify.
NEWS ITEMS WANTED! – Please send your business news items to Dave
Byron, Volusia County Community Information Director, 123 W. Indiana
Ave., DeLand, 32720-4612, by fax at (386) 822-5072 or by e-mail at
dbyron@co.volusia.fl.us.
