We were very excited to welcome our 100^th guest on the Carroll County Buzz, Carroll County Commissioner Richard Rothschild!  Commissioner Rothschild, from district 4, is our 3 out of 5 commissioners to join us on the show. Rothschild focused on his concerns with the Plan Maryland Forum, which is a state wide plan that will define how Maryland grows, developed by the Maryland Department of Planning in Annapolis. Planning was typically handled by local officials and locally made decisions. The concern is this plan may not be in the best interest on individual, local levels. Other counties agree and they are joining forces to propose a more balanced prospective and approach in the Plan. All Maryland counties have unique needs, strengths and weakness. Having a “blanket” plan may not address issues within each county and may even make some situations worse.

Commissioner Rothschild believes that all information is not accurately portrayed and there must be a way to tailor the Plan to address the correct issues. There is an upcoming meeting to discuss and dispute the Plan by public officials by several county officials.

We reviewed our 100 guests that have joined us on the show and although all of them were very different in their own ways, they have all found ways to succeed in their business or field. We enjoy providing a platform for business owners, non-profit organizations, community leaders, etc. to share how they have succeeded and give their personal advice to others.  We have also enjoyed our on-location shows and we look forward to many more!

Speaking of success, we shared tips from one of the most successful men in history, Steve Jobs!

Steve Jobs 12 Rules of Success:

1. Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Make a difference. The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
2. Be different. Think different. Better to be a pirate than to join the navy.
3. Do your very best at every job. Don’t sleep! Success generates more success, so be hungry for it!
4. Perform SWOT  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of the strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don’t hesitate to throw bad apples out of the company.
5. Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be acted upon quickly and decisively and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
6. Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful or simple tings to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. Put a ding in the universe.
7. Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there’s a better technology available, use it regardless of whether or not everyone else is using it. Be the first, make it an industry standard.
8. People judge  you by your performance, so focus on that outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. Advertise. If they don’t know about it, they won’t buy your product. Pay attention to design. We made the buttons on the screen look so good you‘ll want to lick them. Design is not just what is looks like and feels like. Design is how is works.
9. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you’re at the top of the chain, sometimes people won’t give you honest feedback because they’re afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources.  Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.
10. Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate. Let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% of your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don’t get on the wrong track…
11. Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations
12. Learn continually. There’s always “one more thing” to learn. Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don’t like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them.

We welcomed Donna & Russell from Carroll Community Bank. To reposition the bank and offer more benefits to customers, or potential customers, Carroll Community Bank is offering a great stock option program, as well as an increase in lending options. Holding stock in local businesses is a great way to stimulate local economy. Everyone’s situation is different and you should also review any stock options with a professional.

It is very important to understand the importance of a community bank. Donna believes that the best part of a community bank, is having customers or investors who live in Carroll County. Their projects and businesses are all local and it is easier to assess and help the situation. Different from a nationwide bank, Carroll Community Bank knows the details of the area and how to grow THIS community. They can also decide what fees they want to inflict on their local consumers. Large companies contemplate fees such as debit card fees and other new fees, branches of nationwide bank have no control over what they must charge. Community banks have more control over decisions that impact customers.

Next week, we welcome our 100^th guest to the Buzz! We are excited to hit this milestone and we will be talking about all of our wonderful past guests.  And we will welcome Commissioner Rothschild as our 100^th guest on the show.

October 16-October 22 is National Saving for Retirement Week! You have got to prepare yourself for the future and there are so many changing uncertain ways, making it more important to be able to retire independently. Its amazing the amount of money that you can accumulate if you plan ahead. Even saving $10 a week, over 40 years, can give you the means to cushion your retirement. There are different stages in retirement to keep in mind and plan for. Having a game plan is always key, know when you are planning on retiring, what do you want to do, where do you want to live, etc. Circumstances always change, but having a plan will put you ahead. Factors like social security, health care coverage and medical needs are something you have to always keep in mind.

Above all else, you want to strive towards financial independence.

 Marlene Titus of the Miller Center for Small Business at Carroll Community College and Matt Day of the Business Training Group at Carroll Community College explained some exciting programs that can help business owners and entrepreneurs. First, Marlene explains the services provided by the Miller Center for Small Business. Basically, they provide courses, resource center, marketing data base, etc. for new business owners and those trying to grow their own business. Most of the courses are taught by other business owners or retired business owners. They offer advice and guidance on how to successfully run a business. They hold events for networking and creating opportunities within the business communities.

 Guidance on funding is also a great resource that Miller Center for Small Business can provide. There IS funding available, its limited, but its out there. There are also tips on how to apply correctly for a business loan, despite the difficulties right now, there are correct and incorrect ways to approach the loan process.

 Mall explains the Pathways to Cyber Security Careers program, a grant funded by the U.S. Department of Labor that provides cyber security training to local businesses. There are also marketing training classes to guide users to properly guide social media and technology.

We also wanted to touch on all of new technology for the technologically challenged out there. There are a lot of great tools to use to stay connected to friends, family & your community: cell phones, social media, email, etc. But, there are many rules that you should follow to stay safe. Also, to avoid being a public nuisance.

 Technology Tips 101

1. When your on the cell phone or texting, the world does not go away. Pay attention to your surroundings and when using a phone is appropriate.
2. On Facebook, don’t advertise where you ARE.
3. When you are talking on a cell phone, you don’t have to talk 10 times louder
4. If an email thread or texting conversation is getting fiery, pick-up the phone and speaks to the person. This can avoid misinterpretation.
5. You don’t have to tweet about everything. Great sign to remember: “In case of a fire, exit building BEFORE tweeting about it”
6. If it has to do with computers, when in doubt, ask a 12 year old.

 We welcomed Tom Canon to the show to discuss all the details about the upcoming Westminster Fall Fest.  The annual Fall Fest runs from Thursday – Sunday over the last weekend in September each year. It’s a great way to stimulate downtown Westminster’s economy for local businesses, each year, over 40,000 people visit Westminster to attend or be a part of the Fall Fest.

Thursday always features the parade which kicks off the fest. Main Street is lined with spectators and volunteers for the event. Friday is always Midnight Madness for downtown shops, they have huge sales and stay open until 12am for excited shoppers to visit. It’s a great way to draw traffic to locally owned businesses and shops. Saturday and Sunday are the biggest days for the vendors, carnival rides, games and food suppliers/restaurants. Fall Fest is the largest event of the year in Westminster.

This month is life insurance awareness month. It is so important to have sufficient life insurance for you and your family. It is something that many people put off and wait until it is too late. If you do have life insurance, it is also important to annually review your current policy.

Examples of Why It is Important to Get a Policy Review:

1. Make sure you have enough – you can never leave your loved ones with “too much” but you can leave behind a shortage to cover expenses.
2. 1035 exchanges
3. Kill two birds with one stone
4. Update/review health insurance coverage in the process
5. Avoid waiting too long
6. Estate taxes are important to have and understand now