Vontoo
December 21, 2007
The name comes from Von (voice over network) and too (as well). The business is a growing Indiana success story, bringing effective marketing – using telephone technology to complement additional efforts – to a wide variety of customers. Learn more about a company on the fast track.
Making Phone Connections

Place Branding
November 26, 2007
Business leaders play an important role in any effort to brand a community, region or state. Early guidance and ultimate business buy-in will help ensure the long-term success of such initiatives.
Key Strategies

Vision Care Programs
November 20, 2007
Growing numbers of vision problems not only affect individuals but have an economic impact that can reverberate throughout the workplace. Vision care and early detection is critical to employees and their employers.
Safety first

Environmental Authenticity
November 15, 2007
“Greenwashing” is defined as disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image. How do companies successfully advocate green causes and avoid the greenwashing label?
Going green

Six Sigma
October 17, 2007
Mikel J. Harry and his Motorola colleagues saw their company sinking into oblivion when Six Sigma helped execute a remarkable turnaround. Harry describes the benefits of the approach and outlines how Six Sigma may have an even broader reach in the coming months and years.
Six Sigma for the Masses

Record Protection
September 14, 2007
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to disasters. When the business is young, building the business is the primary task – a successful day is making ends meet. As the business grows, the day-to-day maintenance of the business is primary. However, you can’t wait for a disaster to happen. Once it happens, it’s too late to protect your information.
Record protection

Networking By the Rules
September 10, 2007
Everyone likes to talk about themselves, so ask a lot of questions and listen with interest. If you’re wearing a name tag (which should be placed on the right shoulder), make sure it contains accurate information and is visible. Everyone is impressed with someone that can remember names.
Etiquette 101

Getting Off to a Good Start
September 5, 2007
The challenge is to create an employee orientation that meets the needs of all employees and comfort levels. Most importantly, your biggest task is to create a program to keep the positive energy and enthusiasm alive during their tenure. Staging the orientation in phases maximizes learning opportunities and helps prevent overwhelming new employees.
Orientation programs

Music & Missiles
August 22, 2007
Jeff Baxter discusses music technology, war games and his own musical career in this BizVoicemagazine.com exclusive. The full interview with Baxter, speaking at the Indiana Chamber’s November 8 Volunteer of the Year Awards Luncheon, will appear in the September-October issue and be available online after August 31.
Baxter’s sweet tune

Network Security
July 18, 2007
Once an e-mail message leaves the corporate network, it no longer benefits from the protections put in place by your information technology staff. Aside from perhaps the most obvious concern of a virus infecting the message or another nasty Internet threat, there are other not-so-obvious issues that companies should consider.
E-mail Exposure

Building a Business
July 13, 2007
Critique your own strengths and weaknesses in order to build a well-rounded team. Create a board of advisors of high repute. It will not only establish credibility but will also indicate you have something good because successful leaders have elected to join your team. Find good legal counsel and engage them early in the business-planning process.
Initial Steps

Entrepreneurial Urge
July 9, 2007
While starting small business ventures is risky, there are traits and characteristics that entrepreneurs possess and develop to be successful. Some traits people are born with, and others can be developed through life experience. These traits and characteristics are key factors in determining who makes the jump from potential entrepreneur to entrepreneur.
Taking the Leap

Back to the Workforce
May 16, 2007
Prison-to-community re-entry programs recognize that offenders have served their debt to society. Currently, the Indiana Department of Correction operates 30 employment programs to help instill strong work ethics and develop job skills among its offender population.
Prisoner Re-entry

Individual Learning Styles
May 11, 2007
If a person is able to learn in his or her preferred way, the learning is faster, easier and more easily transferable to the job. As an added benefit, effective learning can lower stress and reduce conflicts through improved individual and team communication.
Positive Experiences

Personalized Education
May 7, 2007
Today, more than 2.5 million college students take classes online, and more than 150 virtual schools serve more than 65,000 students at the K-12 level. Earlier this year, Indiana joined 18 other states offering this option to students.
Virtual Learning

Deception in the Workplace
May 2, 2007
Here are six clues you can use to determine whether your co-workers are being straight up – or shoveling manure from a sitting position.
BUSTED

Protecting Customer Data
March 16, 2007
PL 125 requires appropriate measures to protect personal information, and in the event of a security breach, officially notifying customers of the breach. The costs can quickly add up.
Indiana Security Law

Workplace Flexibility
March 12, 2007
The staffing industry provides an average of three million temporary and contract workers each day. Employers and employees are realizing the advantages of this fundamental shift.
Temporary Staffing Growth