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The home office downtown on East Federal employs 100. About 70 percent of those participate in the Cup.

“We've been pretty successful the past couple years," ms consultants consultants executive assistant Debbie Frease said. “That's why we're in the Red division."

After winning the medium-sized White division in 2005, ms consultants got bumped up.

Not only was ms consultants in the division reflecting the largest companies, but it finished runner-up by 1‚Ñ2-point to Home Savings & Loan in 2007.

To accent the accomplishment, ms consultants has been the tug-of-war champion for the last five years.

Frease said ms consultants is also strong in the bicycle event and 10K.

“You've got to be near the top in each one of those events to take first because you're competing against six or seven other companies.

Homemade: Buying Michigan foods helps keep money in state

Country Home Creations owner Shirley Kautman-Jones says it's good business to get a link on one of these roundup sites. "If you've heard of us, you can get specifics on our products. Keep searching and you come across all the other small food-based businesses."

Genesee County's best-known food company is Koegel Meats in Flint Township. But few people know you can call Veronica Lynch in Genesee Township and she will ship a 10-pound box of Viennas to Uncle Fred in Scottsdale.

"The volume is gradually growing, with Koegel's Viennas, pickled bologna and red hots the best sellers," Lynch said.

When restaurants in Florida or Arizona order Koegel products, it sinks in that an awful lot of people have left the state, whether through retirement or to work, she said.bad credit loan

Small Business Owner Puts Technology in the Driver's Seat

From the outside, one of these trucks may look like a slick 18-wheeler, but on the inside you might find something akin to a mini luxury home or a restaurant on wheels. Using hydraulics to expand the insides of a trailer, Mattie said these can stretch to 14 feet.

I spoke to him during the National Federation of Independent Business summit on Monday at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington after he received a $25,000 award from Dell for creating an innovative apprach to technology and applying it to his customers.

Mattie started his company in 1988 with not a lot of technology and only six employees -- most who worked on the factory floor, with a couple back in the office. He relied on drafting tables to draw and edit designs, and express mail to ship documents to customers.

Disaboom Offers Jobs to Social Network Community Members to Tackle

Business Listings in the following categories: Fitness and Physical Therapy; Health and Food Products; Healthcare Professionals; Home Accessibility; Medical Services; Medical Supplies; Rehabilitation; Sports and Entertainment; Transportation; Wheelchairs/Mobility; and Other Services. The team members are then awarded 33 percent of the total revenue gained from each sale plus a 5% bonus on their gross sales when they sell six or more listings in a month. They will also continue to earn an annuity on each business that relists every year.

This is really historic: a job with an online community that in turn helps the community itself, said House. People touched by disabilities are looking for a resource where they can find businesses that understand their preferences and purchase decisions, and Disabooms Marketplace serves as a one-stop shop, whether it is for adaptable equipment or just dinner and a movie.

Remodeling Their Business Strategies: Construction Companies

The cost of making and transporting the vinyl siding they use has risen while business has slowed to a crawl, squeezing the company's bottom line.

To stay afloat, owner Henry Hilburn has had to make some tough decisions, including laying off four of his staff members and substituting them with subcontractors.

"We have to more or less just take the fat out and just work on the bare minimum," Hilburn said. "I have to lower my bottom-line profits, I have to pay my installers less money and I have to pass some of it on to the builders."

Hilburn isn't alone.

Construction businesses locally and nationally are hurting, crunched between rising building material costs and a lack of jobs in today's sluggish real estate market.

Many builders and their suppliers are slashing costs to make ends meet -- by trimming their staffs, diversifying the type of work they do, using less costly materials and building smaller, said Bernard Markstein, senior economist with the National Association of Home Builders.