If Verne Harnish were the coach of the Indianapolis Colts, he would probably ditch the team’s famed no-huddle offense.
Harnish, an Ashburn-based author, columnist and small-business consultant, finds great value in a regular 15-minute “huddle” of staff members. The huddle is part of his idea that “learning and coaching” are key elements in the success of a small business.
“Whoever learns faster wins,” says Harnish, who addressed the Virginia Council of CEOs on Tuesday at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.
The huddle is one thing that CEOs can do to in “getting their gut back.” He is not talking about the pounds they gained over the holidays but the gut instinct they relied on in starting their companies. Too often, Harnish notes, building a business means CEOs get further and further away from the information they need about customers and competitors. “Because of their inability to stay in touch, their gut goes bad,” Harnish says.
He believes that once or twice a day huddles allow the CEO to get information, communicate with staff and decide on at least one thing that must be accomplished in the next four weeks.
The profitability of companies that use huddles is three times higher than the industry average, Harnish says.

A few years ago, anyone would have laughed at a proposal to ban smoking in restaurants in Virginia.

That’s changed rapidly in the past three years.

In a state where the early economy was based on the tobacco crop and the largest cigarette manufacturer in the country is headquartered, more than 10 bills have been introduced in the General Assembly this year that would curb smoking in public places.

Prior to 2005, proposals to curb smoking were much less prohibitive, such as banning smoking in restaurant bathrooms or tightening controls to prevent teen smoking. A 2005 proposal to ban smoking in public indoor areas failed the Senate handedly - 26-14.

Since then, lawmakers have been more brazen in bills aimed at curbing public smoking, and they have in turn enjoyed more success. A similar plan passed the Senate in 2006 but was left in a House of Delegates committee. In 2007, a plan to ban public smoking failed in the House of Delegates, but the chamber passed a bill that would require restaurants allowing smoking to post a “smoking permitted” sign. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine added an amendment to prohibit smoking in all restaurants, which failed in the House of Delegates. Without the amendment, Kaine vetoed the bill.

This year, Kaine has pushed again for a ban on smoking in indoor sections of restaurants. Ralph S. Northam, D-Norfolk, is sponsoring the bill, which would prohibit smoking in any food establishment, including private clubs.

Other bills go further, such as HB 500, which would ban smoking in all public indoor areas. Del. Phillip Hamilton, R-Newport News, has introduced that bill.

Yet others, such as SB 202, would give localities the power to ban smoking.

The business and tobacco lobbies surely won’t let these proposals go by without a fight. They argue that restaurant owners should retain the right to choose whether to allow smoking.

Twenty-eight states have banned smoking in restaurants. The likelihood that Virginia will be the next state to pass it is unlikely, but don’t expect it to go away anytime soon. Each year these proposals are gaining ground.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s nationally ranked Adcenter has changed its name to the Brandcenter. The new name, say university officials, more accurately reflects the graduate program’s mission to reshape advertising and branding education. Started in 1996, the program has garnered high rankings — No. 1 in the country by Creativity magazine in 2005 and one of the world’s 60 best Design Schools by BusinessWeek in 2007.

The name change is timely with the program’s move into new digs. It’s now located in a Clive-Wilkinson-designed building on VCU’s new Monroe Park addition campus, which opened yesterday. The campus is also home to new buildings housing VCU’s business and engineering programs. For more information about the program, see our online interview with the program’s Executive Director, Rick Boyko, which ran in the November issue.

If India is the new China — in the sense of great economic potential — than Virginia just raised its visibility in the country by hiring a professional marketer.

The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) has signed a short-term, $45,000 contract with England-based PL Shipping & Logistics Ltd. to promote the shipping of Indian cargo through the Hampton Roads port. PL Shipping has 12 offices covering India’s major ports and inland hubs. 

The idea is to bump up an already growing share of trade between India and Virginia.  Since 1994, the average annual growth in trade between the two countries has been 17 percent. In 2006, India ranked No. 6 in total container volume at Virginia’s port, shipping everything from tools to textiles and electronics to U. S. markets.

“If you look at a lot of the cargo forecasts and what the experts say, India is going to be a rival to China. It’s already been a strong player in this port and other ports as well, and we want to be able to capture more cargo and have a presence there,” says Joe Harris, VPA’s media relations manager. The authority will review the contract at year-end and, if all goes well, may renew it.

For more information, see our September cover story. 

A story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this weekend highlighted the dozens of bills that have been introduced in the General Assembly to combat illegal immigration.

Many of these bills are directed toward punishing businesses that have hired illegal workers. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in last week’s State of the Commonwealth speech that he doesn’t want the state to appear xenophobic as it tries to deal with issues related to illegal immigration.

Last year, many bills concerning illegal immigration passed the House of Delegates but failed in the Senate, which was then controlled by moderate Republicans. Democrats now control the Senate, but illegal immigration bills are likely to get some more attention this year. Localities across the state have been studying the effect of illegal immigrants in their communities. Many have passed resolutions asking local staff to study whether they can reduce services.

Following are just some of the bills that target employers that the Times-Dispatch listed this weekend. We will follow these closely in the blog.

HB90: Allows state regulatory boards to suspend or revoke the license, certificate or registration of a business if it has been convicted of knowingly hiring someone who is not eligible to work in the U.S.

HB 227: Requires applicants for a contractor’s license to submit a statement promising they will verify employee’s status and not hire an illegal immigrant knowingly.

HB 926: Allows regulatory boards to discipline businesses convicted of hiring undocumented workers.
five patrons; Makes conviction for violating the law by employing ineligible workers grounds for disciplinary action by a regulatory board.

HB928: Several measures, including requirement that public bodies and their contractors work with the Department of Homeland Security to participate in federal work authorization program. Requires state agencies offering services to verify the recipient’s immigration status.

HB 1047: $100 fine each day for a business that employs an undocumented worker.

HB 1249: Allows employee who is replaced by an ineligible worker grounds to take action against former employer.

HB 1298: A set of punishments and fines for businesses employing workers they cannot provide documents for showing their are eligible to work in the U.S.

HJ164: Directs the Virginia Commission on Immigration to study how many licensed contractors in the state hire ineligible employees and their effect on the work force and the economy.

SB90: Prohibits employers from hiring workers before their legal eligibility has been verified.

SB385: Requires applicants for local business licenses to certify they are not employing undocumented workers.

SB426: Same as HB.