John-Paul Smolenski is the founder and CEO of MMP Capital , a leading commercial finance company helping small businesses grow. getty When I was 29, I walked away from a job making over a quarter of a million dollars a year. It was a tough economy, my wife was pregnant, and I recently buried my father, but I decided to start MMP Capital out of my garage. Many would have said the time wasn’t right to take a risk, but I trusted my gut, my experience and my network of contacts and took the leap knowing that I could create a well-managed, successful small business. Ten years later, our company funds nearly $300 million in equipment financing per year, with a strong following from medical aesthetic offices that must consistently purchase new equipment. The MMP family consists of 55 employees, and we are projected to grow by 35% this year, despite economist predictions that 2023 will be a particularly tough year for the economy. Beyond my family, our company is my biggest achievement, and I would like to share some of the lessons I have learned over the past 10 years of growing it. 1. There is no shortcut […]

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It is no secret that a diverse company is a successful one. getty It is no secret that a diverse company is a successful one. Driving diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) within an organization builds stronger teams, fosters creativity, improves business growth, and helps attract – and retain – top talent. Nearly 80% of employees report that they expect their leadership to implement DEIB initiatives to create meaningful change. According to a McKinsey study , companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to outperform their respective national industry medians’ financial returns. And yet: As the macro environment shifts, and many companies are forced to pull back budgets and ‘do more with less,’ DEIB initiatives may be at risk of being pushed aside in favor of short-term projects that seem more closely tied to business growth and stability. DEIB can fall back into the category of ‘nice-to-have,’ more ‘people-centric’ work, and businesses can lose sight of just how vital the work really is. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Abi Williams, founder of Lead Not Lag , to discuss the intersection of people-centric and results-driven DEIB programming and […]

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Change Enhances Clarity, Signifies Renewed Commitment to Service Excellence RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company (First Citizens Bank) today announced that its vendor equipment financing business will now be known as First Citizens Bank Equipment Finance to better communicate its core mission to vendors, customers and prospects. Formerly known as CIT Business Capital, the vendor finance business became a part of First Citizens Bank in January 2022 as a result of the bank’s merger with CIT Group Inc. It specializes in supporting small and mid-size businesses by providing equipment financing solutions via technology-enabled platforms and market leading structuring expertise. "This brand transition is about much more than just clarifying our message to the market," said First Citizens Bank President Peter Bristow, who oversees the commercial banking segment. "It also signifies our renewed commitment to excellence in delivering financial solutions and services to equipment vendors and individual customers alike." "Our advanced technology platforms, industry-leading expertise and dedicated team are unmatched when it comes to providing equipment financing with speed and certainty of execution," Bristow added. The equipment finance business is consistently ranked among the Top 10 by Monitor magazine, a leading industry trade publication. […]

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– Forbes Business Council Is an Invitation-Only Community for Successful Business Owners and Leaders – NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — ProofPilot, the digital protocol automation platform for clinical trials, today announced that its CEO Chris Venezia has been accepted into the Forbes Business Council, the foremost growth and networking organization for successful business owners and leaders worldwide. "We are honored to welcome Chris Venezia into the community," said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Business Council. "Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world." Chris Venezia was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his health technology solutions experience for life science customers. Criteria for acceptance include a track record of successfully impacting business growth metrics, as well as personal and professional achievements and honors. "I am thrilled to have been accepted into Forbes’ Business Council to join like-minded professionals and level-up the strategic vision of our company and its impact to the clinical research industry," said […]

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In this episode of TAG Infrastructure Talks, Troutman Pepper Partner Alan Poole discusses the history and current landscape of electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) providing broadband in Georgia with Georgia EMC Senior Vice President – Government Relations Kevin Curtin. This timely conversation includes: the history and organization of EMCs, and why EMCs make sense as a broadband provider to rural areas; legal, policy, and business challenges and opportunities for EMCs entering the broadband space; See more + Latest Posts Other MultiMedia by Troutman Pepper DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. © Troutman Pepper 2023 | Attorney Advertising

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getty Lego is not the company you may think it is. With its $1 billion investment in Epic Games and acquisition of BrainPOP, the company is further positioning itself as a leader in the edtech industry—and the company’s 2022 investment spree isn’t its first foray into learning and education. For decades, Lego has worked toward making learning more experiential. The future of learning is increasingly virtual, and Lego has reinvented itself to meet that reality head-on. Another learning revolution is occurring throughout the world. In 2020, the World Economic Forum found that for workers planning to remain in their roles, 50% would need reskilling or upskilling by 2025. This is education’s next big challenge. As more people seek reskilling and upskilling, companies must look for ways to optimize for lifelong learning. If companies like Lego can reinvent themselves to meet the needs of the next generation, what lessons can business leaders take from others to meet the needs of tomorrow’s workforce? Purposeful Play A study found children who learn through play can develop motivation, persistence, creativity and confidence that their more traditional counterparts lack. Reskilling and training sites like Centrical, BetterUp and ReSkills understand that adult brains can also […]

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Agency News Appointment concludes insurer’s quarter-century relationship with Horizon Credit: Geico Nearly five months after putting its media account in review and laying off dozens of marketing staffers, Geico has selected IPG shop Mediabrands. The appointment concludes the insurer’s 25-plus-year tenure of working with Horizon. Dentsu Media was one of the other finalists in the review according to multiple people close to the situation. Dentsu Media declined to comment. Adrianne Pasquarelli is a senior reporter at Ad Age, covering marketing in retail and finance, as well as in travel and health care. She is also a host of the Marketer’s Brief podcast and spearheads special reports including 40 Under 40 and Hottest Brands. Pasquarelli joined Ad Age in 2015 after writing for Crain’s New York Business, where she also focused on the retail industry.

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Graphics-chip maker Nvidia ( NVDA ) late Wednesday beat Wall Street’s estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter and guided higher for the current period. NVDA stock jumped in extended trading. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company earned an adjusted 88 cents a share on sales of $6.05 billion for the quarter ended Jan. 29. Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted Nvidia earnings of 81 cents a share on sales of $6.02 billion. On a year-over-year basis, Nvidia earnings dropped 33% while sales sank 21%. Gaming chip sales remained weak in the fourth quarter, falling 46% year over year to $1.83 billion. However, data center chip sales rose 11% to $3.62 billion, fueled by cloud service providers investing in artificial intelligence technology. In Nvidia’s smaller business segments, professional visualization sales plummeted 65% to $226 million while automotive and embedded sales surged 135% to a record $294 million. NVDA Stock Jumps On Upbeat Report For the current quarter, Nvidia forecast sales of $6.5 billion, down 22% from the same quarter last year. But that topped Wall Street’s target of $6.31 billion for the first quarter. In after-hours trading on the stock market today , NVDA stock jumped 7.1% to 222.18. During the […]

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The 2023 California Business Investment Guide , recently published by the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development (GO-Biz), features a comprehensive list of state incentive programs to help California businesses identify and use existing state funding resources for recovery and success. GO-Biz serves as California’s single point of contact for business, economic development, and job creation efforts. The long list of incentives includes a wide range of assistance with business development and support, employment and workforce, equipment and machinery, financing and start-up support, and power and utilities. Every individual program is hyperlinked, so users can simply click to learn more information. For example, the first incentive program listed under Business Development and Business Support is the California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) program. That listing links directly to the CCTC website, where the opening page shows current information and deadlines, a schedule of webinars for those who want to learn more, a list of helpful resources (in Spanish and English), and contact links. GO-Biz has had a major impact, with milestones such as $31.6 billion in new investments awarded by the California Competes Tax Credit, $17.9 billion in direct in-state spending by film and TV tax credit recipients, and […]

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Domino’s Pizza DPZ –11.25% stock was sinking Thursday after the company lowered its retail sales outlook as macroeconomic pressures have hit its delivery business. Domino’s (ticker: DPZ) said Thursday it has continued to experience ongoing macroeconomic headwinds in the U.S., which led to “significant pressure on our U.S. delivery business in 2022.” The pizza maker now expects global retail sales growth of between 4% to 8% in the next two to three years. The company previously expected retail sales growth of between 6% and 10%. After losing eight million egg-laying hens to avian influenza in 2015, Versova Management Co. spent tens of millions of dollars on laser systems, sound cannons and on-site worker showers to shield flocks from the virus spread by wild birds. Versova lost another two million or so hens in the latest outbreak, showing the limits of costly industry protections.

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