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Chris Kinnas
Investment Advice
Is it time to
consolidate your
assets?
If you’re like many peo
ple, you keep investment
vehicles in different places.
You might have started tra
ditional IRAs with two or
three financial- services
providers while buying
some stocks from still
another. And you may have
purchased a fixed annuity
from an insurance company.
As long as you keep track of
all these accounts, you
might think it doesn’t mat
ter where they are
“housed.” However, if you
scatter your investments
here, there and everywhere,
you could end up in
uncharted territory when
it’s time to pull everything
together.
What are some of the
potential problems of keep
ing your investments at a
variety of different institu
tions? For one thing, despite
your best intentions, you
could actually forget about
one or more of your hold
ings. State treasurers’
offices regularly advertise
“unclaimed” property,
including investments.
People move, change jobs,
divorce and undergo all
sorts of changes in their
lives and sometimes, they
leave their investment dol
lars behind. But if you con
solidate all your holdings
with one financial-services
provider, you can keep tabs
on them without much
trouble.
Of course, you could be a
highly organized person
someone who would never
“misplace” financial assets,
no matter how dispersed.
But even so, your far-flung
investments could slow your
progress toward your
important financial goals. If
you maintain several
accounts without a central
focus or unifying philoso
phy, you could end up with
redundant or inappropriate
investments a costly mis
take.
To avoid this problem,
consider keeping your
investments with one firm
and work with one financial
professional someone
who knows your family situ
ation, risk tolerance and
investment preferences.
This approach may help you
make steady progress
toward your long-term
objectives. A qualified pro
fessional can look objective
ly at how all your invest
ments work together and
make recommendations as
needed to improve your
portfolio’s performance
within your stated level of
risk.
Required Minimum
Distribution Issues
Consolidating your vari
ous investment accounts
also can help you in the area
of required minimum distri
butions (RMDs). As you
may know, you need to
begin taking RMDs from
traditional IRAs and
401(k)s or other employer
sponsored retirement plans
in the year in which you
turn 70-1/2. You can take
out more than the RMD,
but, as the word “required”
suggests, you can’t with
draw less and you could
face tax penalties for taking
less than the minimum or
failing to take the RMD on
See KINNAS, page 9A
TUESDAY,
JUNE 28, 2005
Zaxby’s hosts Business After Hours
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HHJ/Mike George
Perry business leaders talk at the Perry Welcome Center during Business After Hours,
a program hosted by Zaxby’s and sponsored by the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce.
From left are Gordon Scarborough of Perma Ad Ideas, Jimmy Faircloth of Parrish
Construction, and Rep. Robert Ray.
I H
HHJ/Mike George
Ken Mullins, a salesman with Com South, hands his business card to Paula Phelps of
the Crossroads Civitan Club, at the Perry Welcome Center during a recent Business
After Hours. Sponsored by the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce and hosted by
Zaxby’s, the program is designed to give local business leaders an opportunity to meet.
Three businesses nominated for award
Special to the HHJ
The Warner Robins Area
Chamber of Commerce has
nominated three local busi
nesses for Gov. Sonny
Perdue’s Georgia Small
Business of Excellence
Award.
Legacy Fine China, run by
Barbara Shaheen and
Donna Kiefer, was nominat
ed in the 1-5 employee cate
gory. They specialize in fine
china and gifts, including
the Brighton line of leather
goods.
T.J & Son Inc., doing busi
ness as Kentucky Fried
Chicken and run by Terry L.
Stringer, was nominated in
the 6-50 employee category.
This company operates
three stores in Warner
Weyerhaeuser Mill receives safety recognition
Special to the HHJ
OGLETHORPE -
Weyerhaeuser’s Flint River
plant continues to build on
its excellent safety record.
For the third time in six
years, the plant has been
recognized for its continuing
commitment to safety by the
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration and
was once again recertified as
a STAR site by OSHA.
The VPP STAR award,
OSHA’s highest recognition
for accident prevention and
on-the-job safety perform
ance, acknowledges and
rewards outstanding
achievement in creating and
maintaining a safe and
healthy workplace.
The Flint River plant,
employing about 250 from
Middle Georgia, manufac
tures cellulose pulp, which
is converted by its cus
tomers into disposable prod
ucts, for example, baby dia
pers. Over 325,000 tons of
Business
Robins and has a loyal clien
tele.
Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q,
run by Brad and Gina Fink,
was nominated in the 51-
200 employee category. They
operate stores in Warner
Robins, Perry and Macon
and are a model for the 150
restaurants in the chain.
The award recognizes the
dedication, innovation and
entrepreneurial spirit dis
played by small businesses.
The winners will be recog
nized by Perdue, although
the date when the winners
will be announced is not yet
known.
Chamber Chairman Paul
Hibbitts formally nominat
ed the three companies in
separate letters to Perdue,
and included letters of refer
pulp can be produced annu
ally which, when converted
to diapers, amounts to about
30 million diapers per day.
“Please accept my hearty
congratulations on your sus
tained excellence in all
aspects of workplace safety
and health,” said Cindy Coe
Laseter, regional adminis
trator for OSHA. “Your re
approval for the VPP is a
strong endorsement to the
continued dedication
demonstrated by you and
your employees at Flint
River to workplace safety
and health.
“As a participant in the
VPFI you hold a position as
an industry leader in work
place safety and health and
serve as a model regarding
what a safety and health
management system can
be,” said Laseter.
“The safety program here
is so successful because
every one of our employees
is involved in the program,”
said Joe Burroughs, safety
ence from Warner Robins
Mayor Donald Walker. The
nominations were submit
ted on June 1, following a
strict format that limited
their total length to three
pages.
Chamber Vice-Chairman
for Economic Affairs Tiena
Fletcher identified the can
didates after extensive con
sultation with Chamber
leaders.
“It was very difficult to
select which businesses we
should nominate from
among the many outstand
ing Chamber-member busi
nesses in Warner Robins,”
she said. “But the really
hard part was condensing
all they have done for our
community into a single
page.”
manager at the plant. “Our
goal is to become a 100 per
cent injury-free workplace -
to make sure that every
employee who comes to
work at Flint River returns
home to their family the
same way they started their
day.”
“STAR recertification is a
major achievement for the
Flint River operations,” said
Anna Skrobecki,
Weyerhaeuser vice president
and Flint River plant man
ager. “Our mill will share,
educate and mentor other
mills in the benefits of work
er safety and health, both
within Weyerhaeuser and
with other industries.”
Flint River qualified for
its original STAR designa
tion in 1998.
To qualify for the award,
applicants must pass a
series of regular inspections
- an OSHA audit every
three to five years - and
meet rigorous safety
requirements.
A servant leader's
'products' - part 1
Four weeks ago, I quot
ed John Fischer’s “The
Leader as Shoeshine
Man.” John is senior
writer of the “Purpose-
Driven Life Daily
Devotionals,” available by
e-mail (go to www.pur
posedrivenlife.com). In
that column, I asked read
ers to identify “the prod
ucts and/or services that
you and your colleagues
desire from your leader.”
My desire was to “com
bine your thoughts with
others and share them.
Leaders will then have a
clear description of how to
serve their internal cus
tomers.” (If you missed
the article, contact me at
the e-mail address above
or at (478) 988-0237.)
Thanks to the many
individuals who provided
suggestions. I have
thanked each of you pri
vately, but you deserve a
collective “thank you”
publicly. Collaboration
with you thoughtful read
ers and leaders is much
appreciated!
John Fischer’s analogy
offers a potential para
digm shift for leaders who
have never deeply consid
ered “servant leadership.”
Many individuals might
quickly identify the lady
or gentleman whose shoes
are being shined in this
description as the more
likely leader. Yet, as
Fischer wrote, “were
Jesus here today, He
would point to the
shoeshine man as being
the one to emulate.”
Servant leadership is
about creating a welcom
ing, safe, productive envi
ronment that inspires and
encourages individuals to
excel, using their talents
to serve their colleagues
and the organization’s
paying customers. John
Fischer used the
shoeshine man as an
interesting example!
The shoeshine man
greets his customers with
a smile and an inviting
word. The shoeshine
stand is attractive and
comfortable. Customers
are treated with respect.
They leave looking and
feeling better than when
they arrived.
Each new customer is
the focus of the shoeshine
man’s total attention.
Whatever else is going on
in the vicinity of the
shoeshine stand is blotted
out of his mind. The
shoeshine man responds
to the customer’s sugges
tions, feedback, and opin
ions.
The shoeshine man
shares information about
what might be of interest
to the customer (for
example, the movement of
the stock market, or the
results of today’s ball
Assessing Your
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Dennis Hooper
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dhooper2@juno.com
game). He watches closely
for a response to know
whether and how to pro
ceed.
If the customer wants to
talk, the shoeshine man
keeps the conversation
flowing, seeking under
standing and expressing
empathy. He makes each
customer feel significant.
The shoeshine man may
not own his stand, but he
realizes it is where he
serves, so he takes care of
it. He has a special appre
ciation for his customers,
especially the repeaters.
When they don’t show up
at their normal time, he
wonders where they are
and what might have pre
vented their presence.
So where does all this
shake out? The shoeshine
man wants his customers
to look good and to feel
confident. Servant leaders
want the same for those
under their authority, and
they are deeply commit
ted to creating the envi
ronment where that can
happen.
Servant leaders have a
strong awareness of their
stewardship responsibili
ty. They recognize that
the positions they hold
are their “mission fields,”
the arenas in which they
are privileged to serve.
Servant leaders set very
high standards for them
selves, aware that employ
ees and their families are
dependent upon their
decisions and direction
setting.
The behaviors of ser
vant leaders flow from the
way they view their
responsibilities. I encour
age you to evaluate your
approach to leadership.
Do you focus more on
meeting your own needs?
Or are you serving the
needs of those under your
authority?
Come back next week,
when I’ll share some
specifics, taken from what
readers have identified as
the “products and services
of servant leaders.”
Certified
Leadership Development Coach
Building leaders and
organizations of excellence
(478) 988-0237
SCHNEIDER. J
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dhooper2@juno.com