Please join us on June 5, 2012 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm to hear guest speaker Karen Henry, Community Educator Covenant Hospice, discuss “Staying Healthy in the Golden Years”. Bring a friend or family member for light refreshments and a valuable learning experience

Event will take place at Capital Regional Medical Center (2626 Capital Medical Blvd) in the 1st Floor Education Room. There is free valet parking in front if the hospital.

For more information please visit the American Lung Association’s website.

Young professionals sometimes complain there’s nothing going on in Tallahassee.  Tom Flanigan reports some of them changed their minds after hearing people connected with the Knight Creative Communities Institute.

The talk came at Tuesday’s Access Tallahassee luncheon at the downtown DoubleTree Hotel.  Access Tallahassee, an offshoot of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, is mostly made up of twenty and thirty-something business types.  The speakers before this august gathering were Laurie Hartsfield and Betsy Couch, both with the Knight Creative Communities Institute – K-C-C-I for short.  After a whirlwind presentation about all the local projects K-C-C-I is involved with, one enthusiastic Access Tallahassee member came bounding up to Hartsfield.  He’d gone to school here, moved away, and now was back.  He told her that move was a great decision because so many exciting things are now happening…

“It’s just validation for actually everything we’re working on.  Sometimes you run into roadblocks and people aren’t always pleased.  Old-time Tallahasseeans seem to not be pleased with some of these changes sometimes, but when you hear the young professionals and you hear those people who want to move back to Tallahassee and they don’t have children, that’s what you often hear – Tallahassee’s a great place to raise a family – but when you hear of a young professional couple who wants to move here because Tallahassee is the greatest city in Florida that they want to live in, it’s just validation that we’re doing the right thing every day.”

Some of those “right things”, Hartsfield says, include the Cascades Park project, Midtown makeover, Gaines Street revival, Southside renewal and a host of other “quality-of-life” initiatives.  And while many of these will enhance the social life of younger folks, Hartsfield says older people should like them, too:

“My parents actually live in Fort Worth, Texas and are thinking of moving to Tallahassee.  But honestly, they’ve been over here several times looking at what they can do for culture and arts; how they can walk around, how accessible the city is, how accessible leadership is, what they can do to make a difference and how they can engage in the community.  So I think young or old you’re looking for that way that you can plug in and make a city a home and I think that’s what we’re doing every day is how do we make Tallahassee feel like home for a lot of different people.”

Meanwhile, Hartsfield, Couch and others associated with K-C-C-I are making the local luncheon circuit rounds, trying to get more people involved in the remaking of Florida’s Capital City.

In a typical portfolio, investors allocate their money between two asset classes: stocks and bonds.

Historically, stocks have provided the higher long term returns at the cost of being riskier.  Bonds have provided a safer, less volatile alternative, at the expense of lower long term returns.   Since 1994 there have been two major stock market crashes, and only one major bond crash – and for perspective, the bond crash was only one-quarter the size of either stock crash.  Historical price moves aside, there are fundamental reasons that bonds tend to be safer than stocks.

Bonds are basically contracts, in which the investor is lending money (in this case to the Federal Government) in exchange for repayment and some payment of interest.  As long as the U.S. Treasury holds its end of the bargain, when the term of the bond ends, you should have made your profit.  In the meantime, however, fluctuations in interest rates can cause the value of your bond to change.  Rising interest rates cause bond values to fall, and declining interest rates cause bond values to rise.  As long as you are holding your bond to maturity, the short term fluctuations are not of much concern, but if you need to sell your bond early, you could take a loss (or make a profit).

Most investors do not buy individual bonds.  Instead, they purchase mutual funds, which are baskets of different bonds.  The clear logic here is that if one particular bond defaults for some reason, you are diversified among many bonds and can limit your losses.  This strategy is particularly effective when investing in stocks, but with bonds, there is a catch.  The bonds held in mutual funds are constantly maturing and being replaced by new bonds.  That means that there is no guaranteed date at which you can lock in your profit and walk away.  Most of the bonds held in a mutual fund at any time are subject to the interest rate fluctuation mentioned above, and can gain or lose value accordingly – meaning that the funds themselves can be subject to significant fluctuations in value.

Bond crashes are rare, but they do occur.  During the great depression, long term government bonds lost over 30% of their value.  In 1994, mutual funds focusing on intermediate term Treasury bonds fell nearly 15%.  With interest rates sitting near record lows, bond prices are near record highs, and many financial professionals see nowhere to go but down.  While there is little upside for prices, history of extremely low interest rate environments (see Japan) has shown us that high bond prices are not always doomed to crash.  Still, in an environment where investors have recently been burned by stocks, I would hate to see them fall victim to another crash, so I tend to advocate for some caution when approaching bonds.

To avoid the pitfalls associated with bond funds, ask your financial advisor about investing in high quality individual bonds or CDs.  Alternatively, a relatively new trend is the use of target date funds.  When discussing these funds with your advisor, make sure they are looking at target date bond-only funds, where most of the holdings are set to mature around the same time.

Happy bond shopping!

Guest Blogger:
Robert B. Drach
Drach Market Research Advisors, LLC
rbdrach@gmail.com
(850) 270-6289

The Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra seeks a dynamic, highly committed Director of Patron Services/Office Manager.  Currently undergoing the search for a new Music Director & Conductor, the TSO is in an exciting phase of artistic growth and vibrancy.

As part of a staff consisting of two full-time and five part-time employees, the Director of Patron Services/Office Manager will perform a wide-range of duties pertaining to ticketing and office management.  The position will also act as lead operations manager for the annual Young People’s Concert and Southwood Pops in the Park.

The Director of Patron Services and Office Manager is supervised by and reports to the TSO Executive Director and works in close contact with the TSO Board of Directors, the Tallahassee Symphony Society, and the general public.

Required Skills

• Ability to interface well and in a friendly manner with TSO patrons, volunteers, and board
• Proficiency at the Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel
• Ability to keep meticulous records and work efficiently
• Knowledge of social media vehicles and ability to update Facebook, Twitter, and Constant Contact accounts as necessary
• Proficiency at writing and excellent verbal communication skills
• Ability to self-motivate, learn quickly, and use time wisely
• Ability to work nights and weekends for concerts, special events and after-hours meetings
• Ability to work on tight deadlines
• Flexibility and a good sense of humor

Preferred Skills

• Passion for the arts and interest in the orchestra industry
• Administrative experience, especially in the arts field
• Knowledge of music
• Ability to think creativity and critically
• Familiarity in reading and interpreting budgets

How To Apply

To request a full list of duties and complete job description, please send an email to TSO Executive Director Mandy Sauer at director@tallahasseesymphony.org.  To receive consideration, a cover letter, resume, and writing sample are due by Monday, May 6, 2012.  You will receive an email confirmation of your application.

We are currently recruiting for staff positions to oversee daily operations and training for program participants. Ideal staff members will be motivated self-starters who work well with high school students. Staff members will work as a team to ensure participants and their chaperones are engaged and enjoying their experience. Visit the Rebuilding Together North Central Florida at http://rebuildingtogetherncf.org/programs/summer-program-2012  for more information.

Banker Lopez Gassler currently has an opening for a full-time Office Clerk/Runner in their non-smoking Tallahassee office.

Hours are 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday.

Please email your resume to recruiting@bankerlopez.com.

Duties include:

1 – Sorting and organizing mail
2 – Processing UPS and FedEx packages
3 – Performing courier runs for firm personnel to clients
4 – Performing court runs
5 – Assisting in other office tasks as assigned by the attorneys or Office Manager

Qualifications include:

1 – Active driver’s license
2 – Reliable transportation
3 – Active car insurance
4 – Ability to lift and carry a minimum of fifty pounds
5 – Ability to maintain strict confidentiality regarding firm and client matters
6 – High school diploma or equivalent
7 – Interpersonal skills necessary to communicate by telephone or in person to provide information with ordinary courtesy and tact in an environment with a diverse group of personalities
8 – Organization skills and the ability to prioritize numerous tasks and comlpete them under time constraints while maintaining a high level of attention to detail

Aaron decided to get involved with Access Tallahassee through the encouragement of a coworker, and has thoroughly enjoyed his experience thus far. He believes Access has been a great avenue to expand his network, and also to meet people that are close in age to him with common interests. He has even taken his involvement one step further by becoming an officer in Leads Group B. Aaron says that “building connections, genuine relationships and getting the opportunity to reciprocate business with the other members of my leads group” has by far been the most rewarding part of being involved with Access Tallahassee.

ZOINKS! Onyx Group is GROWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWING!

If you have mad skills in:

• Copywriting

• SEO

• Brand Management

• Business Development

• Frontend/Backend Development

Apply Here: https://ciims.cindexinc.com/job/cc46fe

Local businesses and student bands from the surrounding high schools will showcase their stuff with all proceeds going to benefit the Tallahassee Memorial Heart & Vascular Center.

For more information click here.