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Small Business and Retail Energy woes only one worry for state’s small biz



Two Local Firms Offer Energy Efficient Way to

Light Up an Office, Store

As if energy woes aren’t bad enough, California businesses are being saddled by massive red tape and other factors that are taking the “luster” off the Golden State.

So said Martyn Hopper, California director of the National Federation of Independent Business, a Washington, D.C.-based business advocacy group. Hopper described the many challenges facing businesses in California in a statement Feb. 15, following the release of a poll of NFIB members.

Among their top worries were ergonomics requirements , protections against injuries caused by repetitive motion such as lifting, bending, kneeling, typing and so forth. In 1996, California’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration became the first state in the nation to adopt ergonomics regulations, while the federal OSHA’s regulations go into effect in October, Hopper said.

Both the federal and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration worry that repetitive activities in the workplace may damage the soft tissues of the body, leading to disorders such as carpal tunnel syndrome. But there’s no hard evidence that this is the case, Hopper said.

Nor is it for certain that workers’ injuries were caused by work. The high-tech employee who complains of wrist and neck aches may be on his work computer three hours a day, but go home and surf the Internet for eight hours, Hopper said.

The cost to business? The federal OSHA estimates the cost of correcting an ergonomics problem at an average of $250 per job. But another federal agency, the Small Business Administration, has put the costs at $3,800, Hopper pointed out.

The irony of all this is that these regulations may very well eliminate all workplace injury , but not the way the regulators intended.

“The one certain way to prevent a workplace injury is to make certain there are no jobs to go to , something the cost of complying with the new rules is ensuring,” he said.

That’s not all that’s hurting small businesses in California. There’s also the growing use of project labor agreements by state and local governments that allow only union contractors participation in public-works projects.

At the same time, small businesses may suffer due to a proposal in the Legislature to allow utility companies to diversify into areas of business that directly compete with small business , such as establishing subsidiaries that sell, install and service household appliances.

“I guess the Legislature couldn’t stop with the fine success it had in deregulating utility companies,” Hopper said with tongue in cheek.

One interesting outcome of NFIB’s survey is that many of its members are wasting time stuck in traffic on California’s jam-packed freeways. Responding to a possible state ban on cell phone use while in a motor vehicle, 63 percent of small-business owners opposed such a ban, 29 percent favored it, and the remainder weren’t sure.

– – –

Let The Sun Shine In: Two San Diego-area companies are marketing a way to help small businesses and retail stores dramatically reduce their lighting bills in response to California’s energy crisis.

Carlsbad-based So-Luminaire Daylighting Systems markets what they call the “most energy-efficient lighting system.” The system is manufactured by SNS Technology, based in San Diego.

The So-Luminaire skylights can provide even illumination throughout an entire store. Unlike conventional skylights, they provide enough illumination that the store can be brightly lit almost all day , with all the electric lights turned off, said Jacque Stevens, vice president of marketing for So-Luminaire.

The system has other advantages over conventional skylights, as well. The system is insulated to prevent excessive heat gain during the summer or heat loss during the winter. And the light is diffused over a wide area, preventing the heavy glare at midday throughout the summer, Stevens said.

Customers have also reported the pleasing illumination from natural sunlight has had other effects as well, including decreased eye fatigue and eye strain, leading to higher productivity and morale, and reduced absenteeism, he said.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can: To help small business owners develop their Web traffic and improve their e-commerce operations, a Tulsa, Okla.-based writer has borrowed a line from a popular children’s book.

“The Little Website That Could,” by Lynne Schlumpf, has tips on what it takes to attract customers to your site and encourage them to shop online. For example:

– Establishing an online store doesn’t have to cost more than $100 a month. In some cases, it could even be much less.

– Getting your Web site listed on search engines is not necessarily the best way to attract qualified customers.

– The first seven seconds on your home page can spell the difference between success or failure.

– Your customers don’t want to talk to you, but would like to talk to each other.

The book will be available at San Diego-area bookstores in March, and is also available over the Internet. For more information, log on to (www.littlewebsitethatcould.net).

Submit small business and retail news to Lee Zion by email to lzion@sdbj.com. The deadline for the next small business column is March 1.

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