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WARRIOR: Richard Zuschlag
WHY: For being the Anti-FEMA
August will be the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and news crews will descend upon New Orleans to show the limited progress being made in many ramshackle neighborhoods, the swaths of abandoned homes laid to waste and to replay the horrible footage from of the disaster itself. Perhaps it is a good time to introduce Richard Zuschlag, CEO of Acadian Ambulance in Lafayette, LA, and an honorable mention for Inc. magazine’s 2005 “entrepreneur of the year.” In 1971, Zuschlag started Acadian Ambulance with a few medics returning from Vietnam and a couple of vehicles; he dispatched during the day and drove at night. Today, Acadian is the largest private ambulance company in the country with more than 2,000 employees and some $180 million in revenue, even though the company only collects on 55% of its 250,000 patient transports due to the high number of poor and uninsured. During Katrina, Zuschlag oversaw operations from a command center after initially having the only reliable radio system in the region thanks to 18 500-foot communications towers and a bevy of satellite phones. The heroics of his employees are astounding. During the days following the hurricane, his people managed to: staff a first-aid center at the Superdome, set up a triage on Interstate 10, commandeer three 18-wheelers and fill them with 68 hospital residents on stretchers and duct-tape ill and elderly patients to ironing boards and doors without hinges to be airlifted by helicopters. Oh, and they rescued babies from a neonatal unit running on backup generators by setting up an outdoor helipad. All told, Acadian evacuated some 7,000 people. At the Inc. 500 Awards in Savannah, Georgia, Zuschlag humbly gave credit to his employees saying, “I saw clearly the towering height of their courage and the incredible depth of their compassion.”
And it starts with him. |
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WORKERS: Workforce Recruitment Program
WHY: Helping disabled kids find jobs
The US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment recently set up a database of more than 1,500 disabled college students and recent graduates looking for employment. The applicants are pre-screened through face-to-face interviews and there are referral pools tailored to specific job requirements. Best of all, the service is available on CD-ROM at no cost to employers. It’s a diverse list of highly skilled, well-educated young workers from across the country in fields including business, human resources, engineering, communications, computer science and administrative support.
Looking to hire? Searching for a summer intern? Check out the Workforce Recruitment Program and get a motivated youngster just looking for a foot in the door. Call 202-693-7880 or email: wrp@dol.gov. |
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WHINERS: Young French workers
WHY: Failing Economics 101
France has serious problems. The economy has only grown at a rate of 1.5% over the last three years and unemployment hovers around 10% in the general populous, 22% among youth and roughly 50% in the immigrant suburbs. The joblessness fostered violent riots at the end of 2005 by immigrants feeling left out of the system and led to the drafting of a law by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to begin fixing the problem. The original law – CPE -- created a new employment contract that allowed employers to fire anyone under the age of 26 within their first two years on the job without explanation. The current system basically guarantees permanent employment after six weeks, which means workers can’t be let go without proving the dismissal is warranted (often ending up in tribunal) and incurring stiff penalties like having to pay healthy compensation including 10% of the fired person’s salary. Thus, many business owners are reluctant to hire anyone at all. The CPE engendered the annual French springtime potests, which brought out more than a million people, shut down the Eiffel Tower (and scared off tourists) and led to violent confrontations and burning cars. The CPE was watered down to a one-year probation, but that wasn’t enough and the law was scrapped. It was a crushing blow to the Prime Minister who was vilified for trying to adapt “Anglo-Saxon capitalism.” It’s a fair question as to what the social contract between employers and employees should be, but the irony of the ditching the CPE was that its intention was to open hiring markets -- especially for small business owners -- so that immigrants would have an easier time assimilating into French society.
Vivre l'economic stagnation! |
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WEASEL: Big Oil
WHY: You need to ask?
Between January and April, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in California rose from $2.21 to $2.81. The oil industry gave three primary reasons for the spike: the high price of crude, which exceeded $70 a barrel; the additional manufacturing costs of blending cleaner burning fuels and a national switch to ethanol as a pollution-controller. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights released a study saying the reasons are bunk in terms of the whopping increase. Independent petroleum consultant Tim Hamilton did the analysis and said that the chief cause of higher prices at the pumps is, “increased profiteering by oil companies,” which posted record profits in 2005. Hamilton found that maximum volatility in the crude market, coupled with California sales tax, would only add .16 a gallon and states that haven’t switched to ethanol like Washington mirrored California’s increase. It all adds up to a healthier bottom line for big oil because more than .40 of every .60 is “attributable to the increased refinery and marketing profit margins.” Hamilton estimated drivers in the Golden State (see, everyone) would pay $546 million more in April 2006 than they did in the same month in 2005.
The thing about the 1849 gold rush was that every prospector worth their salt at least believed they could get rich pillaging the land. Now it’s only a select few…who don’t even have to set up camp there. |
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