With the rise in our aging population, more and more adult children are assuming the role of caregiver while also maintaining a full- or part-time job. This pressure to balance work and caregiving responsibilities has left 61 percent of working caregivers feeling as if they must choose between being a good employee and being a good daughter or son. To make matters worse, only 29 percent of these caregivers are satisfied with their employer’s family leave policy.

As this issue grows to impact a larger percentage of the workforce, it will be essential that employees and employers work together to find solutions. Consider the following recommendations as ways to get started:

1. Ask for help – For caregivers, it can be extremely difficult, but also tremendously beneficial, to ask their employer for help. For employers, create opportunities for employees to express their needs. Schedule brief weekly meetings to check in and ask how they are doing. Transparency helps eliminate pressure on the employees to keep their concerns to themselves.

2. Create a flexible policy -When it comes to caring for a loved one, there are no fixed hours or planned deadlines; emergency situations can come at any moment. With a plan in place, employers and employees can be on the same page about flexible working hours or situations that require time off.

3. Offer in-office assistance – Employers can create a culture of safety for working caregivers by forming a support group for employees who are in similar situations. Such groups not only provide a place for relief, but also create the opportunity for employees to grow relationships with one another – positively affecting workplace culture.

4. Provide care for the caregiver – It can be easy for a caregiver to quickly forget about his or her own needs when caring for a loved one. Encourage individuals to take time to care for their own physical, mental and emotional well-being. In addition, pay attention to signs that indicate your employee may need a break. Connect them with available resources or encourage time away from work.

5. Make time to listen – Lending an ear is one of the most impactful things an employer can do for a working caregiver. More than half of caregivers have expressed feelings of depression and find it difficult to care for themselves. When employers open the door for a conversation, they are providing hope and reassurance to the working caregiver.

Family caregivers and employers can view more resources and tips at caregiverstress.com. Or, contact your local Home Instead Senior Care office for additional resources and to learn how a professional CAREGiverSM may be able to assist.

Find an office near you at www.homeinstead.com/state/.

The changing nature of retail has opened tremendous opportunities for small businesses in the past decade. According to new research, “Charting the Growth Journey: From Product to Profitable Business” from GS1 US, a not-for-profit product identification and standards organization, the most successful small businesses are those that develop diverse strategies for growth. Specifically, small brands that demonstrate a solid understanding of retailer requirements and seek the expert advice and services of external partners are better equipped to take advantage of today’s “always open” shopping environment.

There are three ways small brands are finding growth opportunities in today’s rapidly-evolving retail landscape: They focus on their product, build a complete channel strategy, and partner with professionals to accelerate success.

Focusing on the product

Small business owners are often driven by a passion for bringing their unique product to market. According to the study, 61 percent of respondents cite customer demand for personalized services and products as a top trend. Almost as many (58 percent) anticipate that changing customer habits – such as where they make purchases (online or in-store) – will impact their brand’s growth.

“Building the story, the brand, and trust, is critical. Otherwise, it’s a race to the bottom on cost,” says Steve Lange, co-founder of It’s All Good, a line of clean personal care products.

Focusing on customers and their needs is important, but finding the right balance and managing diverse business challenges such as lack of time and resources, are major concerns for many of the brands that participated in the study.

Building a complete channel strategy

Small businesses must look beyond the immediate pressures of starting a business to position themselves with the right retail channels for their products. These can include online marketplaces, national retailers, local retailers, kiosks, craft fairs, or their own stores or websites. High-growth leaders (respondents who experienced 25 percent or more growth in the past year) know the importance of channel mix and leverage an average of 3.1 channels to sell their products, while laggards (those with revenue declines in the past 12 months) report using just 1.3 channels.

Proving credibility to retailers is also a major hurdle for small brands. The study found that 59 percent of leaders see a direct correlation between providing complete product information (such as images, product origins, and more) in their online listings with the number of products sold. Additionally, 57 percent of these same growth leaders indicated that using UPCs in their product listings helps customers more easily find their products online.

“Incomplete product information and UPCs show a lack of experience to potential retail partners. It’s important to understand that you need consistency from retailer to retailer,” says Erik Elfstrum, founder and CEO, pureLYFT, an all-natural caffeine alternative beverage.

Partnering with professionals

Seeking outside business support was also identified as an important growth factor among small brands. Such partnerships help them build a more sustainable business model and offer opportunities for expansion. The study found that more than half (55 percent) of high-growth leaders agree that partnering with a retail broker or consultant has been critical to growing the business. Specifically, 83 percent of small brands that leverage online marketplaces and national retailers say partners (such as barcode services, software providers, business consultants and more) improve their understanding of product information and its impact on their business.

For help finding the right partners to support growth, many small businesses have found credible options through the GS1 US Solution Partner Program, a network of certified solution providers that provide guidance and a range of services to support retailer requirements.

More information can be found at www.gs1us.org/what-we-do/partners.

Ultimately, it’s a new world for shoppers and businesses alike. The research shows that maintaining a holistic view of the opportunities available to small businesses is a major contributor to long-term growth. To learn more and for the full research report, visit www.gs1us.org/small-business.

Humanscale, a leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance ergonomic office products, demonstrates how one company’s leadership can set the example.

When it comes to environmental impact, “‘less bad’ is not good enough,” says Humanscale’s founder and CEO, Bob King.

“We took a look at our manufacturing and operational activities to understand our key impacts: energy, water, emissions, resource depletion, wildlife preservation, social responsibility and healthy materials,” says King.

“In each area, we consider what it would take to go beyond sustainability to making a truly positive impact on the world around us. If a company can make a positive impact in all of these ways, it will be acting like a tree,” he explains.

“While trees aim to grow, they’re self-sustaining and they replenish the environment. If we want to live at peace with the planet, then our factories must be like trees, our companies like a forest.”

Humanscale is set to release its annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report in time to coordinate with Earth Overshoot Day, the date calculated to mark when humans have depleted Earth’s resources beyond its ability to regenerate these resources within a given year.

Company achievements highlighted in the report include the use of solar energy for nearly 70 percent of electricity used by the company’s main manufacturing facility in 2018; reduction of normalized greenhouse gas emissions by 63 percent since 2011; and the use of rainwater for 100 percent of production water in the United States.

In addition, in the last year, nearly 500 of Humanscale’s employees voluntarily completed more than 10,340 activities that involved saving energy, reducing water use, and cutting down on their emissions.

Humanscale has also made material transparency a priority. Material transparency means labeling products, such as furniture, similar to food ingredient labels that clearly state what materials a product contains. Material transparency labels, such as Declare labels and Health Product Declarations (HPDs), identify potential toxins and unhealthy materials in products so consumers can make informed decisions before choosing these products for their homes or offices.

Humanscale has taken the lead in this area. Their products contain no Red List chemicals, and as of December 2018, the company has published 60 percent of all Declare labels and 54 percent of all HPDs that exist in the entire furniture industry.

In 2018, Humanscale received a BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association) Level 3 (the highest level of that association’s certification) for all its products. The BIFMA is based on analysis of product manufacture, including water and energy use, emissions, chemicals, waste, and environmental design.

For more information about Humanscale and its sustainability efforts, visit humanscale.com.

Hydroponic farming has many benefits, including saving the resources involved in soil cultivation and avoiding the uncertainty of weather conditions, according to Seedo, an innovator in the field of commercial growth containers.

Approximately 40 percent of the costs of produce in large city supermarkets are used to cover logistics and shipping. Commercial containers such as those from Seedo would expand the potential for urban farming to anywhere, anytime. Plants can be cultivated 24/7, regardless of location.

For example, the automated urban farm is ideally suited to the growing market for medical cannabis and medical cannabis products. Seedo is the technology behind the world’s first automated medical cannabis farm, which will yield significantly more plants than traditional controlled greenhouses.

Another opportunity for the Seedo technology is to improve the agriculture of at-risk countries, where global warming and other concerns threaten consistent farming and food production.

In some areas, farmers can use Seedo equipment and technology for growing not only medicinal herbs, but also greens such as lettuce, kale, and wheatgrass; herbs such as parsley, dill, and basil; and vegetables such as cherry tomatoes and bell peppers, and even strawberries. In the home, individuals can set up a small unit that grows plants easily and effectively without intervention.

Seedo, a pioneer in agriculture and technology with 20 years of experience, is now delivering indoor growth systems to homes and businesses across the country. Currently, Seedo has sold more than 3,000 home units through pre-orders.

The Seedo products use artificial intelligence software to control and monitor plant development from the moment the seed is planted. The software tracks each plant’s development, and responds by taking action to optimize growth. The hermetically sealed systems are designed to yield consistent results regardless of the local climate.

Growers need only to plant seeds or seedlings and monitor the growth process via the Seedo app.

Other features of the Seedo system include a unique lighting system that self-adjusts based on an individual plant’s stage of growth, and a smell-proof cover with built-in CO2 cartridges to prevent smell leaks.

Equally important to note is that all produce cultivated with Seedo’s technology (both home and commercial) is pesticide-free, of high quality, and has a significantly extended shelf life.

Visit seedo.com for more information about investing in the growth industry of indoor gardening, and to learn more about the Seedo technology and products.

Seedo is a publicly traded company with the ticker symbol OTCQB:SEDO.

Seaweed farming is one of the most environmentally friendly types of aquaculture. Tropical carrageenan cultivation utilizes no chemical treatments, such as fertilizers. Seaweed farms help to preserve coral reefs by providing a sheltered habitat for local species of fish and invertebrates, which increases diversity where the seaweed is grown. Further, seaweed farming does not cause major physical landscape or seascape changes and can serve to mediate green house gas emissions and excess nitrogen in the water that causes harmful algae blooms.

Carrageenan is extracted from red seaweed with minimal processing. It is included in recipes for shelf-stable beverages, dairy desserts, baked goods and many other foods enjoyed across the world — foods that taste delicious with less fat and sugar, foods that are vegan, kosher and halal.

With 7 billion people in the world to feed, it is essential to have products that can travel distances safely and arrive to needful communities intact and nutritious. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, millions of people around the world suffer from protein malnutrition. When used in protein-enriched beverages, carrageenan aids in the extension and protection of the nutritional value of protein while improving the creaminess that is affected by processing. Carrageenan is used to stabilize liquid nutritional supplements for infants and young children, ensuring safe access to nutrition for children, particularly in regions with unreliable water quality where malnutrition is prevalent.

Beyond enhancing nutrition, carrageenan also contributes to the reduction of food waste. More than 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted globally each year. When used in packaged food and beverages, carrageenan enables processes and recipes that extend shelf life, making them more widely available and less prone to waste.

Carrageenan is a valuable food additive that helps to ensure the health, safety and reach of the global food supply. The product of seaweed harvested by hand by farmers across the globe provides a sustainable foundation for the creation of a food system that can feed the world.

To learn more, visit fmccarrageenan.com.

Finding consensus on addressing the question of how to pay for the massive investment needed to fix the problem, however, is another matter entirely.

As federal and state legislators discuss and debate the means by which to fund infrastructure improvements, what has become clear is that funds, whether from public or private sources or a combination of the two, are precious commodities that must be wisely spent and protected.

Mandatory bonding on federal and state public construction projects has been in existence for many decades, protecting and preserving countless projects through prequalification of contractors and providing guarantees of contract performance.

In fact, a recent study conducted by The Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis verified the economic value of surety bond protection.

“One of the conclusions which leapt off the page to us was…that non-bonded construction enterprises are 10 times more likely to become insolvent than bonded companies,” states Steve Ness, President of the Surety Association of Canada. Construction projects carried out under the protection of bonded contracts have reduced risk of contractor insolvency, greater protection of economic activity, and better management of economic risk, Ness adds.

“Disastrous consequences for the public can result from instances when mandatory bond requirements are ignored,” asserts John Bustard, President of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers, Inc. and Executive Vice President of King & Neel, Inc., an insurance and surety bonding agency in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He cites the example of the city of Harrisburg, PA, which decided to retrofit its trash incinerator plant without requiring the contractor to furnish a bond guaranteeing its work. The work turned out to be deficient, leaving the city with more than $280 million in debt. A grand jury investigation of the situation produced “A Report of the Thirty-Ninth Statewide Investigating Grand Jury” under then Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro, in which it was concluded that “the absence of performance bonds which were equal to the contract amounts involved here was the single biggest factor in producing the overwhelming debt now facing the city.”

The report further states: “Had performance bonds been in place, they would have shielded the City from the financial fallout from the failed contract to retrofit the incinerator.” Subsequently, Pennsylvania legislators have introduced legislation to address this particular issue and to require bonds at 100 percent of the amount.

Even when infrastructure projects are not solely funded with public funds, such as projects undertaken through a combination of public and private financing, as through public-private partnership arrangements, those projects need bond requirements.

Approximately 20 states have already reached that policy conclusion, enacting public-private partnership legislation that also mandates bonding requirements on such projects. Situations have arisen, however, in which bonding has been ignored or reduced on public-private partnership infrastructure projects; and the public has paid a heavy price when problems have arisen with little or no backstop.

As Congress weighs how to address the tremendous infrastructure needs of the country in the coming months, protections in the form of performance and payment bonds will be absolutely necessary to ensure that the precious funds of America’s private and public investment are wisely spent and that the public receives the quality of infrastructure that it deserves.

A prototype of Google’s new self-driving car — a two-passenger electric vehicle with buttons to turn the vehicle on and off, but no steering wheel, accelerator pedal or brake pedal — was unveiled in May. Without a driver at the wheel, the car is instead guided by a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) rotating sensor on the vehicle’s roof that scan the vehicle’s surroundings to determine its driving route as well as to identify such obstacles as pedestrians, bicyclists and other cars.

While Google is widely considered a front-runner in the development of such advanced automation technology, the major automakers are also getting into the race. Albeit at a more conservative pace, they’re introducing automated features that perform specific tasks — such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and collision-avoidance braking — to their new car models.

According to a recent report by Lux Research, cars with these so-called “Level 2” features are expected to account for 92 percent of a worldwide $87 billion-per-year autonomous car market by 2030. Only 8 percent of the market will go to “Level 3” cars, which would be primarily driven autonomously, but would allow drivers to regain control of the vehicle in an emergency.

In addition, the research firm doesn’t expect any fully automated vehicles on the road by 2030. “We consider that ultimate level, Level 4, to be full autonomy, where you just get in and you don’t interact with the car at all,” explained Cosmin Laslau, lead analyst at Lux Research. “And we don’t think that’s coming by 2030. The biggest opportunity that we see will be actually from the Level 2 features, which are the more conventional advances that we’re already starting to see come onto the market from higher-end developers.”

Hermann Winner, director and professor of automotive engineering at Germany’s Technische Universit?t Darmstadt, agreed. “We will start with a partially automated car, then a highly automated one,” he said, adding that he doesn’t expect a completely autonomous car — one with no specific limitations with respect to traffic environment or driving speed — on the market for the next 40 years. “The big challenge to total automation is getting safety approval. Even if you assume the system is ready by 2020, approval is going to be problematic.”

Winner is scheduled to address the challenges facing the development of the driverless car during the panel session “IT Meets the Automobile: Interactive Advanced Vehicle Technologies and Self-Driving Cars” at the ASME Advanced Design and Manufacturing Impact Forum in Buffalo, New York. Visit www.asme.org for more information.