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10 The Hampton Roads Messenger


Volume 9 Number 8 Career & Business Opportunities Request for Proposals: Legal Services


Newport News Redevelopment & Housing Authority Division of Purchasing


Proposal Due Date and Time: April 30, 2015 @ 2:00 PM


Sealed proposals, subject to the conditions and instructions contained herein, will be received at the above office until the date and hour shown (local prevailing time), for furnishing the described services. Proposals received in the issuing office after the date and time may not be considered. Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority is not responsible for delays in the delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service, private couriers, or the intra-authority mail system. It is the sole responsibility of the offeror to ensure that its proposal reaches the issuing office by the designated date and hour. NNRHA determines the official time used in the receipt of proposals as that time on the automatic time stamp machine or other documentary evidence of receipt in the issuing office. All requests for interpretation of specifications shall be by a written request, sent via facsimile to (757) 245-2144 or email nbritton@nnrha.org. Any changes to this proposal document will be issued as addenda, and will be on file in the Division of Purchasing until proposals are opened. All such addenda will become part of the contract and all offers will be bound by such addenda, whether or not received by the offeror. Written questions should be submitted ten (10) days prior to the closing date of the proposal, April 21, 2015.


Small Businesses Must Export East to Maintain U.S. Leadership


BY MARIA CONTRERAS-SWEET


By 2030, more than 2 billion Asian consumers are expected to join the global middle class. In 15 years, the Asian market is projected to be six times


larger than


Increasingly, we see an exploding Asian middle class


the U.S. market. adopting many


of the same tastes and appetites for consumer goods that have long been hallmarks of American middle class life. American behind.


are not far ONLINE LEARNING INNOVATION LIAISON


Position Number: FAD220 Department: Online@VCU Rank: Open Application Deadline: April 10, 2015


Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) seeks applicants for an exciting opportunity to serve as an Online Learning Innovation Liaison in the Office of Online Academic Programs, Division of Learning Innovation and Student Success.


To apply for this posting and see additional details, please visit https://www.vcujobs.com/postings/42965.


Note that our application deadline is April 10, 2015. All materials must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. EST on that date.


For information on part-time and full-time career opportunities, call: 757-575-1863


Scholarship Watch


Hays C. Kirby Video Scholarship Contest


This contest is for high school juniors, high school seniors, or students who are currently enrolled in or graduated within the previous 12 months from any public, private, alternative, parochial, or home-study high school-level educational program or institution. To qualify, applicants must be US citizens or legal residents of the United States. Previous JFI scholarship recipients


are not eligible. To apply, applicants must create an original video between 30 and 180 seconds in length on the topic, "Keepers of the Constitution: Service and Freedom." See application for complete details.


DEADLINE: April 15


AWARD RANGE: $1,000 - $5,000 AWARDS GRANTED: 3 Visit www.cappex.com to apply.


More than 95 percent of the world’s consumers live outside of the United States, and only one percent of our small businesses are selling to them. If we’re going to maintain our global economic leadership as a nation, that must change.


We come from different political


parties, and we have led the U.S. Small Business


Administration (SBA) at


different junctures, but on this point we all agree: Congressional approval of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and completing the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) sought by President Obama would constitute a significant victory for America’s small businesses.


One out of every five American jobs is tied to exports. These jobs generally pay better, nearly 20 percent better. Passing new trade agreements would be critical to our smaller exporters, which don’t have offshore affiliates to help them overcome trade barriers and gain market access.


That’s why granting trade promotion authority


to the important. Trade


President is so promotion


opens


doors for small businesses that would otherwise remain closed. TPP would be our first trade agreement with a specific chapter dedicated to growing our small business exports. The significance of this cannot be overstated; the barriers to accessing new markets are often more daunting for small business owners who have less resources than their larger counterparts.


Most entrepreneurs don’t have sufficient cash flow to risk common delays in payment. Others have trouble getting financing for riskier foreign sales. Some small firms face tariffs as high as 35 percent, while others are encumbered by duplicative


product


testing requirements. These are exactly the barriers new trade agreements would address.


Past trade agreements have opened new markets for


smaller exporters.


In the National Small Business Association’s 2013 Exporting Survey, more than 85 percent of respondents said their company benefited from free trade agreements. Nearly half of all of


Mexico and several Latin economies


the goods that America exports go to our 20 trade agreement partners. Last year, 28 states had record-high exports to these 20 countries. Since 2009, our exports have grown far more rapidly to our trade agreement partners (64 percent) than countries with which we have no deal (45 percent).


TPP is important because China, India and the European Union already have greater access than U.S. companies in Pacific Rim countries. TPP intends to eliminate or reduce tariffs with key trading partners, which matters because a tariff of just a few percent can mean the difference between success and failure for a small business. TPP intends to cut red tape and address costly customs delays at the border and reduce some of the complex regulations that make it cost- prohibitive for many small businesses to export.


Trade agreements like TPP also


benefit small businesses that may not export but supply companies that do. For instance, small firms make up more than 30 percent of the U.S. auto industry’s supply chain. But the push to increase our auto exports is hindered in countries


like Malaysia, where


American motor vehicle manufacturers face tariffs of 30 percent, while Japan and Turkey face no tariffs at all. TPP seeks to address this imbalance and would help open up new opportunities for the tens of thousands of small firms that supply the Big Three and other motor vehicle manufacturers.


Small businesses today benefit from what some call


the “economies of


unscale,” meaning mass production and distribution systems are no longer the only path to success in global markets.


Thanks to technological


advances, small businesses are in a stronger position than ever before to meet consumer demand for specialized goods and services. Small businesses drive U.S. innovation, producing 13 times more patents per employee than their larger counterparts.


In the 21st


century, nimbler small companies that tailor unique products for discerning consumers are finding a global demand for what they’re selling.


When our 28 million small businesses succeed, America succeeds and our economy grows. Last October, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen


called


small business ownership one of the cornerstones of economic mobility. The Trans Pacific Partnership offers a unique opportunity to change the


analysis for small businesses


who believe the costs of exporting outweigh its benefits, and in doing so, create greater opportunity for millions of Americans they employ. We must seize it.


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Call the Hampton Roads Messenger at 757-575-1863


April 2015


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