ASN - 2 YEARS RUNNING!     Twenty local companies have earned a spot on Providence Business News’ 2019 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies, and 14 organizations were named among the state’s most innovative for PBN’s 2019 Fastest Growing & Innovative Companies program.   Companies with the highest-percentage growth in revenue from 2016 to 2018 will be honored on Sept. 18 at the Omni Providence Hotel, along with the winners in the various innovative companies categories.   Five finalists for PBN’s Fastest Growing competition were named in each of four revenue categories: $250,000 to $5 million; $5 million to $25 million; $25 million to $75 million; and...

It's so much more than your logo     A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer's decision to choose one product or service over another. – Seth Godin       Marketing experts have a joke “what’s the difference between a logo and a brand? About a $1000.”   A little bit funny, but it tends to devalue the true worth of a good brand. Companies like Apple and Microsoft, or the NFL and MLB, have all the money and expertise required to build a powerful brand and to consistently “stay on brand”.   Small businesses often do not have the resources...

Puerto Rico's Job Market Still in the Eye of a Hurricane       The outgoing Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, who will leave office this Friday, has resigned in the wake of leaked group chats detailing crude and profane conversations, as well as allegations of widespread fraud and corruption. Puerto Rico's government has been suspected of corruptions for many years, as well as mismanagement and nepotism.   What most have seen as the final blow was a pair of hurricanes that devastated the island in 2018. In light of all this, how is it that the island's unemployment rate has gone down to a fifty-year...

Today we need a lifelong learning movement suitable to an AI-augmented economy.     Originally published on Forbes.com   Millions of students earned their high school diplomas this month. And as the caps and gowns are packed away, another generation will begin to look toward their careers. Most will spend some time in post-secondary education, but the majority will not earn a four-year degree. So even at this time of celebration, many graduates are worried. They hear technology is killing jobs. Even if you can find work today, who knows if it will be around for a full career?   What if these grads found out that a quarter of...

Cause and Effect   Burnout is an individual’s response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors within the workplace (Maslach et al., 2001).   This is what Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital has to say about it.     It is so common that everyone in any career – engineers, sales managers, tech support personnel, etc. – is susceptible to burnout. Despite being so common, many managers aren’t aware of why burnout happens or how to keep it from happening. But they need to know.   Being able to understand burnout, its causes, and how to prevent it is essential in order to maintain a positive environment and keep...