Before you send your Leased Copy Machine back to your Leasing Company!
CBS News reported that nearly every digital copier built since 2002 contains a hard drive – like the one on your personal computer – storing an image of every document copied, scanned, or emailed by the machine.
When the digital copier is no longer leased it is sold to warehouses that sell machines for as little as $300. CBS has purchased four machines for $300 each and was able to pull the hard drives out of the copiers in less than 30 minutes.
One copier was previously used in the Sex Crimes Unit. There were detailed reports on domestic violence cases and lists of sex offenders. Another copier was from the Buffalo Police narcotics Unit with lists of targets in a major drug raid. The third copier was from a New York construction company that had 95 pages of paystubs with names, addresses, and social security numbers, and design plans for a building near Ground Zero in Manhattan. The fourth machine was from Affinity Health Plan, a New York insurance company. The copier had over 300 pages of individual medical records. They included everything from drug prescriptions, to blood test results, to a cancer diagnosis, a potentially serious breach of federal privacy law.
There are two options to prevent the release of private information from your copier: purchase a software called “INFOSWEEP” that can scrub all the data on the hard drives or have the hard drive removed. Many reputable copier leasing companies are starting to offer to remove the hard drive and turn it over to the company at the end of the lease, it is important to correctly destroy the hard drive thereafter.
Http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6412572n&tag=related;photovideo
EDFC’s Relending Program
At the “Access to Capital Workshop” held at the Ukiah Conference Center on May 13th, Ron Tackett, USDA Area II Director announced that USDA has awarded a $300,000 loan to Economic Development and Finance Corporation (EDFC) of Mendocino County.
USDA loans are being made through USDA Rural Development's Intermediary Relending Program. USDA provides the funds to community development or regional planning groups who then re-lend them to local businesses. Loans are used to start new businesses, expand existing ones, and create or retain jobs. In all, USDA announced more than $21.3 million today to provide economic development and business creation opportunities for rural communities across the nation.
EDFC was established in 1994 by the jurisdictions and Mendocino County to provide economic development services to the county. EDFC is a 501 (c ) 3 nonprofit organization that has loaned out over $8.8 million dollars and assisted over 56 business while creating 225 new jobs and retaining an additional 20 existing jobs. EDFC is made up of 21 volunteers and elected officials from throughout Mendocino County with a Mission Statement: connecting money and ideas with entrepreneurs to create sustainable prosperity in Mendocino County.
For more information please contact Don Ballek, EDFC Executive Director at 467.5953 or don@edfc.org
Tax Credits are First Step in Health Insurance Reform for Small Businesses
By Karen Mills, Administrator of the Small Business Administration
May 17th, the Treasury Department is releasing more details on the ways small businesses will benefit from health insurance reform. Rising health care costs have been the biggest concern for small businesses for decades. But as a result of the Affordable Care Act, we are already putting in motion steps that will reform the health insurance system so it works for small businesses, rather than strap them with continually rising costs.
One of the many ways the new law is helping small businesses is through tax credits starting this year. These credits will help small business owners provide health insurance to their workers – by giving back up to 35 percent of the employee premiums they pay starting this year. Just as important, today’s announcement made clear that small businesses may receive state health care tax credits and still qualify for a federal tax credit. In addition, today’s announcement clarifies that dental and vision coverage qualify for the credit.
With this announcement today, I’m reminded of a woman small business owner I met in New Jersey last summer. She said to me that the day she was able to provide health insurance for her staff was the day she knew she was a success. But rising costs forced her to cut back on the coverage and even put her at risk of not being able to provide coverage at all for her employees. That’s why these tax credits are so important. It will mean she and countless other small business owners across the country can do what she thinks is best for her employees and for her business.
An estimated 4 million small businesses may qualify for a credit, which will provide about $40 billion in tax relief over the next 10 years. Already, the IRS has sent out millions of postcards to small business owners connecting them with tools to help them to determine their eligibility for a federal tax credits this year.
In 2014, the maximum tax credit will increase from 35 to 50 percent and small business owners will also have the chance to access affordable plans through health insurance exchanges. These exchanges will be a marketplace where small businesses can pool their risk together and spread it more broadly, while reducing their administrative costs.
It’s important to note that the Affordable Care Act also will help small businesses in other ways. For example, rules will prohibit insurance companies from dramatically increasing premiums for a small business just because one worker gets sick. Also, by outlawing discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, the Affordable Care Act will make it easier for small businesses to compete for quality workers, as well as allow more Americans to break out of “job lock” and start their own business. Read more benefits of the Affordable Care Act for small businesses here.
Overall, the Affordable Care Act will provide entrepreneurs and small business owners with lower costs and more tools to provide health insurance for their employees, whom they often think of as members of their own family. We owe them nothing less as they work to grow, create jobs, and lead us toward full economic recovery.
Heidi Dickerson
District Representative
Congressman Mike Thompson
P.O. Box 2208
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
707-962-0933; Fax: 707-962-0934
mikethompson.house.gov
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