Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal • September 28, 2015 www.wbjournal.com and 7.8 percent in the West. Nationally, home sales dropped 4.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.31 million in August, NAR said. An organization that represents many of the state's trash and recycling haulers urged lawmakers not to advance legisla- tion that could prevent them from oper- ating late at night and early in the morn- ing. Steve Changaris, the northeast regional manager for the National Waste & Recycling Association, told the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government that a member of his organization describes the many Knowledge + Experience + Trusted Advice. It all adds up. Large enough to serve the needs of most businesses and individuals; small enough to offer the personal attention you expect and deserve. Greenberg, Rosenblatt, Kull & Bitsoli, PC Certified Public Accountants 306 Main Street, Suite 400 • Worcester, MA 01608 508.791.0901 • www.grkb.com Christopher Provo, RFC, CRPC ® • President 385 South St., Shrewsbury, MA 01545 508.842.0539 Office • 508.842.0571 Fax Chris@ProvoFinancial.com • www.ProvoFinancial.com Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Provo Wealth Management Group, a registered investment advisor. Provo Wealth Management Group and Provo Financial Services, Inc. are separate entities from LPL Financial. Awards W o r ce s t e r B us i n e s s J o u r n a l 2015 B E S T O F B U S I N E S S W o r ce s t e r B us i n e s s J o u r n a l Provo Financial Services, Inc. voted Best of Business in Financial Planning/ Investment Services in central Massachusetts based on The Worcester Business Journal online polling. WI-08314-0612 Tracking #1-097898 Life may be short, but it's never too late to live it your way. I can help you build an investment strategy that works toward your long-term goals, helping you to retire confidently on your terms. Call today for more information or to schedule a visit. YOUR LIFE, YOUR WAY. RETIRE CONFIDENTLY. Provo Financial Services, Inc. Christopher Provo, RFC, CRPC® President 385 South St. Shrewsbury, MA 01545 508.842.0539 Office 508.842.0571 Fax Chris@ProvoFinancial.com www.ProvoFinancial.com Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Provo Wealth Management Group, a registered investment advisor. Provo Wealth Management Group and Provo Financial Services, Inc. are separate entities from LPL Financial. REGIONAL BRIEFS >> Continued from previous page Source: Kaiser/HRET survey of employer-sponsored health benefits, 1999-2015. Average annual premiums for single and family coverage, 1999-2015. Health care coverage moving parts involved in trash hauling and disposal as "as an orchestra or a bal- let." The bill, sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Creem, would delete the words "busi- ness, commercial or" from the law that prevents any restriction on the hours of the day when garbage can be collected in business, commercial or industrial zones. The state's unemployment rate remained at 4.7 percent in August while Massachusetts picked up 7,200 jobs, according to preliminary estimates from the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD). The state agency said that August marked the 12th consecutive month of job gains, with Massachusetts adding 56,500 positions in the first eight months of 2015. The leisure and hospitality sec- tor added the most August jobs at 3,100, while manufacturing lost the most at 2,600. In another sign of an improving job picture, the seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent unemployment rate for August is almost a full point lower than August 2014's 5.6 percent. Still, the EOLWD noted, there are more than 167,500 state residents without a job. Female nonprofit CEOs continue to earn less than their male counterparts, according to a new report from GuideStar. In a statement, GuideStar said its first report on nonprofit com- pensation in 2001 found that female nonprofit CEOs earned 21 to 47 percent less than their male counterparts in fis- cal years 1998 and 1999, depending on organization size. The current report shows that the gap narrowed to 6 to 23 percent in fiscal 2013, the latest data available for the report. The information organization also said that proportion of female nonprofit CEOs decreased in fis- cal 2013. Awaiting legislative action on an approach to opiate addiction, Gov. Charlie Baker said he will use his power of appointing members to professional medical boards to push for change. "I feel the health care community has been a little casual with respect to this stuff," Baker said in a joint appearance with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on Nightside with Dan Rea. Baker said that over the next few years he will make appoint- ments to the Board of Registration in Medicine and boards overseeing den- tists, nurses and other health care pro- fessionals. "We're going to put people who have experience with addiction on all of those boards and start building continuing medical education pro- grams," Baker said. A survey of corporate travel specialists has revealed that over half of business travelers have made use of a service in the sharing economy that encompasses companies such as Uber and AirBnB. The 2015 Fall Business Travel Trends survey conducted by the Travel Leaders Group surveyed nearly 400 U.S.-based travel agency owners, managers and frontline travel agents whose portfolio is at least 50 percent business travelers. They indicated that when it came to the emerging sharing economy, 44.4 percent have clients who have used an alterna- tive supplier for accommodation; 66.2 percent indicated their clients have used 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 Single coverage Family coverage 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 $2,196 $5,791 $17,545* $6,251* $12,106* $4,479* * Estimate is statistically different from estimate for the previous year shown

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