Tennessee Employers: Did You Know?
Last June, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed into law the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act which requires all employers in Tennessee to demonstrate that they are hiring and maintaining a legal workforce.
Employers have two options to satisfy the requirements of the new law:
1. Enroll and verify the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees through the E-Verify program operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or,
2. Request all newly hired employees to provide one of a number of identity or employment authorization documents including a Tennessee deiver’s license, birth certificate, unexpired passport, certificate of citizenship, certificate of naturalization and lawful permanent resident card, among others.
The provisiions of the new law will be phased in. Employers must enroll and participate in E-Verify or request and maintain an identity/employment authorization document from a newly hired employee based on the following schedule:
- For all government agencies and employers with 500 or more employees the requirements took effect January 1, 2012
- For employers with 200 to 499 employees the requirements take effect July 1, 2012
- For employers with 6 to 199 employees the requirements take effect July 1, 2013
- The new law does not apply to employers with less than 6 employees, however they still must continue to maintain federal I-9 forms verifying each worker’s employment authorization and identity.
The requirements of the new law also pertain non-employees who provide labor or services (independent contractors) to the employer.
Documentation obtained must be retained for three years from date of hire or one year from the date of termination, whichever is later.
Fines for violating the new requirements can be stiff–First time violations carry a $500 fine for each unverified employee or nonm-employee. The fine is raised to $1,000 for a second violation and to $2,500 for a third or subsequent violation.
Wei Around the World – Mission Accomplished
After 24,901 miles over 68 days, Memphis businessman Wei Chen is home again becoming the 169th member (and first Chinese citizen member) of the Earthrounders’ Club. After a final leg through Ketchikan, Alaska, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oskosh, Wisconsin, Chen landed his Socata TBM 850 in Memphis on Friday, July 29 in front of a homecoming crowd of over 500 at the Wilson Air Center. Elgin Long, the first aviator to circle the Earth over the North and South poles in a small plane in 1971, was on hand to welcome Chen as the newest member of the Earthrounders’ Club.
Congratulations to Wei Chen for a job well done.
Wei Around the World Update # 3
Wei Chen, aborad ”The Memphis Wei”, has turned the corner and is headed for home in his quest to be the first Chinese citizen to circle the globe in a single engine plane. Since our last update, Chen has made stops in Vientiane, Laos (6/30), Hong Kong (7/3), Changsha (Chen’s Birthplace) (7/7), Xian (7/10), Beijing (7/11) and Harbin (7/14), China, Sakhalin (7/17) and Chetvertyy Okolotok (7/18), Russia and, right on schedule, Anchorage, Alaska on 7/19.
Chen was the first person to fly a single-engine airplane through China and the first single-engine general aviation airplane to obtain clearance to land at Beijing Capital International Airport on July 11. His tour through China garnered a great amount of media attention, giving a big boost for general aviation in that country.
The journey’s final leg will include stops in Ketchikan, Alaska, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oshkosh, WI and finally back to Memphis on July 29. A welcome home party is scheduled for 11 am on July 29 at the Wilson Air Center. The city and county mayors are expected to attend along with Chinese state television CCTV and Elgen M. Long who made the first flight around the world over both poles in 1971.
Wei Around the World Update 2
Since we last checked in with Wei Chen and “The Memphis Wei”, the Memphis entrepreneur has progressed nicely on his journey around the world making stops in:
Dundee City, Scotland;Bournemouth, England; Paris, France; Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Milan and Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; Limassol, Cyprus; Dubai, UAE; Muscat, Oman; Kolkata, India and, arriving on 6/28 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Chen experienced few problems along the way. There were strong winds while landing in Dundee City, a flat tire on 6/2, a side trip to the Socata factory in in Tarbes, France to deal with a minor mechanical problem and a high plane temperature issue while flying over the Arabian sea and through Pakistan. While spending four days in Dubai for rest, Chen made a side trip to the Paris Air Show as a guest of Socata, the manufacturer of The Memphis Wei.
Chen is right on schedule to complete his journey around the world on July 30 when he is scheduled to land back in Memphis.
Seed Hatchery Completes First Class of Startups
Seed Hatchery is a membership-driven seed stage investment program established in Memphis in December 2010 by Vic Gatto of the Solidus Company (an investment firm specializing in seed and early-stage investing), Eric Mathews of LaunchMemphis and Gwin Scott of EmergeMemphis. The organization supports emerging technology entrepreneurs with $15,000 in capital and strategic mentors to sharpen ideas in to strong startups. In return for the investment, Seed Hatchery and the mentors collectively receive a 10% ownership stake in the Common Stock of the company.
Each Seed Hatchery “class” will include 3-6 startups who will receive an investment and a 90 day program of business advice and technical assistance to refine their product or service, strengthen the business model, form the operations, begin marketing efforts and determine market viability of the business. The first class, recently completed, included six local startups with names like Work for Pie, Choomogo and Krikle. A description of each of these companies can be found on the Seed Hatchery website at www.seedhatchery.com. The organization is beginning preparations for its next group of candidates either in the fall or early 2012.
The organization hosted its first Investor Day on June 2 where each of the first generation Seed Hatchery teams pitched their companies to investors from the region in hopes of raising the needed funds. It was great that both Mayor Mark Lutrell and Mayor A.C Wharton, Jr. attended this event signifying their support. The Memphis area has a long history of entrepreneurship and programs such as the Seed Hatchery can have asignificant impact on our economy and quality of life.
The Economy – Double Dip?
The economic news lately has taken a turn for the worse. The unemployment rate is up, retail sales are down and consumer sentiment is headed in the same direction, there seems to be no bottom to the housing market and the Dow is is coming off of its worst week since last August. What gives? Read more
Wei Around the World Update
Nine days into his quest to fly around the world, Wei Chen has made it to Paris while facing only minor challenges along the way. Leaving Memphis on Sunday, May 22 in his single engine plane, The Memphis Wei, the first stop on the long journey was Washington DC. After an overnight layover, it was off to Toronto on May 23 and to Quebec City, Canada Wednesday, May 25. This is where Chen experienced his first delay of the trip. Scheduled to fly to Greenland, volcanic ash closed airporst in Iceland and air space in Greenland and Iceland. Fortunately, the ash cleared and Chen was able to fly to Narsarsuaq, Greenland on Friday, May 27, where he met 28 degree temps and a nights stay in the airport due to no hotel rooms being available in the area. On Saturday, The Memphis Wei made its way to Reykjavik, Iceland and then to Dundee City, Scotland on Sunday, landing in 50 knot winds. On Monday, Chen flew to Paris where he is spending a few days for sightseeing.
So far so good for Wei Around the World as Chen is right on schedule. Next stops in the next 10 days include Madrid and Barcelona, Spain; Milan and Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece.
Memphis Entrepreneur Seeking to Become Latest Earthrounder
Earthrounders is the name of the group of fewer than 200 people that have successfully completed an around-the-world flight in a single-engine airplane. Memphis entrepreneur Wei Chen will attempt to join the group as the first Chinese member beginning May 23 when he climbs into his Socata TBM 700 to begin a 69 day journey to promote Memphis’ tourism and business opportunities as well as raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The trip will include 40 stops in 20 countries beginning and ending in Memphis, TN.
Chen is a graduate of The University of Memphis (my alma mater) and the founder of his highly successful importing and distribution business, Sunshine Enterprises, based in Memphis.
It will be exciting to follow Chen on his journey as he promotes our great city around the world. His progress can be followed on the website, www.weiaroundtheworld.com and I will be posting updates along the way as well.
Tennessee Small Business Advocate
This week, I had the opportunity to meet Josh Helton, head of the newly created Office of Small Business Advocate for the State of Tennessee. Speaking at a luncheon in Memphis sponsored by NFIB/Tennessee, Mr. Helton explained that his office was created to give small businesses in Tennessee (defined as businesses with 50 or less employees) a voice inside state government when dealing with the various state departments and agencies, a sometimes frustrating experience for small business owners. Read more
The Outlook for Middle Market Mergers & Acquisitions
On November 9, I attended the 2010 Mid-South Capital Connection presented by the Tennessee chapter of The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) at The Peabody Hotel in Memphis. The event allowed business owners, professionals and executives from Tennessee and the surrounding region to interact with approximately 40 leading equity and capital sources from around the country. Read more
The Wall Street Journal featured B2B CFO® as experts in cash flow management. 
