Remember the past battles over minimum wage increases? The most recent was two years ago when Congress passed a three-part pay hike. The final installment went into effect last Friday, raising the minimum wage to $7.25.

It makes some sense on the surface. It makes none in reality. We’ll let Heritage Foundation expert James Sherk explain. Read his entire column here.

Unemployment will not fall until businesses resume investing in new enterprises. Ask yourself: Will raising the minimum wage encourage or discourage such investing? Will it encourage or discourage entrepreneurs from starting new small businesses? Raising the minimum wage now will help keep unemployment among unskilled workers high.

Tired of walking past your highly qualified staff, only to find them texting their loved ones or surfing the Internet for the latest news on Jennifer Aniston’s love life? Entrepreneur.com offers five myths about employee motivation that you shouldn’t overlook. Here’s the synopsis, but you should read the entire article as it could prove quite useful:

Business owners need to ensure that their employees are productive and eager to do the best job possible–this is especially true during today’s challenging economic times. Yet every industry and every organization has people who simply do not produce work in the quality that they are capable of providing. That can create costly problems for a manager.

Leaders often miss the mark when trying to ramp up employee productivity. Let’s debunk some motivational myths.

1. Money motivates. Of course, if you pay some enough money, they will do almost any job. And when you give bonuses to reward past behavior, the recipients are usually very happy (unless they were expecting a larger bonus).  The staff does a better job following the glow that accompanies added money.

2. Just keep them happy. Employers often go to great lengths to keep their employees happy–some offer game rooms; others have phones with free long-distance access. The theory here is that if we can keep the employees happy during their break time, it will translate into increased motivation and productivity. Unfortunately, this is not very effective.

3. Ignore Conflict. Few people, especially in the professional world, enjoy conflict. Most bosses and employees alike would rather “let something go” or “sweep it under the rug” than make an issue out of it. Too many managers are concerned about being liked that they don’t fulfill their responsibilities to catch problems quickly. Not addressing an employee’s problematic behavior doesn’t help any one.

4. Some people just aren’t motivated. This is a very common misconception. Everyone is motivated–but for different reasons. Walking through the offices, the manager may see someone playing computer games or sending personal email, this could be seen as the individual is not motivated because he’s not attending to the job tasks. But that may not be entirely correct.  At that moment, the “aimless” employee is motivated, perhaps even highly motivated. But that motivation is not work directed, nor is it productive for the company.

5. Smart employees don’t need to be motivated. Being “smart” carries an important cachet in American society. Everyone wants to have smart people working for them because these people are quick to learn, adapt and produce. Employers may erroneously believe that they don’t need to spend much time or attention on these staffers.

Sweetwater Sound, the third largest music instrument and pro audio retailer in the world, has gone platinum.

The company’s Fort Wayne campus is Indiana’s first commercial building to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification (the highest rating) from the U.S. Green Building Council. Unveiled in January 2008, the 150,000-square-foot facility contains office, retail, warehouse and studio space. 

Among sustainability construction/design features:

• 19,026 (or 98%) tons of construction waste were diverted from landfills

• 31.4% of materials contain recycled content

• 80% of regularly occupied spaces throughout the office have access to daylight

• Annual water usage savings total 54% (restrooms contain waterless urinals; low-flow, light-powered faucets with occupant sensors; and dual flush toilets)

• 44% of materials were extracted, harvested, recovered and manufactured within 500 miles of the project site

Great to hear that one of Indiana’s growing success stories is receiving additional recognition for its environmental efforts. See the company details; read about Sweetwater Sound in the March-April 2008 BizVoice magazine; check out the current "green" issue of BizVoice.

As a member of my beloved Beatles, Ringo Starr holds a special place in my heart. Granted, he’s not my favorite member (that distinction goes to Mr. McCartney), but his quirkiness is decidedly endearing.

As Ringo celebrated his birthday earlier this month and his hit, “It Don’t Come Easy” serenaded me home from work, I reflected on how that statement applies to my cooking skills (it wasn’t my proudest moment when Tater Tots caught fire in the oven.)  Fortunately, however, some things do come easy in life – like making an impact in the recycling world.

Take Northwest Indiana, for example. People are working hard to reduce waste and advance sustainable construction, but many of their initiatives include things that are easy to do (turning off lights before leaving the office, participating in curbside recycling). The city of Valparaiso diverts 49% of residential trash away from landfills through recycling. (Heck, if you’re going to take out the trash anyway, why not toss a few recyclables into a bin?)

Other green initiatives taking place in the region include redevelopment of the Lake Michigan lakefront and a partnership between the city of Valparaiso and a beer wholesaler to enhance environmental stewardship.

Learn more about these exciting developments in the current issue of BizVoice® magazine.

BusinessWeek offers some useful tips to help small businesses assist their laid-off employees. Valuable information in a time when you may have to reluctantly let good workers go:

When small businesses decide to lay off workers, they often can’t afford generous severance packages or access to professional outplacement services. But employers strapped for cash can still help their departing workers. 

• Tap your network. Reach out to clients, vendors, competitors, and others in your network to see if anyone wants to recruit workers you have to cut. "Before I would let someone go, I would talk to other entrepreneurs I knew," says Dan Cohen, a former owner of a specialized construction firm and now a lecturer at Cornell’s School of Industrial Labor Relations. Cohen sometimes shared employees with another company until he was able to rehire them full time.

• Start an online forum to pool talent. Some companies are using groups on LinkedIn or Facebook to connect workers they’re laying off with potential jobs or freelance work, says Kathryn Kerge, an HR consultant in New York. "They truly want to see their employees able to find work in the sector when they know they don’t have it for them right now," she says.

• Give workers ample notice. Giving employees a month’s notice before they have to leave, instead of two weeks or less, will give them a bit more wiggle room, Kerge says. During that time, be flexible about giving employees time for interviews. If you can’t give them extra notice, consider letting laid-off employees come in and use the office printer, copier, and fax to prepare for their job hunt, says Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at Wharton.

• Direct employees to local resources. Career centers run by local colleges or government agencies often have résumé writing workshops, career counseling, job fairs, retraining help, and other resources for the unemployed, says Sally Klingel, director of labor-management programs at Cornell’s School of Industrial & Labor Relations.

• Give employees an honest reference. Other potential employers may think you laid off workers because of poor performance. "Often the biggest thing [companies laying off staff] can do is offer to write a glowing letter," says Klingel. Explain why workers were cut and vouch for their experience.

• Keep in touch. Business may pick up sooner than you expect. If you maintain a relationship with laid-off workers, you may be able to offer them work—even if it’s just part-time—later on if they’re still looking, a situation that could benefit both sides.

In a crowded room filled with Republican precinct committee voters and plenty of interested observers, former Indianapolis City-County Councilman Scott Schneider defeated former State Rep. John Ruckelshaus and City-County Councilman Ryan Vaughn for the Senate District 30 seat Tuesday night.  Businessman Chris Douglas dropped out of the race Tuesday morning as we reported on Twitter (@IBRG). 

The contest took two ballots to decide a winner, but Schneider nearly shocked the room by coming up just one vote shy of a majority on the first ballot (Schneider 49, Vaughn 37, Ruckelshaus 12 and one spoiled ballot).

A caucus election is notorious for voters being deceptive when it comes to who they are going to vote for, but the Schneider camp was keenly accurate on its vote counts and only missed the mark by one vote.  It is also interesting to note that the Douglas camp was equally accurate on the vote totals before pulling out.  The Douglas vote count would have also placed him in third place on the first ballot.  Many insiders were clearly surprised that 1) Vaughn did not have the lead on the first ballot and 2) Schneider nearly received a majority of the 99 votes.

On the second ballot, the only unanswered question was how many votes would shift to Schneider to give him the victory.  The answer was nearly all.  The tally on the second ballot was Schneider 61 and Vaughn 38.  Schneider gained 12 of the 13 (Ruckelshaus and spoiled) votes from the first ballot.  Kudos must be given to Schneider for his ability to win a caucus election when most observers predicted he would finish second or third.  It is also interesting to note that all three candidates felt they had enough votes committed to them to win on the first ballot.

Schneider and his family are longtime small business owners who have been involved in politics for a number of years and have an excellent track record of winning tough races.  Schneider was introduced by Rep. Cindy Noe. IBRG worked closely with Scott and his father, Bill, to help Noe win during a three-way primary.  Schneider adds a much needed voice of understanding and business community experience to the Legislature and is an individual with strong convictions.  He will likely turn in the official paperwork to the Secretary of State and the Senate Pro Tempore today and a swearing in date will soon be announced.

Please feel free to add to the conversation and post your comments or questions.

Businessweek uses an unfortunate instance to show businesses how they can recover when they fall victim to a Twitter poser:

When Barry Schwartz logged on to Twitter on Jan. 27, he had 20 messages waiting for him, all with unwelcome news: Someone was impersonating his company on the social network. Schwartz runs RustyBrick, a 15-employee, $2 million Web development company in Suffern, N.Y., and uses his company’s name as his Twitter handle. The impostor had set up a profile using a slight variation of his company’s name and started following Schwartz’s 4,000-plus contacts, which included clients. Those folks who in turn followed the impostor saw a Web link with a message reminiscent of spam: "Hey guys, you have to get this new Twitter Success Guide. It’s priceless." Schwartz, who doesn’t use Twitter for sales promotion, was chagrined. "The last thing I want is to have people thinking that I’m following them and [that] I’m selling a Twitter Success Guide," he says.

With the growing popularity of blogs, social networks, and customer review sites, the job of managing a company’s online reputation is becoming ever more complex. And it’s not only strangers who pose a threat. With the viral nature of social media, it’s now possible for an unhappy customer or a disgruntled former employee to reach thousands of people with the click of a mouse. Clint Page, CEO of Dotster, a 100-employee, $50 million Internet service provider in Vancouver, Wash., says his company regularly patrols the Web looking for negative comments. "A comment left unchallenged becomes perception, and perception becomes reality," he says.