Expert on rumors offers his advice

Nicholas DiFonzo, psychology professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, has studied rumors, hearsay and gossip since 1992. DiFonzo is currently leading a project funded by the National Science Foundation to study how rumors spread through social networks. He is the author of “The Watercooler Effect: An Indispensable Guide to Understanding and Harnessing the Power of [...]

2009 In Review

Growth Despite Setbacks
This was the year that national became local for the economies of Bismarck- Mandan and North Dakota.
The biggest local business story, the shuttering of Bobcat Co.’s plant in Bismarck, had a big impact for its workers and some area businesses. But the closing was a reaction to the broader economy, which saw the [...]

A Great A Great Place to Start

A strong appetite for hard work became a recipe for success for two local business owners over the years. Mort Bank was counting on the people of Bismarck to have a hunger for something out of this world 12 years ago when he opened Space Aliens Grill and Bar in north Bismarck. Fortunately, it turned [...]

Exports can offset market downturns

In the wake of the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression, some of the region’s manufacturers, processors and service providers report that business is starting to rebound.
From a local standpoint, North Dakota’s growing economy has kept many of the recession’s ill effects at bay, but companies that rely on national and international markets have [...]

Record sunflower yield possible

Sunflower crops could set records in the nation’s top two producing states this year, helping to blunt a drop in nationwide production and ensure a healthy supply for processors in the United States and Canada. The good year for growers in North Dakota and South Dakota in turn might help keep consumer prices down for [...]

Through the Grapevine

The rumor mill at work can hurt everyone involved
The economic downturn with its accompanying layoffs, mergers and closures has made rumors and gossip in the workplace as contagious as the flu. An overactive rumor mill can take over a company and shift its employees’ energies from positive productivity to negative in fighting. Following are some [...]

Pea, lentil crops to set records

FARGO (AP) – North Dakota’s dry pea and lentil crops are expected to set records this year. The Agriculture Department is projecting the state’s pea crop at 11.5 million hundredweight, up 46 percent from last year, and the lentil crop at 2.54 million hundredweight, more than triple the size of last year’s crop.
Drought was a [...]

I have a loss from my business operations, can I get a refund of prior year taxes?

Al Reid, CPA Vice President

Yes, and there are some new options for net operating losses (NOL) for 2008 & 2009. Almost every business is allowed to carry back an applicable NOL and generate additional tax savings.
For many years, NOL’s were only allowed to be carried back 2 years. In early 2009, Congress allowed 2008 losses for [...]

Colleges moving away from landline phones

JAMESTOWN (AP) – Madey Hornung, a sophomore at Jamestown College, spends up to an hour a day on her cell phone talking and texting to her friends and family.
“It’s pretty sad, but it’s pretty vital,” she said. “I feel lost without it sometimes.” Hornung said she knows only one friend at the college who is [...]

What is Behavioral Targeting?

Rod Austin, Bismarck Tribune Online Manager
Imagine knowing exactly who’s interested in your product and exactly when they’re ready to buy it. That’s the premise of Behavioral Targeting.
By using a highly sophisticated set of software tools and analytics, marketers can tailor Web ads based on consumers’ online behaviors — the Web sites they view, the products [...]