WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. services companies expanded at a faster pace in April, good news for the overall American economy.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its services index rose last month to 57.5 from 55.2 in March. Anything above 50 signals the services sector is growing — something it’s done for 88 straight months.

Sixteen services industries reported growth last month, led by wholesalers and utilities. Only one industry grouping — covering agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting — contracted in April.

Production, new orders, prices and export orders all grew faster last month. Hiring grew but at a slower pace than it did in March. Anthony Nieves, chair of the institute’s services survey committee, said the hiring slowdown partly reflects a shortage of available labor now that the U.S. unemployment rate is down to 4.5 percent, the lowest level in a decade.

Overall, the report suggests that “economic activity appears to be starting (the second quarter) off on a steady note,” Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

Private services companies account for more than 70 percent of American jobs.

Uncertainty bothered some services companies responding to the ISM survey. One cited the murky outlook for an overhaul of the Obama administration’s health care law; another, geopolitical instability, including tensions surrounding North Korea.

Other recent service sector indicators haven’t been as upbeat as the ISM’s index. The Commerce Department reported last week that consumer spending on services rose from January to March at the weakest pace in four years. And services companies have added 1.82 million jobs over the past year, the smallest annual gain in four years.

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Tuesday, May 2, 2017 19:18

By GITONGA MARETE

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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans worked to undo former President Barack Obama’s law overhauling the nation’s financial rules, arguing that it is undermining economic growth. Democrats countered that the GOP effort risked a repeat of the 2008 meltdown that pushed the economy to the brink of collapse.

The Financial Services Committee’s effort got off to a slow start Tuesday as Democrats insisted that much of the 600-page replacement bill be read aloud before the committee even considered amendments. The marathon session had been expected to last through the night, but the committees leaders agreed instead to hold the first votes Wednesday morning in what will now be at least a two-day affair.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law put the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the 1930s Depression. It clamped down on banking practices and expanded consumer protections to restrain reckless conduct by financial firms and prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chairman of the committee, said consumers and the economy were being hurt by the restrictions.

“Regrettably, thanks to Dodd-Frank, too many garages in our nation are full of old cars instead of new startup small business,” Hensarling said. “It’s time for the bailouts to end. It’s time to help small businesses on Main Street.”

But Democrats accused the GOP of amnesia about what led to the meltdown. They said Hensarling’s bill would gut consumer protection and allow banks to make the kind of risky investments that required taxpayers to come to the rescue of the nation’s largest financial institutions nearly a decade ago.

“It’s an invitation for another Great Recession or worse,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

Hensarling’s bill targets the heart of the law’s restrictions on banks by offering a trade-off: Banks could qualify for most of the regulatory relief in the bill so long as they meet a strict basic requirement for building capital to cover unexpected big losses. He says the capital requirements will work as an insurance policy against a financial institution going out of business.

Hensarling’s bill also targets the consumer protection agency that Congress established after the financial crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reducing its powers and making it easier for the president to remove its director.

Republicans are likely to pass the measure in the House. But the bill faces significant obstacles in the Senate where leaders have emphasized their desire to find areas of agreement to enhance economic growth. Democratic lawmakers predicted that at the end of the process, the bill would not become law despite an ally in the White House.

The language that lawmakers used to describe Dodd-Frank and the GOP’s Financial Choice Act replacement was often raw and emotional.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., called Hensarling’s bill the worst he’s seen during his 16 years in Congress. “This is really a nefarious accomplishment,” Lynch said.

Democratic lawmakers referred to Hensarling’s legislation as a Wall Street deregulation wish-list. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., said Republicans could have written a much narrower bill to help small banks and credit unions if that were their primary aim. Instead, he said they put together a bill for “Wall Street fat cats.”

In defending Dodd-Frank, Democrats also pointed to the rising stock market and dropping unemployment rates to contradict the GOP message that Dodd-Frank was stifling the economy.

Republicans said the number of community banks in the U.S. was declining because of Dodd-Frank.

“They can’t get going because of the avalanche of red tape,” said Rep. Andy Barr, a Kentucky Republican.

In calling the GOP bill “immoral” Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan accused Democrats of engaging in hyperbole.

“What is the real middle finger to the America people is the lack of a recovery that we’ve had because of Dodd-Frank,” Huizenga said.

Republicans said their local community banks and credit unions were telling them to vote for the bill. They said that compliance offices to deal with government regulations are the fastest-growing component of those banks.

“The community banks in the rural parts of America did not cause any of the problems, and yet that’s where the heaviest burden of the regulatory regime lies,” said Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M. “So when we talk about making changes to Dodd-Frank, some of the greatest beneficial effects are going to be felt in my district.”

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The undertaking represents uncharted territory for the department and the medical marijuana division’s director, Kenan Bullinger, a department veteran who was appointed to his position in February. North Dakota voters approved an initiated measure six months ago legalizing marijuana use for medical purposes.

North Dakota legislators replaced that law with a new one they wrote during the recent legislative session. Proponents said it includes necessary regulations for the federally illegal product, but still provides adequate patient access.

Gov. Doug Burgum signed Senate Bill 2344 in mid-April, and Bullinger said Tuesday, May 2, they’re aiming to have the product available in 12 to 18 months. That timeline will partially depend on the how quickly the growers and dispensaries become operational.

Among the state’s priorities are preventing the diversion of marijuana to people who aren’t qualified to use it and making sure it’s safe for patients, Bullinger said.

“We are doing this for the people of North Dakota. They voted for it,” he said. “I’m confident we’ll get there.”

Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said medical marijuana advocates should continue to pressure North Dakota lawmakers and regulators to ensure the program is operational in a timely fashion and reflects voter intent. He cited the example of Maryland, where medical cannabis isn’t yet available a few years after its law was passed.

“There’s no reason this should take multiple years to roll these programs out,” Armentano said.

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia allow for “comprehensive public medical marijuana and cannabis programs,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The North Dakota program’s budget allows for six full-time employees. Bullinger hopes to start interviewing candidates for two administrative positions next week.

He is also looking at an expedited rulemaking process, which will be followed by soliciting applications for marijuana growers and dispensaries. The law allows for up to two manufacturing facilities and eight dispensaries, but the Health Department could add more if it finds increased access is needed.

Bullinger said the department has already contacted more than a dozen medical marijuana firms, with more interest coming from potential growers.

A fiscal note attached to the medical marijuana bill estimated 1,900 qualified patients would register in the first year, along with 950 designated caregivers.

Bullinger said the process of launching the new program has been a “rewarding challenge.”

“You learn something new every day about this business,” he said. “We’re all very happy with the direction we’re going.”

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• NIRSAL launches tree planting initiative

James Emejo in Abuja
The National Assembly is currently working to effect drastic changes on existing legislations to make multinational oil firms, guilty of absolute disregard for environmental safety in their operations to be more accountable.

This is as the Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has unveiled a project on “Greening the Cities (GTC)” in line with its mandate to enable the provision of renewable energy for agriculture and the adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA).

The GTC Initiative, launched in partnership with the GreenEarth Consults and other stakeholders as part of the 2017 World Earth Day campaign, was conceived as part of NIRSAL’s corporate social responsibility in trying to raise awareness as well as address problems associated with climate change.

The unveiling of the greening project came on a day the Chairman, House Committee on Environment and Habitat, Hon. Chidoka Obinna said the National Assembly is currently working to effect drastic changes to existing legislations to make multinational oil firms, which are guilty of absolute disregard for environmental safety in their operations to be more accountable.

Speaking at the launch of the project in Abuja, he said efforts are ongoing towards tightening noose around the operations of oil companies as well as rejig redundant precolonial laws on multinational oil activities to reflect present realities particularly in the areas of payment of fines.

Gas flaring and oil spillage are regarded as highest environmental pollutants in oil producing regions in the country while desertification and desert encroachment are serious environmental issues in northern parts of the country.
However, about 192 countries across the globe are participating in this year’s campaign.

Essentially, NIRSAL and its partners under the GTC project will collaborate with selected Primary schools across the country to effectively transfer knowledge and skills that will promote Environmental and Climate Literacy across the country.
The Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhameed said the initiative will involve NIRSAL support for school children between the ages of 4-14 years in all state capitals in the country to learn sustainable tree planting skills within the context of climate change and agriculture.

Specifically, he said about 1000 trees will be planted in the first phase 1 of the pilot across six state capitals in each of the geo-political zones of the country.
Also, an incentive-based system will be worked out to reward outstanding Child Tree Custodians to be funded by NIRSAL.
It is expected that the measuring and communication of the mitigating impacts of these activities will also be a key outcome.
Furthermore, these children would be trained and equipped to be child custodians of these trees in major selected “Green Streets” in each state capital.

He said: “At NIRSAL, we recognise that environmental and climate literacy will be vital in ensuring that our farmers, partners and stakeholders adopt the Climate Smart Approaches to agriculture in ensuring food security, economic empowerment, mitigating against climate change, gender and social inclusion among others.”

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WASHINGTON — Republicans on Tuesday cast former President Barack Obama’s law overhauling the nation’s financial rules as an obstacle to economic growth as a House panel launched a marathon session to undo much of the Wall Street regulations.

The Financial Services Committee, led by Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, started the painstaking work of crafting legislation that would repeal about 40 provisions of the Dodd-Frank law that Congress pass and Obama signed in 2010 after the financial meltdown two years earlier.

“Regrettably, thanks to Dodd-Frank, too many garages in our nation are full of old cars instead of new startup small business,” Hensarling said. “It’s time for the bailouts to end. It’s time to help small businesses on Main Street.”

U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., is a member of the committee.

Democrats accused the GOP of amnesia about what led to the meltdown that pushed the economy to near collapse. They said Hensarling’s bill would gut consumer protection and allow banks to make the kind of risky investments that required taxpayers to come to the rescue of the nation’s largest financial institutions nearly a decade ago.

“It’s an invitation for another Great Recession or worse,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law put the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the 1930s Depression. It clamped down on banking practices and expanded consumer protections to restrain reckless conduct by financial firms and prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.

Hensarling’s bill targets the heart of the law’s restrictions on banks by offering a trade-off: Banks could qualify for most of the regulatory relief in the bill so long as they meet a strict basic requirement for building capital to cover unexpected big losses. He says the capital requirements will work as an insurance policy against a financial institution going out of business.

Republicans are likely to pass the measure in the House. But the bill faces significant obstacles in the Senate where leaders have emphasized their desire to find areas of agreement to enhance economic growth.

Hensarling also targets the consumer protection agency that Congress established after the financial crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reducing its powers and making it easier for the president to remove its director.

Democratic lawmakers referred to Hensarling’s legislation as a Wall Street deregulation wish-list. Rep. Michael Capuano, D-Mass., said Republicans could have written a much narrower bill to help small banks and credit unions if that were their primary aim. Instead, he said they put together a bill for “Wall Street fat cats.”

Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan accused Democrats of engaging in hyperbole “at an insane level.” And Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., said Dodd-Frank has harmed every small local bank and credit union in his congressional district.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Law firm Ward Hadaway has pledged to support Newcastle Falcons rugby for a further two seasons as one of the team’s official sponsors.

The Newcastle company has sponsored the top flight rugby team since 2015 and will now continue to do so during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.

Newcastle Falcons managing director Mick Hogan said: “We have enjoyed a long and mutually-beneficial association with Ward Hadaway over a number of years and it is great news that it will continue for at least another two seasons.

“It is an exciting period for the Falcons given the improvements we have seen this season, and the way in which the squad is coming together for 2017-18.

“Season ticket membership sales are very strong, we have made some fantastic player signings and with companies like Ward Hadaway on board we are continuing to make good progress.”

As a result of the sponsorship deal, Ward Hadaway’s name will be emblazoned across the back of the Falcons’ home, away and European shirts.

The deal comes shortly after Newcastle was confirmed as the host city for the European rugby’s showpiece finals in 2019.

Jamie Martin, managing partner at Ward Hadaway, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our backing of Newcastle Falcons for a further two seasons.

“As a northern law firm for national business we have always believed in supporting home-grown talent, and our relationship with the Falcons has proven to be the perfect fit over the past two years.

He added: “We are looking forward to working with the team at Kingston Park and to seeing more top-class rugby, especially with the announcement that Newcastle will be hosting the European Champions Cup, Challenge Cup and European Rugby Continental Shield in 2019.

“It is very exciting to think that the city will be at the heart of European rugby in two years’ time, with Kingston Park playing a major role in this.

Ward Hadaway was recently involved in merger discussions with Liverpool-headquartered firm Weightmans. Talks between the two firms collapsed last week due to strategic differences.

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Nearly seven months after Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled his new vision for giving more work to minority- and women-owned business enterprises, the city says it’s “moving fast” toward its goal of giving 30 percent of contract dollars to the emerging class of entrepreneurs—while some proprietors report slight progress and others complain of sluggish implementation.

At the end of September, the mayor announced the appointment of Deputy Mayor of Strategic Initiatives Richard Buery—who previously spearheaded de Blasio’s Pre-K For All initiative—as the city’s MWBE director, and an MWBE office to be headed by senior adviser Rev. Jonnel Doris. The mayor also launched the Contract Financing Loan Fund, which gives eligible MWBEs the opportunity to apply for low-interest contract financing loans of up to $500,000, part of a larger $10 million city fund for helping historically marginalized business owners.

De Blasio also vowed to double the number of MWBEs certified by the Department of Small Business Services from 4,500 to 9,000 by 2019, and the EDC recently awarded $80 million in contracts to three MWBE construction management firms.

The new enthusiasm for procurement diversity followed scathing criticism from city Comptroller Scott Stringer and Black Institute founder Bertha Lewis.

“I think we’re moving fast…we’re delivering on increased utilization rates, we’re delivering on creating more opportunities for MWBEs to connect to more opportunities,” Buery told the Observer in a phone interview. “We’re delivering and everybody knows that if they have an idea, something they want to see, we’re accessible. I talked to every advocate, every person who criticizes us: we remain open business for people who have ideas on what they want to see.”

Getting Down to Business

Buery said Doris does the “day-to-day nuts and bolts work,” noting that Doris “thinks about this 24 hours a day, compared to his own “three, six, seven hours a day.”

“Like everything else in city government, we work as a team and I’m really blessed to have his partnership,” Buery said.

They communicate regularly with MWBEs and advocates “to get a lay of the land,” understand the obstacles and inform them of business opportunities—including ones they are qualified to do but of which they are not aware—through resource fairs, workshops and open houses.

And Buery said the two of them have continued to push for Albany to extend tools the state uses to benefit MWBEs to the municipal level. These reforms include doubling the city’s small purchase discretionary funding for MWBEs to $200,000, increasing the capacity of city agencies to offer mentoring programs to MWBEs and changing state law to allow the city to recognize MWBEs registered with the state—as well as those it has certified itself—when awarding contracts.

The city’s approach, Buery said, is rooted in four key concepts: access, capacity-building, accountability and sustainability. 

“We really are sort of driven by these four pillars and it’s really informed by the conversations we have with minority- and women-owned businesses every day—both those who have been successful in getting contracts and those who haven’t to really understand what is getting in the way,” he said. 

The mayor has set a goal of awarding $16 billion in contracting opportunities to MWBEs by 2025—a deadline well beyond the end of de Blasio’s tenure, even if he wins a second term. The city has awarded $3.54 billion of that goal so far.

At the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2017, the city’s prime and subprime utilization rate was up to 18 percent. In fiscal year 2016, the utilization rate was 14.3 percent—an 8 percent increase from fiscal year 2015. During FY 2016, the city says it awarded about $700 million in prime and subcontracts to MWBEs, compared to $460 million the previous fiscal year.

The city also said that nearly 66 percent of MWBEs that have won city contracts between fiscal years 2014 and 2016 had previously taken advantage of SBS capacity-building programs and other services, and that there are more than 4,600 certified firms—a 31 percent increase since the beginning of the de Blasio administration.

Firmer Footing

“The thing that is most striking about the difference between this period since he came on and in earlier years of the administration is the visibility that he provides,” said B. Seth Bryant, managing partner of Bryant Rabbino LLP and member of de Blasio’s MWBE Advisory Council. “He makes it his business to be in the community, to be engaged on these issues and to hear what businesses are looking for and expecting and so I think that has been very, very important.”

Bryant highlighted the “uneven reception from various administrations” following former Mayor David Dinkins, who started the city’s MWBE program.

Several business owners spoke glowingly of the administration’s efforts.

Joycelyn Taylor, CEO of Taylor Made Contracting LLC—an MWBE-certified general contractor—is one of the beneficiaries of the loan fund, which she described as “amazing.” Taylor is also a founding member of the NYC MWBE Alliance, which supports MWBEs by cultivating relationships with government agencies.

“I think the steps are going in the right direction, and by virtue of the fact that we’re having different conversations and we’re open to saying the mindset has to change, the culture has to change, the language around it has to be changed,” Taylor told the Observer. “When we’re open to that and we get people to buy into that, then we’ll get to see the change.”

Manuel Burgos, founder and CEO/senior analyst of By the Numbers Consulting Services Corp.—whose firm conducts official reviews of city and state projects to see if they are meeting their MWBE participation goal—predicted the city will meet its 30 percent goal “much sooner than 2021,” given that the projects he has studied are already allocating a quarter of funds to nonwhite and female firms.

“So you think about, ‘Well wow, what does that mean?” Burgos said. “It’s not just the hard cost, meaning the construction cost, it’s also the soft cost. So everything is subject to that 25 percent goal on their current projects. That’s a lot of money.”

He also said that the city is pressuring contractors to show a genuine “good faith effort” to recruit MWBEs, that the city’s certification unit is responsive and that SBS has estimators on staff who can help MWBEs ensure that they have the most accurate estimate of a bid’s cost.

Making the Grade

Some, however, remain unconvinced.

In October 2016, Stringer gave the city a D+ on MWBE spending for the second year in a row in his annual report card—and said only 5.3 percent of $14 billion the city spent on goods and services went to MWBEs. Buery has disputed those numbers. 

“We keep highlighting this issue because we need to pick up the pace—we need to deliver more results, faster,” Stringer said in a statement. “The mayor and Deputy Mayor Buery have launched important new steps, and we need to see them come to fruition.”

Stringer’s analysis looks at the overall amount of money spent on projects, whereas the city looks only at the percentage doled out through contracts.

Lewis, a former de Blasio ally, said Buery and Doris are “wonderful people” but complained that they lack real power to set or change policy. She called the $10 million loan fund “ridiculous and laughable” because it only serves 40 MWBEs, and said that the mayor has not fulfilled a November 2015 promise to set up a meeting between depository banks and MWBEs.

The activist alleged that de Blasio takes a lackadaisical approach to MWBEs because he does not recognize it as related to his central concern of income inequality, and complained that he “keeps insulting communities of color.” 

“He just turns a blind eye and says, ‘That should be good enough, I’m gonna do it my way and everyone should just shut up, sit down,’” Lewis told the Observer. “I’m not gonna sit down and I’m not gonna shut up and I’m gonna keep bugging him about it.”

Evelyn Vargas, owner of Bronx-based Jazzy Cakes 212—which is city-, state- and Port Authority-certified—and an MWBE specialist for the Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corp., got just one order from a city agency and can’t afford another employee. 

She praised the new goal but suggested the city get a “poster child out there to talk about how well they’re doing” and better utilize social media. 

“A lot of clients that I get in my day job are not even aware of the MWBE program, and that’s just across the board,” Vargas said. 

Adjua Mantebea, president of A Delight Production, which delivers commercial and personal visual media services and products, received two requests for bids this year but has not yet won one. She’s “not seeing anything yet,” but likes “what Stringer’s doing.” 

She called on the city to offer more feedback to MWBEs when they lose bids, and for it to set up larger forums for businesses to showcase their work to private interests.

Mantebea suggested the MWBE designation has become limiting.

“I’m a company, I’m not an MWBE,” Mantebea said. “I’m a company that produces quality work. I’d like to be recognized for that, percentile or not.”

Raul Contreras, manager of external affairs for the MWBE office, argued that the loan fund is “nothing to gloss over” and stressed that the 30 percent goal stems from a study of disparities between MWBEs and other businesses. He also pointed up a $250,000 SBS campaign that led to a nearly 75 percent increase in certification applications in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 compared to the previous year.

“You’re talking to the first external affairs people at the Office of MWBE,” Contreras said. “So you’re gonna see this continued growth of getting the word out, making sure MWBEs are informed of all opportunities out there.”

Buery encouraged people to focus less on “organization charts” and more on results.

“At the end of the day, the proof is in the pudding,” he said. “We already—from ’15 to ’16—we’ve shown what can happen when the city really focuses on this work.”

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