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When the coronavirus pandemic hit eight months ago, many Latinx and Black business owners missed out on federal loans and other relief because they didnt have relationships with local bankers or didnt have financial statements in order.

Member-based nonprofit business organizations responded by reducing or waiving member fees, offering referrals and advocacy, and providing direct support for local businesses.

Initially, many Latinx business owners were leery of grants and other available assistance or they didnt have the financial documents needed to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program through their bank, said Ana Jose, program manager at the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

For some reason the Latinx community when you say free, they dont really believe you, Jose said. They have to know you are coming from a good place to take that help. If youre not used to getting that assistance, youre not going to believe it unless you hear it from someone you actually trust.

Restrictions issued on Nov. 15 by the Whitmer administration have meant new challenges for some businesses, especially bars and restaurants. The goal now is to make sure these companies finances are in order if and when the federal government approves additional stimulus funding.

We are working diligently and putting together an accounting program to allow businesses to revamp their (profit and loss) statement and balance sheet, so when they sit down with a banker, they have their information ready to go, Jose said. We want to make sure we eliminate those barriers for them.

Both Jose and Local First of West Michigan President Hanna Schulze said business organizations have rallied to help local companies regardless of whether they are members.

The Hispanic Chamber has 750 member businesses and is offering a one-year free membership for those who join by Dec. 31.

Local First also launched a Pay What You Can scholarship as a way to help struggling business owners. The renewal drive runs until the end of the year. While most businesses are opting to pay a portion of the annual fee, full scholarships are also available.

We all recognized right away in 2020 that support needed to be available to any business that needed it, Schulze said. We really are that sort of interconnected network that helps folks access the capital and connect to other resources.

Local First of West Michigan has focused on creating a support network for businesses to reach out and build relationships with one another. When businesses first faced closures, Schulze said the organization connected Latinx business owners with attorneys, financial advisers and CPAs willing to offer pro bono advice. Local First also referred them to the Hispanic Chamber for translation services and other assistance.

The regions nonprofit business organizations including the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, The Right Place Inc., the Hispanic Chamber and Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses (GRABB) have worked together to share resources and information. They also have offered support and referrals to businesses that are not members. Local First did not receive CARES Act funding to directly support businesses, but team members did sit on review committees that awarded grants, Schulze said.

For a planner like Gricelda Mata, owner of Lindo Mexico, living through the pandemic as a restaurant owner has been an emotional roller coaster. She received grants from The Right Place and the Grand Rapids Chamber to help with operational expenses, and belongs to both Local First and the Hispanic Chamber.

The latest state emergency order barring restaurants and bars from offering dine-in service until Dec. 8 has Mata most concerned about her employees.

Its just very tough emotionally because I have to lay off people, she said. The hardest part right now is there is no help for businesses or families. Or the unemployment benefits (arent) much. I am just very concerned and worried about the families Ill be laying off. Were going to do the best we can to help.

Jose often hears similar concerns about employees having to miss work because of illness, shutdown or self-quarantine. After conversations with Schulze, Jose established the Unity Fund through the Hispanic Chamber to help business owners offer paid leave to their employees who have to stay home.

Schulze helped secure $7,500 for the fund, and Jose has applied for grants in hopes of raising $50,000 to open the program for applications. The fund would match a week of paid leave that an employer provides.

I am hoping other people will be able to join us and make it where people can actually stay home and not have their utilities shut off or be able to feed their families, Jose said.

Jose personally helped nearly 60 business owners with U.S. Small Business Administration and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications, and the Hispanic Chambers partnership with The Right Place awarded $5,000 grants to the Latinx business community.

The Right Place received CARES Act money, and we were one of the partners to ensure the community was receiving these funds, Jose said.

Roughly 90 businesses received grants from The Right Place to help with cash flow or pay rent and utilities during a second round of funding. The increased participation was based in large part on the Hispanic Chambers awareness and outreach efforts.

We had to really call. We were texting 400 businesses in the community, sending them information about the grants, the SBA loans, sending them information about the training, Jose said. We were very intentional about being out there. We told them, If you dont do something now, you may end up closing or losing your business.

The Hispanic Chamber also launched a training program for businesses to ensure they were following COVID-19 state mandates and guidelines for reopening, including providing signage and information on record-keeping.

We still have training for businesses to participate in to learn exactly what MIOSHA is looking for, Jose said.

The pandemic has brought to light other disparities for minority-owned businesses. Early on, as some restaurants and retail shifted to online sales, Schulze noticed an obvious tech gap.

Many minority-owned businesses lacked the technological know-how, infrastructure or resources to support online operations, as minority business advocates have previously told MiBiz.

Local First optimized its own website, improving search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities and its online business directory. In some cases, a companys Local First listing comes up first in a Google search or serves as its primary online presence.

Business owners can update their own listing in real time, letting customers know if they have changed hours or temporarily closed. The listing also allows users to view photos, hours and click through to the business website.

Local First offers training and networking opportunities to members and disseminates information on COVID-19 mandates, policy changes and relief efforts. Schulze said the organization will continue to connect businesses with local, state and federal resources and facilitate relationship-based connections.

Local small business owners are so buried in the logistics of running a business, Schulze said. Its one thing to send an email or letter, but having that trusted relationship or to be able to sit and speak with a person who can help them navigate some of the particular hoops a business owner has to jump through is so important.

With COVID-19 cases spiking and the latest temporary shutdowns, Schulze stressed the importance of a new stimulus package and having people in support roles helping business owners navigate available resources to survive the winter.

Jose said the Hispanic Chamber remains committed to serving its member and non-member businesses and encourages the community to do the same. Small businesses are critical to the local economy and vibrant neighborhoods.

We need to make sure we support each other and that we are willing and able to do whatever it takes to help businesses stay afloat, Jose said. Its going to take a lot of work, but that is what we need to do.

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Member-based nonprofits bolster efforts to deliver aid to minority-owned businesses - MiBiz: West Michigan Business News

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GPT-3 is an AI from OpenAI that generates content, using reasoning to refer to the information they fed it in order to create new written content. GPT-3 is short for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer and its 2nd and 3rd iteration has grabbed attention across the internet with headlines hinting at consciousness. The 3rd edition released in May 2020 and has 175 billion parameters for constructing text. The size of the data set it works from makes it two orders of magnitude more powerful than GPT-2.

San Francisco based OpenAI developed GPT-3, starting with GPT in 2018, and released it as an API that is still not fully available to the public. Its task agnostic and requires minimal tuning in order to operate aside from trial-and-error training. This means its operation varies. It depends on what command it is given You can communicate all commands in human-readable, plain text.

A strong marketing strategy always includes creating content. In the United States, theres a bias toward hiring content writers to write article content thats easily accessible. GPT-3 promises high-quality text, but OpenAI strongly encourages hiring a human to edit the machines output. This may mean a shift in demand to increase for editors.

The initial hype around GPT-3s release sounded like science fiction to some writers. But robots arent replacing human writers just yet. AI isnt capable of replacing human creativity or the ability to generate emotional appeal. Content writing by machine is often formulaic, and theres minimal variety in sentence type or length.

Humans have always learned to use new machines, especially those they can benefit from using. Writers are not going to be replaced. However, some content writing may shift to AI generation followed by human editing. The future will be interesting to witness as this technology develops, as the use of such a tool could increase the average writers output. The generative and summation tools can be used to generate content in virtually any field.

GPT-3 is limited in its ability to make sense of complicated information. For example financial data or business analytics. Its excellent at creating content that is grammatically correct (but thats not exactly revolutionary), however, it still produces errors in reasoning since it is unable to comprehend. This means that content writers arent going anywhere.

Companies may find themselves relying on editors and creatives to use the tool results in great content just like before. But opening roles for curating and developing the content created by the AI. This is a boon for the marketing industry as a content generator, but the quality of the content requires hiring of creative writers and editors to make it worth publishing.

If GPT-3 just needs to be edited for foul and biased content, where is skill involved? Part of the answer lies with more robots. Googles robots, to be precise. Googles SEO practices are studied religiously by content writers to ensure content that makes it to the front page. There are a lot of regulations and updates Google has enacted over the last decade to keep unique and creative content at the fingertips of those who use its search engine.

In contrast, you can easily detect GPT-3s content. One of the most ironic things about GPT-3 is that its great at detecting its own content, even when a human might struggle.

Currently, you will have to join a waitlist to get GPT-3. Potential users fill out a form including a field where they can describe how they would use the API. They also ask that you provide risks and benefits of using such a powerful AI.

Their safety-first mentality is not without merit. Critics of the GPT project cite cases where a mental health advocate program was tested. GPT-3 encouraged a patients desire for suicide. In most cases, especially for content intended for publication, editing by a human is encouraged. If your business staffs content writers, it may be worth applying for the waitlist for access to GPT-3.

While custom article writing might not be the best use of GPT-3s features, it does promise value for short-form content like meta descriptions, alt text, footer copy or product descriptions. There are also benefits to using GPT-3 to provide a first draft for content writers. These tools could encourage diversification for your staff writers. They could be providing the bandwidth for them to take on additional projects requiring research and time they dont currently have.

The time savings of having a content generation machine are not stronger than the benefits of professionally written content. Especially when the content positions your business as a leading expert in your industry. Copywriting still requires a human touch as well, since emotional plays and convincing often require comprehension and reasoning abilities that are not yet programmable.

At this time, most companies dont have access to GPT-3. But as time goes on and we see more iterations of the GPT project with more lifelike results. Ethical implications around harmful bias mean OpenAI limits who has access to GPT-3 and provides useful guidelines to avoid harmful effects. You can read how and why OpenAI has chosen not to provide open-ended applications that would allow long-form text generation.

OpenAI is currently working with Middlebury Institute, University of Washington, and Allen Institute for AI to research applications focused on representation research and fairness in order to prevent safety issues.

They write that Our goal is to continue to develop our understanding of the APIs potential harms in each context of use, and continually improve our tools and processes to help minimize them.

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Working With AI: GPT-3 And The Future Of Content Marketing - PakWired

Galvin Tan (far left) said he served in the military for two and a half years.

Photo by provided by Galvin Tan

Students from Korea, Mongolia and Singapore said they persevered and overcame difficulty while serving in their home countries military. All three said their service refined them and helped them cultivate meaningful bonds with fellow soldiers they served beside.

Korea

Jeongheon Seo, a junior from Korea majoring in business marketing, served in the Korean Air Force for two years. He described how he worked as a military police officer throughout his years of service and served at the Air Defense Artillery Brigade.

Although South Korea is currently stable and safe, Seo explained neighboring countries like North Korea have threatened his home for centuries.

The painful experience of losing our country from the invasions of other countries is what Seo said inspired him to serve.

Today, outside countries still look for opportunities to take away South Koreas peace, economically and militarily, Seo explained. To defend our country from going through this painful history again, every Korean man carries a duty of national defense, which is why I served in the military.

During his service, Seos base was located deep in the mountains of Paju, South Korea. He said it was so close to the border, I could see North Korea on a clear day.

My main task was to guard the base and identify the people entering and leaving the base. Our team was made up of 10 soldiers, and we regularly patrolled around the mountain to monitor the enemys movement.

He compared his experience in the military to his time serving a mission. Of course, life in the military and life in the mission is certainly different, but there is a similar pattern. It was not easy to adjust to military life because I had to abandon my old habits and follow the rules and schedule.

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Photo provided by Jeongheon Seo

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Photo provided by Jeongheon Seo

Seo explained he had to receive permission from his seniors to do anything, but as time went on, he said he became proficient in his work and was eventually able to educate recruits. Seo shared how the best parts about his military service were his relationships and the tactical skills he learned while training.

He said he became close friends with others through training together for weeks and months, despite differences in rank. Seo detailed the unique skills he learned, such as handling weapons and operational tactics.

He also learned the value of patience and leadership traits he resolved to always carry with him.

Seo expressed his love for Korea and acknowledged its rich and challenging history. What I love about my country is its culture. Our country has fought many wars and had to endure an invasion from a country stronger than ours. However, even though we have gone through this harsh period, our culture is maintained until today. That is the reason why we value and love our culture.

Mongolia

Photo by provided by Ochirbat

Saruul Ochirbat, a sophomore from Mongolia majoring in psychology, served in the Mongolian military for three months. At the time, Ochirbat said he was unsure of what he wanted for the future and decided to join.

During his service, Ochirbat said he learned valuable life skills such as discipline, patience and hard work. He also forged meaningful bonds with his comrades. I love those guys who served with me. We ate together. We ran together. We worked together. We went through hardships together. I have a special bond with my comrades.

Each day was the same, said Ochirbat. Exercise, training, then on duty to guard special objects. Eventually, I got used to it, and it became a normal routine.

While serving, Ochirbat recounted he learned how to handle weapons and complete tasks without excuses.

Despite his hardships, Ochirbat expressed his pride in Mongolia. Mongolia is the least densely populated country in the world. We have a vast land that is so beautiful. I love Mongolian nature and history. We have a long history. Im proud of the history of the Great Mongol Empire that dates back to the XIII century.

Singapore

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Photo provided by Galvin Tan

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Photo provided by Galvin Tan

Galvin Tan, a junior from Singapore majoring in exercise and sport science, served in Singapores infantry for two and a half years. In Singapore, every male citizen is required to serve two years in the military, he explained, but Tan had a different reason for serving.

What inspired me to serve to my fullest was the thought of keeping my family, country and loved ones safe.

Like Seo, Tan also compared his time serving in the military to serving a mission. The military and the mission are similar. The only difference is that the military was more physical while the mission was much more spiritual.

Both pushed him out of his comfort zone, he said, and required a great deal of resilience, determination and mental strength.

But when I gave my all to both, my life was changed, and I became the best version of myself.

Tan recalled the hardships he endured while serving. The most challenging part of being a recruit, he explained, was the first two weeks of basic training.

The first two weeks were rough as I transitioned from civilian life to that of a soldier. The main aim of a recruits journey is to wear him down, removing negative traits. Then, developing him again into a fine soldier, son, brother and man.

As graduation approaches, recruits must go through an event called field camp, Tan said. Field camp requires all recruits to spend one week in the jungle, learning infantry skills and drills. It is the most mentally and physically draining time of a recruits life, but also one of the memories a soldier holds dear to him.

After field camp comes graduation day, where recruits must march 24 kilometers in full battle order while carrying 40 kilograms of equipment, he said. Immediately after the march, recruits have their graduation parade to commemorate their graduation.

Eventually, Tan said he was promoted to sergeants rank and was sent to sergeant cadet school. Upon graduating from sergeant cadet school, Tan was assigned to a base where he trained and groomed two sections of 30 soldiers.

By the end of his service, his platoon consisted of 80 soldiers in total, he explained. It definitely changed my perspective on life with the lives of 80 sons, brothers or husbands in my hands.

Tans time in the service, he said, was a time he will always remember. It was there he cultivated a deep love for the men he served beside. He said, The best part about serving is definitely the relationships formed. A special bond is formed when you are pushed beyond your limits, and you look to the guys around you. We push each other to achieve success.

View original post here:
Students from Asia share their military experiences and inspiration to serve their countries - Ke Alakai

Pensacola, Fla. Prosperous Internet Marketing Inc. is a marketing agency that provides effective SEO services to a wide range of businesses. Because internet marketing is ever-changing, their specialists deem it vital to continuously learn and improve their knowledge and understanding of effective internet marketing tactics. This month, they are proud to recognize several team members who have recently earned new certifications.

Three team members: Abigail Campbell, Lisa Durnell, and Emma Crews, each earned their Google certification for Google My Business. Through the training for this certification, they furthered their knowledge of how to use Google My Busines to make listings stand out when customers search online. Earning this certification consists of taking several courses and passing the assessment at the end. Passing the assessment will earn a person an achievement that can be displayed on their profile.

In addition, Abigail Campbell earned two other certifications, including Search Marketing Mastery and Optimization & Testing Mastery. The search marketing course teaches search engine optimization techniques that a person can use to get their website ranked higher on Google searches. The courses for the optimization and testing certification go through how to create repeatable optimization processes that will increase conversions in the businesss landing pages, sales funnel, and key conversion pages. In other words, this certification helps a person learn how to pinpoint problems with a website and create solutions that will increase the businesss profits.

As a provider of effective internet marketing services, the specialists at Prosperous Internet Marketing Inc. continuously seek to improve their knowledge of the ever-changing world of internet marketing. For business owners who want to discuss how SEO and other internet marketing services can help their business grow, give Prosperous Internet Marketing Inc. a call today at (850) 475-4460 or visit their website atwww.prosperousim.com.

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Prosperous I.M. Inc.Eddie Hill(850) 462-5272info@prosperousim.com180 East Burgess Rd.Suite FPensacola, FL 32504

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Provider of SEO Services in Pensacola, FL is Proud to Announce That Several Team Members Have Earned New Certifications - Press Release - Digital...

According to latest research report published by Reports Intellect, the world HSE Consulting and Training Services Market. The report offers extensive analyses of the key winning strategies, industry dynamics, market size & forecast, and competitive landscape. The data is collected through extensive primary and secondary research and is verified and validated by industry experts. Additionally, the report presents statistical data collected through press releases, government documents, annual reports, and internal and external factors in an organized format.

The HSE Consulting and Training Services Market report profiles the following companies, which include: Aegide International, The Safe Step, Astutis, Sigma-HSE, Bureau Veritas, Clutch Safety Solutions, INA Holdings (ESIS), HSE Consulting Services LLC, IRESC, RPS Group, STE Group, STS Consulting Services.

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The report assesses the key opportunities within the market and descriptions the factors that are and can be driving the expansion of the HSE Consulting and Training Services industry. Furthermore, the statistical survey within the report focuses on product specifications, costs, production capacities, marketing channels, and market players. Upstream raw materials, downstream demand analysis, and an inventory of end-user industries are studied systematically, together with the suppliers during this market. The merchandise flow and marketing have also been presented during this research report.

Major Points from Table of Contents:-

Chapter 1: Market Overview, Scope, Market risks, or systematic risks and Segment by Type, End-User & Major Regions Market Size

Chapter 2 analyses the most eminent Players of the HSE Consulting and Training Services Market by sales, revenue, etc for the Forecast period 2020 to 2025Chapter 3 Competitive landscape based on sales, revenue, volume, market share, etc for the period 2020 to 2025.Chapter 4 illustrates the global market by region and their market share, sales, revenue, etc for the period to 2025.Chapters 5 to 9 analyze the HSE Consulting and Training Services regions with HSE Consulting and Training Services countries based on market share, revenue, sales etc.Chapters 10 and 11 contain the information concerning market basis types and application, sales market share, rate of growth, etc for the forecast period 2020 to 2025.Chapter 12 focuses on the market forecast for 2020 to 2025 for the HSE Consulting and Training Services Market by regions, type, and application, sales and revenue, profit.Chapters 13 to 15 contain the transient details associate with sales channels, suppliers, traders, dealers, research findings and conclusions, etc for the HSE Consulting and Training Services Market.

Market Segment by Type, coversConsulting ServicesTraining ServicesCertification ServicesAuditing Services

Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoLogistics and TransportationManufacturingAgricultureConstruction & Real EstateGovernment and UtilitiesOthers

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Impact of Covid-19:

This study especially analyses the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the HSE Consulting and Training Services, covering the provision chain analysis, impact assessment to the HSE Consulting and Training Services market size rate of growth in several scenarios, and therefore the measures to be undertaken by HSE Consulting and Training Services companies in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Questions Answered within the HSE Consulting and Training Services Market Report:

What youll expect From Our Report:

About Us:-Reports Intellect marketing research, an exploration and business firm providing syndicated likewise as custom reports with precise analysis and future outlook. We tend to at Reports Intellect marketing research believe client satisfaction and propose they take strategic decisions relating to the current and future endeavors. So, whether or not its the newest report from the researchers or a custom demand, our team is here to assist you within the very best method.

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Latest Innovative Report on HSE Consulting and Training Services Market Breaking The Ground Worldwide: Aegide International, The Safe Step, Astutis,...