ReleaseWire

Patty Briguglio, president of MMI Public Relations, a Raleigh-based, full-service public relations firm, has announced that the company was named the top area small business at Triangle Business Journal’s Best Places To Work Awards. MMI Public Relations received the highest score among all companies in the small business category in a survey performed by the publication and Quantum Market Research, which ranks entrants on quality of human resources, employee morale, corporate values and more. 2011 marks the third year MMI Public Relations has been named to the Best Places to Work list.

Sharon Lechter, best selling author and financial literacy expert was named a Finalist in the Lifetime Achievement category in the 8th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Founder of Pay Your Family First, also a finalist for a Best Company category, Lechter continues to innovate new ways for families to teach financial responsibility globally.

The legal industry is going through a crisis situation because the fresh law school graduates are finding it harder to get jobs and salaries have considerably dropped over the past few months.

CIC Plus, Inc., an employee self-service solution provider, launches a New York Wage Theft Prevention Act Solution to assist large employers with the annual and ongoing delivery events, as well as record retention associated with the new legislation. The release comes in preparation for the annual sign-off requirement, running from January 1 to February 1.

Is the future of work independent of geographical location? Yes! This is because as more and more companies embrace outsourcing to increase profits and save costs, it is the virtual employee or the freelancer who is in much demand. And it doesn't really matter that both these entities sit separated from their clients some halfway across the globe.

Lamont Farmer, managing partner of haircolorxperts at the Arboretum (http://www.haircolorxpertsraleigh.com), has announced that Catherine Melonas has joined the salon as a senior specialist. In this position, Melonas will use her 16 years in the salon industry to build client relationships and perform color and cut services as well as consultations with new clients. Originally from Cheboygan, Mich., Melonas graduated from Mitchell’s Hair Styling Academy and credits her success to her passion for working with people to make a difference in their personal appearance.

The NC Ellis Cannady Chapter IAEI International Association of Electrical Inspectors will hold their annual convention, electrical industry tradeshow and NEC Continuing Education seminars on November 6-8, 2011 at the Richard Childress Vineyard facility in Lexington NC. This meeting is the best opportunity in North Carolina for Inspector and Contractor continuing education, with nationally recognized NEC experts and local electrical safety professionals.

VirtualEmployee.com's revolutionary new concept of video conferencing has taken outsourcing up a few notches. With clients now actually seeing their candidates face-to-face in front of them as they conduct their interviews, the geographical and time zone difference suddenly seems to have disappeared.

AlphaStaff Group, Inc. (“AlphaStaff”), one of the nation’s largest professional employer organizations (PEO), and the only national PEO to work exclusively in partnership with insurance brokers, recently launched People Solutions Tool. The announcement was made by Joseph DeRosa, executive vice president of small and medium business sales and marketing.

The more employees a company has, the more complicated things such as payroll, health insurance, benefits, worker’s compensation and other employee relations become.

Imagine learning about the latest show deals, product launches and on-the-hour promotions available at an event through your Twitter or Facebook accounts. This will soon become a reality for gadget enthusiasts who plan to visit Singapore’s longest-running consumer electronics and IT exhibition, when it returns for its 23rd edition this November.

The number of people unemployed dropped to 129,400 in September from that of 135,720 in August.

Career Management Resources has introduced their Career Management Programs which can assist any individual going through a difficult phase of their career. Career Management Programs address a growing need to provide guidance and direction to those individuals who are experiencing some type of major change in their career which can have a major impact on many areas of your life-personally and professionally.

The government sector lost around 10,800 jobs mainly in K-12 and higher education due to budget cuts.

Bruce Clarke, president and CEO of CAI, a human resource management firm that helps organizations maximize employee engagement while minimizing employer liability, has announced the company’s November 2011 schedule of training and development seminars. All courses will be held at CAI’s Raleigh location at 2900 Highwoods Blvd., unless otherwise noted.

In most businesses, success is typically measured by the principles of: increased brand awareness, ability to meet demand, improved sales, and sustained growth. While all these are essential business management tools, there is one company that is doing things a little differently and looking at business from the other side of the fence; their client’s side.

It is not only planning to offer current employees an opportunity to move to Nashville, but also looking forward to recruit nearly 150 employees in the new office.

AlphaStaff Group, Inc. (“AlphaStaff”), one of the nation’s largest professional employer organizations (PEO), and the only national PEO to work exclusively in partnership with insurance brokers, is expanding in the Texas market.

WORLDCOM Public Relations Group (Worldcom), the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations counselling firms, today announced its regional board slate for the remainder of 2011 and 2012. In addition, the global partnership announced the addition of two new partner firms to its roster of independent agencies. Established in 1988, Worldcom, a partnership comprised of 107 firms, in 91 markets, across six continents, operates through a Group Board and three regional boards – one each in the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (AP). Worldcom partner agencies occupy leadership positions in the world’s major public relations professional organisations and business communities, globally.

The chain has roughly 1,700 stores in the U.S. and has already locked down 10 stores on Sunday. The additional 10 stores will be shut within the next month.

Bruce Clarke, president and CEO of CAI, a human resource management firm that helps organizations maximize employee engagement while minimizing employer liability, has announced the firm’s newest partnership with Job Ready Services, an industrial rehabilitation facility providing post-offer employment and functional-evaluation testing in determining the ability of employees to safely perform their jobs. The partnership’s goal will be to assist North Carolina employers in their efforts of reducing workplace injury and workers’ compensation costs, ensuring a fit and productive workforce. Services offered by Job Ready Services, including fit for duty testing, job analysis, post-offer employment testing, work conditioning and ergonomic assessments, will benefit members of CAI and provide a resource in addressing overall risk reduction.

But as business owners often find out the hard way, finding and hiring qualified and dedicated people can be difficult and time consuming.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, non-farm payroll edged up by 103,000 jobs in September, and the job loss rate stayed steady at 9.1 percent. The hires rate at 3.1 percent and separations rate at 3.0 percent, both, remained essentially unaffected over the month. The job openings rate has drifted up gradually since the end of the recession in June 2009.

Strategic Event And Meeting Management Company Awarded For Its Mint Museum OpeningGala Wine Pairing Dinner And Duke Children’s Health Center 10th Anniversary Production.

MedPro Rx, Inc., a provider of specialty pharmacy services to clients with chronic illnesses who need clotting factor, IVIg and other medication, has announced that President Nancy McFarlane was elected as Mayor of the City of Raleigh, N.C. in the October elections.