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Making the Most of Your Membership, Chamber luncheon

By Lesly · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

Panel Dis­cus­sion | May 21, 2013

Bryan Fonville, Cen­tral National Bank

  • Use the cham­ber as a resource!
  • Attend­ing events – Cham­ber mem­ber­ship is sim­i­lar to a gym mem­ber­ship; one must be active to receive benefits.
  • Plug into chamber’s weekly e-Bulletin
  • Adver­tise in the bul­letin, cham­ber web­site, Hewitt Express Pub­li­ca­tion, Visitor’s Guide and Mem­ber­ship Directory
  • Fol­low the cham­ber on Face­book, Twit­ter and LinkedIn
  • Refer­rals – Cham­ber refers mem­bers to other mem­bers and residents.
  • The cham­ber assists mem­bers with pro­fes­sional devel­op­ment, pro­vides indi­vid­u­als (or busi­nesses) that are new in town with a foun­da­tion and oppor­tu­nity to be successful.

Donny Hunter, The Go Small Biz Guy

  • Arrive to events early! Catch the crowd before they estab­lish their groups for the evening.
  • Repeat names as you meet
  • Make eye con­tact, be natural
  • Think “happy thoughts” when prepar­ing for a net­work­ing event – this will help ease any discomfort
  • Be pleas­ant and pos­i­tive – do not attend func­tions and vent about neg­a­tive events
  • Ques­tion oth­ers about their business
  • If you come across some­one that doesn’t want to visit – that’s per­fectly fine! Just move on
  • Don’t SELL your busi­ness – Give before you get
  • Follow-up and ref­er­ence the con­ver­sa­tion. It takes 9 impres­sions before some make a decision

Bryan Hardin, Pin­na­cle Protection

  • One-on-one rela­tion­ships are impor­tant for your busi­ness and clients – What do they do?
  • Spend time learn­ing about their fam­ily and what they need
  • Learn what type of clients are they look­ing for?
  • What objec­tives go into decid­ing if some­one you know is a great refer­ral for this person
  • Estab­lish eye con­tact and give undi­vided attention

De Smith, First Greater Hewitt Cham­ber Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, retired

  • Net­work­ing is all about get­ting out of your com­fort zone; teaches you to build an inter­nal data­base that helps you find solu­tions to any situation
  • The Hewitt Pub­lic Library was estab­lished by the Greater Hewitt Cham­ber for Sum­mer Read­ing Programs
  • War­ren Park was designed and ini­tially devel­oped by the Hewitt Cham­ber on land donated by the War­ren Family
  • Stick together, sup­port each other’s busi­nesses. This cham­ber has come a long way!
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Categories : Experts, Featured

Expert: Frank Thomas, Wash & Thomas Attorneys at Law

By Lesly · Comments (0)
Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
ThomasFrank

Frank Thomas

A:   Many peo­ple dis­cover too late that they should have con­sulted with a com­pe­tent attor­ney before:

  • enter­ing into a busi­ness deal
  • sell­ing or buy­ing a business
  • respond­ing to or con­tact­ing a lawyer or insur­ance com­pany after an acci­dent  or injury
  • buy­ing or sell­ing real estate, includ­ing a residence
  • attempt­ing to give away prop­erty or write a will
  • deal­ing with a decedent’s estate
  • becom­ing involved in an activ­ity where key assets or lia­bil­i­ties are at stake
  • fil­ing for divorce or bankruptcy

The best rule of thumb is this: if it feels like what you are about to engage in is impor­tant, then you prob­a­bly need to seek the advise and assis­tance of an attorney.

Q:   How do I find a lawyer?

A:   Refer­rals to an attor­ney from a per­son or peo­ple you trust is usu­ally an effec­tive way to find a good attor­ney.  The State Bar of Texas also will pro­vide refer­rals to attor­neys and there are a num­ber of orga­ni­za­tions and data sources on the inter­net that can pro­vide attor­ney refer­rals.  It is impor­tant to inter­view a prospec­tive attor­ney to see if the attor­ney is expe­ri­enced in the mat­ter that you are seek­ing assis­tance and also, depend­ing on the nature of the legal ser­vice or ser­vices you are seek­ing, to deter­mine if your per­son­al­ity and the attorney’s are a good fit for com­mu­ni­cat­ing and work­ing together.

Q: What are the dif­fer­ent types of fee arrangements?

A: In gen­eral terms, there are three types of fee arrange­ments: (1) Hourly fees, (2) Con­tin­gent Fees, and (3) Flat Fees.

An hourly fee is exactly what the term implies; you pay by the hour.  That is, the attor­ney bills you peri­od­i­cally for the time he or she has spent on your mat­ter and you pay based upon an agreed hourly rate.  Fre­quently, hourly fees are quoted because it is impos­si­ble to know how much work will be involved at the out­set or even as the case or mat­ter pro­gresses.  In addi­tion, retain­ers, which are advances of antic­i­pated attor­ney fees and costs, are often required.  The attor­ney will deposit these retain­ers in his or her trust account and they will be used to fund future attor­ney fee billings or costs as they occur in the case.  Also, as the funds are expended through billing, the attor­ney may require you to sub­mit addi­tional retainers.

A pure con­tin­gent fee arrange­ments, the attor­ney will receive no money unless he or she can recover funds in behalf fo the client, there­fore it is con­tin­gent on the out­come of the case.  In par­tial con­tin­gen­cies, there typ­i­cally is some min­i­mum fee guar­anty for the attor­ney regard­less of out­come.  Con­tin­gent fee agree­ments to be enforce­able in Texas must be in writ­ing and signed by the client and the attor­ney.  Per­sonal injury cases are almost always han­dled on a con­tin­gent fee basis and the typ­i­cal fee arrange­ment in a per­sonal injury case is for the attor­ney to receive one third (1/3) of the total recov­ery as his or her fee though there can be vari­a­tions on this agree­ment.  There can be lim­i­ta­tions imposed by law on the amount or per­cent­age of con­tin­gent attor­ney fees that can be charged, e.g., In worker=s com­pen­sa­tion and Social Secu­rity Dis­abil­ity claims, but gen­er­ally there are no such restric­tions other than what is imposed in the law in such regards.

A flat fee is a spe­cific rate, agreed upon in advance, for a given project.  These type of fees are not based upon results achieved upon results though usu­ally pay­ment is not expected or required until the ser­vice upon which they fee is based is provided

It is always a good idea to have your fee agree­ment with your attor­ney reduced to writ­ing even where not required by law.  This will reduce con­flicts and confusion.

Q: What is the best way to com­mu­ni­cate with your attorney?

A: Pick up the phone and call him or her.  This is the most imme­di­ate and direct way to com­mu­ni­cate.  It there is a prob­lem you may need to write a let­ter or send an email mes­sage.  The point is to keep the lines of com­mu­ni­ca­tion open at all times.  If there is a prob­lem com­mu­ni­cat­ing, such as, the attor­ney never returns your calls, it may be an indi­ca­tion that you should seek another attor­ney to han­dle your problem.

Q: How do I ter­mi­nate my attor­ney if I don’t like him or her?

A: As the client, you have the absolute right to ter­mi­nate an attorney=s ser­vices or the attor­ney –client rela­tion­ship.  The only require­ment is that you must com­mu­ni­cate to the attor­ney that the attorney-client rela­tion­ship has been ter­mi­nated.  The best way to do this is in writ­ing.  If you want the file trans­ferred to another attor­ney, you should pick up your file or else instruct the pre­vi­ous attor­ney where to send the file.

Many fee arrange­ments pro­vide that the attor­ney, too, can with­draw from an attorney-client rela­tion­ship so long as the with­drawal does not prej­u­dice the client. A prej­u­dice in this case means that the attor­ney who with­draws does not do so at the last minute, on the eve of trial.  The with­drawal must be in such a man­ner that the client has a rea­son­able oppor­tu­nity to get a new attor­ney.  In the case of with­drawal, the client may owe the attor­ney fees, either based on the fee agree­ment or on a aquan­tum meruit basis. Quan­tum meruit fees are based on the rea­son­able value of the attorney’s ser­vices.  Such a deter­mi­na­tion can be com­pli­cated, and the point to remem­ber as a pre­lim­i­nary mat­ter is that if you dis­charge your attor­ney — or even if the attor­ney with­draws –there may be some attor­ney fees owned.

 

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Categories : Experts, Featured

Dogs of Summer June 15, seeking volunteers

By Lesly · Comments (0)
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

The dogs will have their day at Hewitt’s Dog Days of Sum­mer Canine Event spon­sored by the City of Hewitt, Hewitt Pub­lic Library and the Friends of the Hewitt Pub­lic Library from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat­ur­day, June 15 at Hewitt Park.

Waynette Ditto, Library Direc­tor for Hewitt Pub­lic Library, said this free event will pro­vide the local and extended com­mu­nity with a fun fam­ily day where they can enjoy a vari­ety of activ­i­ties, learn from experts, and con­nect with other dog lovers. The new cel­e­bra­tion will include the tra­di­tional dog­gie fun and a wiener dog race.

Atten­dees will enjoy a canine fash­ion show, per­for­mances by canines, “Glam”fur” pho­tographs, canine con­tests and a ven­dor area.  Pet res­cue groups, pet care infor­ma­tion and pet adop­tions will be available.

It is a fundrais­ing event for the library, but most impor­tantly it’s about get­ting the pet own­ers to cel­e­brate with their dogs.

Admis­sion for vis­i­tors is free. A small fee will be charged to enter dogs in the var­i­ous con­tests. Dona­tions of dry dog food will be accepted for dis­tri­b­u­tion to par­tic­i­pat­ing shel­ters.  Spon­sors, ven­dors, clubs and local orga­ni­za­tions are encour­aged to participate.

Any­one inter­ested in vol­un­teer­ing or shar­ing ideas should call (254) 666‑2442.

HewittDogDaysHP

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Categories : Events, Featured, News

Expert: Regina Garcia, Incommons Bank

By Lesly · Comments (0)
Thursday, March 21st, 2013

Regina Gar­cia

Q:  I believe I have been a vic­tim of iden­tity theft.  How can I clear my name?

A:  If you think your iden­tity has been stolen, take these steps ASAP:

  • Con­tact the fraud depart­ments of any one of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit file. The fraud alert requests cred­i­tors to con­tact you before open­ing any new accounts or mak­ing any changes to your exist­ing accounts. (As soon as the credit bureau con­firms your fraud alert, the other two credit bureaus will be auto­mat­i­cally noti­fied to place fraud alerts.)
  • Once you have placed the alert, you can order a free copy of your credit report from all three major credit bureaus. The spe­cial toll-free num­bers for the fraud depart­ments are: Equifax (1–888-766‑0008), Exper­ian (1–888-397‑3742), and Trans Union (1–800-680‑7289).
  • Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tam­pered with or opened fraud­u­lently. Use the ID Theft Affi­davit when dis­put­ing new unau­tho­rized accounts.
  • File a police report. Get a copy of the report to sub­mit to your cred­i­tors and oth­ers that may require proof of the crime.
  • File your com­plaint with the FTC. The FTC main­tains a data­base of iden­tity theft cases used by law enforce­ment agen­cies for inves­ti­ga­tions. Fil­ing a com­plaint also helps the FTC learn more about iden­tity theft and the prob­lems vic­tims are hav­ing so that we can bet­ter assist you. Call toll-free 1–877-IDTHEFT (438‑4338).

Q: What is aban­doned or unclaimed prop­erty?
A:  Aban­doned or unclaimed prop­erty refers to prop­erty such as a deposit account, pre­paid card, or finan­cial instru­ment (such as an out­stand­ing bank issued cashier’s check), in which there is an out­stand­ing bal­ance and the finan­cial insti­tu­tion has not had con­tact with the owner for a cer­tain period of time.  Con­tact is defined as customer-initiated activ­ity like a deposit, with­drawal, ATM bal­ance inquiry, or account main­te­nance.
State law estab­lished the length of time prop­erty is con­sid­ered to be aban­doned if there has not been cus­tomer con­tact. This time frame may dif­fer from state to state.  If prop­erty remains unclaimed or aban­doned, it will become the prop­erty of the customer’s state of res­i­dence.
Q: How can I pro­tect my per­sonal finan­cial infor­ma­tion while using social media sites?
A: You should avoid shar­ing per­son finan­cial infor­ma­tion on social media sites.  We sug­gest the fol­low­ing to help ensure a safe experience:

  • Only use trusted media sites
  • Use a dif­fer­ent online bank­ing user ID and pass­word than other online accounts
  • Do not post per­sonal infor­ma­tion to social media sites
  • Use pri­vacy set­tings to restrict the indi­vid­u­als that can view your information
  • Ver­ify that a friend request to join your net­work came from the per­son you know before grant­ing the request

Q:  How can I keep my infor­ma­tion secure while bank­ing online or when I’m using my debit card?
A:  There are many ways that you can help ensure a safe online bank­ing expe­ri­ence.  Some com­mon sug­ges­tions include:

  • Install anti-virus soft­ware, and enable a per­sonal firewall
  • Make sure to use the most recent ver­sion of your web browser
  • Change your pass­word peri­od­i­cally and do not share it with anyone
  • Do not install soft­ware from unknown or sus­pi­cious sources
  • Avoid online bank­ing while con­nected to pub­lic wire­less networks

Q:  How do I get a copy of my credit report?
A:  You have the right to exam­ine your credit file. You are enti­tled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major con­sumer report­ing agencies—Equifax, Exper­ian, and Tran­sUnion. AnnualCreditReport.com, which was cre­ated by the three con­sumer report­ing agen­cies, is a cen­tral­ized ser­vice for request­ing your free annual credit reports. You can order all three credit reports at the same time, or order one now and oth­ers later.

AnnualCreditReport.com enables you to request, view, and print your credit report in a secure Inter­net envi­ron­ment. Or you can have your report mailed to you.
If you find that infor­ma­tion in your credit file is wrong, you can dis­pute the inac­cu­rate information.
Q:   What is FDIC insur­ance?
A:  FDIC insures all types of deposits received by a finan­cial insti­tu­tion in its usual course of busi­ness. For exam­ple, sav­ings and check­ing accounts and time deposits (includ­ing cer­tifi­cates of deposit, “CDs”) are all sub­ject to FDIC insur­ance cov­er­age. Cashiers’ checks, offi­cials’ checks, expense checks, loan dis­burse­ment checks, inter­est checks, out­stand­ing drafts, nego­tiable instru­ments and money orders drawn on the insti­tu­tion are also con­sid­ered deposits, and so are also pro­tected by FDIC. Col­lec­tively, these types of instru­ments are referred to as “offi­cial checks.” For exam­ple, a cashier’s check is a type of offi­cial check.
Cer­ti­fied checks, let­ters of credit, and trav­el­ers’ checks, for which an insured depos­i­tory insti­tu­tion is pri­mar­ily liable, also are insured when issued in exchange for money or its equiv­a­lent, or for a charge against a deposit account.
Q:  What is not insured by the FDIC?

A:  The FDIC does not insure the money indi­vid­u­als invest in stocks, bonds, munic­i­pal bonds, or other secu­ri­ties; mutual funds, (includ­ing money mar­ket mutual funds, and mutual funds that invest in stocks, bonds and other secu­ri­ties); annu­ities (which are con­tracts under­writ­ten by insur­ance com­pa­nies that guar­an­tee income in exchange for a lump sum or peri­odic pay­ment); or insur­ance prod­ucts such as auto­mo­bile and life insur­ance even if these prod­ucts were pur­chased at an insured bank or through an affil­i­ated broker/dealer/insurance agent that is offer­ing these prod­ucts on behalf of a bank.

The FDIC does not insure U.S. Trea­sury bills, bonds, or notes, but these are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
Also, the FDIC insur­ance doesn’t cover valu­ables in safe deposit boxes. These con­tents, how­ever, may be cov­ered either by the bank’s pri­vate insur­ance or the box holder’s per­sonal homeowner’s insurance.
Fur­ther­more, the FDIC does not insure against loss of funds due to rob­beries and other thefts. Stolen funds may be cov­ered by what’s called a bank’s Haz­ard and Casu­alty insur­ance, which is a pol­icy a bank pur­chases to pro­tect itself from fire, flood, earth­quake, rob­bery, and phys­i­cal dam­age. In those rare instances where a bank employee may tam­per with a customer’s account, the bank’s blan­ket bond insur­ance (also called fidelity bonds) may cover the loss and the funds would be returned to the cus­tomer. Con­sumer pro­tec­tion laws such as the Elec­tronic Funds Trans­fer Act offer pro­tec­tions if a third party some­how gains access to a customer’s account.
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Categories : Experts, Featured

2012 Hewitt Chamber Volunteer of the Year

By Lesly · Comments (0)
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

Patri­cia Breen | Action Fire Pros

The Greater Hewitt Chamber’s suc­cess is estab­lished by devoted vol­un­teers, striv­ing to make a dif­fer­ence in their com­mu­nity and mak­ing Hewitt a place to call home. This indi­vid­ual has proven her­self as a lead­ing con­trib­u­tor in par­tic­i­pa­tion and new mem­ber sup­port. The orga­ni­za­tion greatly appre­ci­ates her out­stand­ing efforts and loy­alty. Thank you and con­grat­u­la­tions to Patri­cia Breen of Action Fire Pros!

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Categories : Featured, News
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