| State Farm agent expands with move
PRINCETON — Growing her small town business and providing the best insurance and financial services around is a priority for State Farm agent Lorita Hellman.With a new location and an expanded team, she hopes to better meet her client’s goals and objectives."The main thing I want to do is to have people, without a doubt, understand how very, very much we want to help them with their insurance and financial services, and in the right way," Hellman said."We want them to feel like they enjoy being here so very much that they don’t want to have their insurance anywhere else. That’s the kind of service we want to provide; that’s the ultimate goal," she added.As of Oct. 1 the business relocated to 324 N. Main St., to a newly-renovated Victorian building, that is more than 100 years old.With the move, Hellman expanded her business team to include her son, Adam Hellman, who will serve as an agency contact representative, and will greet clients, process payments and keep client information up to date.Also on the team are Susan Bastion and Barbara Kunst, both multiple line representatives, who have a combined 25 years experience, in addition to Lorita who also has 21 years of agency experience.They are both fully licensed in all lines of insurance with Bastion specializing in bank and commercial insurance, while Kunst specializes in health and life insurance."They are both also experts in property and casualty insurance on their auto and fire insurance line," Hellman said.With the move, Hellman said she would like to increase her clientele at a more rapid pace, with an emphasis on auto growth."We paid dividends last year; we lowered our rate; we’re extremely competitive right now," Hellman said.Hellman said she had her eye on the building, which had sat vacant for several years, and was ready to take the next step."I’ve always found this place to be extremely charming.
Bankers see potential in women-owned businesses
Stephanie Zhang had an epiphany. "I was working in the cell phone store one day when I said to myself, 'I could own this place,'" said Zhang, who now owns not one but two wireless stores as president of Best Wireless in San Francisco. Like many entrepreneurs before her, she turned to family to help make her dream a reality. In this case, she accepted $20,000 from her father. She then turned to Wells Fargo Bank for small business banking services such as a company checking account. Zhang represents an important market segment that institutions such as Wells Fargo and Wachovia Bank are heavily courting with a range of such services. .
(AFX UK Focus) 2007-11-21 08:03 GMT: Prague shares TFN at a glance outlook
PRAGUE (Thomson Financial) - Shares are expected to open lower after losses in Asian markets, however banking and real estate stocks could rebound from recent losses. Yesterday, the main PX index closed 0.20 pct down at 1,767.1 points. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Today Auction of 50-yr govt bond Govt meets in regular session Tomorrow Czech central bank governing board holds regular weekly meeting; monetary policy issues not on agenda Auction 13-week treasury bills Orco Property Group holds investor day TODAY'S PRESS Presidential hopeful Jan Svejnar says country could adopt euro before 2012 (CTK) Developer VGP's free float in Prague, Brussels will reportedly be around 18 pct (MF Dnes) COMPANY/MACROECONOMIC NEWS Unipetrol target price upped to 316.2 crowns at KBC Securities Unipetrol shut ethylene unit for 5-day maintenance work Developer VGP set IPO price range at 15.25-16.75 eur Czech pension funds raised 9-mth net profit to 3.45 bln crowns from 2.6 bln yr ago -50-yr govt bond coupon set at 4.85 pct IMF says Czech GDP growth to slow to 4.5 pct in 2008, inflation to rise to 5 pct Czech PM says CEZ not for sale, Prague airport sale to come before CSA Czech PM says euro adoption would harm advantages of strong crown jason.hovet@thomson.com +420 222 191 109 jrh/ak COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007.
1st-half profits plunge at 6 big banking groups
The nation's six largest banking groups saw combined net profits plummet by nearly half in the April-September period compared with a year earlier, in part because of the deepening U.S. subprime mortgage loan crisis. Separate interim earnings reports as of Wednesday showed that consolidated net profits at the six financial groups totaled 947.8 billion yen during the first half, down by 45 percent from 1.735 trillion yen in the same period of fiscal 2006. The decline in first-half net profits was attributed partly to growing losses from holdings of financial assets tied to subprime loans and struggling consumer loan operations. A significant decrease in amounts of reimbursements from reserves they had set aside in the process of disposing of bad loans was another factor.
Business Calendar
"Starting and Managing Your Own Business:" Score (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) will conduct a workshop at 9 a.m. at its office located at 2 Gateway Center, 15th floor, Newark. Subject include marketing, business plans, tax obligations and financing. Registration is $35. For more information, call (973) 645-3982. -- Cynthia Parker SOURCES: MarketWatch and TheStreet.com .
Howard faces Press Club grilling
CANBERRA - Prime Minister John Howard will today make a last-minute appeal for re-election in a televised address to the National Press Club. Labor leader Kevin Rudd faced a grilling from the national media in Canberra yesterday, and today it is Mr Howard's turn. With just two days before the federal election, both leaders have sharpened their pitch to voters. Mr Rudd, who starts his day in Brisbane after flying in last night, pledged to shift Australia up a gear if elected, and nominated climate change, education and health as priorities for his first year in office. The prime minister said growing the economy and pushing unemployment lower was his number one priority. But he also promised to focus on maintaining national security, implementing election promises, tackling climate change and working on Aboriginal reconciliation.
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