The Cleveland Daily Banner Sunday, January 10, 2016 | Page 26

26—Cleveland Daily Banner—Sunday, January 10, 2016 www.clevelandbanner.com SUNDAY Business Larry Bowers Business writer Phone [phone] or fax [phone] [email protected] Platz takes new position with CSCC Special to the Banner Cleveland State Community College welcomes a new, yet familiar face to its Institutional Advancement Department. Rick Platz was recently hired as the development officer and will be assisting the college in a variety of efforts. Platz retired as the Director of the Small Business Development Center located on CSCC’s campus in 2010 and has since served as an adjunct instructor for the college. Prior to working for CSCC’s SBDC, Platz was vice president for New Product Development for Citibank Universal Card Services, where he was responsible for strategic assessment of new concepts, determining profit potential and providing business recommendations. “I was really drawn to this position,” stated Platz. “I have a long association with the college having worked in the SBDC for about 10 to 12 years and continuing to teach as an adjunct instructor, and I value its role in the community. I see education as the key to making for a better community and on a more practical level, for jobs and the economy. I think CSCC plays an integral role in this five- county service area.” Platz continued, “I am really looking forward to helping to strengthen the CSCC Foundation and its relationship with the community and coordinating the ongoing efforts within the college.” “Rick has been engaged in our community for a number of years serving on a variety of Boards including Junior Achievement of the Ocoee Region and Hospice of Chattanooga,” stated Dr. Tommy Wright, vice president of Institutional Advancement. “I think he will make a successful addition to our team and look forward to working with him.” According to Platz, “The Institutional Advancement Department has some events coming up between now and the summer, and I will be involved in organizing those events, establishing objectives, doing some project management work and beyond that, assisting Dr. Wright as the college launches its 50th Anniversary efforts and to help implement aspects of the Cleveland State 20/20 Community First Plan.” Platz received his bachelor’s degree from Muhlenberg College and his M.B.A. from Jacksonville University. Rick Platz Homeownership often a great goal Dear Dave, My husband and I are currently renting an apartment for $1,200 a month. Together, we bring home about $7,000 a month, and we’d really like to buy a house soon. Right now we have about $10,000 in debt on a boat along with ongoing stable bills, food and upkeep for our three horses. What price range of houses should we look at in our situation? — Michelle? Contributed photo MILLER INDUSTRIES has partnered with Chattanooga State for a series of leadership classes that provide the necessary skills for employees to move up the ladder in the company. Shown at a recent presentation are David Cagle and Noel Monzon (kneeling). Standing, from left, are Bill Beckley, corporate human resource director; Katherine Burnett, instructor; Frank Henley of Catoosa County; Daniel Dill and David Howard of Walker County; Terry Hines of Bradley County; John Massengale, Robert Davis, Cory Couch and Jeff Russell of McMinn County; and James Mish, James Brumlow, and Carrie Woods of Hamilton County. McKinney joins local firm Special to the Banner Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel P.C. welcomes attorney Laura McKinney to the Chattanooga law firm’s business practice. McKinney will assist Chambliss clients with corporate and commercial matters, including acquisitions, joint ventures, and commercial contracts. McKinney joins Chambliss after nearly eight years at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a large international firm in New York City, where she advised clients on various business matters. Laura’s experience there included complex cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Fluent in Spanish and familiar with Portuguese, McKinney is a strong international transactional attorney with experience consummating transactions in South American countries, including Brazil, Chile, and Venezuela. Her domestic and international experience with joint ventures spans across the following sectors: energy, logistics, chemical, mining, and home appliance. In addition, McKinney has experience with business transactions in the beverage, health care, and software industries. McKinney will advise Chambliss clients in the areas of domestic and international mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, in addition to assisting with distribution agreements, strategic alliances, commercial contracts, and other business matters. A native of Cleveland, McKinney received her law degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as Article Editor for the International Law Journal. She graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in European Studies. At Vanderbilt, McKinney became a member of the nation’s oldest honor society for the liberal arts and sciences, Phi Beta Kappa Society. For more information about McKinney’s experience and services, please visit chamblisslaw.com. Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel P.C. serves as counsel for region- Laura McKinney al, national, and international businesses, financial institutions, local governments, and nonprofit organization. Au to show scheduled to open in Detroit DETROIT (AP) — That sound of engines revving? It’s coming from Detroit. The North American International Auto Show opens next week in the Motor City. Automakers will debut around 45 new production vehicles and experimental concept cars during the media preview. Starting Jan. 16, the public can see 750 5,000 journalists to attend cars spread over 17 acres at Detroit’s Cobo Center. The Detroit show isn’t the biggest in terms of public attendance or square footage — in the U.S., those honors go to New York and Chicago. But Detroit attracts the most media: More than 5,000 journalists from 60 countries and 40 states. The show is also a hot ticket for tens of thousands of automotive engineers, designers and other industry attendees. Kennett receives top towing award Special to the Banner Mark Kennett of Titan Towing of Cleveland has received the prestigious American Towman Ace Award for achievement. Recipients were nominated by the nation’s major motor clubs and dispatch centers. Nomination guidelines include the highest percentage of calls when the estimated time of arrival is achieved, consistency in response time, written appreciation from customers, and percentage of calls serviced. Ace recipients rank in the top 1 percent of the towing industry’s service providers. The award is presented by American Towman Magazine, the leading trade publication serving emergency road service professionals. Kennett received a specially-designed belt buckle, presented at the national award ceremony in November, 2015. Evans expanding territory Special to the Banner Donna Evans has joined Coldwell Banker Pryor Realty Inc. With over 25 years of providing Cleveland and surrounding counties with professional real estate service, Donna is expanding her territory. She states that Cleveland and Bradley County is still her main focus along with Polk, Meigs, McMinn and the Ooltewah area. Donna was previously broker/owner of Carson Realty. She states that she has enjoyed working with buyers and sellers during her career and plans to continue for many years to come. Donna is married to Dale Evans a well known pharmacist and business man. They reside in Cleveland and are involved in the local community. Donna Evans Here are some things to know about the Detroit show: — Muscle cars to minivans: Last year, the Ford GT and Acura NSX supercars stole the show. This year, it’s the humble minivan’s turn. Chrysler will debut an all-new minivan, the vehicle it invented 33 years ago. But there will be some flashier cars, too. Porsche will debut a 911 Turbo and Mercedes-Benz will show the sporty SLC coupe. Honda and Nissan will unveil pickup trucks. Where’s Waldo?: The Detroit show floor will be completely new this year, its first major renovation in five years. Automakers have moved to new spots and spent $200 million on flashy new displays. Show organizers say the new plan reflects changes in the industry — Fiat Chrysler, for example, has more room to stretch out — and groups luxury makers together. A new mobile app will help guide visitors around and flash information about cars to them through electronic beacons placed throughout the floor. — No shows: Several brands who have had displays at the Detroit show in the past won’t be attending this year, including Tesla Motors, Mini, Jaguar and Land Rover. They have different reasons for the change. Tesla generally doesn’t make a splash at auto shows, preferring to unveil new cars on its own timeline. Dear Marcelle, Homeownership is a great goal, but first you two need to clean up your debt and build an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. After that, I want you to save up enough for a down payment of at least 10 to 20 percent. When buying a home on a mortgage, I always recommend the monthly payments be no more than 25 percent of your monthly take-home pay on a 15year, fixed-rate loan. Now, let’s get to the other issues. You have some things in your life that are pulling at you financially. At some point, you may have to take a long look at the situation and ask the hard question, “What is more important to me: horses and boats or home ownership?” Getting rid of that boat, or finding new homes for one, two or all of your horses, would bring in some cash to put toward your debt and cut down on at least some of the animal maintenance. Anyway, that’s how I would look at it. My wife and I both are big fans of boats and horses. But we like boats more. One reason is because they don’t eat as much! I can’t get mad at you about either one, but right now you’ve got three things pulling at you as financial priorities — home ownership, a boat and three horses. They’re all pulling at you, and they’re pulling at each other and limiting each other. Of course, you can always buy a lot less in house. But what it really comes down to is what’s most important to you. That’s the big question, and it’s one that only you can answer. — Dave About credit cards Dear Dave, Idon’t understand why you don’t like it when people properly manage their credit cards and pay them off every month. By doing this, you pay no Dave Says By Dave Ramsey interest and in my case I even got a free trip to Europe from using my credit card. Please explain. — Patrick Dear Patrick, I truly doubt that I can explain it to your satisfaction, but here goes. First, the credit card company did not give you a free trip to Europe. They’re not going to lose money on transaction after transaction, year after year. The fallacy is that you feel like you’ve outsmarted a multi-billion dollar company that studies human behavior at incredible levels. You maybe, possibly came out ahead against them during that particular calendar year, but even that’s debatable. Over the course of your life, you’ll spend more when using credit cards as opposed to cash. There’s plenty of research proving this to be fact. If you use a credit card repeatedly with the idea that you’re getting a free trip to Europe because you’re building up your miles, you spend mo re. An example would be McDonald’s. When they started taking credit cards years ago, they found that the people using them spent 47 percent more. In a good way, you are very unusual. You’re not playing over in the stupid zone like most people who use credit cards. But both I and the credit card companies have found that, on average, your behavior would put you in a class of less than onehalf of one percent of their customers. Can 0.5 percent of people handling snakes manage not to get bitten? Sure. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to start recommending snakes! — Dave ———— (Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business, and CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books. The Dave Ramsey Showis heard by more than 11 million listeners each week on more than 550 radio stations and digital outlets. Dave’s latest project, EveryDollar, provides a free online budget tool. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.) United Community Banks to report financials Jan. 20 Special to the Banner United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville, Ga., has announced it will release its fourth quarter and full year 2015 financial results on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, before the stock market opens. The company also will hold a conference call at 11 a.m. on the same day to discuss its financial results, business highlights and outlook. To access the call, dial [phone] and use the conference number 19833202. The conference call also will be webcast and can be accessed by selecting ‘Events & Presentation’ within the Investor Relations section of the company's website, www.ucbi.com. United Community is a bank holding company based in Blairsville, with $9.4 billion in assets. The company’s banking subsidiary, United Community Bank, is one of the Southeast’s largest full-service banks, operating 133 offices in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The bank specializes in personalized community banking services for individuals, small businesses and corporations.