If you're thinking of starting a new business and are looking for information, counseling, resources and other help, the Michigan Small Business & Technology Development Center may be able to assist you. The organization, part of a national and state network, has offices in Ypsilanti and at Washtenaw Community College. Their knowledgable staff presents regular workshops on starting a business called 'Vision to Reality' at several area locations, as well as other special programs on topics such as marketing, business planning, home-based businesses, business taxes and financing. Some programs are free of charge, for others there is a small fee. Just click on the 'Calendar of Training' button to see details about their upcoming schedule.

Robert J. Kaden's new book Guerrilla Marketing Research provides an accessible introduction to all phases of marketing research for prospective, new and established entrepreneurs. Presented in a clear, easy-to-read format, the book examines topics such as how to get started, how much it costs, how much research should be done, how to develop a research plan, and the various methods of getting information such as surveys, focus groups, sampling, brainstorming, etc. The subtitle of the book says it all: 'Marketing Research Techniques That Can Help Any Business Make More Money.' It's a great place to start for all business people.

New business titles at the library include three books of particular note. Lawrence G. Hrebiniak's Making Strategy Work: Leading Effective Execution and Change analyzes how to translate business strategy into actual change. The author, a professor of business management at the Wharton School argues that while many executives know how to formulate a business strategy, they frequently lack the skills to execute it effectively. This book aims to show how to implement a plan successfully. In Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis, Ian I. Mitroff, a specialist in crisis management, outlines 7 methods for businesses to prepare for, manage and overcome potential crises. Finally, a new study on employee motivation and satfisfaction by David Sirota] and others, The Enthusiastic Employee: How Companies Profit by Giving Workers What They Want uses case studies, surveys and in-depth research to show how managers can develop high-performace, loyal, enthusiastic employees.

The Consumer Price Index [CPI], published by the United States Department of Labor, is the most widely used measure of price changes and inflation. It represents a weighted index of a fixed market basket of goods and services and is published monthly for the Unites States and bi-monthly for the Detroit-Ann Arbor Area. There's a lot more information about the CPI at the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics website. For your convenience, the format of the CPI table on the AADL website enables users to compare price changes over a ten-year period in an easy-to-use one-page format.