Social Media, E-Mail Remain Challenging for Employers - Workforce

Social Media, E-Mail Remain Challenging for Employers

A recent survey is the latest reminder that companies are struggling to balance the benefits and risks of letting workers roam online realms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Half of companies have not set out a specific policy for workers’ online social networking activities, according to the report from two professional groups, the Health Care Compliance Association and the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics.

Although many organizations lack social networking policies, one-quarter of the nearly 800 compliance and ethics professionals surveyed said their organization has had to discipline an employee for activities on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Social networking sites pose risks such as employee disclosures of confidential information, exposure to computer viruses and postings that can damage a firm’s reputation. On the other hand, some experts say social networking can help firms in ways including viral marketing. And companies can discourage employees from positive social networking activities by the use of draconian policies, said Lisa Guerin, an employment lawyer and author of a book about workplace technologies.

“It seems like we’re trying to find out what the limits are in employer monitoring,” Guerin said.

The social networking field has exploded. Facebook, for example, now claims more than 350 million active users, up from some 150 million in January.

Half of Facebook’s active users log on to the site in any given day, and more than 35 million users update their status daily.

Companies, though, are in the dark about much of this activity, according to the September report from the professional groups. Mirroring the lack of a usage policy, roughly half the respondents reported that their companies do not have an active monitoring system for checking employee activity on social networking sites.

A related but less glamorous topic is the potential for leaks of sensitive data through e-mails. This can include intentional and inadvertent zapping of information such as customer or employee financial data.

More and more companies are trying to stop such leaks with sophisticated software, said Don Harris, president of consulting firm HR Privacy Solutions. These tools, known as data-loss protection applications, can flag suspect messages, such as ones with large attachments or particular key words, Harris said.

“It just makes so much sense,” he said of the applications. “You don’t want to be reacting to things you can prevent.”

Another factor is the economic down¬turn, during which employers have axed many workers. Companies have to be wary of sabotage by disgruntled ex-workers or the prospect of former employees providing intellectual property to competitors.

Employers are taking increased steps to protect their data, said employment attorney Arnie Pedowitz. But they can go too far in their monitoring, he said, by improperly getting passwords to employees’ personal Gmail or Yahoo e-mail accounts and snooping in them.

He recommends that companies set clear policies on Internet use and employee privacy.

Guerin agrees that policies are needed in an era when so much intellectual property is in electronic form. But she argues that the intersection of data protection, employee freedoms and social media is a gray one.

“These are new areas for everyone,” Guerin said.

—Ed Frauenheim

Price Chopper makes offer on P&C stores - Bizjournals

Price Chopper makes $54M bid for 22 P&C stores

The Golub Corp. wants to extend its reach in central and northern New York by purchasing 22 P&C supermarkets for $54 million and converting them into Price Chopper stores.

“It would be a significant piece of growth for us and something we would covet,” said Neil Golub, president and CEO of the Rotterdam-based chain. “It’s a great opportunity, and we can do it in a very economical way.”

The small- to large-size stores are scattered throughout upstate, including Syracuse, Gouverneur, Pulaski, Baldwinsville, Canastota, Cazenovia, Skaneateles, Penn Yan, and West Sherrill.

Three of the 22 stores are in New Hampshire, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

The Penn Traffic Co. supports the latest offer and is asking a bankruptcy court judge to approve the deal.

If approved, the deal would increase Golub’s store count to 141 in six states and significantly boost the payroll beyond the 24,000-plus employed today.

A typical Price Chopper supermarket has 100 to 150 workers. Buying 22 stores could conceivably add 2,200 to 3,300 employees.

The purchase would also ramp up the competition between Golub and the Rochester-based Wegmans chain. Both companies already compete in the Syracuse area and in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Retail consultant Bill Bishop said growth is essential in the industry today because of the aggressive competition from big-box retailers and discount supermarkets.

“In some markets around the U.S. it is beginning to appear that there’s room basically for two major players and some splinter players,” said Bishop, president of Willard Bishop in suburban Chicago.

Golub’s purchase offer was outlined in court papers filed in connection with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy sought by The Penn Traffic Co., the Syracuse-based parent company of P&C, Quality Markets and Bi-Low grocery stores.

The offer replaces an earlier one by Golub that was limited to four of the stores at a total cost of $12.3 million. Golub said the two companies were pursuing that deal prior to the bankruptcy filing in November.

Objections to the sale, which could be made by competitors, must be filed by Jan. 4.

Golub isn’t aware of another bidder interested in the 22 stores that the company is eyeing, but said Morgan Stanley is representing Buffalo-based Tops in its effort to buy other stores in the Penn Traffic chain.

Penn Traffic filed for bankruptcy protection last month, as the company sought to keep its stores running while it searches for a buyer or buyers for its 79 stores in western, central and northern New York and surrounding states.

The petition was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Golub bought P&C stores last year in Oswego, Lebanon, N.H., and Colchester, Vt.

“We’ve had experience dealing with them on some other deals,” Golub said. “It’s no secret P&C has had financial trouble for years. We examined and looked at [the 22 stores] as an opportunity. We knew they’d eventually burn through cash.”

All 22 stores would be remodeled to include seafood departments, chicken rotisseries and other take-out services that customers have come to expect in supermarkets.

“They’re all in pretty decent shape,” Golub said. “That was a big plus for us. Some will require a little more work than others.”

U.S. Dairy Industry Plans 25% GHG Emissions Cut by 2020

U.S. Dairy Industry Plans 25% GHG Emissions Cut by 2020


U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy are working together to help the U.S. dairy industry reach its goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25 percent over the next decade. One part of the strategy is to turn methane gas from livestock manure into electricity.

Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU), the USDA and the dairy group identified a variety of projects that can help the dairy industry meet its greenhouse gas reduction goals, while increasing its financial and environmental sustainability. Some initiatives will help the industry develop future technologies, support renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.

The agreement could help accelerate opportunities to capture methane gas from livestock manure and convert it into electricity, coordinate research information on life-cycle assessments and support the industry’s efforts in energy audits, feed management and energy conservation, according to the Innovation Center.

The Innovation Center has nearly completed a life-cycle assessment of fluid milk from the farm to the table. Initial estimates by the Applied Sustainability Center at the University of Arkansas show that the entire dairy supply chain, from cattle feed ingredients through packaging and transportation to the consumer’s table, accounts for less than 2 percent of total GHG emissions in the U.S., said the Innovation Center.

Dairy stakeholders have identified the reduction of enteric emissions of methane from livestock as part of its plan to cut GHG emissions.

The MOU will also help accelerate adoption of methane gas (anaerobic) digesters for all sizes of dairy farms, making it easier to connect digesters to electricity grids and help digester operators capture potential carbon offset payments, said the Innovation Center. Using anaerobic digesters is a proven method of converting waste products, such as manure, into electricity, according to the USDA.

Additional support from the USDA could include research on how feed mixtures affect methane emissions from cows.

An organic dairy farm has already figured out how to adjust its cattle feed mix to reduce methane emissions by 12 percent.

The agreement comes in the wake of the Dairy Power Summit held in October in New York to discuss the potential for dairy-supplied renewable energy. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, with sponsorship from GE Energy, coordinated the conference in order to identify ways to increase anaerobic digester adoption by dairy farms of all sizes

Attendees set a goal to generate electricity from 40 percent of all manure from New York dairy farms by 2020, which could power 32,000 homes, reports the Innovation Center. The dairy group said the pilot program could be adopted by farms and communities across the nation.

The project is expected to reduce New York’s greenhouse gas emissions by 500,000 metric tons of carbon, equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road, according to the dairy association.

The strategy fits in with New York Governor Paterson’s “45 by 15″ program, which calls for the state to meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency (15 percent) and renewable energy, including methane (30 percent) by 2015.

To meet the 40 percent anaerobic digester use by 2020, summit attendees also developed an action plan, consisting of more than a dozen projects including a Small-Farm Digester Initiative and a Digester Implementation Project. All of the projects are designed to promote efforts to increase the availability of energy and fuel from methane digesters, while strengthening the role that farms play in their regions.

A Vermont dairy company shows it can be done. In October, Westminster Farms partnered with Green Mountain Power to build an on-site plant to convert methane from cattle manure into electricity that is expected to provide 225 kilowatts or enough electricity to power 250 homes.