Watch out, Thumbtack! LinkedIn is about to debut Profinder

About a year ago, TV commercials for a contractor-finding service entitled Thumbtack started popping up in our sitcoms.  Thumbtack was innovative (as compared to Yelp, Angie's List, or Kudzu) because it was more than just a directory with feedback from customers.  Thumbtack also offered an interactive marketplace where customers could be matched with willing contractors based on the type of work needed, location, and price range.

This week I was in a phone conference with some developers from LinkedIn who are rolling out their own service, Profinder.

Profinder works on a similar principle.  It is easier to use than the other directories because Profinder draws on your currently-available LinkedIn profile information.    Customers can submit their job information, price, etc, and professionals in that field can bid on their work.  Or, a customer can visit a LinkedIn member's Profinder page and request a bid for free.

Here's my Profinder page:  https://www.linkedin.com/pro/sdocpublishing

Profinder is currently live in San Francisco and New York.  SDOC was asked to test-drive the new service in Atlanta and chat with the developers as they fine-tune the user interface and features.  In my phone conference, the folks in charge say they will be expanding Profinder to the Atlanta area in about a month-ish.

If you're on LinkedIn, keep your eyes open for this new way for your enterprise to connect with customers.

Learn more now:  https://www.linkedin.com/profinder

Donate to the Lemonade Days Flea Market Finds and Support Dunwoody Preservation Trust

Your donation will be sold in the Flea Market Finds at our Country Store during Lemonade Days. One-hunded percent of proceeds go toward the Donaldson-Bannister farm restoration.

Suggestions of carry away items include plant stands, side tables, rocking chairs, stools, benches, chairs, lamps, chandeliers, sconces, frames and decorative accessories.

Deliver your finds on Saturday, March 5th from 9am to noon to the Donaldson-Bannister farm at 4831 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road.

Nancy Jester Reports: The Pension Legacy Tax - Bad for DeKalb

Nancy's office distributed the following item this morning.

A DeKalb legislator wants to financially penalize DeKalb cities for incorporating.  But not ALL cities.  Just the ones that incorporated in this century in order to stem the financial hemorrhage due to corruption and mismanagement.

I wonder what Mary Margaret Oliver stands to gain from this little trick if it is allowed to pass....
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The Pension Legacy Tax
Punitive and Based on False Assumptions

I am writing to alert you to a potential property tax increase coming from the Georgia General Assembly. House Bill 711, sponsored by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Druid Hills), seeks to add a special tax district to cities formed after 2005. Rep. Oliver believes that newly formed cities owe, what she refers to as, "pension legacy costs". The notion that these legacy costs exist is false and here's why.


1. Newly formed cities continue to pay fully into the General Fund and the Fire Fund. Embedded in these funds are the costs for benefits, including pensions for the employees providing these services.


2. Newly formed cities continue to pay fully into the self-sustaining funds of Sanitation and Watershed. Embedded in these funds are the costs for benefits, including pensions for the employees providing these services.


3. DeKalb County lowered the millage rate for the Police Fund (a fund newly formed cities do not pay into) in the 2015 budget.


4. DeKalb County did not reform the pension benefit system until December 2015 - 7 years after the formation of Dunwoody.


5. DeKalb County used unrealistic actuarial assumptions that negatively impacted funding.


If DeKalb County believed there was a crisis in the pension plan, chiefly driven by the new cities no longer paying into the police fund, why would the county lower the police fund millage rate in 2015? If the county believed that the crisis was caused by newly formed cities, why did pension reform not occur until just a few months ago in December of 2015?


House Bill 711 is only directed at newly formed cities. It is punitive, based on false assumptions, and is not congruent with the facts. Make no mistake about it, it is a discriminatory tax aimed at Brookhaven and Dunwoody. It is a bailout that would allow DeKalb County to continue poor fiscal management.


Read the full post - with facts on Understanding DeKalb's Millage Rate System here: http://ow.ly/YAgSH