Express Business News

According to a survey of small business owners by zTelligence and Fellowes, most small business owners don't know anything about FACTA legislation, let alone what it means for their business. When asked what acts or legislation were familiar to them, only 13.1% of respondents recognized FACTA. In fact, FACTA was the least recognized response in the grouping of recently passed privacy legislation!

Originally enacted in 2003 with the new disposal provision effective June 1, 2005, FACTA (Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act) gives more rights to victims of identity theft and places more responsibility on large and small business owners to destroy personal information that could be used by identity thieves. Personal information means everything from names and phone numbers to social security numbers, credit reports, addresses and employee history.

With FACTA, Congress is attempting to curb the financial losses and emotional distress associated with identity theft. The new provision also sends a message to business owners nationwide that if someone's identity is stolen and the company is found liable, the company can be sued by an individual, embroiled in a class action law suit or fined up to $1,000 by the state, and up to $2,500 per infraction by the federal government. Those may not sound like excessive fines, but most identity thieves don't steal just one name, they steal as many as they can.

More on FACTA

Shop for Shredders

ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ABD) announced today that Peter Munk has been named President, European Office Products Group, effective February 1, 2006.

Munk, 42, has spent ten years at Black & Decker, a global marketer and manufacturer of consumer and commercial products. At Black & Decker, Munk progressed through the organization in several different marketing and general management roles, most recently as Vice President, European Consumer Business, which includes power tools, garden, and home products. Munk played a leadership role in the transformation of Black & Decker from a country-driven to a pan-European strategic business unit-based business model. Earlier in his career, Peter spent eight years with Colgate-Palmolive in various marketing roles.

“Peter’s extensive experience with strong consumer brands, and his demonstrated management expertise, will serve us well as we continue to bring our former ACCO World and GBC businesses together and become an even more formidable competitor in the European office products marketplace,” said Dennis L. Chandler, President and Chief Operating Officer, Office Products Group.

Munk holds a degree in Business and Economics from Aarhus University in Denmark.

Peter will be based at the ACCO Europe headquarters in Aylesbury, England and will report to Chandler.

About ACCO Brands Corporation

ACCO Brands Corporation is a world leader in branded office products, with annual revenues of nearly $2 billion. Its industry-leading brands include Day-Timer, Swingline, Kensington, Quartet, GBC, Rexel, and Wilson Jones, among others. Under the GBC brand, the company is also a leader in the professional print finishing market.

ACCO Brands Corporation one of the world leaders in branded office products, with annual revenues of nearly $2 billion, took the prestigious 'Product Launch' Award at the 2006 OPI Industry Awards ceremony held at the PaperWorld Exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany.

The award for the Product Launch Category is perceived to be one of the most coveted and difficult to win because it covers not just the level of product innovation or range breadth itself but the whole launch process and the positive effect on the entire global OP industry.

Janne Hansen, the ACCO Brands Category Manager responsible for many of the Product initiatives that brought the two new brands to the attention of the industry commented as follows, "....to be able to come into a new product category with a range of such innovative products; catch the attention of the entire industry; and then deliver the product to the appropriate industry logistics and quality standards is a great achievement. The award is a testimony to the entire team: sales; product engineers; marketing communications; logistics and of course, our customers in having faith in us and our products."

Brian Dent, Vice President of Workspace Tools Europe, the ACCO Business Unit that includes the Trimmer & Guillotine Category added as follows, "...it's great to receive the acknowledgement of the industry in this way, however, even more important is the phenomenal sales success of this new range. We have taken significant market share in 2005 and this will continue to grow rapidly in 2006."

For more information on the GBC ClassicCut® and AccuCut® Guillotine and Trimmer ranges visit www.factory-express.com.

This Press release may include forward-looking statements involving uncertainties and there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from the Companies expectations. The words 'should', 'believe', 'anticipates', 'plans', 'may', 'expects' and other expressions that indicate future events and trends identify forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause materially-different results include, among other things, competition within the Office products and lamination film products markets, effects of general economic conditions, the restructuring activities associated with the integration and go-to-market strategies of the Companies business units, the ability of the Company's distributors to successfully market the Company's products and other risks described in the Companies filings with the SEC in the US. The Company assumes no obligations to update its forward-looking statements.

Organization and Records Storage

In today's competitive market, nobody can afford to waste time and effort at work. We're all looking for ways to be more efficient and effective, decrease stress, streamline a process or just make life easier.

Organization is a smart way to accomplish all of that and more. Look around your workspace. Do you feel and look like you're in control? If not, it's time to start getting it together. The benefits pay dividends every single day when you can find things easily, save time and prevent important information from getting lost.

Feel in Control
Find out if organization affects how you feel and deal at work. Just answer true or false to the following statements:

1. A messy office stresses me out.
2. I'm exhausted at the end of the day.
3. Clutter makes me feel overwhelmed by my work.
4. There are so many piles in my office—it looks like a mountain range.
5. I often say: "Wait, I know I put it somewhere."
6. I haven't seen the surface of my desk in months.

If you answered true to three or more of these statements, you're going to benefit from some office re-organization. Clutter makes you feel out of control. When your office is in order, your workplace stress is more manageable.

Look Professional
A messy office inspires no one. Everyone knows someone who claims they can "find anything" in their messy office. But how long does it really take? Do you feel confident depending on that person when your project is on a deadline? There's an old joke about how little work gets done in clean offices, but it's more likely that person accomplishes more by being organized and efficient.

The Cost of Clutter
Ever wonder just how much money a disorganized, cluttered office can cost a company? Experts estimate that an employee wastes an hour a day looking for misplaced items. Let's estimate the cost based on a company with 100 employees, an average annual salary of $60,000, a 40-hour work week and 2 weeks of vacation. The wasted time adds up to:

• $15,000 per week
• $65,000 per month
• $780,000 per year

Below are results for a recent poll of more than 500 small businesses by zTelligence© and Fellowes®. The majority (90%) consisted of nine or fewer employees, and 85.5 percent of the respondents are small business owners.

• When asked what acts or regulations they had heard of, the fewest (13.1%) knew about FACTA.

Of the 13.1 percent who had knowledge of FACTA.

• 53% had little or no knowledge of FACTA's general principles, and 64% had little or no knowledge of penalties for non-compliance.
• 56.4% were unfamiliar with the types of documents that need to be shredded.
• 58.9% said they didn't know when the legislation went into effect.
• More than one-third said they never dispose of personal information, and those who do don't properly destroy the information before throwing it away.
• Now that FACTA is in effect, nearly 60% said they will shred documents.
• 43.1% said it would be helpful to have more information about the legislation and compliance.
• 34.7% will turn to the Internet for FACTA information.
• Nearly 60% said they would benefit most from having general information on what the legislation entails (28%), and details on what and what not to shred (30%).
• For those who currently dispose of their documents, 58.5% shred, 11.1% burn, 8.3% tear up, and 1.4% pulverize.
• 23% said their company's document destruction policy had recently changed due to either FACTA or the increase in identity theft.