Business Central Magazine
Cover Story
fiercely independent
By Emily Bertram // Photos by Switchboard
With leadership that prioritizes its people and a strategic and intentional succession plan, AIS Planning has sown success for over 25 years. .
track that
By Kelly Cane
Analyzing your marketing efforts helps determine what’s resonating with your audience and what is missing the mark.
The pto disconnect
By Nate Van Heuvein
Faulty assumptions about time off are expensive for everyone.
Online Only
legal intelligence
The legal industry, which was once considered immune to the pace of digital transformation, is now riding a wave of technological momentum that’s redefining how justice is accessed and delivered. The numbers speak for themselves.
Thinking funny
How can you get ahead in your career and still enjoy the ride? One solution is to use humor. Sharing jokes, sarcastic quips, ironic memes and witty anecdotes, the advice goes, will make you more likable, ease stress, strengthen teams, spark creativity and even signal leadership potential.
short-form video success
More and more business-to-business (B2B) brands are pressing play on video content, and it’s redefining how companies engage online – especially when brands can integrate subject matter experts.
Handling Failure
Some degree of failure is inevitable. However, people respond differently to their own failure. Do any of these three styles of response to failure sound like you?
from this issue
Economy Central Reference
- Chetty, R., J. N. Friedman, and J.E. Rockoff. (2014). Measuring the Impact of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood. American Economic Review. 104(9): 2633-2679. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.104.9.2633
- Nagaraj, A. and M. Tranchero. (2024) How Does Data Access Shape Science? The Impact of Federal Statistical Research Data Centers on Economics Research. Working paper 31372. NBER. https://www.nber.org/papers/w31372
- Hughes-Cromwick, E. and J. Coronado. (2019). The Value of US Governemnt Data to US Business Decisions. Journal of Economic Perspectives. v33, n1, p. 131-146. The Value of US Government Data to US Business Decisions
- Working Well References:
- Beck, J. S. (2020). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
- The Harris Poll. (2024, May). Out of office culture report. https://theharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OOO-Culture-Report-May-2023.pdf
- Hartley, T. A., Violanti, J. M., Fekedulegn, D., Andrew, M. E., & Burchfiel, C. M. (2007). Associations between major life events, traumatic incidents, and depression among Buffalo police officers. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 9(1), 25–36. PMID: 17523373. Available via OVC.gov PDF archive.
- Kaplan, S., DeShon, R. P., & Tetrick, L. E. (2017). The bigger picture of employee well-being: Its role for individuals, families and societies [White paper]. SHRM–SIOP Science of HR Series. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.rw.institute/s/The-Bigger-Picture-of-Employee-Well-Being-Its-Role-for-Individuals-Families-and-Societies.pdf
- Mayer, K. (2024, December 16). Nearly half of employees expect to leave vacation time unused: What should HR do? SHRM.
- Neupane, S., Saha, M., Almeida, D. M., & Kumar, S. (2025). How Many Times Do People Usually Experience Different Kinds of Stressors Each Day?. arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.01553.
- Doing Good Volunteering Resources
- United Way of Central MN: www.unitedwayhelps.org
- RSVP St. Cloud:www.RSVPCentralMN.org.
- By the Numbers Survey results: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/694361/hybrid-work-retreat-barely.aspx