Thanksgiving Day: a Perspective for Gratitude.

America comes to table today, tables, for the most part, laden with individual expressions of a common menu, a metaphor for the nation itself. America pauses today, if but for a moment, in collective recognition that despite our differences and our problems, we have many reasons to be grateful. Law, thankfully, has little to do with Thanksgiving. A shared day of Thanksgiving is one of our oldest national traditions, but the federal Thanksgiving Day holiday was not established until 1941.
It’s been my own tradition (for one year anyway) to examine our national legal holidays. A rich tradition of suggestions that we be grateful, suggestions contained in years of presidential Thanksgiving Proclamations, gives perspective to our mandated Thanksgiving legal holiday.

George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789. His message was not about a settlement at established by religious separatists at Plymouth; instead Washington recommended the nation be thankful for the end of war and the establishment of our new government and Constitution. The idea of Thanksgiving, he states, started with a request from Congress:

Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor--and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me "to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Congress was not unanimous in that request, however. Thanksgiving is heavy with tradition, and tension between the authority of the federal government and that of the states is one of those traditions. Thomas Tudor Tucker, Representative from South Carolina, after questioning whether our new Constitution would earn the people’s gratitude, concluded: "If a day of thanksgiving must take place, let it be done by the authority of the several States."

The modern Thanksgiving observance, and an unbroken string of 147 consecutive presidential proclamations, begins with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, not the pilgrims, established the tradition of the last Thursday of November as day of thanksgiving and praise “with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.” Prior to Lincoln, Thanksgiving bounced around the calendar with observances from November to January to April. Lincoln’s Thanksgiving was less about harvest and more about perseverance and healing.

Prefacing his 1863 invitation to observe a day of thanksgiving, Lincoln proclaims:

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

Thanksgiving takes place in the context of our national life: Washington and the new government, Lincoln and the Civil War, Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression. The tradition that the Christmas shopping season, so important to retailers to this day, begins with Thanksgiving (well, it used to) confronted the calendar in 1939. In that year, the last Thursday of November, Lincoln’s date, was in fact the fifth Thursday, November 30th. In a controversial move designed to help struggling retailers, Roosevelt moved his Thanksgiving Proclamation up a week to the second-to-last Thursday in November.

In keeping with Representative Tucker’s response to Washington, several states responded to Roosevelt by deciding there should be a Thanksgiving and it should be on the last Thursday in November. Lincoln’s one heart, one voice was lost.

Perspective returned in 1941. On December 26, 1941, the Thanksgiving Day federal holiday was created, with a compromise that it be the fourth, not last, Thursday of November. Only days after America’s entry in to World War II, it seems we got it. We have our differences and our problems, but America has many reasons to be grateful.

Colorado’s Declining Competitiveness

Lean and mean. The well-worn aphorism is wearing thinner in this economy, but I admit it’s what came to mind when I read “Toward a More Competitive Colorado,” the 5th annual study by the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation (MDEDC) of our economy relative to the other 49 states. Lean and mean seems to put us in a better relative position in the current crisis, but after reading the report, I fear we are lean, mean and stupid.

Tom Clark, MDEDC executive vice president, and his organization don’t pull punches. The second paragraph of the executive summary sets the stage:

After five years of compiling data for this report, we have reached some firm conclusions. While Colorado’s short-term future remains bright, our long-term vision of our state will have to change.

The full report runs 314 pages, but don’t let that deter you. Tables and graphs, both skimmable and occasionally shocking, on 186 indicators of economic vitality make up the majority of it. Bookending the data are the executive summary and the compelling “Stories Behind the Graphs” to put five years of analysis into perspective:

Our citizens are becoming poorer, less educated, and less productive; our long-term economic prospects are certainly dimming.

But we really are lean. Colorado has the lowest obesity rates in the country, and we are also lean in the business sense, too. Our tax burden on business is the 4th lowest in the nation. Overall state taxes and state expenditures are likewise low, but local taxes are relatively high, resulting in a dumbbell-shaped tax structure putting us 24th for total tax burden.

Mean, in the sense of the cliché, equates to aggressive, and there is data to support our achievements there. Colorado ranks 3rd in both venture capital investments relative to GDP and the federal government’s Small Business Innovation Research Grants, 4th in initial public offerings, and 7th in overall entrepreneurial activity.

Mean, in the unkind sense, is also apparent. Instead of taking pride in our rankings for the most college-educated adults (2nd), ACT and SAT scores for above average students (1st), and advance placement exams for high school juniors and seniors (8th), we need to come to grips with the incongruity of relatively poor rankings for adults with high school diplomas (17th), 9th graders with the greatest chance for college (23rd), high school graduation rates (29th), and state and local per-student support of higher education (48th).

This is the Colorado Paradox: many residents value college for themselves, but we import most of our university degrees and are unwilling to tax ourselves for higher education for the state’s children. Business leaders in Colorado disagree on whether the Paradox is a problem. Dan Pilcher, senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, quoted in last week’s Denver Business Journal is unconcerned: “People migrate into Colorado with the education and skills that we need.” John Brackney, president of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, wants to be practical. Quoted in the Denver Post, Brackney says:

Let's worry first about outcomes and what we're able to accomplish, and if we're able to accomplish it for less money but the outcomes are superior, that's actually a great business model.

Clark, of the MDEDC, in both newspapers cautions against complacency and warns of Colorado’s “soft underbelly,” and through the report asks:

If we are striving to build an economy based on intelligence, can we sustain ourselves by relying on other states to send us smart parents with smart kids while we continue to increase the price of obtaining the training needed to compete in an intelligence-based economy?

I’ll take it a step further, assuming the influx of the college-educated continues. Smart parents with smart kids will likely find a way to get their kids to college, but what about the rest of Colorado’s children? What does their future look like? How can they hope to better their situations when college is quickly growing out of reach? Ranked by the percentage of family income needed to pay for public college, we fell from 15th to 33rd in only four years.

High school graduation rates that are poor statewide become abysmal in Denver. The Donnell-Kay Foundation’s October 2009 report, A Call to Action, leads with the statement that over half of Denver’s 9th graders will not finish high school in four years. Solving our K-12 problems won’t be enough, however, if there are few jobs for those lacking post-secondary education and diminishing hope for affording that education. From the MDEDC report:

Poorly prepared students in the education pipeline continue to drop out of school, relegating themselves to a life of low income and dependency on state support.

Colorado’s ranking for gross domestic product is down three years in a row. Our per capita personal income relative to other states is down three years in a row. If we don’t have the political will to turn these negative trends around, then surely we are lean, mean and stupid.

I wrote this post for a general Colorado audience in the Huffington Post, but it has particular relevance to our state’s human-owned business. A declining Colorado will strike us particularly hard. You and I, unlike larger regional or national businesses, live here and have limited abilities to mitigate the impacts the downturn will have on our companies. We have more riding on the success or failure of our state than most citizens. That is why you should know read and then act on the MDEDC study.

Live, from the Angel Capital Summit

The Setup.  Wouldn't it be great to have a rich friend or two who wanted to invest in your business? Not a handout, but a real investment expecting real returns. Why would they do this? Because they believe in you and your business. That's the idea behind so called "angel investors," wealthy individuals or groups of wealthy individuals investing their own money in entrepreneurial companies. You can distinguish them from venture capitalists and private equity funds, which use other people's money under professional management.

Today I am attending the third annual Angel Capital Summit in Denver, and, in complete disregard of my fears of typos and nerdiness, I am live blogging it from my iPhone. (Okay, my kids tell me I disregarded my fear of nerdiness years ago.)




7:30. "I see what you mean." The big blue bear outside the Colorado Convention Center is especially blue in the morning chill.



7:50. Ben Franklin was many things in life, including successful businessman. Here he is speaking to students from the Denver Venture School about the responsibility of business owners to society.

9:00. After a disappointing key note speaker, I'm off to hear from "presenting" companies; not sponsors, but organizations seeking funding.

9:15 Shonaquip, develops wheelchairs and educates users to increase quality of life; too bad their pitch is hampered by computer foul-ups.

9:45 eTelesis, an L3C company. More on this new form of business in a later post, L3C is a hybrid profit-nonprofit designed to earn profits to pay returns on capital and of capital to investors. This company builds solar energy farms in developing or remote areas; this pitch is for investors for a project in Chile.

10:15. Rocky Mountain MicroFinance. One of 4 nonprofits in the 39 presenters. I've mentioned these folks as a source of funding for startups. Their mission is to help businesses create jobs, build wealth, and pay taxes to increase our tax base.

11:00. Adventure Sports Products. In business for 10 years and touting a 100% annual increase in sales and profits, they are looking for investor to build national distributor/dealer network and expand product line. A similar story to some of my clients.




Lunch break. Discussing sustainable business practices with New Belgium Brewing. The R in ROI isn't always money. How a company defines its mission should determine what return(s) you want/need on your investment. Great statement on leadership: "Being a business role model is what gets us out of bed in the morning."

1:30. CO2Nexus uses liquid carbon dioxide as cleaning solvent to replace problematic dry cleaning chemicals. Compelling presentation on opportunities to make money being green.

2:00. Rivertop Renewables. About half of presenters are green companies reflecting investor interest in such businesses. Pitch that new technologies overcome old limitations in producing multi-purpose glucaric acid is too dry. Attracting investors to move to pilot plant stage will require more compelling reasons.

2:30. Current Motors makes electric scooters. Good balance of professionalism and passion that has been missing in some presentations.

3:00 Optibike. President rides in on his very high-end electric bike to begin talk about changing lives, but "confidential" legend on slide show is silly. His passion helps engage the crowd.

4:00. Closing remarks from Ben Franklin (you know, the guy on the $100 bill). Curiosity, practicality, and a desire to do good are traits that made him successful, first as businessman, then as statesman. Humor, too, and the ability to relax are important for business.

Two more ideas, fitting to close this post, from Ben Franklin:

To effect the greatest good, one must work in association with others.

Who will lead your country out of its economic woes? You, the entrepreneur, will.




Good night, Bear.

Veterans Day: How Many Days are Enough?

Part 5 in a series on “legal” holidays

This one strikes closest to home. More so even than the debt the nation owes our veterans, I owe two vets, my parents, for my existence and for inspiring my accomplishments. Veterans Day, thankfully, is generally well-observed, with many personal and societal ceremonies and tributes, even if it is not a day-off for many. That military service is a sacrifice borne by few for the benefit of many is all too clear this year. So, as legal holidays go, we seem to do right by Veterans Day; I’m more concerned about the other 364 days, but first the legal history.

Originally Armistice Day, the 11th day of the 11th month commemorated the 1918 Treaty of Versailles and the end of the Great War, the “war to end all wars” (was there ever a slogan you more wanted to be true?), and honored those who served in it. After World War II, which forced us to drop the slogan and recognize the Great War as World War I, and then the Korean “Conflict” (legal semantics for political purposes), Congress, in 1954, seeing the need to honor all who serve, gave the holiday its present name, Veterans Day.

Congress did a major disservice to Veterans Day when, in 1971, it separated the holiday from its roots by moving the observance to the 4th Monday in October. The American people tolerated that for only a few years and the original date was restored in 1978. But if “we must keep our covenant with them” as President Obama proclaims, then Veterans Day must be a year-long commitment.

I mentioned my parents both served. They enlisted, as many Americans do, as recent high school graduates. I am particularly indebted to an unknown designer of recruiting posters. My mother marched into the recruiting office fully intending to join the Navy, but an Air Force poster showing young people at the Eiffel Tower changed her mind. The poster was prophetic. My parents would have their first date in Paris, France.

So it was that I and my three siblings would grow-up on and around Air Force bases. So it also was that we would see our parents each earn a Bachelor’s and then a Master’s Degree as beneficiaries of the GI Bill. “The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944,” otherwise known at the GI Bill or the GI Bill of Rights, not only carried out the covenant between this nation and its defenders, it transformed my family as it transformed the nation. Homeownership and college lay beyond the grasp, both economically and psychologically, of much America before the GI Bill; after, everything changed.

On a recent walk around Denver’s Fort Logan National Cemetery, I am struck, not by the lives cut short by war, a tragic consequence of military service, but by the long lives of many who served and the great blessings they brought to us. I imagine them, like my parents, young people who leveraged their country’s investment in them to transform America. Veterans raise expectations, not just for themselves, but for their children and their children’s children, and, in the process, for us all. I imagine the Fort Logan vets as entrepreneurs, teachers, police, firefighters, doctors, nurses, builders, engineers, and even lawyers. I imagine them as mothers and fathers. I see the life you and I live as defended and enabled by their ideals.

Our covenant with our vets, like all agreements, needs to be kept current. The GI Bill has been updated a few times and as recently as 2008, but still we struggle. For example, one-third of America’s homeless men are veterans. The economy facing discharged servicemen and women today is all too similar to that facing the World War I veterans whose political and literal battles with our government inspired that first GI Bill. If our investment in that “bonus army” gave birth to a transformed America, we should expect that doing our best for our modern heroes will prove more essential to our current economic reformations than any business bailout. Besides, it is the right thing to do.

I want to close this post with another, more personal, photo of a standard government tombstone. This one is not in a national cemetery, but in a small graveyard near the northwestern shore of Lake Buchanan in the Texas Hill Country.  Uniformity connects in death as in life; even the casual observer will know that an American hero is buried here. I am honored to call this hero Dad and I miss him very much.

This is post is part of an accidental series on "legal" holidays, accidental in that I had no intention of writing a series, but after the first two had spilled out, I knew I had to finish it.  Previous posts include Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day.

25 Years of Law for Human-Owned Business

I began my journey as a lawyer for human-owned businesses twenty-five years ago. The year before, my first year in law, was focused on very large corporations. I learned many valuable lessons in that first year, including how unhappy I was in my work.

Despite the many changes of the last 25 years, one fact remains unfortunately true. Bright young lawyers coming out of school are told, directly and indirectly, that big law firms and big business are the just rewards of their academic achievements. Generally, the top graduates of a top law school did not, and still do not, see value in working for the men and women who own the small and middle-market companies that are the backbone of our economy and the source of most jobs and innovations.

I made the mistake of equating starting salaries and “prestige” with value, so it is hard to fault those who still make the same mistake. Of course, “Big Law” is not a mistake for some. (I would say “more power to them,” but the power Big Law and Big Business have amassed is frightening. Human-owned businesses keep our democracy from sliding into the oligarchy abyss, another overlooked value.) But to business lawyers and law students who wonder “is this all there is,” I say absolutely not. There is interesting work to be done for great small to medium-sized businesses, and they need your help, now more than ever.

Perspective is a gift that comes with 25 years in any job. No doubt this is the most challenging time I have seen for my firm and my clients, but the human spirit and the yearning to improve our communities and build a future for our children’s children ensure that human-owned businesses will bounce back and more. A hand, however, from more good business lawyers couldn’t hurt.

I want to end by thanking my many friends at Minor & Brown over the last 25 years. I’m proud of all we have accomplished for our clients, but prouder still that we did it with grace (sometimes), humor (most of the time) and respect for the dignity of our clients and ourselves (all of the time). Thank you, Ned Minor, for seeing the potential in a disillusioned young lawyer. Thank you, Candace, for your love and support.