| Cash becoming a thing of the past
BLOOMINGTON — Mina Aitelhadj had about $8 and some change — less than the $10 she needed to renew her driver's license — when she went to the Secretary of State's office in Bloomington recently.The Normal resident wasn't caught off guard by an unexpected fee; she expected to pay with her credit card. But after waiting in line and handing it over, she found out the agency only accepts Discover, cash and check.“That was a bit of a problem," Aitelhadj said. “I had to run and get some cash at the ATM."Aitelhadj doesn't carry more than $20 in her wallet and rarely spends cash, just for the emergency cup of coffee or gasoline. She prefers to use her debit card for most purchases.The 26-year-old graduate student at Illinois State University is like a growing number of Americans.Nationwide, 45 percent of consumers use cash less often than they did two years ago, according to the American Bankers Association's 2005-2006 Study of Consumer Payment Preferences.
Bridge Finance Group Provides $39.15 Million Financing Package to ...
CHICAGO, May 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bridge Finance Group today announced the completion of a $23.5 million revolving line of credit, a $15.0 million direct finance lease and a $650 thousand term loan to Simply Goodies, LLC ("Simply Goodies"). Simply Goodies is a newly formed entity through the merger of Blueberry Hill Foods, one of the nation's largest manufacturers of private label candies located in El Paso, Texas with manufacturing in Juarez, Mexico and Warner Candy Co., a leading re-packager of candy and snacks located in Elk Grove, IL. "Bridge Finance Group is an efficient and effective partner that will allow us to take advantage of significant synergies to take our business to the next level," said Rick Anglin, Chief Executive Officer of Simply Goodies, LLC. "Bridge was very professional and flexible throughout the entire process from initial contact to loan closing." "Both Bridge Finance Group and Simply Goodies continued to provide solutions to transaction complexities, including cross-border lending and the merger of two significant companies," said Randy Abrahams, President and CEO of Bridge Finance Group.
Jumpstart Your Business
Telemarketers don't often get much sympathy, but anyone could see that Andy Orr was in a bind. Orr's company, Circulation Services in Fort Collins, Colo., had been making most of its money selling newspaper subscriptions by phone. But in 2003, Congress passed legislation prohibiting telemarketers from contacting anyone who had asked to be put on a do-not-call list. Then Orr began losing clients as newspapers' advertising and circulation numbers dropped because of competition from the Internet. Orr knew he had to act, and fast. "If I didn't take drastic measures, we were going to be in serious trouble," he says. With Circulation Services' core business fading, he looked for ways to expand its offerings. Orr wanted to hold on to his employees and limit retraining, so he searched for options that would make use of their skills.
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