Baby will be here today!

We are heading into the hospital now for our baby to be born. Keep Melissa and the baby in your prayers if you think about it.

Love N & M

History is Made

Whether you like him or not he is our new President and we should get behind him. Obama needs the support of the people as we have some very serious issues facing our country right now. Let's be praying for his wisdom and how to handle the issues at hand.

Passing on the Organic?

Budgets Squeezed, Some Families Bypass Organics
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/business/01organic.html?_r=1&em=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1225563048-/NH5BEsa4YkB8QNZbtpe3A

By ANDREW MARTIN
Once upon a time, sales of organic and natural products were growing in double digits most years. Enthusiastic grocers and venture capitalists prowled the halls of trade shows looking for the next big thing. Grass-fed beef? Organic baby food? Gluten-free energy bars?

But now, shaky consumer spending is dampening the mood. It turns out that when times are tough, consumers may be less interested in what type of feed a cow ate before it got chopped up for dinner, or whether carrots were grown without chemical fertilizers — particularly if those products cost twice as much as the conventional stuff.

Whole Foods Market, a showcase for the natural and organic industries, is struggling through the toughest stretch in its history. And the organic industry is starting to show signs that a decade-long sales boom may be coming to an end.

The sales volume of organic products, which had been growing at 20 percent a year in recent years, slowed to a much lower growth rate in the last few months, according to the Nielsen Company, a market research firm. For the four-week period that ended Oct. 4, the volume of organic products sold rose just 4 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.

“Organics continue to grow and outpace many categories,” the Nielsen Company concluded in an October report. “However, recent weeks are showing slower growths, possibly a start of an organics growth plateau.”

If the slowdown continues, it could have broad implications beyond the organic industry, whose success spawned a growing number of products with values-based marketing claims, from fair trade coffee to hormone-free beef to humanely raised chickens. Nearly all of them command a premium price.

While a group of core customers considers organic or locally produced products a top priority, the growth of recent years was driven by a far larger group of less committed customers. The weak economy is prompting many of them to choose which marketing claim, if any, is really important to them.

Among organic products, those marketed to children will probably continue to thrive because they appeal to parents’ concerns about health, said Laurie Demeritt, the president and chief operating officer of the Hartman Group, a market research firm for the health and wellness industry. But products that do not have as much perceived benefit, like processed foods for adults, may struggle.

The economy has “crystallized the tradeoffs that consumers are willing to make,” she said. “Fair trade is nice, but fair trade may fall off the shopping list where organic milk may not.”

Thomas J. Blischok, president of consulting and innovation for Information Resources, a market-research firm, said shoppers were not moving entirely away from categories like organic products in the grocery store. But they are becoming more selective, buying four or five products instead of seven or eight, he said.

Mr. Blischok conducted a survey of 1,000 consumers in the first half of the year and found that nearly two-thirds said they were cutting back on nonessential groceries and nearly half said they were buying fewer organic products because they were too expensive. Such consumer attitudes have compounded problems for Whole Foods Market, the Austin, Tex., chain that served as a launching pad for many organic and natural brands. The company’s stock has dropped by more than 70 percent since the first of the year, and analysts expect more grim news when fourth-quarter earnings are announced next week.

Recently in Boston, on the sprawling convention floor of the Natural Products Expo East, some vendors said they had been hurt by the economic malaise and others said they had not yet felt the impact.

Several of them noted that Whole Foods Market faces a broad array of problems, including increased competition from traditional grocers, and should not be viewed as a proxy for the whole industry. But many also worried that if the economy continues to flounder, consumers — particularly those who only occasionally shop for their products — may decide they can no longer afford to let their conscience dictate their shopping list.

Theresa Marquez, the chief marketing executive for Organic Valley, which sells primarily dairy products, said she was not worried about core customers because they were so committed to buying organic.

“I’m not sure the periphery — those that purchase perhaps only four or so times a month — will break the industry,” she said in an e-mail conversation after the convention. “But I am concerned that those periphery customers are important to the growth of the industry and without them, organic growth is sure to go flat.”

Organic Valley’s sales have slowed in the last four months, in part because of price increases, company officials said.

Robert Atallah, the owner of Cedarlane Foods, which makes organic and natural frozen meals, said his business had slowed in the last 18 months, a problem he attributed to increased competition and the economy. He said that he believed a newly developed line of products could help sales but cannot convince buyers for grocery chains to commit.

“The morale of buyers is so low, they don’t want to buy anything,” he said. “It’s a sick feeling all the way around. People don’t know if their job is going to be there.”

But others said they had not yet noticed a slowdown and were optimistic that sales would remain steady — or possibly improve — as consumers ate fewer meals in restaurants and devoted more time to cooking. Some store-brand manufacturers said they were thriving as consumers looked for cheaper alternatives to branded products.

“People aren’t going on vacation, they aren’t going to buy a car, so maybe they’ll buy a luxury item that is affordable,” said Dary Goodrich, chocolate products manager for Equal Exchange, a worker-owned fair trade organization offering tea, coffee and chocolate from small-scale farmers. “Right now, we aren’t seeing a slowdown, but it’s a concern.”

In interviews with consumers around the country, some said they were spending as much or more at the grocery store, including on organic products, in part because they have curbed restaurant meals. Karen Jenson, 35, said she was buying as much organic food but shopping at four different stores to find deals.

“The apples right now are really cheap here because they are in season,” she said, standing outside the Linden Hills Co-op in Minneapolis.

But some others said they were cutting back on organic food to save money.

Joni Heard, a 29-year-old mother of two who lives in central Florida, said that in the past she would buy organic milk, cheese and produce but had cut back because it was too expensive.

“I’m a stay-at-home mom and my husband — you never know if he’s going to be laid off,” she said in an interview, explaining that her husband works in construction. “I can’t justify spending $2 or $3 more for a single item.”

Budget with Wells Fargo

I don't think I have ever given a plug to my company on my blog before, but its never to late to start. Wells Fargo came out this week with a patent pending budgeting tool that will interface with our online banking system. The timing of this economic recession could not have come at a better time for this product to really add some value to folks across the USA. See the story below:



http://finchannel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23203&Itemid=10

Wells Fargo Releases New Online Automatic Budgeting Tool
30/10/2008 17:08
The FINANCIAL --
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) on October 29 announced the release of the Wells Fargo OnlineMy Spending Report with Budget Watch, an expansion of the bank’s free, patent-pending online tool that gives customers a consolidated overview of their personal spending.

The enhanced tool helps customers create a budget in as few as two clicks and monitor their progress toward meeting it, providing even more control over their finances.

“Budgeting is a high priority for many of our customers in today’s economic environment,” said Teddy De Rivera, head of Online Banking and Investments in Wells Fargo’s Internet Services Group. “My Spending Report with Budget Watch takes the work out of budgeting, providing a simple and easy way for customers to create a budget, manage to it and put money saved to work for them.”

Javelin Strategy & Research calculated that the present market size of U.S. online households who would currently be likely to use online banking personal financial management if it were available and marketed today is 15.6 million, or 26 percent of the 61 million households that make up the U.S. online banking population.

My Spending Report with Budget Watch allows customers to:
Watch where their money goes – every dollar a customer spends from Wells Fargo credit card, check card and online bill pay transactions is automatically sorted into familiar categories (e.g. groceries, gas, restaurants, healthcare). There are no receipts to save, no spending to key in. Current month-to-date, prior two months and 12-month spending averages are available.

Track their income and deposits – the tool automatically tracks customers’ deposits.

Set and monitor budget goals for key spending categories – monthly spending goals can be created. Differences between a goal and actual spending are automatically calculated and displayed by category each business day. Customers can quickly identify savings opportunities and update their original budgets to reflect new allocations. Budget alerts provide status throughout the month. Easy-to-read charts and graphs offer customers a snapshot view of their progress.


See “What’s Left” each month – a customer’s Budget Summary is updated each business day, showing the difference between his/her deposits and spending. Wells Fargo’s My Savings Plansm and online transfers make it easy for customers to put “What’s Left” to work for them.



“The amount customers have listed as ‘What’s Left’ can be a valuable indicator of their current financial situation,” said Betty Hoople, head of Credit Card Marketing for Wells Fargo. “This expanded service can help our customers meet their financial goals.”



Customers can contact Wells Fargo to learn about the ways in which they can start paying down debt or building their savings. Also, customers can receive budget alerts on their mobile device. Whether on the bus or in the line at the retail store, customers can receive alerts, check the balances of their checking account, credit card, or home equity line, and make a transfer while on the go.

How to Hug a Baby

Since Melissa and I need to get some practice at this here is how you hug a baby:

1. First - Uh, Find a Baby......


2. Second, be sure that the object you found was indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques


3. Next you will need to flatten the baby before the hugging process can begin


4. The Paw Slide - simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up


5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute the difficult and patented 'hug, smile, and lean' so as to achieve the best photo quality.

September Who?

I know I know September went by and I did not even post a single note on our blog. Well needless to say it has been a busy schedule around the Sackett family house. Melissa is about ready to have the baby any day now and we are both thinking she is going to come early. Melissa has her baby shower this weekend and is looking forward to seeing family and friends from out of town and of course her friends that are here in PDX.

We're praying for her (baby) and for us as we get ready to become parents. It's a little weird saying that, but it will be here before we know it. I am working on one of my last classes of my MBA program and after this one is complete - I will only have two classes left before I am done with Grad school! Praise the Lord. We are looking forward to some much needed relaxation and I can finally read some books that are not tied to my MBA.

We also started attending a new church this last month called Colossae here in Tigard. It is a fairly new church that has planted here from Southern California. We are enjoying meeting new people and getting plugged in to the group. That is our life in September. Talk with you soon.

Hood 2 Coast

Last weekend I ran Hood 2 Coast - the largest relay race in the world. We call it "The Mother of All Relay's" here in the NW. It is a 197 mile relay race starting at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and running all the way to Seaside on the coast of Oregon. You have two vans with 6 runners in each van. All six runners run a leg and then you pass off to the second van and they run six legs. You repeat this process three times and before you know it, you are at the coast and celebrating with all the teams on the beach.

I ran with a team from work "GOFARGO" - I was not invloved in making the name but was involved in running 20 miles of the distance. Our team was comprised of mostly all Wells Fargo folks. We did have a handful of friends and replacements that we're not bank employees. The race was a success and our team had lot's of fun.

I was in van 2 this year. In years past I have run Hood 2 Coast I was always in van 1, so this was a new and exciting twist. I look forward to next year on this team or another one. This has to be one of the best races that our great state of Oregon offers. There was over 1,000 teams this year in Hood 2 Coast. Unfortunately a young woman was hit by a car this year and we all should be praying for her. She was only 18 and was badly injured by the accident. Please pray for a quick and easy recovery for her.

Tom's Shoes - Get Some!

I first heard about Tom's shoes at Church about 3 years ago as an example of someone who was in business to help people around the globe. Blake Mycoskie the founder of Tom's shoes when he graduated from college spent several months traveling through South America. He noticed in almost every country he traveled through the majority of the rural population did not have any shoes on their feet. Blake came home wanting to start a shoe company that not only made profits but also donated shoes to the poor families around the world. Tom is committed to his early vision and for every pair of shoes he sells, one pair of shoes is donated to a child or adult in a foreign country. I love to hear about business that is more than making profits and jobs, this is a lifestyle business that has a huge mission and making a difference around the globe! Go get your pair of Tom's today TOMS SHOES