Small Business Trends recently ran an article weighing the value of Employee Wellness Programs versus their Return on Investment.Just looking at dollars and cents, the answer is clear:

...medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.

But read the full explanation for yourself.  When considering offering a wellness program, consider reaching out to an organization like the Employee Assistance Professionals Association to get connected with respected organizations that can provide your employees (and yourself!) with important wellness-focused services.

Black Enterprise recently highlighted an initiative by the National Women’s Business Council to honor in women servicemembers on Veterans Day through the 2013 Women Veterans Entrepreneur Conference hosted by Count Me In.

Count Me In is a national not-for-profit provider of resources, business education, and community support for women entrepreneurs.

“It is our mission to provide sound research to expand and improve opportunities for women-owned businesses to thrive,” said NWBC Chair Carla Harris.

The National Women Business Council’s research serves as a resource for women entrepreneurs to advance by providing a platform to drive policy initiatives and private sector innovations.

For more information, head here.

Neil deGrasse Tyson has the wisdom.

Via the Fort Huachuca Scout:

On Sept. 20, the Army published its plan to modernize Army Knowledge Online, or AKO. The plan transitions business users to a suite of more secure, interoperable Department of Defense, or DoD, services. The improved security requires users to have Common Access Cards, or CACs, embedded with users’ personal digital certificates.

The Army will close all accounts for military and civilian retirees and Family members, who do not have CACs. The Army plans to close inactive retiree and Family member AKO accounts on Dec. 31. These are accounts that have not had a password change in over 90 days and are not set to automatically forward email to another government account. The Army will also remove email storage for active retiree and Family member accounts on this date.

On March 31, 2014, the Army will close all remaining retiree and family member AKO accounts. To ease the transition, the Army G-6 recently approved an exception to policy that allows retirees and Family members to automatically forward their AKO email to a civilian email address until Dec. 31, 2014.

To learn more about how to complete this transition, learn more here.

SBA Issues Final Rules on the Use of Set-Asides for Multiple Award Contracts

On October 2, 2013, SBA issued its long-anticipated final rule addressing the use of set-asides on multiple award contracts and clarifying the regulations on bundling and contract consolidation.  Click through for more information.