Combined State and Federal Corporate Income Tax Rates in 2021

Corporations in the United States pay federal corporate income taxes levied at a 21 percent rate. Many states also levy taxes on corporate income. Forty-four states and D.C. have corporate income taxes on the books, with top rates ranging from North Carolina’s single rate of 2.5 percent to a top marginal rate of 11.5 percent in New Jersey. Fourteen states levy graduated corporate income tax rates, while the remaining 30 states levy a flat rate on corporate income. READ MORE

A new program can animate old photos. But there's nothing human about artificial intelligence

It's hard to explain the mix of emotions that spark upon seeing a photo of Frederick Douglass come alive with the click of a button. And yet, there he is, blinking and nodding as if he were just alive yesterday, as if he hadn't died in 1895, years before film recording became commonplace.

His animated image and others like it -- at the same time unsettling, emotional, and a bit fantastical, are made possible by Deep Nostalgia, an artificial intelligence program from the genealogy platform MyHeritage. READ MORE

5 Challenges Facing CHROs at Midsize Companies Today

The CHRO’s agenda has never been more daunting than it is in 2021. In addition to their normal workload, CHROs have been dealt a full hand of challenges that have a direct impact on a company’s ability to recover and grow.

The agenda is particularly difficult for CHROs of midsize and emerging enterprises, which typically must meet big-company tests with small-company resources. For example, an organization with 300 full-time employees usually has just three or four full-time HR people — enough to cope with business as usual, but not with extraordinary challenges. READ MORE

What did we get right—and wrong—during COVID-19?

It’s hard to believe we’re a year into the COVID-19 pandemic—it’s been a year that’s changed every aspect of work and life as we know it.

The worldwide health crisis has forced changes to nearly every workplace strategy, but one of the most significant, undoubtedly, has been how employers imagine and craft their benefits. Benefits have always been a vital tool for employers—especially when it comes to attracting and retaining talent—but in a pandemic that jeopardized health and safety, benefits became more important than ever. Wellness, mental health, caregiving support and more have rightfully been in the spotlight to help employees through what many describe as the most stressful time of their career. READ MORE

Board Priorities Have Shifted for 2021 and Beyond

Organizations were forced to adapt to the conditions of 2020 and many of the changes made are likely to continue into the future based on new priorities.

For larger companies, these changes begin with their board of directors who are being prompted to address financial and social pressures, a reimagined workplace, evolving regulatory demands and increased scrutiny on environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities. READ MORE

Orbital Assembly Corp. hits $1M fundraising goal, aims to have luxury space hotel open in 2027

Orbital Assembly Corp., a California-based startup that wants to pioneer construction and infrastructure in outer space, has hit its $1 million fundraising goal and aims to open an operational luxury hotel in orbit in 2027.

The enterprise bills itself as the “world’s first large-scale space construction company” and wants to produce everything from space tourism to fuel depots, telecommunications satellites and solar power stations “in low Earth orbit and beyond.” READ MORE

Here are the ins and outs of the new SEC disclosure rules

For the first time in more than 30 years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has modified its disclosure rules, requiring that public companies provide a far greater window into their human capital management than ever before.

Previously, organizations only had to disclose their number of employees. Now, they must divulge human capital metrics considered to be material to an understanding of the company’s business. They include employee attraction, development, retention, diversity and inclusion, engagement, employee satisfaction, and health and safety. READ MORE

4 Best Practices To Successfully Manage Your Sales Pipeline

Without a strategic sales pipeline, your business is doomed to fail. If you haven’t defined the steps that make up your sales life cycle, you can’t possibly tell the difference between prospects who need more information and prospects who are ready to buy.

Even worse, you can waste your time and energy on people who aren’t a good fit for your organization or burn bridges with prospects who would have bought had you talked with them at the right time.  READ MORE

What CEOs Can Learn From The Way Startups Navigate Disruption

CEOs entered 2020 riding an economic high, completely unaware of the disruption ahead. Long-term plans were in motion, processes were firmly in place, and the biggest problem they faced was attracting talent amid a historically low unemployment rate.

Then March happened. In many ways, CEOs are still reeling from the initial shock of Covid-19's disruption and the ensuing scramble to get employees and processes working remotely. For most of us, any semblance of normalcy went out the window in early March — a month that feels like it still hasn't ended. READ MORE

Here’s why your SaaS startup should buy, not build

When I launched my startup, I was in the driving seat every minute of every day. Early on, when it was just me, my co-founders, and a stack of pizza boxes, I had ownership of every decision that got made.

It was hard to imagine taking a less hands-on approach, or delegating important decisions to others — but as the company grew I learned, as every boss must, that sharing power was the only way to succeed.  READ MORE

Yellen Favors Higher Company Tax, Signals Capital Gains Worth a Look

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said President Joe Biden favors boosting taxes on companies, and signaled openness to considering raising rates on capital gains, while steering clear of a wealth levy.

“A wealth tax has been discussed but is not something President Biden” favors, Yellen said at a virtual conference on Monday hosted by the New York Times. She said such a tax would have significant implementation problems. READ MORE

Elon Musk moved to Texas and embraced celebrity. Can Tesla run on Autopilot?

Elon Musk says he is stretched too thin.

The chief executive of both electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket company SpaceX bounces nearly daily on his private jet between locations - traveling to his longtime home in southern California, Tesla's plant in the Bay Area, the site of a new factory in Austin, Texas and SpaceX's launch facility on that state's Gulf Coast. READ MORE

Performance Management: Six Best Practices In The New Normal

Performance management is a key business process that ensures well-coordinated individual and team efforts conjoin into organizational goals.

HR and personal management strategies have undergone a paradigm shift, gravitating more toward becoming a strategic business partner and creating and managing employee value and motivation within the organization. A successful management process of channeling employee value, focus and engagement has a well-designed and relevant performance management system at its core. READ MORE

Equity Compensation Plans and Alternatives for Family Businesses

To provide long-term incentives to top employees and align their interests with their employers, many businesses offer some kind of equity compensation. However, when a business is owned by a family, the decision to provide equity to a third party becomes more difficult. This article discusses what alternatives are available to family businesses regarding equity (or equity-ish) compensation. READ MORE