Blog – Page 34 – Croixstone

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The Freelance Economy in 2017

According to a new study conducted by LinkedIn, freelancers now account for nearly 35% of the USA workforce…and the trend is only gaining traction with more professionals opting out of traditional “full-time” employment.

The Croixstone Consulting team found the following survey findings of particular interest:

40% of LinkedIn’s freelancers (the social networking site’s “ProFinder” members) are based in just four states (California, Florida, New York and Texas).
Marketing, Business Consulting and Design were the top 3 industries for freelance work in 2016.
Younger freelancers identified industry preferences centered on Writing, Photography and Home Improvement.
Older freelancers identified industry preferences focused on Career Coaching, Business Consulting and Real Estate.
33% of all professional freelancers surveyed were male.
The average freelancer is an older male (nearly 50% of LinkedIn’s ProFinder members are older than 50).
The average hourly rate for freelance work averages $50-$150.

Gain more insights into the Freelance Economy here.

The Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017

These are the top 10 strategic trends Gartner sees breaking out of the emerging space to have a potentially substantial impact over consumers and industries during the next five years.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Advanced Machine Learning
Intelligent Apps like VPAs (virtual personal assistants) and VCAs (virtual customer assistants)
Intelligent Things like drones, autonomous vehicles, and smart appliances
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Digital Twins
Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers
Conversational Systems
Mesh App and Service Architecture (MASA)
Digital Technology Platforms
Adaptive Security Architecture

Learn more about each of these top 10 strategy trends via Forbes here.

USA’s Most Fulfilled Cities

So which city in the USA has the most fulfilled workers?

According to LinkedIn and Censuswide (a global survey consulting firm), it is our very own Charlotte.

During the summer of 2016, Censuswide surveyed 1,000 professionals across the USA about their overall level of job satisfaction and the factors that contribute to it. Charlotte tops the list with 65% of its professionals feeling very or completely fulfilled at work, and chefs rank the highest in job satisfaction with 84% reporting they feel very or completely fulfilled at work.

The next time you are feeling down about your career, you may wish to visit one of the Queen City’s great local restaurants at lunch and sit next to the apparently happy chef to change your mood. After your meal, call the Croixstone Consulting team and we’ll be glad to talk about our management consulting opportunities!

Read more about the survey on LinkedIn’s blog here.

Good Fellows Pass $1 Million Fundraising Goal

Thank you to our consultants, partners and friends who joined our table at yesterday’s Good Fellows Club lunch and who opened their hearts (and wallets!) to help raise a record setting $1 million+ in donations to help the working poor across the Charlotte region.

Read more about yesterday’s record-setting event in The Charlotte Observer.

Croixstone Hosts Table Today at Annual Good Fellows Luncheon

Croixstone Consulting founder Mark Weber, a long-term member of The Good Fellows Club, is hosting a table at today’s annual Christmas luncheon at the Charlotte Convention Center.

A club of 1,700 business and civic leaders, The Good Fellows Club was founded in 1917 by a group of men at Charlotte’s Second Presbyterian Church. Through the years, the club has evolved into a charity that has raised millions to help the working poor who often can’t get aid at other nonprofits.

The club’s board of directors consists of a number of well-known Charlotte business leaders including:

W. Frank Dowd, IV, President
John W. Harris, Vice President
Thomas E. Meckley, Treasurer

Last year, The Good Fellows Club raised more than $500,000 at the organization’s annual Christmas luncheon. Read more about last year’s event courtesy of The Charlotte Observer.

Global Cities 2016

So do you think you know the world’s most powerful “global” cities?

A recently published study by The Brookings Institution and JPMorganChase might surprise you. The study suggests that our idea of a global city has become outdated in a rapidly urbanizing world in the midst of seismic technological change. A handful of financial centers, like New York, London and Tokyo, no longer drive world economy. Instead a “vast and complex” network of cities – some surprisingly small, others mid-sized – powers the international flow of goods, services, people, capital and ideas.

The study identified seven types of global cities comprised of 123 urban areas – including our very own Charlotte (defined by the study as one of sixteen “American Middleweight” global cities).

Learn more here.

Meet the Future of Charlotte

SEED20, an initiative of Social Venture Partners Charlotte, announced yesterday the 20 nonprofit entrepreneurs who will be part of the 6th annual SEED20 experience. SEED20 selected the following nonprofits to participate in the Class of 2017 based on their relevance, innovation, and potential for tangible community impact.

ANSWER Scholarship
ArtPop
BELL
Body & Soul Senior Fitness Center
Charlotte Rescue Mission (Culinary Social Enterprise)
Children’s Attention Home
Families First in Cabarrus County
Hip Hop Orchestrated
Levine Museum of the New South (Enrichment Seminars)
LilySarahGrace
MusicalMinds NC
NC Wildlife Federation (Great Outdoors University)
Philips Academy of NC
Profound Gentlemen
Queen City Robotics Alliance
Restore Global
The Pollution Detectives
The Red Boot Coalition
UMAR
WINGS for Kids

Join the Croixstone Consulting team in supporting the Charlotte region’s most innovative social entrepreneurs. Buy a ticket today and plan to attend SEED20 OnStage on March 27, 2017.

Croixstone Consulting is Official Supporter of International Fraud Awareness Week

Did you know that the typical organization loses 5% of its annual revenues to fraud?

Croixstone Consulting has joined leading companies (including Accenture, Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Deloitte, EY, General Mills, Grant Thornton, IBM, Oracle, PricewaterhouseCoopers, TD and TIAA) in a global effort to minimize the impact of fraud by promoting anti-fraud awareness and education during International Fraud Awareness Week (November 13-19, 2016).

Sponsored annually by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), International Fraud Awareness Week addresses the staggering cost of fraud. According to the ACFE:

The organization analyzed 2,410 occupational fraud cases that caused a total loss of more than $6.3 billion
The median loss from a single case of occupational fraud was $150,000
More than 23% of occupational fraud cases resulted in a loss of at least $1 million
Median losses varied by region (USA = $120,000)
Of the three major categories of occupational fraud, financial statement fraud caused by far the greatest media loss per scheme
When owners or executives committed fraud, the median damage was more than 10X worse than when employees were the perpetrators
The more people conspiring in an occupational fraud, the higher the losses tend to be

Learn more about the ACFE and International Fraud Awareness Week here.

Shift from Pink to Purple this November for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that more people die from pancreatic cancer than breast cancer in the U.S.?

The Croixstone Consulting team is joining forces with the Charlotte Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in shifting from pink to purple this November in support of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and World Pancreatic Cancer Day, taking place on November 17.

Only 8 percent of Americans with pancreatic cancer survive 5 years or more. In 2010, after seeing too little progress in pancreatic cancer survival in over a half century, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network put a stake in the ground with a bold and aggressive goal to double pancreatic cancer survival by 2020. With the help of the Charlotte region, the U.S. will see purple this November and move one step closer to doubling survival by 2020.

Croixstone founder Mark Weber lost his mother to pancreatic cancer in 2013 and serves as the Media Relations Chair for the Charlotte Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Croixstone’s Chief Experience Officer, Patti Weber, lost her father to pancreatic cancer in 2005 and provides leadership as Teams Ambassador for PurpleStride Charlotte, the Charlotte Affiliate’s signature fundraising event (5K timed-run and family-friendly walk).

Join us in the fight against pancreatic cancer and learn more about how you can #WageHope here.

Fueling Opportunity in the Queen City through Innovation

Goodwill = Innovation?

Yep, you better believe it. Today we joined a team of folks from Social Venture Partners Charlotte and toured Goodwill’s brand spanking new, $22 million Leon Levine Opportunity Center in west Charlotte. And we we blown away.

Forget what you think you might know about the Goodwill experience. When we entered the building located at 5301 Wilkinson Boulevard, we were transformed into a high-energy universe filled with natural light, soaring ceilings, original art, a very tasty restaurant featuring locally-sourced food, and more.

Goodwill’s new 160,000 square foot facility is vitally important to Charlotte. With a 2014 Harvard study having ranked Charlotte as 50th out of 50 large cities in the country for economic mobility, the Croixstone team applauds Goodwill for its innovative approach in bundling a comprehensive collection of resources and opportunities for job training, job placement and job creation in the Charlotte metro region for individuals with barriers to employment.

Learn more here.

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