Daily Archives: September 20, 2024

Palizzi Farm worries developer’s pipeline plans — allowed by eminent domain ruling — will hurt business

Palizzi Farm lost a big battle at the beginning of the summer when a judge ruled a metropolitan district could run a stormwater pipe across the 95-year-old Brighton farm to support a planned housing development nearby.But tucked into the final page of Adams County District Judge Sarah Stout’s 41-page eminent domain ruling was an “expectation” from the court “that the Palizzis will be able to continue to farm on the land at the conclusion of the Project.”It’s that directive that Debora Palizzi, whose great-grandfather Antonio started the farm on East Bromley Lane in 1929, is counting on to keep the 57-acre operation running past this year. The current plans from Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 for the outfall project, Palizzi said, don’t set the pipe deep enough underground in her field to be clear of her ripper and plow come planting time.Debora Palizzi poses for a portrait at Palizzi Farm in Brighton on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. A stormwater pipe for a nearby future subdivision is planned to run through land that the Palizzi family has been farming for 95 years. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)Her equipment needs a minimum of 5 feet below the surface to operate unimpeded, she said.“Is this my final year of being able to do this?” asked Palizzi in an interview this week with The Denver Post. “I’m not going to know if it works or not until it is too late.”She grows sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, chili peppers, okra, beets, onions and cucumbers that she sells at the farm and at five area farmers markets.Faye Hummel, a Brighton resident since 1987 but a customer at Palizzi Farm since the late 1970s, said she hopes the city takes a closer look at the plans for the pipe. She wants it to require whatever changes are needed to keep the farm in business before approving anything.In the June 26 ruling, the judge wrote that access to Palizzi’s land by Parkland officials and work on the outfall project could begin as soon as Nov. 1. The ruling relied on Colorado’s eminent domain statute, which allows governments and quasi-governmental bodies to condemn land for public use.“The fact they are still here — still persisting — is absolutely remarkable,” Hummel said of the farm, where she had recently purchased freshly harvested chili peppers. “Palizzi is a crown jewel of Brighton.”Parkland’s condemnation actionTrouble at Palizzi Farm began a year ago, when the Brighton City Council approved a metro district service plan with Parkland that allowed it to use eminent domain to obtain easements for underground infrastructure. Parkland is the metro district building infrastructure for a future housing project called Bromley Farms, located just east of the farm.In court filings earlier this year, Parkland said Bromley Farms required the construction of a “regional drainage outfall” — complete with pipelines, culverts, manholes and inlets —  across Palizzi Farm. It tried to negotiate a price for access to Palizzi’s land, but the parties couldn’t reach an agreement.In April, Parkland filed a “Petition in Condemnation” in Adams County District Court. To move ahead with building the new neighborhood in “a timely manner,” the petition argued, the metro district “requires and is entitled to immediate possession of the Subject Property” under state condemnation law.The resulting hearing on May 14 drew hundreds of residents to the courthouse to support Palizzi in her fight against condemnation.A month later, Stout granted “immediate possession of the Subject Property” — an easement across Palizzi Farm — to Parkland Metropolitan District No. 1 for its flood control project.“It is clear to this Court that the taking meets the great needs of the City and residents of Brighton, that for the reasons stated above a benefit is bestowed upon the City who cannot otherwise finance this type of improvement, and that the Project is necessary for the long-term safety of the Brighton community as development continues,” Stout wrote.A portion of the Palizzi Farm, front, in Brighton on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. A stormwater pipeline is planned to run through the farm as infrastructure for a future housing development. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)Jack Hoagland, president of the Parkland Metro District, told The Post in an interview that Palizzi had previously said a 4-foot depth was sufficient, and his engineering team designed its pipe project accordingly.“All the pipes going onto her property are all at least 4 feet deep,” Hoagland said. “No one had heard anything about 5 feet.”The project will carry stormwater runoff for Bromley Farms, which will sit on 135 acres and feature 750 residential units in a mix of single-family and multi-family homes. Hoagland, who helped lead development of the sprawling Sterling Ranch community in Douglas County, said his team was making every effort to be as minimally disruptive as it could.“We’re going onto her farm this fall so that we won’t interfere with her (growing) season,” he said.No Brighton City Council hearing on the pipeline project has been scheduled at this point, Hoagland said.Brighton Mayor Greg Mills said the “potential pipeline and related infrastructure improvements have not been finalized at this time so it would be inappropriate to speculate about the details.” But in a followup email to The Post, the mayor said the current depth — ranging from 4 feet to 6 feet — and off-season construction schedule meant Palizzi should be able to operate without any problems.“I do not believe farming will be impacted,” Mills wrote.The only plan Palizzi says she’s seen puts the pipe at a 3 1/2-foot depth at her eastern boundary, before reaching a depth of 5 1/2 feet at the west end, running across the northern portion of her property. She estimates that the eastern half of her farm, nearest to East Bromley Lane, will be put out of operation if the pipe isn’t buried deeper.“If we lose the north end, we’re going to lose half our acreage,” said Palizzi, 62. “We’ll have to reduce everything.”She would like to see Parkland avoid her land altogether and run its drainage pipe south of her field. But she said the district is using her land “because I’m the cheapest, most direct route.”“I think it’s all about their damn money,” Palizzi said.“Once it’s gone, it’s gone”Palizzi Farm is at the northern edge of what has been dubbed Splendid Valley — a 5,000-acre expanse of mostly fertile farmland in Adams County south of Brighton that’s dedicated to preserving Colorado’s agricultural past.But the farm’s reach goes beyond Denver’s northern suburbs — Palizzi sells its produce at farmers markets in Parker, Denver and Evergreen. Anne Davis, the food resource manager for Evergreen Christian Outreach, better known as EChO, said Palizzi Farm had proved indispensable for the nonprofit food pantry’s inventory.Farmers harvest tomatoes in a portion of Palizzi Farm where a stormwater pipeline is planned to be built in Brighton, as seen on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)EChO has been working with Palizzi Farm for four years, buying produce during the summer at a discounted price. The organization serves more than 300 households per week in the Jefferson County foothills.“We probably average about 300 to 350 pounds a week (from Palizzi Farm),” Davis said. “If Debbie can’t farm, it will impact a lot of Coloradoans. I hope that will be taken into account in the decision-making process.”Hummel, 73, remembers packing up her children in the car to make trips to Palizzi Farm during the Carter administration. Now she takes her grandchildren to the farm.“To be in the presence of people who toil and work the land is humbling. To have this absolute gem in our midst — it’s irreplaceable,” she said. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.Originally Published: September 20, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

How Oni Yewande grew her footwear business with N25,000

Oni Yewande is the founder and chief executive officer of Wande Fashions, a cobbling company that produces all kinds of footwear for both males, and females, either children or adults.
Yewande, an undergraduate at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) was inspired to establish her business in 2021 owing to her passion and love for leather products and fashion.
“What inspired me into the shoe-making business is passion. I love fashion a lot and good shoes,” she said.
“I was also inspired to venture into shoe making the day I ran into two ladies on the pedestrian bridge of Ikeja- Along whose shoes got my attention the most,” she explained.
“Loved the designs on their shoes and was fascinated with it and this further promoted me to learn the art of shoe making and establish my business,” she added.
The young entrepreneur took up a year of training in shoe-making to enhance her skills. Yewande said her initial start-up capital was N25,000, which she got from her savings. She has leveraged social media platforms to grow her business.
“I started with the sum of N25,000, I was working from home, making use of my social media – displaying my designs on my WhatsApp platform,” she explained.
According to her, the business which started from taking orders from family and friends has expanded to eight people, and is still thriving.
“My family members and friends were my first clients and since then the business has grown. So due to the increase in demand, I couldn’t work at home anymore. After a few months, I got an office at Egbe –Ejigbo Road, Oke-Afa to expand production,” she said.
“Currently I have two employees and six student apprentices,” she noted.
She said that passion, determination and quality are basically her leading edge between her competitors. Related News
“Our quality is our pride. We believe in giving a top-notch quality will make our clients come back and place more orders.”
She cited finance as one of the major business challenges, especially in the face of surging inflation.
When asked what the biggest challenge of the business, she stated that funding still remains the greatest.
“Our major challenge is funding, we have low funding, and that’s slowing down our expansion plans,” she said.
However, she said the company can deal with this challenge by saving part of its revenue, while investing for expansion to boost sales.
On the organisation’s expansion plans, she said, “One of our expansion plans is getting a bigger office space, whereby we have our production and showroom.”
In navigating the murky business terrain prevalent in the country, Yewande disclosed that the firm creatively produces a variety of footwear for different classes of clients.
“We all know inflation reduces the purchasing power. However, what we’re doing is “creative production.”
“We produce varieties, and various segments for our clients to choose based on their purchasing power, hence, we have products of N30,000, N25,000, N20,000, N15,000, and N10,000, among others. We are sure there’s something for every class,” she explained.
In evaluating the country’s shoe making landscape, she said that there are lots of opportunities in the shoe production business in Nigeria.

Yewande advised upcoming entrepreneurs to ensure having a business plan, noting that it is the road map to attaining goals for a successful business.

Accounting’s ethical considerations and adherences in modern business practices

Success Ajilore is a highly seasoned accounting professional and business analyst with over eleven years of experience specialising in enhancing operational efficiency, policy improvement, governance, and process optimization of various companies in Nigeria.
Introduction
The quickest way to know a company with haphazard financial operations is through the ethical practices of its financial practitioners. The absence of a credible ethical framework guiding the practitioners of any career is a gateway to professional disrespect and mistrust. The world is currently fast-paced; modern businesses are expanding and gaining standard formal outlook; this summons the need to conceive a credible accounting team, ensuring the reflection of values such as integrity and trust. However, this would only be realised when vehement accounting ethics are considered.
Ethics is not entirely a body of laws and rules governing a given practice; in accounting, it’s a habitual cycle that must be imbibed to birth legitimate and responsible business practice leading to financial security, accurate reports, and reasonable assurance that enhance confidence to the users of the financial statements, devoid of manipulation and personal interests. The advent of emerging technologies used to ease complex financial problems has grown to threaten the ethical adherence of accountants, reducing their integrity in businesses. This article explores accounting ethics and how they can be carefully adhered to in modern business practices.
Historically, accounting operations were conducted informally, with ethical practices lacking due to the focus on earning salaries. However, with evolution, accounting has developed robust structures to guide businesses and ensure accountants’ professional dispositions align with accepted standards, reshaping the profession and guiding accountants’ practices.
The accounting profession has evolved through regulatory bodies like GAAP and IFRS, which set ethical standards for transparency, accuracy, consistency, and comprehensiveness in reports. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 introduced professional accountability, particularly in the Enron and Worldcom scandals. In Nigeria, organisations like ICAN and ANAN have contributed to ethical frameworks for accounting experts, highlighting the distinction between ethics and law. These frameworks aim to ensure professional accountability and transparency in the accounting profession.
Ethics in accounting has grown to dimensions of complexity; accountants now go about their day using modern technologies and abandoning salient ethical codes. Contributing factors to this rising challenge include the emergence of advanced financial tools and technologies and the unwillingness of large corporations to embark on thorough checks. These concerns demand the need for exploring ethical codes, broadening the awareness of professional responsibility in accounting.
Globalisation has led to a shift in modern businesses, presenting new ethical challenges for accountants. Companies must align operations with local regulations and socio-cultural norms, requiring them to produce accurate financial reports. This can lead to ethical dilemmas, such as accepting gifts from external individuals to influence figures in Nigeria or balancing the need to meet cultural standards with the need to avoid violating professional ethics in multinational companies with branches in different countries.
Globalisation has led to advancements in accounting technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automated software. These tools have improved efficiency and accuracy but raise ethical concerns. Automated technologies reduce the intellectual potency of accountants, as their intelligence is traded with machine intelligence. This raises questions about responsibility in cases of AI predictions or fault detection, highlighting the need for ethical arrangements with technology.
Financial instruments and off-balance-sheet activities can compromise trust and make it difficult for companies to make informed decisions. Accountants must use creative accounting to manage financial inflow and outflow, improving financial ratios. The Enron financial scandal illustrates how complex financial instruments can be used to conceal true figures, leading to misguided financial reports. However, critical analysis revealed the financial team’s conniving offence, causing heavy bankruptcy and job loss for workers. This failed ethical duty resulted in the annihilation of the accounting firm and the loss of jobs. Related News
The case study brings to light why ethical considerations in accounting are important and the dangers that lurk around when they’re not upheld. It’s therefore a necessity that amidst the technological rave and advancements, accountants must remain upright and devoted to their jobs, maintaining integrity and the profession’s standards even when faced with compromising situations.
Accountants are responsible for maintaining a company’s finances and upholding strong integrity. They should stay updated on new accounting practices, learn from professional dilemmas, and advocate for ethical conduct within their companies. They should also issue consequences for erring workers to cultivate integrity values, leading to long-term success.
Strategies to promote ethical considerations
Ethics can be initiated in diverse ways, especially as it actively involves an organisation and its workers:
Training programmes:
Accountants should engage themselves in training programs to be trained and exposed on ethical issues. When they get more exposed and in-depth in ethics, they integrate it into their daily practice, enabling them to accomplish complementary services such as conflict resolution, ethical decisiveness, and core values on transparency, responsibility, and accountability.
Corporate governance:
Companies should adopt strong and strict governmental structures, as this ensures that ethical standards are consistently applied. These structures are in the form of external virtual auditors, an independent board of directors, coherent internal managers, and human resource personnel to facilitate ethical behaviours in compliance with the company’s guiding policies.
Ethical culture:
To foster a culture of commitment and integrity, companies should highlight ethical behaviours in all aspects of their operations. This can be achieved by rewarding diligent employees, punishing those who violate ethical standards, and ensuring leaders reflect credible ethical practices. This approach creates a high awareness of the dangers of unethical practices.
In the future, ethical challenges will continue to grow as long as businesses are on the rise and technologies are also in rapid growth. It’s therefore pertinent that accountants stay informed and abreast of ethical values, developing strong integrity values, fairness, ethical judgement, and continually promoting ethical culture in their individual companies.
Conclusion
Professional ethics are beneficial, fulfilling, and prestigious, but challenges arise due to modern business approaches and excessive use of advanced technologies. While technology ensures reliability and transparency, ethical use requires a balance. Integrating integrity, objectivity, professional competence, confidentiality, accountability, independence, and fairness into accounting practice is crucial to navigating strong ethics in modern businesses.

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