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Why does God allow natural disasters?

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Question: "Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?"

Why does God allow earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, wildfires, and other natural disasters? Tragedies cause many people to question God’s goodness. It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1). Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornados are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake.

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, as we see in Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17. Numbers 16:30-34 shows us that God sometimes causes natural disasters as a judgment against sin. The book of Revelation describes many events which could definitely be described as natural disasters (Revelation chapters 6, 8, and 16). Is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.

In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation. Romans 8:19-21 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” The fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the world we inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

We can understand why natural disasters occur. What we do not understand is why God allows them to occur. Why did God allow a tsunami to kill over 225,000 people in Asia? Why does God allow hurricanes to destroy the homes of thousands of people? For one thing, such events shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches are usually filled after disasters as people realize how tenuous their lives really are and how life can be taken away in an instant. What we do know is this: God is good! Many amazing miracles occurred during the course of natural disasters that prevented even greater loss of life. Natural disasters cause millions of people to reevaluate their priorities in life. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is sent to help the people who are suffering. Christian ministries have the opportunity to help, minister, counsel, pray, and lead people to saving faith in Christ! God can, and does, bring great good out of terrible tragedies (Romans 8:28).

Recommended Resource: An Act of God?: Answers to Tough Questions About God's Role in Natural Disasters by Erwin Lutzer

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Related Topics:

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

Does Satan have the power to control the weather?

Why does God allow the innocent to suffer?

Where is God now? Where is God when it hurts?

Why did God let my house burn down in a fire?

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Seattle, Wa., Passes Secure Scheduling Ordinance

September 27, 2016

The Seattle City Council passed a new Secure Scheduling Ordinance, which limits the occurrence of unknown and unpredictable work schedules, providing notice and potential compensation for work schedule changes.

What Companies Are Affected?

The ordinance, passed Sept. 19, applies to large food services and retail establishments. “Large” defines companies who employ 500 or more employees (in Seattle or nationwide), including franchises collectively. In addition, full-service restaurants must have 40 or more locations (including franchises) worldwide to be included under the law.

According to GovDocs Compliance Counsel Anne Jakala, Esq., Seattle’s Secure Scheduling law is similar to San Francisco’s Formula Retail Workers Bill of Rights (July 2015).

Posting and Notice Requirements

The new law requires a posting in English, as well as in the primary language(s) spoken by employees in each location. Employers (as described above) must display it in a conspicuous and accessible place for employees.

The posting is not available from the city at this time. GovDocs will continue to monitor its status and provide an update once available, most likely closer to the July 1, 2017 effective date.

For More Information

See the Seattle Office of Labor Standards Secure Scheduling Ordinance.

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The American Public Works Association (APWA) announced that four public works fleet professionals have recently received the Certified Public Fleet Professional (CPFP) certification. The CPFP certification is for those professionals who actively supervise, manage, oversee, or administer fleet services within a public or private fleet entity.

The program recently released a new policy for retired certified fleet professionals to be re-certified every five years with 20 units of professional development, including mentoring. Also added in 2015 was a new eligibility requirement giving individuals with private fleet experience an opportunity to earn a CPFP certification.

The purpose of APWA’s Public Fleet Professional Certification is to promote excellence in fleet management by advancing the knowledge and practice of public fleet professionals to benefit their communities through quality fleet services. Since its inception, a total of 100 U.S. and Canadian fleet professionals have received the CPFP certification, and the program continues to have more fleet applicants who strive for excellent public works service in their communities.

The most recent APWA Certified Public Fleet Professionals are:

  • Jared Divett, CPFP, Bernalillo County (N.M.) Fleet
  • Gilbert English, CPFP, City of Raleigh, N.C.
  • Jeff Lawver, CPFP, San Bernardino County, Calif.
  • Carlos Osterroth, CPFP, City of Medicine Hat, AB, Canada

The APWA Public Fleet Professional Certification program is designed to ensure individual competency and provide the public works industry with recognized hiring and promotion standards.


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18 Inch Classic Cast Iron Fire Grate Bottomgrate

18 Inch Classic Cast Iron Fire Grate Bottomgrate

Availability: In Stock

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18 inch Classic / Castle Cast Iron Fire Grate Bottomgrate

A 18 inch quality cast iron solid fuel fire grate. Fits a standard concrete 18 inch fire back and Classic / Vogue / Guardette 18 inch fire front or fret.

Please note the size 18 inch refers to the width of the fire opening not the actual size of the grate, see the dimensions for more clarification on the grate dimensions.

Front Width   440mm    17.3 inches

Depth            252mm    9.9 inches

Rear Width    310mm   12.2 inches

Manufacturer Gr8Fires
Weight 5 kg
Colour Black
Height (mm) 130
Width (mm) 440
Depth (mm) 252
Delivery, Returns & Guarantee

Free UK mainland delivery on all orders

We offer delivery of all in-stock items to UK mainland addresses within 3-5 working days. Free delivery is applied to orders over £300 and orders below £300 have a small shipping and handling fee applied. The maximum shipping fee for orders under £300 is £25 and the lowest you will pay is £2.99 for orders under £300.

How delivery works

Our products vary in size from small parts and accessories to large appliances. On that basis, we have to tweak our delivery method based on your order. Depending on the size of the items you buy, they could be delivered by Royal Mail, DPD or a pallet delivery service.

Within a day or two of placing your order, you will receive a dispatch email confirming that your order will soon be leaving us on its way to you. Your dispatch email will contain details about the delivery method(s) we’ll be using for your order and, where appropriate, information on how to track your order or confirm with us a precise delivery day.

Typical delivery of wood-burning stoves and other appliances

All wood-burning stoves are delivered by pallet within 3-5 days of your order being placed (subject to stock availability). We understand that it is important to have a clear idea of when to expect the delivery so that you can make arrangements to receive your new appliance.

You will receive information on how to confirm your delivery date by email once the order has been dispatched. Unfortunately, due to the nature of these deliveries, it is impossible to give a precise delivery date earlier than this.

Please keep in mind that pallet delivery is available to the kerbside only. Drivers are unable to carry items into the property, across uneven terrain or up steps, so please make provisions to move the appliance or pallet to your preferred storage location on the day of delivery.

Offshore and island deliveries

Unfortunately, we are unable to deliver to postcodes beginning with BT or to any address in Ireland. For orders that are to other offshore or outlying UK addresses, please contact us by email or phone via the details below to check delivery costs.

Out-of-stock orders

Are you interested in an item that is currently out-of-stock? Please contact us by email or phone via the details below for an estimate of how soon the item would be delivered to you.

Any delivery questions?

If you’ve got questions relating to the information above or any other queries about delivery, feel free to call us on 0121 271 0221 or email sales@gr8fires.co.uk.

1. If you wish to cancel your order:

  • you can notify us by email to sales@gr8fires.co.uk before we have dispatched the goods to you;
  • where goods have already been dispatched to you, email sales@gr8fires.co.uk and return the goods to us in accordance with clause 2 below.

2. You can return goods you have ordered from us for any reason at any time within 14 working days of receipt for a full refund or exchange. The costs of returning goods to us shall be borne by you unless they are delivered damaged, faulty or not as described.

3. A full refund of the amount paid will be given as soon as possible after an order is cancelled.

4. The rights to return the goods to us as referred to in clause 2 will not apply in the following circumstances: -

  • to any products that we have made or customised specifically for you

The provisions of clause 4. does not affect your statutory rights.
If you fail to take reasonable care of the goods before they are returned to us, and your actions result in damage or deterioration, we may charge for the reduction in value.

Finance Options

Spread the cost with our simple finance deals including 0% APR

With our easy finance deals you could get this product now, then spread payments over 1 year for 1 YEAR INTEREST FREE at 0% APR.

Your new stove is a long-term investment that will save money and keep your home warm for years to come.

That’s why we feel it’s important that you don’t sell yourself short at this stage. Remember, your stove will be taking price of place in your property, so it makes sense to get the one you really want.

Sometimes life doesn’t wait until you’ve had the chance to save. So, rather than settling for a stove you can afford to pay for up front, why not spread the cost and start saving on your energy bills straightaway?

Terms and conditions apply. *

How does it work?

Finance is available on any basket purchase over £350 with just a 10% deposit and receive 1 YEAR INTEREST FREE at 0% APR.

Alternatively you can choose to pay the balance over a longer term of 2 or 3 years** – whatever makes most sense for you.

Get more information on how it works or just give us a call on 0121 271 0231 for a chat to see if you qualify for a great finance deal.

Why buy with finance?

• Spread the cost over 1, 2 or 3 years

• Get 0% APR when spreading the cost over 1 year

• From £11.69. per month e.g The Mazona Crete 5kW paid over a three-year period***

• Monthly Payments by direct debit

• Minimum 10% deposit

• Buy the stove you want now, pay later

** 2 & 3-year finance available at 19.9% APR (Typical)

*** Mazona Crete £350.00 less £35.00 Deposit, 36 monthly payments of £11.69 Total Amount Repayable £455.84 19.9% APR (Typical). Finance is available to persons aged 18 and over. All finance is Subject to status

*GR8 fires is acting as a credit broker and offers finance products from Omni Capital Retail Finance Limited. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority Licence: and a member of the Finance and Leasing Association. For more information, please visit http://www.omnicapitalretailfinance.co.uk

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Customer Reviews 5 item(s)

Nice looking productsproduct, great service m
The grate I ordered arrived broken after a rough journey it looked like, I informed gr8fires and they sent another one out that day, arrived two days later and it's perfect.
Review by Michael / (Posted on 13/04/2019)
Excellent quality product, good service.
Excellent cast iron fire grate, delivered on time as promised.
Review by Mr E J Hartwell / (Posted on 04/01/2019)
Brilliant service from ordering online to the goods being delivered would certainly use this company again ,
Review by Karen / (Posted on 19/02/2017)
Just as it should be
Great telephone assistance and purchase
Delivered next day
Thank you , will look at your site again before my next purchase
Review by Adam / (Posted on 25/11/2015)
Product arrived on time and as described. It has worked perfectly. Thanks!
Review by John / (Posted on 24/12/2014)
  • Stove Installation Cost - calculate the cost of stove installation
  • Stove Size Calculator - calculate the size of stove you need
  • Stove Beginners' Guide - see our beginners' guide to buying a stove
  • Twin Wall Flue Design - 8 twin wall flue designs to consider before installing your stove


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3mm Sterling Silver Hoops

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3mm Sterling Silver Hoops

Sterling Silver 3mm Hoops in a tube style. Hoops are very popular this year and these are a bold statement. Available in 4 sizes and 1 oval size.

SKU: SS436690722RG
Price: $24.95
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Public Notices

State statute requires notification of the following to the parent or guardian of each pupil enrolled in school:

  1. The school's accountability report
  2. A list of the educational options available to children who reside in the pupil's resident school district
  3. Notification of the Special Needs Scholarship Program which begins in the 2016-17 school year.
  4. Pupil academic standards that are in effect for the school year.

The above information is available and can be accessed through this website or the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website via the following links:
Accountability Reports
Educational Options
Special Needs Scholarship Program
Pupil Academic Standards

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2019 West Corporation. All rights reserved.


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Grand County Active Transportation and Trails (GCATT) maintains over 150 miles of non-motorized singletrack trails that Grand County has constructed and are used for Mountain Biking, Hiking, Running, and Equestrian use. In addition to these miles, GCATT also assists the BLM and Forest Service on many other maintenance projects throughout the year. These projects are generally hiking, and climbing-canyoneering access trails.

Grand County offers an abundance of world class trail opportunities for all users! Follow the links below for your desired activity.

The following links will take you to the related activity on is hosted by the Moab Area Travel Council and is full of great info about the area.

Hike-Button Opens in new windowBike-Button Opens in new windowwebsite-ebike-button Opens in new windowwebsite-climbing-button Opens in new windowwebsite-horseback-button Opens in new window


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Customer Care
Customer Care

Customer Care

Regarded as one of the Midwest's largest full-service, year-round resort and conference center, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is Michigan's premier destination to mix business with pleasure.

High-profile groups who choose the Resort annually include the Center for Automotive Research, the Detroit Red Wings and Special Olympics Michigan. For the first time last fall, the Resort hosted AgriBank, Farm Credit Bank (FCB), the largest of five borrower-owned lenders within the federal Farm Credit System.

Barbara A. Stark has served as AgriBank, FCB's manager of meetings and travel for the past 11 years. The certified planner of more than four decades shared feedback following her group's recent experience.

You held the AgriBank District Insurance Conference at the Resort September 30 through October 6, 2011. Who attended this meeting and what was its goal?

Primary attendees were insurance specialists serving a rural America District that stretches from Ohio to Wyoming and from Minnesota to Arkansas. The goal is to provide educational opportunities and industry updates, but this conference does an excellent job of combining business and fun -- attendees look forward to it each year.

What made you choose Grand Traverse Resort and Spa?

Our Insurance Conference travels each year to one of 15 states in the upper-middle part of the nation, and it was time to go back to Michigan. I was introduced to the Resort by Taryn Miracle, associate director of sales for the property. She greeted me with a smile at an industry trade fair and began describing this very special place in northern Michigan.

It was Taryn who created a vision of what the conference would be like at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa: Beyond her knowledge of the property, she truly knew the extent of the hotel staff's talent, capability and ability to deliver.

Later Taryn, and the Resort's Event Design Manager, hosted our site visit. They did a great job of showcasing the Traverse City attractions and ways to expand our conference experience. As we reflect on the outcome of 2011's Fall meeting, hosting 250 attendees, I must say Taryn didn't miss the mark—it was a huge success!

You told our team that most hotels/resorts practice customer service, but you found that the Resort practices "customer care." What did you mean?

While customer service can be taught and learned as a service standard, "customer care" goes beyond a guest's expectations. It is inherent, and it takes thought. It comes with heart and passion from within the individual to make that guest's experience the best it can be. The Grand Traverse Resortand spa team members who we encountered gifted us with "customer care." They went the extra miles with a genuine attitude of caring.

What specifically made your meeting at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa exceptional?

I would say, without question, the Resort's staff is responsible for the success of our meeting. Their production of this conference was flawless from the moment our group encountered the shuttle driver (Gary-Good-Guy) at the airport to smiles from the bellmen and registration desk, on through attentive help provided by housekeeping, room service, banquets, engineering and housemen (Seth, Ricky and Joey—I love you guys!)

Not to forget is the exceptional food that came from the kitchen and the service equal to it from an incredible waitstaff. We couldn't have asked for more!

In addition, the on-site audio-visual department surpassed our expectations. What most impressed was how they all worked together to deliver the best total "customer care" possible.

Upcoming Events

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Leelanau Sands Showroom Concert Series

Summer Spa Deals

June 26 Through September 26
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Wednesdays 4:00-6:00pm
Happy Hour at Spa Grand Traverse

Souvenir Shopping Tips

Barefoot Magazine

  • Destination Relaxation

    For five years, Spa Grand Traverse Director Dawn Olsen thought about the changes she wanted to make to the resort’s 7,000-square-foot spa and salon.

  • New Look for Iconic Governors' Hall

    Premier gathering space undergoes $1.5 million renovation

  • Reuniting at the Resort

    “It’s a beautiful place to reconnect and build close ties to those we love in one of the most spectacular places in Michigan.”
    —Lori, Leaver family reunion

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To support any organisational development initiatives, we are accredited to administer various psychometric profiling instruments and can facilitate suitable training workshops related to many of the profiles.

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by Frances Nuar and Michael LaFaive

Hawaii is facing a $1.3 billion state budget deficit — and in response, a series of bills have been introduced to hike taxes, including Other Tobacco Product taxes. Among the proposed legislation is House Bill 273, which would hike taxes on such products as cigars and smokeless tobacco. The state should avoid all tax increases and instead turn to spending cuts to balance its budget.

Tobacco taxes are often sold to the public as a way to improve public health by raising the cost of tobacco products. But proponents never advertise the hidden costs of such policies, which can include rampant smuggling as well as violence against people, property and police. Moreover, taxes on smokeless tobacco may harm health directly because research shows that these products are a safer alternative to smoking. Lastly, there is a direct cost to individual liberty when lawmakers single out a particular group for harsh tax treatment.

The motivation behind these new taxes appears to be revenue as the new monies may not be used for tobacco cessation programs. In fact, while a percentage of the proposed tax is directed toward the trauma system special fund, it is one of numerous special funds marked to be raided by Senate Bill 120 to pad the general fund.

The tax hike has support from special interest groups who believe the increase will result in less tobacco consumption. That may be the result, but probably not to the degree that is hoped.

First, studies show that up to 85 percent of changes in after-tax sales of cigarettes are the result of tax avoidance behavior and not of quitting. Second, part of that tax avoidance involves substituting cheaper “roll-your-own” smokes that can be rolled without filters, which increase ingestion of tar and nicotine by the smoker. Lastly, studies show smokeless tobacco is a legitimate harm reduction strategy, so hiking taxes on smokeless products may do more health harm than good.

A 2002 study in the British Royal College of Physicians reported that “smokeless tobacco products are 10 to 1,000 times less hazardous than smoking, depending on the product.”

Brad Rodu, endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research at the University of Louisville, is an expert on smokeless tobacco and its impact on cancer and mortality rates. He has reported that there is a link between smokeless tobacco use in Sweden and decreases in rates of lung cancer. In his co-authored 2002 article in the Journal of Internal Medicine, Rodu reported that smokeless tobacco products were primarily responsible for a decline in smoking among Swedish men from 23 percent in 1986 to 14 percent in 1999.

That Hawaii is an island state will not leave it immune from such illicit trafficking. A 2007 report from England indicated that 50 percent of all hand-rolled tobacco smoked in that country was smuggled in. Much of this consumption is of tobacco that is produced in illegal and unregulated markets, perhaps increasing the likelihood that the products themselves will be more dangerous than the legitimate brands being avoided due to high taxes.

Legislators should cut unnecessary spending in order to balance the budget, rather than seeking tax hikes that will further burden business and taxpayers and do little to reduce tobacco consumption.
This article was first published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.


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Hawaii, like all but one of the states, has a balanced budget requirement. The purpose of such a requirement is to ensure that the full cost of current state services is paid by current taxpayers, that costs are not pushed onto future generations.

Unlike the federal government, states claim an understanding of the immorality of leaving our tab to be paid by our kids and even our grand-kids. We watch our state’s governor and legislature struggle to balance revenues and expenses during every annual budget cycle. We are so happy when, at the last moment, they find a way! Of course, we are even happier if that way doesn’t mean even higher taxes on increasingly tapped out taxpayers.

So, great! We love our keiki, don’t we? Our Democrat dominated legislature acts responsibly so we are not stealing our kids’ future. Right?

Wrong. If we are not to burden our children in Hawaii, I hope all you fellow taxpayers are ready to pony up a cool $33,000 each. How can this be? After all, we balance our budgets! The sad fact is that we violate the spirit of budget balancing through use of accounting procedures that would land business executives in jail.

Governments in general account on a cash basis. Hawaii receives X dollars in taxes and other income, and pays out Y dollars in services and benefits. Sounds right. But it doesn’t recognize that the employees earn portions of pension and health care benefits to be paid tomorrow for services rendered today. These are liabilities for which the state is responsible, and there are others as well. Any firm more complex than Uncle Charlie’s Variety Store accounts on an accrual basis. That means that any additional future obligations incurred (promised) during a year are an expense for that year. If a public company tried to account on a cash basis, the auditor would refuse to sign the financial statement and the regulatory authorities would swoop down on the miscreants. Do you think the State of Hawaii is more like a very large business or more like Uncle Charlie’s? (Uncle Charlie’s should probably go accrual as well.)

Many of the private sector accounting scandals of the past few years have resulted from playing around with corporate liabilities, either minimizing them or taking them off the balance sheet. Companies have been heavily fined, and executives have gone to prison. The State of Hawaii is guilty of both techniques, but no one holds government to account. Fines are useless here—the taxpaying victim would simply end up with the payments. You can’t threaten criminal actions. Our government has made legal what it does. No chance that Rep. Oshiro as chair of House Finance Committee, or Sen. Ige as chair of Senate Ways and Means Committee, or Governor Abercrombie will face felony charges any time soon. To be bipartisan about this, former Governor Lingle is also safe from accounting fraud penalties. They all believe the voters are too stupid to understand basic accounting. They can tell the voters they are balancing budgets by defining balance on a cash rather than accrual basis. They don’t have to worry about regulators upsetting their con game.

And, brother, future taxpayers will pay lots for all the legalized flimflam. The Institute for Truth in Accounting annually publishes “The Financial State of the States”. They produce a balance sheet for all the states showing accumulated liabilities to present, and the assets on hand to pay them. Based on financial information provided by the State of Hawaii (often in obscure footnotes), unfunded liabilities (money we have committed to pay in the future for services rendered in the past) amount to nearly $20 billion. Assets currently held to pay these future obligations amount to just over $4 billion. The $16 billion gap is close to the entire state budget for three years. If each current taxpayer had to make up this shortfall, it would cost him $33,000. Much of the gap is due to underfunding state pensions and retiree health care. Do you think the public might be interested in this state of affairs? Do you think it’s a more important issue of public policy than the carving up of revenues for payments to all the usual suspects among the interest groups?

All but six states have these unrecognized burdens on taxpayers. But Hawaii is special. It ranks 48th worst at $33,000 per taxpayer. Only New Jersey at $36,000 and Connecticut at $49,000 are worse than our state. There has been a lot of publicity about unfunded liabilities in Illinois and California. Illinois is right behind us in 47th place. Those who cast stinkeyes at the idiots in California government should know that, on a per taxpayer basis, the burden is down the list at $21,000. If you think it’s hard to believe that Hawaii is even less financially responsible than California, you’re not paying attention.

All this information is based on 2010. It took 469 days for the state to release its financial information, a long time for even the expected inefficiency of a state government. (As a retired businessman, I dream about what would happen if my company could not provide financials on a given year for more than a year.) Presumably, the situation is even worse in 2012. Between 2009 and 2010, the gap burden per taxpayer increased by around $8,000. Imagine what it could be today! Folks, the situation is not improving. By the way, the study probably understates the problem since it relies on state provided information that probably undervalues unfunded liabilities. We face similar problems with local government as well.

So, what can we do? Do we accept being one of the five worst “sinkhole states” and what that means for our future? No, we can do better.

Our state constitution needs to reflect a balanced budget requirement that operates on a modern accrual basis. All future budgets need to balance in reality, not in fantasy. We need to fund past shortfalls on a long term (perhaps 20 years) schedule. It’s too late to save our keiki, but not our keiki’s keiki.

We should require by statute accrual accounting in all state financial statements, and these should provide consolidated data for all aspects of state government operations. Statements must be signed by the Governor, and audited (with an opinion statement) by a major accounting firm. Any attempts to “cook the books” should carry criminal penalties for any state employees involved. Even the Governor, or the critters in our legislature! It’s time for even Hawaii to come into the twenty-first century.

We can consider all this financial mismanagement as just one more price to be paid for living in our natural paradise. We can surf the waves and lay in the sand as we allow our government to impoverish us without our knowledgeable consent. Or we can visit the next session of our legislature and let them know we are on to their games, and we won’t take it anymore.

Stephen Zierak, CPCU/ARM, graduated from Boston University with a BA in Political Science in 1969.  After a forty year career in property casualty insurance underwriting, Mr. Zierak retired as a Vice President of Swiss Re America in 2010.  At that time, he relocated to Hawaii, a move he had always wanted to make, but had delayed due to lack of appropriate professional opportunities here.  Mr. Zierak plans to continue his studies in Political Science, never really abandoned even during his professional career, and to write on matters of public policy.  Recently, he produced for Grassroot Institute summaries of Hillsdale’s ten part internet course on our Constitution.  Stephen Zierak is married to the love of his life, Teodora, and they reside in Honolulu.


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Supporting first steps

The first few weeks and months in the life of any business can be a tricky time full of uncertainty. For some clients, we’ve been there from the beginning – offering vital guidance and support to ensure that those first faltering steps take their businesses in the right direction.

Building the right team from the ground up

There aren’t many organisations that can find success with just the founder (or founders) behind it. That means stepping into the world of recruitment – and not leaping. In the early days, that usually means one or two people who will share a vision for the future, but there have been cases where a new venture needs a whole new team to get operations moving. Whatever the case, it’s vital to identify the kind of people who won’t just be useful in getting your business off the ground, but will be useful members of the team later down the line, too.

Don’t leave policy until tomorrow

In the early days, HR policies can seem like tomorrow’s problem. Yet starting the right way is a relatively simple way of reducing risk. Contracts of employment that meets your business’s needs and a simple set or policies that define how your business should work do not have to be complex issues – yet they can make a real difference. We’ve been called in to deal with situations that never should have happened, because mistakes start happening or complacency creeps in – without the safety net that robust policy provides.

From cafés to consultancies, we’ve provided the simple (and cost-effective) services that can protect new employers – helping them get off their business off the ground.

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Get in touch

For more information about support for your business's human resources, call us on 0131 225 7458 (Edinburgh), 0141 459 7458 (Glasgow) or email