Latest news with #Ripp
Business Wire
13-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Performance Publishing Announces Nationwide Release of Finance for Founders —The Financial Playbook Every Entrepreneur Needs
BUSINESS WIRE)--Rob Ripp, founder of Fintelligent and a seasoned CFO to founder-led, high-growth companies, today announced the nationwide release of his long-awaited new book, Finance for Founders —a practical, story-driven guide that helps business owners demystify financial management and build businesses that generate real, lasting wealth. Blending real-world experience with a clear, accessible framework and digitally connected resources, Finance for Founders follows the journey of an entrepreneur who transforms a struggling business into a well-oiled financial engine culminating in a very profitable sale. Through compelling storytelling and actionable advice, Ripp delivers the essential financial playbook every founder needs to succeed. 'Writing Finance for Founders allowed me to share the lessons I've seen transform small businesses into thriving, wealth-generating companies,' said Ripp. 'My goal is to equip founders with the tools and confidence to take charge of their company's financial future.' The book has already earned acclaim from top business leaders and financial experts: 'Rob Ripp, in Finance for Founders, demystifies financial management for founders and shows us how to turn a small business into a wealth generation machine. Read it. Twice.' — Greg Alexander, Founder, Collective 54 & Capital 54; Former Co-Founder & CEO, Sales Benchmark Index (sold to Alaris Royalty Corp.) 'I have been the CFO of three public companies and have backed dozens of founders. I sure wish all of them had followed this guide. It's useful—and fun.' — Tim Yates, Retired CEO & CFO, (sold to Randstad); CFO, Symbol Technologies; CFO, Bankers Trust Company 'Rob Ripp has written the playbook every founder needs to take control of their company's financial future.' — Mario Casabona, Retired Founder & CEO Electro-Radiation, Inc. (sold to Honeywell International Aerospace Group) Learn more at About Rob Ripp Rob Ripp is a trusted financial advisor to founders and CEOs, and the founder of Fintelligent, a firm that provides strategic outsourced CFO services to growing companies. With decades of experience and a passion for empowering entrepreneurs, Rob helps businesses scale with confidence, clarity, and profitability. He lives in Chatham, New Jersey. For more information, please visit About Performance Publishing Performance Publishing Group is a full-service, done-for-you publishing company that helps entrepreneurs, CEOs, and thought leaders turn their ideas into professionally published, authority-building books.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
They fly into hurricanes for NOAA – and still got caught in Doge's purge
As an engineer who flies into hurricanes for the US government, Josh Ripp is accustomed to turbulence. But the last two weeks have been far bumpier than he's used to. In late February, the Trump administration fired Mr Ripp and over 800 recently hired or promoted staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency using a form email, part of ongoing cuts to the federal workforce. Suddenly, he and several other members of the elite Hurricane Hunters flight team were out of a job - until around 21:00 Friday when he received a second email. He was to report back to work in Lakeland, Florida, 12 March, it said. For Mr Ripp, a retired US Navy officer who voted for Donald Trump, the confusion highlighted the dangers of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing thousands of government jobs to cut costs without agency input. As soon as this week, the Trump administration could consider axing more than 1,000 additional staffers at NOAA, according to BBC News partner CBS News. Those potential cuts, plus losses from previous firings and buyouts, would cost the agency up to 20% of its workforce, the New York Times reported. The White House did not comment on additional cuts, but a Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised during the first round of dismissals. Has Doge really found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud? Who is Doge's official leader? White House says it's not Musk "NOAA provides vital information to the entire country and we do it at a fraction of the cost that anyone else could do," Mr Ripp said. "There's a lot of jobs out there that are very important. NOAA is a small agency. Every little bit hurts." The cuts will not only harm government functions, staffers and weather experts warn, but they could disrupt the daily lives of Americans who rely on accurate NOAA data more than they know. The data that powers Americans' smartphone weather apps and informs local meteorologists comes from NOAA and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service. Americans use it to decide what to wear, and whether to meet friends in the park or indoors. They rely on it during hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards. List weekly accomplishments or resign, Musk tells US federal workers Musk wields his Doge chainsaw - but is a backlash brewing? Airlines and federal aviation officials need forecasts to safely guide planes through the sky. Retailers use them to schedule customer deliveries. Shipping companies and fisheries in the Great Lakes rely on NOAA updates about ice conditions and algae blooms. "People take for granted how accurate the weather forecasts are," said Andy Hazelton, a NOAA climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths and was fired in February. "Forecasts are going to get worse because offices are understaffed." Hurricane Hunters measure hurricanes from the inside, gauging their strength and paths. As a flight engineer for the P-3 aircraft, Mr Ripp ensures that the nearly 50-year-old planes NOAA uses are safe. Missions cannot take off without team members like him aboard. The original staffing cuts would have limited hurricane flights, said Lt Kerri Englert, a flight director for the Hurricane Hunters - also cut in February then reinstated. "That means data doesn't get ingested into the models, and forecasting for those hurricane tracks and intensity will be less accurate," she said. adding that it would impact evacuations, money allocated for storm preparation and disaster response. Already, local National Weather Service offices have scaled back lesser known but crucial work, due to cuts. Watch: Moment extreme turbulence hits Hurricane Milton hunters Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina For example, scientific balloon launches from Alaska - vital to national forecasts because the location allows them to assess systems moving from west to east - were curtailed, weather experts told the BBC. Launches in New York and Maine also were reduced. NOAA spokeswoman Susan Buchanan declined to comment on individual staffing decisions, citing agency policy. But, she said, "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience." "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission." A Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised. Some of NOAA's long-term, climate-focused initiatives also face cuts. Before he was fired, NOAA scientist Zach Labe studied using artificial intelligence to prepare for deadly heat waves. Others in his division, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, also were fired and their specialities make them difficult to replace, he said. "People who were impacted were definitely the key people who were leading the development of the US weather models," Mr Labe told BBC. Even private sector weather companies rely on accurate NOAA and NWS data for their products. "We operate on razor thin margins to keep costs low," said Ryan Hickman, owner and chief technology officer at AllisonHouse, which takes data from NOAA and other sources to create custom weather visualisations. For AllisonHouse, NOAA is both a data source and a client. Mr Hickman was particularly worried that the agency's radar and satellite services could be impacted. "Nobody else has these satellite capabilities NOAA has," he said. "Unless someone has a billion dollars to build a weather satellite and launch it into geostationary orbit, and have it sit there and read all this data, and bring it back down to Earth so that everyone else can see it and use it, then what are we doing here?" The prospect of more cuts alarms scientists and private businessmen like Mr Hickman, who believe they will strain the agency's maintenance of the complex and delicate instruments needed to produce real-time as well as future forecasts. NOAA's primary goal is to keep Americans informed about the future, in ways both mundane and urgent, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "There is almost unanimous horror among people who really understand how this works," he said. He feared some in the administration believe in a "philosophy that not only can we not plan for the future, but we also should not even try to prevent bad things from happening." Back in Florida, Mr Ripp still doesn't know what the future holds. During his brief unemployment, he explored opportunities flying for a private firefighting company – and still would not rule out leaving NOAA. He remains angry that fellow veterans were caught up in the layoffs. He backed Trump due to the president's commitment to the rule of law, he said, but now Mr Ripp thinks Trump is flouting the correct procedures for reducing the federal workforce. "We're very good stewards of the money we're given by the government. We're not out here committing waste or anything like that," Mr Ripp said. "If you're looking for government savings, NOAA's not the place."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Americans rely on NOAA weather data more than they know. But cuts may limit services
As an engineer who flies into hurricanes for the US government, Josh Ripp is accustomed to turbulence. But the last two weeks have been far bumpier than he's used to. In late February, the Trump administration fired Mr Ripp and over 800 recently hired or promoted staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency using a form email, part of ongoing cuts to the federal workforce. Suddenly, he and several other members of the elite Hurricane Hunters flight team were out of a job - until around 21:00 Friday when he received a second email. He was to report back to work in Lakeland, Florida, 12 March, it said. For Mr Ripp, a retired US Navy officer who voted for Donald Trump, the confusion highlighted the dangers of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing thousands of government jobs to cut costs without agency input. As soon as this week, the Trump administration could consider axing more than 1,000 additional staffers at NOAA, according to BBC News partner CBS News. Those potential cuts, plus losses from previous firings and buyouts, would cost the agency up to 20% of its workforce, the New York Times reported. The White House did not comment on additional cuts, but a Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised during the first round of dismissals. Has Doge really found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud? Who is Doge's official leader? White House says it's not Musk "NOAA provides vital information to the entire country and we do it at a fraction of the cost that anyone else could do," Mr Ripp said. "There's a lot of jobs out there that are very important. NOAA is a small agency. Every little bit hurts." The cuts will not only harm government functions, staffers and weather experts warn, but they could disrupt the daily lives of Americans who rely on accurate NOAA data more than they know. The data that powers Americans' smartphone weather apps and informs local meteorologists comes from NOAA and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service. Americans use it to decide what to wear, and whether to meet friends in the park or indoors. They rely on it during hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards. List weekly accomplishments or resign, Musk tells US federal workers Musk wields his Doge chainsaw - but is a backlash brewing? Airlines and federal aviation officials need forecasts to safely guide planes through the sky. Retailers use them to schedule customer deliveries. Shipping companies and fisheries in the Great Lakes rely on NOAA updates about ice conditions and algae blooms. "People take for granted how accurate the weather forecasts are," said Andy Hazelton, a NOAA climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths and was fired in February. "Forecasts are going to get worse because offices are understaffed." Hurricane Hunters measure hurricanes from the inside, gauging their strength and paths. As a flight engineer for the P-3 aircraft, Mr Ripp ensures that the nearly 50-year-old planes NOAA uses are safe. Missions cannot take off without team members like him aboard. The original staffing cuts would have limited hurricane flights, said Lt Kerri Englert, a flight director for the Hurricane Hunters - also cut in February then reinstated. "That means data doesn't get ingested into the models, and forecasting for those hurricane tracks and intensity will be less accurate," she said. adding that it would impact evacuations, money allocated for storm preparation and disaster response. Already, local National Weather Service offices have scaled back lesser known but crucial work, due to cuts. Watch: Moment extreme turbulence hits Hurricane Milton hunters Helene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since Katrina For example, scientific balloon launches from Alaska - vital to national forecasts because the location allows them to assess systems moving from west to east - were curtailed, weather experts told the BBC. Launches in New York and Maine also were reduced. NOAA spokeswoman Susan Buchanan declined to comment on individual staffing decisions, citing agency policy. But, she said, "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience." "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission." A Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised. Some of NOAA's long-term, climate-focused initiatives also face cuts. Before he was fired, NOAA scientist Zach Labe studied using artificial intelligence to prepare for deadly heat waves. Others in his division, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, also were fired and their specialities make them difficult to replace, he said. "People who were impacted were definitely the key people who were leading the development of the US weather models," Mr Labe told BBC. Even private sector weather companies rely on accurate NOAA and NWS data for their products. "We operate on razor thin margins to keep costs low," said Ryan Hickman, owner and chief technology officer at AllisonHouse, which takes data from NOAA and other sources to create custom weather visualisations. For AllisonHouse, NOAA is both a data source and a client. Mr Hickman was particularly worried that the agency's radar and satellite services could be impacted. "Nobody else has these satellite capabilities NOAA has," he said. "Unless someone has a billion dollars to build a weather satellite and launch it into geostationary orbit, and have it sit there and read all this data, and bring it back down to Earth so that everyone else can see it and use it, then what are we doing here?" The prospect of more cuts alarms scientists and private businessmen like Mr Hickman, who believe they will strain the agency's maintenance of the complex and delicate instruments needed to produce real-time as well as future forecasts. NOAA's primary goal is to keep Americans informed about the future, in ways both mundane and urgent, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "There is almost unanimous horror among people who really understand how this works," he said. He feard some in the administration believe in a "philosophy that not only can we not plan for the future, but we also should not even try to prevent bad things from happening." Back in Florida, Mr Ripp still doesn't know what the future holds. During his brief unemployment, he explored opportunities flying for a private firefighting company – and still would not rule out leaving NOAA. He remains angry that fellow veterans were caught up in the layoffs. He backed Trump due to the president's commitment to the rule of law, he said, but now Mr Ripp thinks Trump is flouting the correct procedures for reducing the federal workforce. "We're very good stewards of the money we're given by the government. We're not out here committing waste or anything like that," Mr Ripp said. "If you're looking for government savings, NOAA's not the place."
BBC News
13-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Hurricane forecasts and weather data at stake in NOAA cuts
As an engineer who flies into hurricanes for the US government, Josh Ripp is accustomed to turbulence. But the last two weeks have been far bumpier than he's used late February, the Trump administration fired Mr Ripp and over 800 recently hired or promoted staff at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency using a form email, part of ongoing cuts to the federal he and several other members of the elite Hurricane Hunters flight team were out of a job - until around 21:00 Friday when he received a second email. He was to report back to work in Lakeland, Florida, 12 March, it Mr Ripp, a retired US Navy officer who voted for Donald Trump, the confusion highlighted the dangers of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency slashing thousands of government jobs to cut costs without agency soon as this week, the Trump administration could consider axing more than 1,000 additional staffers at NOAA, according to BBC News partner CBS News. Those potential cuts, plus losses from previous firings and buyouts, would cost the agency up to 20% of its workforce, the New York Times reported. The White House did not comment on additional cuts, but a Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised during the first round of Doge really found hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud?Who is Doge's official leader? White House says it's not Musk"NOAA provides vital information to the entire country and we do it at a fraction of the cost that anyone else could do," Mr Ripp said. "There's a lot of jobs out there that are very important. NOAA is a small agency. Every little bit hurts."The cuts will not only harm government functions, staffers and weather experts warn, but they could disrupt the daily lives of Americans who rely on accurate NOAA data more than they data that powers Americans' smartphone weather apps and informs local meteorologists comes from NOAA and its subsidiary, the National Weather Service. Americans use it to decide what to wear, and whether to meet friends in the park or indoors. They rely on it during hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards. List weekly accomplishments or resign, Musk tells US federal workersMusk wields his Doge chainsaw - but is a backlash brewing?Airlines and federal aviation officials need forecasts to safely guide planes through the sky. Retailers use them to schedule customer deliveries. Shipping companies and fisheries in the Great Lakes rely on NOAA updates about ice conditions and algae blooms."People take for granted how accurate the weather forecasts are," said Andy Hazelton, a NOAA climate scientist who modelled hurricane paths and was fired in February. "Forecasts are going to get worse because offices are understaffed." Flying into hurricanes, so you don't have to Hurricane Hunters measure hurricanes from the inside, gauging their strength and paths. As a flight engineer for the P-3 aircraft, Mr Ripp ensures that the nearly 50-year-old planes NOAA uses are safe. Missions cannot take off without team members like him original staffing cuts would have limited hurricane flights, said Lt Kerri Englert, a flight director for the Hurricane Hunters - also cut in February then reinstated. "That means data doesn't get ingested into the models, and forecasting for those hurricane tracks and intensity will be less accurate," she said. adding that it would impact evacuations, money allocated for storm preparation and disaster local National Weather Service offices have scaled back lesser known but crucial work, due to Moment extreme turbulence hits Hurricane Milton huntersHelene is deadliest mainland US hurricane since KatrinaFor example, scientific balloon launches from Alaska - vital to national forecasts because the location allows them to assess systems moving from west to east - were curtailed, weather experts told the BBC. Launches in New York and Maine also were spokeswoman Susan Buchanan declined to comment on individual staffing decisions, citing agency she said, "NOAA remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research, and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience.""We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission."A Trump administration official said an "extensive process was conducted" to ensure "mission critical functions" were not compromised. A future in doubt Some of NOAA's long-term, climate-focused initiatives also face he was fired, NOAA scientist Zach Labe studied using artificial intelligence to prepare for deadly heat waves. Others in his division, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, also were fired and their specialities make them difficult to replace, he said."People who were impacted were definitely the key people who were leading the development of the US weather models," Mr Labe told private sector weather companies rely on accurate NOAA and NWS data for their products."We operate on razor thin margins to keep costs low," said Ryan Hickman, owner and chief technology officer at AllisonHouse, which takes data from NOAA and other sources to create custom weather AllisonHouse, NOAA is both a data source and a Hickman was particularly worried that the agency's radar and satellite services could be impacted. "Nobody else has these satellite capabilities NOAA has," he said."Unless someone has a billion dollars to build a weather satellite and launch it into geostationary orbit, and have it sit there and read all this data, and bring it back down to Earth so that everyone else can see it and use it, then what are we doing here?"The prospect of more cuts alarms scientists and private businessmen like Mr Hickman, who believe they will strain the agency's maintenance of the complex and delicate instruments needed to produce real-time as well as future primary goal is to keep Americans informed about the future, in ways both mundane and urgent, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles."There is almost unanimous horror among people who really understand how this works," he feard some in the administration believe in a "philosophy that not only can we not plan for the future, but we also should not even try to prevent bad things from happening."Back in Florida, Mr Ripp still doesn't know what the future his brief unemployment, he explored opportunities flying for a private firefighting company – and still would not rule out leaving NOAA. He remains angry that fellow veterans were caught up in the backed Trump due to the president's commitment to the rule of law, he said, but now Mr Ripp thinks Trump is flouting the correct procedures for reducing the federal workforce."We're very good stewards of the money we're given by the government. We're not out here committing waste or anything like that," Mr Ripp said. "If you're looking for government savings, NOAA's not the place."
Axios
06-03-2025
- Climate
- Axios
NOAA cuts could ground some Hurricane Hunter flights
The layoffs that hit about 800 NOAA employees last week will hamstring the agency's fleet of hurricane research aircraft, experts warn. Threat level: NOAA's aircraft have specialized equipment that the Air Force's Hurricane Hunters lack. Their flights during hurricane season are aimed at feeding data into computer models to improve forecast accuracy. The now-thinly staffed team of flight directors, engineers, scientists and mechanics means NOAA will struggle to maintain a 24-hour-a-day tempo of flying its modified Gulfstream jet and aging WP-3 research aircraft, said Josh Ripp, who was laid off as a flight engineer since he was a probationary employee. Ripp said the missing flights will translate into less accurate forecasts and greater risk for coastal residents who are used to having at least two to three days' warning of a hurricane's predicted landfall location. He told Axios in an interview that the agency is now either short one person or is at just the level of personnel needed to staff 24/7 flight operations, which has been the desired tempo during past seasons. However, that assumes no one gets sick or has a family emergency and cannot crew a flight. NOAA, he said, is now "playing the odds that everyone there is going to be fine all season." Zoom in: Two others associated with NOAA's hurricane research program confirmed the challenges the agency faces after the layoffs hit its Office of Marine and Aviation Operations in Lakeland, Fla. According to Andrew Hazelton, who was laid off from working on hurricane forecast models at the National Hurricane Center, the cuts may compromise forecast accuracy and ultimately cost lives. He said NOAA uses the information from the flights in two ways. One is to gauge the intensity and movement of a storm, since such data is immediately relayed to the Hurricane Center. The other is to use the specialized equipment — such as powerful, tail-mounted-Doppler radar — to gather data that's fed into hurricane forecast models to better anticipate a storm's movement and shifts in intensity. Consistent NOAA and Air Force Reserve hurricane reconnaissance has helped lead to vast improvements in hurricane track forecasts in particular, with new gains made in intensity projections in recent years. Between the lines: NOAA only has a minimum capacity of flight directors, positions that require years of training, according to one source familiar with staffing issues who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution if they are rehired. It missed out on gaining three who were in the hiring process when the Trump administration instituted a government-wide freeze, and then lost two to the layoffs, the source said. "This leaves the exact number for staffing four total WP-3 and G-IV crews," the source said. "It leaves no room for anyone to get sick or have a life event that precludes them from being able to fly." "It will, of course, also lead to burnout of the remaining flight directors," they said, noting that flight engineers are also at "critically low" levels of personnel. Hazelton told Axios that NOAA is running the risk that a storm will approach the coast and that the agency won't be able to fly into and around it with its advanced capabilities. "I think that's a real risk that could happen if some of these moves aren't reversed," he said. What they're saying: NOAA wouldn't comment specifically about the Hurricane Hunter staffing issue. "As per longstanding practice, we don't discuss internal personnel and management matters," the agency said in a statement to Axios. "NOAA remains dedicated to providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation's environmental and economic resilience," the statement said. "We continue to provide weather information, forecasts and warnings pursuant to our public safety mission." Go deeper: DOGE moves to cancel NOAA leases on key weather buildings Top weather, climate agency NOAA the latest layoff target NOAA layoffs threaten weather, climate forecasts DOGE plans for NOAA, FEMA could have big climate impacts
