Shaw Capital Guide to Business Loans from Family & Friends

Shaw Capital Management and Financing – The key to successful financing is structuring loans right. Avoid Debt Management Scams.

An estimated half of all small businesses depend on private investments from family and friends for startup or expansion. Shipping giant UPS was launched when 19-year-old entrepreneur Jim Casey borrowed $100 from a friend to start the company nearly 100 years ago in Seattle. And when teenager Fred DeLuca opens a sandwich shop in 1965 with a $1,000 check from a family friend, Subway (now 25,000 restaurants) was born. Friends and family are the single most important outside funding source for small business in America. But there are risks, and "F&F" money must be approached carefully.

Shaw Capital Guide to Business Loans from Family & Friends - Action Steps. The best contacts and resources to help you get it done.

Put a financing facilitator to work. Small business loans from friends and family often go awry because they haven't been properly structured and administered. Sign up a service that will prepare documents, create repayment schedules, bill, collect payments and provide year-end tax statements.

I recommend: Virgin Money (formerly CircleLending) has been a pioneer in private loan administration. The firm helps manage transactions such as small business loans between private parties — especially family and friends.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing – The key to successful financing is structuring loans right. Avoid Debt Management Scams - Offer equity in your business. If your business is a corporation or LLC, your funding source can become an equity investor, buying shares in your business.

I recommend: At Intuit's MyCorporation.com web site, you can incorporate a business or form an LLC online for as little as $149, plus state filing fees.

Put your plan in writing. Even with family and friends, you need to put a business plan and request for funding in writing. Make it as detailed, professional and realistic as you can. Aim for full disclosure of all potential risks.

I recommend: A terrific place to find help writing your plan is Bplans.com.

Arm yourself with finance facts. The better you understand the intricacies of financing, the more likely you are to succeed.

I recommend: "Financing Your Small Business: How to Borrow Money from People Your Know," is a helpful booklet produced jointly by SCORE and CircleLending.

Shaw Capital Management and Financing Guide to Business Loans from Family & Friends - Tips & Tactics. Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide. Plan your approach in advance. Think about your ideal loan and how it would work, and have those details at hand. Be yourself when you approach people for money. Don't try to suddenly come off like a big corporate executive. That's likely to be a turnoff. Don't borrow more than your friend or relative can afford to lose. Let them name the final amount. You don't have to get it all from one person. Agree on terms and formalize the agreement in writing. If it's a loan, this should specify an interest rate, repayment schedule and whether the loan is secured or not.

Shaw Announces First Quarter Fiscal Year 2011 Earnings Conference Call and Live Webcast

BATON ROUGE, La., Dec 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) today announced it will hold a conference call Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, at 5 p.m. Eastern time (4 p.m. Central time) to discuss the company's financial results for the first quarter fiscal year 2011. Shaw will release the financial results one hour before the call at approximately 4 p.m. Eastern time that same day. A slide presentation will be posted on the Investor Relations page of Shaw's website at www.shawgrp.com at that same time.

Interested parties may dial 1-800-471-6718 to listen to the conference call live or access a live audio webcast of the call on the Investor Relations page of Shaw's website at www.shawgrp.com.

A replay of the conference call will be available after the call by telephone, as well as on the company's website. To listen to the replay by telephone, dial 1-888-843-7419 and use pass code 28680770#.

The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SHAW) is a leading global provider of engineering, construction, technology, fabrication, remediation and support services for clients in the energy, chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response industries. A Fortune 500 company with fiscal year 2010 annual revenues of $7 billion, Shaw has approximately 27,000 employees around the world and is the power sector industry leader according to Engineering News-Record's list of Top 500 Design Firms. For more information, please visit Shaw's website at www.shawgrp.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about our current and future prospects, operations and financial results, which are based on currently available information. Actual future results and financial performance could vary significantly from those anticipated in such statements.

Among the factors that could cause future events or transactions to differ from those we expect are those risks discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2010, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended November 30, 2009, February 28, 2010, and May 31, 2010, and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Please read our "Risk Factors" and other cautionary statements contained in these filings. Our current expectations may not be realized as a result of, among other things:

    * Changes in our clients' financial conditions, including their capital spending;

    * Our ability to obtain new contracts and meet our performance obligations;

    * Client contract cancellations or modifications to contract scope;

    * Worsening global economic conditions;

    * Changes to the regulatory environment;

    * Failure to achieve projected backlog.

As a result of these risks and others, actual results could vary significantly from those anticipated in this presentation, and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, the occurrence of certain events, or otherwise.

Shaw Capital Awarded Construction Management Contract for Clean Fuel Project

Shaw Capital Awarded Construction Management Contract for Clean Fuel Project at Marathon Illinois Refinery – Good Warning!

BATON ROUGE, La.,--The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) today announced it has been awarded a capital contract from Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) to provide construction management services for a benzene reduction project at its refinery in Robinson, Ill. Services include management of site construction activities such as contractor selection, safety warning, materials management and project controls. The construction is expected to be completed before the mandated date for reduction of benzene content in gasoline to meet new EPA standards.
The award follows Shaw's earlier project management, engineering and procurement services work for the feasibility and definition phases of the project.
"Shaw has extensive refinery expertise and a strong reputation for helping customers meet clean fuels regulations at their plants," said Lou Pucher, president of Shaw's Energy & Chemicals Group. "We place a priority on understanding key environmental and economic drivers and working closely with our customers to ensure success."
Most recently, Shaw management completed engineering and procurement services for another benzene reduction capital project at Marathon's Catlettsburg, Ky., refinery and a 70,000 barrel per day heavy gas oil hydrocracker unit and 47,000 barrel per day kerosene hydrotreater unit at Marathon's Garyville, La., refinery as part of that plant's recent major expansion project. Last year, Shaw was awarded maintenance, capital construction, turnaround support and specialty services contract for Marathon's Texas Refining Division.
The undisclosed value of the new contract will be included in Shaw's Energy & Chemicals segment's backlog of unfilled orders in the third quarter of fiscal year 2010.
The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE:SHAW) is a leading global provider of engineering, construction, technology, fabrication, remediation and support services for clients in the energy, chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response industries. A Fortune 500 company with fiscal year 2009 annual revenues of $7.3 billion, Shaw has approximately 28,000 employees around the world and is the power sector industry leader according to Engineering News-Record's list of Top 500 Design Firms. For more information, please visit Shaw's website at www.shawgrp.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans" or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company's website under the heading "Forward-Looking Statements." These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis, visit our website at www.shawgrp.com.