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Stories for September 2007
Friday, September 28
Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corp. has a new legal adversary at rival Qualcomm Inc.
3Com Corp., a maker of networking hardware and software, will be sold to affiliates of private equity firm Bain Capital Partners LLC for $2.2 billion in cash, 3Com said Friday.
The two remaining founders at New Century Financial Corp. of Irvine have resigned from the bankrupt mortgage lender's board.
Newport Beach's The Irvine Company has bought Regents Square, a three-building office complex in La Jolla.
The probability of a recession in the United States has increased but is still less than 50/50, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in comments broadcast on Friday.
Thursday, September 27
The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower but brisk 3.8% annual rate in the second quarter, and fresh signs of a surprisingly buoyant job market emerged last week, government reports on Thursday showed.
KB Home on Thursday posted a loss on write-downs for land values, and revenue fell 32%, reflecting the swelling supply of homes and tighter standards in the mortgage market that kept potential buyers on the sidelines.
One of the country's top electrical contractors is moving its headquarters to Orange County.
New-homes sales tumbled in August to the lowest level in seven years, a stark sign that the credit crunch is aggravating an already painful housing slump.
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc., a maker of medical testing gear and supplies, has signed a $10 million contract with a Midwestern laboratory operator.
David Einhorn, head of New York-based activist hedge fund operator Greenlight Capital Inc., has sold his remaining stake in bankrupt subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp.
Wednesday, September 26
Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc., an Irvine eye drug maker, said Wednesday that it paid $2 million for U.S. rights to an allergy drug.
The United Auto Workers union and General Motors Corp. reached a tentative contract on Wednesday, ending a national strike by 73,000 workers with a groundbreaking deal that includes a health-care trust fund.
Bank of America Corp. said it will lay off about 2,500 workers in Illinois and 1,500 in Michigan over the next two years in connection with its $21 billion purchase of LaSalle Bank Corp.
Shares of Irvine-based accounting consultant company Resources Connection Inc. fell 23% on Wednesday, a day after reporting quarterly profits and sales that were short of Wall Street expectations.
Irvine-based Lantronix Inc., a maker of networking gear, said Wednesday its chief executive is set to resign.
Demand for big-ticket manufactured goods plunged in August by the largest amount in seven months, with widespread weakness signaling a slowdown in the nation's industrial sector.
Tuesday, September 25
Virgin Mobile USA Inc, a venture of Sprint Nextel Corp. and Virgin Group, filed on Tuesday for an initial public offering of up to $467.5 million to raise money to repay debt and for general purposes.
Consumer confidence fell more sharply than expected in September while the pace of existing home sales swooned in August.
Apparel companies, technology consultants and an avocado distributor were among the companies honored at the Business Journal's first fast-growing private companies luncheon in Irvine.
Qualcomm Inc. said on Tuesday it would beat its target for fiscal fourth quarter earnings and would meet or beat the high end of its target revenue range.
Lennar Corp., the Florida-based homebuilder with its operational headquarters in Aliso Viejo, reported a big quarterly loss Tuesday as it accounted for land and homes that aren't as valuable as they used to be.
A change of strategy is at hand for Irvine-based auto financier United PanAm Financial Corp.
Monday, September 24
Dell Inc. announced a deal Monday to launch a retail presence in China by selling computers through the country's biggest chain of electronics stores as it struggles to capture a bigger share of the booming market.
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc.'s 12% stock run-up since July is good enough, according to an analyst that downgraded the maker of medical testing gear on Monday.
Quest Software might be seeing some light after its dark options scandal
A look at the corporate culture of Costa Mesa's Automobile Club of Southern California
Commercial Bank of California is looking to tap the county's manufacturing base with an office in Brea
Birtcher Anderson has teamed up with GE's real estate unit for a local buy
Architects Strive to Learn Green Building. Slowdown in Housing Gives Firms Time to Get Ahead of Client Demand.
One of the country's top electrical contractors is moving its headquarters to OC
Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. said Monday its board cut its quarterly cash dividend amid the housing slump.
Habitat for Humanity is hosting its charitable event at one of Laguna's legendary restaurants, in the Executive Dining column
The default rate on U.S. mortgages is stabilizing, an American housing official said Monday, adding she didn't expect last week's cut in U.S. interest rates to significantly affect the number of defaults.
Is The Sky Falling? Commentary by Wallace Walrod, vice president of research at the Orange County Business Council in Irvine.
Sybron's seeing a more operations focus after being acquired by Danaher
A state agency has opted not,yes, not,to impose indoor heat illness requirements on businesses.
Triple Net's healthcare real estate unit has bought a medical office building in Long Beach, in the Healthcare column
The 314-room Radisson Maingate in Anaheim is set to be acquired by Red Lion Hotels Corp. for undisclosed terms.
A pair of developers has pulled back from condo plans in Irvine
Lennar Going Slow, But Not Retreating; Chemerinsky, Cont'd
Strong sales continue to spur absorption of industrial space in West County. PLUS: CHART - Net Absorption; Vacancy Rates; Average Asking Lease Rates
Falling Bridges Catch Engineers' Attention. Local Firms Expect More Business From Infrastructure Bonds, Inspections
Manu Shah is a tiny man behind a big stone company
A look at people, companies and institutions receiving awards, accolades, grants and other honors
Fashion Island's getting OC's first Pinkberry, in the Marketplace column
Advanced Medical Optics is back selling its Complete contact lens solution
The United Auto Workers has launched a national strike against General Motors Corp., GM spokesman Dan Flores said Monday. It's the first nationwide strike during auto contract negotiations since 1976.
A German network security services company is looking to tap the county's slew of businesses, in the Technology column
Nexus is well under way with construction of its $350 million condominium project,sales are another story
The county's brands pushed everything from "green" clothing to revamped sunglasses and other garb at ASR, in the Media & Marketing column
Orange County's getting its own version of "The Apprentice," in the Real Estate column
Friday, September 21
Orange County's unemployment rate continued to inch up in August to 4.2%, up from 4.1% in July and 3.9% in June.
Newport Beach-based Makar Properties LLC's plans for turning the Wyndham Orange County in Costa Mesa into a boutique hotel and condominium tower were delayed for a few months by an airport commission ruling on Thursday night.
A unit of San Francisco-based activist hedge fund ValueAct Capital LP has reduced its stake in Irvine homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp.
The personal computer industry is in for a wave of consolidation, the president of Acer said on Friday, adding the Taiwanese PC maker did not plan any buys itself for up to two years.
Shareholders of Bausch & Lomb Inc. approved a proposed $3.67 billion takeover by private equity firm Warburg Pincus on Friday, the eye care company said.
A big overhang of property will bring U.S. house prices down further, but it is too early to say if the economy will plunge into recession, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying on Friday.
Thursday, September 20
Bear Stearns Cos. said on Thursday quarterly profit plunged 61% to its lowest level in five years on bad bets on subprime mortgages and disrupted fixed-income trading.
Irvine's Newport Corp., a maker of lasers, light filters and other gear used by researchers, on Thursday said Chief Executive Robert Deuster is set to retire.
The number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven weeks, an unexpected sign of improvement for the jobs market.
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs was asked by U.S. securities regulators to give a deposition in a lawsuit against the company's former general counsel involving stock options backdating, Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with the matter
Donald Bren of The Irvine Company leads Orange County's contingent on this year's Forbes 400 listing of the richest Americans at an estimated $13 billion.
Hologic Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based medical device maker, said Thursday it completed its $70 million buy of Aliso Viejo's BioLucent Inc.
Wednesday, September 19
Irvine-based medical device maker Masimo Corp. on Wednesday reported lower second-quarter profits but offered a full-year outlook that surpassed Wall Street expectations.
Consumer prices unexpectedly dipped 0.1% last month and new home construction hit a 12-year low, data on Wednesday showed, underlining concerns about the country's economic outlook.
Oil will continue to trend higher after hitting fresh highs over $82 a barrel but is unlikely to puncture the $100 level this year, Seal Beach-based Clean Energy Fuels Inc. chairman T. Boone Pickens said on Wednesday.
Irvine's Blizzard Entertainment Inc., Orange County's top video game maker, said it's set to open a new European base in Ireland.
San Diego's Qualcomm Inc. plans to shift its legal tactics after a string of losses to rival Broadcom Corp. of Irvine, Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs said Wednesday.
Irvine-based Allergan Inc. is paying $370 million for New Jersey's Esprit Pharma Inc., maker of a drug to treat overactive bladders.
Morgan Stanley on Wednesday said third-quarter profit fell as the summertime freeze in mortgage and corporate loan markets forced the bank to mark loans down by $940 million.
Like the tides, the wave of good feelings that swept over Wall Street and Main Street with the Federal Reserve's big rate cut could ebb just as quickly.
Tuesday, September 18
The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate for the first time in four years, seeking with an aggressive half-point move to prevent a steep housing slump and turbulent financial markets from triggering a recession.
Walt Disney Co. plans to expand its Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in Anaheim, adding a wing with more than 200 rooms and 50 timeshare condominiums, the company said Tuesday.
Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., a struggling subprime mortgage lender, on Tuesday posted a $260.2 million quarterly loss and said it remained unsure it would survive the fallout from a slumping U.S. housing market.
The number of foreclosure filings reported in the U.S. last month more than doubled versus August 2006 and jumped 36% from July, a trend that signals many homeowners are increasingly unable to make timely payments on their mortgages or sell their homes am
Shares of Irvine drug maker Allergan Inc. could gain as it finds new uses for its flagship Botox drug, an analyst said Tuesday.
Irvine-based Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc. said on Tuesday it was shutting down most of its mortgage lending operations, including for riskier Alt-A mortgages.
Monday, September 17
Could Lawyers Solve UCI Law School Flap? Shady Canyon Haircut
Smith Micro's been on a tear working on diversification of its customer base
Advanced Medical Optics and Edwards Lifesciences have stepped up their activity in Europe, in the Healthcare column
Bixby's recent acquisitions are the latest in a string of buys
Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software Inc. has come up with an official bill of $143 million in its long-running probe into misdated stock options.
Southern California is the second biggest boat market,OC is making up a nice chunk of that, in the Marketplace column
The cofounder of Downey Financial is a little impulsive
Deutsche Telekom mobile phone division T-Mobile USA has agreed to buy SunCom Wireless Holdings Inc. for about $1.6 billion, the companies said on Monday.
A not-so-typical public relations firm in Huntington Beach is branching out, in the Media & Marketing column
Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center is the latest to jump into the building boom, but not because of seismic safety
Biomerica is putting health to the test, in the Small Business column
Microsoft Corp. suffered a decisive antitrust defeat on Monday when a European Union court upheld a landmark ruling that the world's largest software maker had abused its dominant market position to crush rivals.
Fountain Valley-based memory products maker Kingston Technologies has reached a turning point at its largest site in Asia, in the Technology column
Despite what you've read, the law school dean issue at the University of California, Irvine, wasn't about academic freedom. It was about finding the right dean to head a law school.
The buzz at the Action Sports Retailer trade show wasn't just about beer and bikinis
Some are wondering whether Gateway's struggling brand name will have staying power under Acer
The robust rent increases on industrial the county's seen may temper a bit in coming months. PLUS: CHART - Net Absorption; Vacancy Rates; Average Asking Lease Rates
Shares in one of Britain's largest lenders tumbled another 30% Monday as customers, driven by fears of insolvency, made run on the bank and withdrew billions.
The University of California, Irvine, has rehired Erwin Chemerinsky to be the dean of its law school, the university said Monday.
Evangelical Christian Credit Union is tapping a misunderstood market
Koll has some big redevelopment plans for a site that housed the headquarters of Kyocera Tycom, in the Real Estate column
Z'Tejas is hosting a charity event featuring fire fighters and a Chile Fest menu, in the Executive Dining column
Local telecommunications companies posted a decline in workers, thanks to Verizon's job cuts
Watch out Al Gore,Sole Technology's chief executive vying to be poster child of green practices
Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. said Monday that new home orders in July and August were up 20% from a year earlier.
Friday, September 14
Retail sales edged up in August but they posted the biggest decline in almost a year when car sales were stripped out as consumer spending softened, a government report on Friday showed.
Merrill Lynch & Co. warned on Friday that shaky credit markets forced the world's largest brokerage to adjust the value of securities linked to risky subprime mortgages and other products, in a move that could hurt third-quarter profit.
Irvine-based real estate investor Bixby Land Co. paid $116 million for two office properties in Vista and Santa Clara.
There was a buzz at the recent Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo held in San Diego. But this time the whispering in the aisles wasn't fueled by the beer and bikini-clad babes.
Consumer confidence tumbled to its lowest point in nearly 1 1/2 years as a deep housing slump and a credit crunch made people more worried about the country's economic health as well as their own.
Thursday, September 13
Irvine's HireRight Inc., which screens job applicants for employers, reported higher second-quarter sales and operating profit on Thursday, its first quarterly results since going public in August.
Shares of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. weren't phased on Thursday after a federal judge ruled to halt a ban imposed by a government trade group on rival Qualcomm Inc.'s chips in cell phones.
Countrywide Financial Corp., the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Thursday that it had lined up $12 billion of secured financing to help cope with a housing slowdown that has reduced loan demand and will lead to widespread layoffs.
Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. has three offers for its struggling Rossignol division, according to French newspaper La Tribune.
A global credit crisis has increased the threat to growth, the European Central Bank said on Thursday, as G7 governments asked for a report on the genesis of the turmoil for next month's meeting of finance chiefs.
Clean Energy Fuels Inc., the Seal Beach company backed by legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens, has started building a liquefied natural gas plant in the Mojave Desert, the company said Thursday.
McDonald's Corp. on Wednesday raised its annual dividend by 50% as part of a plan to return up to $17 billion to shareholders through 2009, sending its shares up more than 2%.
Wednesday, September 12
Edwards Lifesciences Corp., the Irvine-based heart valve maker, has given $5 million to the University of California, Irvine's Henry Samueli School of Engineering to start a research and development center for heart devices.
Shareholders have filed two lawsuits over Irvine-based Gateway Inc.'s pending sale to Acer Inc. of Taiwan.
The University of California, Irvine, rescinded an offer to Duke University's Erwin Chemerinsky to become its law school's inaugural dean because of his political views, according to published reports.
Orange County's housing market continued its divergent trend of the past few months as sales fell again in August but the median price for a home inched higher.
Mortgage defaults and a "sustained lull" in home building will weigh on California's economy for at least another year but will not tip the state into a recession, according to a forecast released on Wednesday.
Texas Instruments Inc., the world's largest maker of chips used in cellular phones, expects third-quarter earnings to come in on the higher end of a range it had previously forecast.
Option One Mortgage Corp. of Irvine is cutting 575 jobs as part of the troubled subprime mortgage lender's ongoing restructuring, according to parent company H & R; Block Inc.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Wednesday that the turbulence that has hit financial markets will take some time to be resolved, especially in the area of subprime mortgages.
Tuesday, September 11
Health insurance premiums paid by workers and their employers rose an average of 6.1% this year, outpacing inflation and pay increases and taking a bigger chunk out of families' budgets, according to a new survey.
Shares of Lake Forest-based Comarco Inc. rose Tuesday after the company said it hired a financial adviser to "improve shareholder value."
The United States and other countries must work together to right a skewed pattern of trade and investment around the globe, a move that would help worldwide economic stability, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested Tuesday.
The National Association of Realtors on Tuesday lowered its forecast 2007 existing home sales for the eighth straight month, predicting a drop of 8.6% from last year.
Money manager Mohamed El-Erian is returning to Newport Beach-based Pacific Investment Management Co., this time as co-chief executive.
Monday, September 10
ZMI Real Estate is selling nearly $160 million in holdings, including a few OC buildings
A maker of tiny motors for dental and medical tools has struck a lease for a bigger facility in Irvine
Headwaters MB LLC is buying its way into OC
Blame the Federal Reserve, not the lenders, for the financial panic, a Viewpoint by Katy DeLay, a freelance writer who lives in Marina del Rey
Sue Klug of Albertsons is helping to change the male-dominated industry, in the Marketplace column
Santa Ana's Digital Media Center is part classroom, part incubator
Bristol Park Medical is moving its headquarters after buying a building in Tustin
Lake Forest's Western Digital Corp., a maker of disk drives, on Monday upped its outlook for the September quarter.
Acer is poised to pass big rival Lenovo once it wraps up its $710 million buy of Gateway, in the Technology column
Sole Technology pushing its etnies girl brand, in the Media & Marketing column
Costa Mesa's MetroCenter at South Coast office complex has been landing some good-sized leases as of late, though it looks like its in the market for a new anchor tenant, in the Real Estate column
Wachovia Corp. is grabbing more mortgage business as a result of the recent shakeout in the industry, Chief Executive G. Kennedy Thompson said Monday.
The county's tight medical office market is getting some breathing room with Irvine Heritage Medical Plaza, in the Healthcare column
TTM's working to get back in Wall Street's good graces
Placentia Medical LLC spent $4 million to buy the Linda Vista Professional Center in Placentia
A hearing with ties to Broadcom Corp.'s battle against Qualcomm Inc. gets under way Monday in Washington, D.C.
Construction has begun on what will be one of the largest office complexes in the Inland Empire
Shea Properties is gearing up for a busy next few years
The Fountain Valley School District is wrapping up $88 million in land sales
Doti Runs Dollar Marathons, Too; Mortgage Rebound?
The Red Claw in Fountain Valley offers savory meals quite reminiscent of Louisiana in the Executive Dining column
Reclusive billionaire Joseph C. Lewis, who made his fortune trading currencies, has taken a 7% stake in Bear Stearns Cos., snapping up the investment bank's sagging stock to become one of its largest shareholders in less than a month.
Intel Corp. on Monday raised its third-quarter revenue forecast and said global demand for computing products was stronger than expected, sending its shares up 2.8%.
HKS is powering up Nissans and Infinitis with its supercharger
OC's retail vacancy is slightly up, but rents have increased. PLUS: CHART - Net Absorption; Vacancy Rates; Average Asking Lease Rates
Friday, September 7
Employers sliced payrolls by 4,000 jobs in August, the first such decline in four years and a stark sign that a painful credit crunch that has unnerved Wall Street is putting a strain on the national economy.
Ford Motor Co. has offered to pay $78 million for the Romanian government's majority stake in troubled carmaker Automobile Craiova SA, officials said on Friday.
Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc.'s forecast for the 12 months through October could be tough for the apparel and sports gear maker to meet, an analyst said Friday.
Three Orange County offices and an industrial park are trading hands this month, as part of nearly $160 million in Southern California sales by Newport Beach-based investor ZMI Real Estate Inc.
Recent credit market turmoil has increased downside risks for the economy, but the U.S. Federal Reserve would refrain from taking action to bail out investors who made bad decisions, top policy-makers said on Thursday.
NeoMatrix Inc., an Irvine medical testing company, has raised $9.6 million in a third round of funding.
Thursday, September 6
Shares of Newport Beach chipmaker Conexant Systems Inc. jumped 17% on Thursday after an analyst upgraded the company, citing positive management changes.
Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc. has hired back its former president as the retailer's new chief executive.
The rate of home loans entering the foreclosure process rose to a record high in the second quarter of 2007, driven largely by failing subprime mortgages, an industry trade group said on Thursday.
Chrysler pulled off a major coup Thursday, hiring away the highly-regarded Jim Press, Toyota's top North American executive, to run its sales and marketing operations.
Cooper Cos., a contact lens and women's surgical company that is moving its corporate office from Lake Forest to Pleasanton, reported lower quarterly earnings Thursday and cut its profit outlook for the year.
Medical device maker Medtronic Inc., feeling the pinch of a slowdown in one of its key markets, will eliminate about 900 jobs through early retirement packages, voluntary and involuntary separations, the company said in a filing.
August sales at Anaheim-based mall store operator Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. surged a surprising 9.6% last month, while the county's other major retailer, Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal Inc., was up 1.7% last month.
Wednesday, September 5
Newport Beach-based chipmaker Conexant Systems Inc. has hired a chief financial officer from Freescale Semiconductor Inc., a Motorola Inc. spinoff based in Austin, Texas.
Newport Beach-based chipmaker Mindspeed Technologies Inc. said Wednesday it is buying startup Ample Communications Inc., which makes controllers that speed up communication between computers in a wide-area network.
Mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp. and bond insurer Radian Group Inc. agreed to terminate their pending merger, the companies said on Wednesday, citing market conditions.
Pending sales of previously owned homes plunged 12.2% in July and planned layoffs by companies surged 85% in August due to turmoil in the subprime mortgage market, independent reports showed on Wednesday.
Irvine computer maker Gateway Inc. is selling its struggling business selling computers and services to businesses for $90 million, ahead of its own $710 million sale to Taiwan's Acer Inc.
Boeing Co.'s new 787 jetliner will not begin flight testing until mid-November or mid-December, months later than originally planned, because it's taking longer than anticipated to get the first plane ready, the head of the company's commercial airplanes
Tuesday, September 4
Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. has seen investment manager Adage Capital Partners LP of Boston nearly double its stake in the mall retailer to 11.4%.
Construction spending took a surprising fall of 0.4% in July, its largest drop since January 2007, as gains in commercial building failed to offset declines in home building, a government report showed on Tuesday.
Anaheim-based SyncCast Corp., which offers services for making video available online, has been bought by a unit of France's Thomson SA, a maker of consumer electronics and broadcasting gear.
Companies showed signs of shrugging off the caution that has enveloped the world economy since a credit crisis broke, as investors looked on Tuesday to U.S. data to gauge the likelihood of a Federal Reserve rate cut.
Huntington Beach surfwear maker Quiksilver Inc. is headed to court against a Los Angeles company in a dispute over its Roxy brand of clothes.
Santa Ana-based First American Corp. said on Tuesday it plans to cut 1,300 jobs during the third quarter, primarily in its core title insurance business, as a result of the slumping housing market.
Manufacturing expansion slowed in August from the previous month as a decline in new orders had factory managers opting for caution, according to the Institute for Supply Management on Tuesday.
Monday, September 3
As analysts predicted, Cooper Cos.' chief operating officer is taking over for its departing chief executive, in the Healthcare column
Airport, Central Coast: Tight Vacancy Pushing Rents Upward. PLUS: CHART - Net Absorption; Vacancy Rates; Average Asking Lease Rates
Lasco Bathware has updated its Anaheim facility and products to compete in down market
Quiksilver is suing a Los Angeles company over the Roxy brand
Walgreen Co. plans to open a store in a closed Tower Records, in the Real Estate column
Freedom Communications is targeting online advertisers, in the Media & Marketing column
Larry Ellison's Pillar Data Systems is opening an Irvine office
Foundation 9 buys a British video game developer with site in India, in the Technology column
Leading tofu maker beefs up Fullerton facility
The Irvine Company lands a tenant for Jamboree Business Center
Mozambique serves up fine Southern African fare, in the Executive Dining column
Device Makers Post Worker Gains; Beckman Posts Decline
Con-way Freight Co. is closing its regional HQ in Buena Park
Drug Makers Post Modest Gain in Employees; Little Movement
Spending on roads, bridges and other necessities has paled that of stadiums and convention centers
Glitzy belts drive B.B. Simon's $13M in yearly revenue, in the Small Business column
A chip turnaround weighs on Broadcom's stock more than the lingering options issue
Lindora is expanding its Rite Aid healthcare clinics, in the Marketplace column
Foundation 9 buys a British video game developer with site in India, in the Technology column


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Pokémon cards have been all the craze on Twitch over the past month with many of the site’s most popular streamers trying their hand at finding the rarest cards.
Over the past week, a group of streamers has been taking part in “Pokémon Week,” an event that has seen hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of card packs opened over seven days.
On the final day of the event, Mizkif opened the most expensive box of the whole week, a first-edition Neo Genesis worth $70,000.
After having mostly underwhelming pulls from the box, Mizkif struck gold, pulling the rarest card from the set, a holographic Lugia.
According to PSA authentication and grading services, at a PSA 10 quality the card’s value averages at $70,000, however, it was most recently sold for $129,000.
PSA have only ever graded 41 PSA 10 Lugias, according to the site. The card’s value does significantly decrease with quality, however, with a PSA 9 averaging at only $5,000.
Regardless, to pull a Lugia from one of these packs is extremely rare and the most sought-after card in the set.

domain: news


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There have been hints for the past week-plus -- courtesy of Liveside.net -- that Microsoft was poised to roll out two-factor authentication for its Microsoft Accounts. On April 17, Microsoft did just that.
The company is calling this security process "two-step verification." Microsoft is making available two-step verification across all products and services accessible via a Microsoft Account. This includes Windows, Windows Phone, Xbox, Outlook.com, SkyDrive, Office, and more. The rollout will be happening over the "next couple of days," according to the company.
(Microsoft Account is the new name for Microsoft's Live … Read more


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The new Leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore, today (May 22) pledged his commitment to both MG Motor UK and his own 46,000-strong workforce when he launched a partnership car scheme.
Birmingham City Council is the first employer to sign up to the Longbridge-based car maker's programme of Privileged Members Car Schemes and Sir Albert is keen for others in the private and public sector to follow his lead.
He said: “The new administration is delighted to support this initiative. Our policy is to buy Birmingham wherever possible. This will create work in the city and get our people back in jobs.
“MG's new scheme will give Birmingham City Council staff an incentive to buy Birmingham when they are thinking of buying a car. This can only be good for the city.
“Council employees have been affected both financially and in terms of morale in recent years with huge changes to their terms and conditions through Equal Pay and the Birmingham Contract. And this deal is part of our Fresh Start to thank and value our dedicated and loyal workforce.
“I want to make it quite clear that supporting MG will be a council priority. We are delighted that there are 400 highly-skilled jobs at Longbridge. Just a few years ago we were faced with the prospect of an empty site and the loss of those skills. MG has shown a commitment to Birmingham. We will show a commitment to MG.
“I would also like to acknowledge the work put into this scheme by my predecessor as Leader of the City Council, Mike Whitby.”
Sir Albert Bore is due to inspect some of the latest cars to roll off the assembly line outside the Council House tomorrow (May 23) at 10am.
Guy Jones, Sales and Marketing Director of MG Motor UK, said: “We have had great support from Birmingham City Council ever since MG Motor UK started operating and recognise that the council is one of the largest employers in the region.
“We are happy to extend our partnership even further by offering council employees membership of the Privileged Car Scheme and hope that many will soon be driving our great cars.”
Notes to editors
1. Cars have been manufactured at the MG Birmingham site in Birmingham since 1904. It is now home to MG Motor UK, which is owned by the SAIC Motor. SAIC's European Technical Centre and European Design Centre are also based at MG Birmingham, in Longbridge, where 300 professionals work on the latest models. Final assembly takes place just 100 metres from the on-site MG Sales Centre.
2. SAIC Motor is the largest car company in China, and the eighth largest in the world. Last year SAIC Motor sold more than 4-million vehicles. worldwide.
3. The award-winning MG6 GT fastback and the MG6 Magnette sports saloon, the first new MGs in 16 years, were both designed and engineered in Birmingham. What Car? awarded the MG6 its 2012 Security Award for outstanding levels of security.
4. To qualify for the scheme, employees must simply show their council ID pass or payslip during the purchase process.
Anyone interested in the offer can call the MG Sales Centre, based at Lowhill Lane on 0121 251 6533. Further information can also be obtained by visiting Birmingham.mg.co.uk
5. Birmingham City Council employs 46,077 staff. Of these, 20,140 are non-schools workers, the remaining 25,937 are schools workers. Figures correct as of 31/12/2011.
For more media information contact Kris Kowalewski on 0121 303 3621


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The Town of Chapel Hill held a ribbon cutting ceremony last week for a new electric vehicle charging station at the Homestead Aquatic Center.
The two charging stations, which were the result of a $10,000 grant from Duke Energy, count as the town’s fifth and sixth electric vehicle charging stations.
Mayor Pam Hemming says these stations will come in handy due to the concentration of electric vehicle users in Chapel Hill.
“We have the highest concentration of electric vehicles in the state,” says Hemminger. “An electric-vehicle user spends on average $400 a year on energy for their car, and a gas-driving vehicle spends about $1,200 on average for their car. So, not only does it reduce your carbon footprint and put out less pollution, but you can save a lot of money.”
All six of the town-owned stations are classified as level-two chargers, which are capable of fully charging a 100-mile range electric vehicle in four to six hours.
Hemminger says the town has discussed methods of tracking the charging station’s amount of use, but drivers parking their electric vehicles at the stations for longer than they need to be charged has made that difficult.
“As we get more vehicles, we’ll come up with more guidelines, but, for now, it seems to be fine,” says Hemminer. “I don’t think anyone’s really complained about not finding a station available for them to charge their car.”
Chapel Hill was recently named one of the greenest cities in North Carolina by Insurify.
Photo via Town of Chapel Hill


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Farmers need to embrace partnerships
More farmers and food companies need to embrace a partnership approach if they are to survice in a global marketplace warned EFFP's chief executive Sion Roberts yesterday.
A divide between 'thinkers' and 'blinkers' is emerging in Britain's food industry, with the majority of food companies and farmers yet to embrace the partnership approach required to succeed in the 21st century.
That was yesterday the verdict of Sion Roberts, chief executive of English Farming & Food Partnership -the organisation established to facilitate greater co-operation between food companies and farmers.
Speaking at the EFFP's 4th annual conference he said that while huge opportunities exist for 'thinkers', the 'blinkers' risk losing valuable ground if they fail to adapt to the new realities of the global market.
Roberts argued that while a new dynamic is beginning to emerge, with food companies and farmers embracing a partnership approach, they remain a minority of 'thinkers', with the majority yet to ditch the 'them and us' mindset.
The message was intended as a rallying cry to an industry which has been plagued by years of mutual mistrust. Roberts made the case that against a backdrop of food and energy prices being influenced by global forces and, at the same time, an increasing interest by consumers in provenance and 'local food', food companies and farmers must form a partnership approach.
He warned that the risk of not doing so would be that farmers would become bit-part players in an increasingly global, cost-led industry, while food companies may find themselves unable to source the raw ingredients required to produce the differentiated products their consumers demand.
"Only collaboration can deliver security of supply from a known source as well as efficiency of production," Roberts said. "The opportunity has never been greater - or more pressing - for farmers and food companies to take off the blinkers and work together."
01 - 03 March, 2017
02 March, 2017
Meat & Poultry Processing Awards
08 March, 2017
The UK food supply chain: sector developments, the impact of Bre
13 - 19 March, 2017
National Butchers’ Week


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The gaming industry’s efforts have been observed by government agencies, as manifested by a contest organised by the National Center for Research and Development under the auspices of the Operational Program of Intelligent Development.
Spectral games managed to win grants to co-fund a research project for the creation of innovative technology regarding symbolic language recognition in virtual reality and augmented reality environments.
The primary aim of the project is to create symbolic language technology for the most recent VR and AR devices. It will enable the creation of a new-generation user interface and gameplay systems. The system will be implemented in a specially designed video game using the most recent VR hardware platforms.


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| Thyssenkrupp Rasselstein and Hoffmann Neopac want to make new food cans from used cans, crown corks and twist-off closures.
| The Fibersort machine is ready to start valorizing global textile waste, sorting ~900 kgs of post-consumer textiles per hour, enabling a closed textiles loop.
| In a new market report - The Future of Rigid Plastic Packaging to 2022 – Smithers Pira forecasts that global rigid plastic packaging consumption will exceed $200 billion in 2022.
| The EU circular economy action plan lays an important foundation for waste prevention, longer product use and better recycling – but binding targets and timetables are needed for its implementation, says DUH.
| FEAD welcomes the ambitious new Circular Economy Action Plan put forward by the European Commission for a cleaner and more competitive Europe.
| Tana Shark has been engineered to provide maximum uptime. The Tana Control System (TCS) together with the remote management system Tana ProTrack, allows to tune the process.
| To achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal, an ambitious CEAP is vital and today’s announcement marks an important step by the European Commission to draw a final line under the linear economy and establish clear priorities for the packaging sector.
| CEWEP believes that it is very timely and necessary to introduce a new set of ambitious proposals for circularity, from product design to sustainable waste management.
| The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (Euric) welcomes the publication of the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) by the European Commission.
| Mathieu Rama, Senior Policy Officer at RREUSE, shared the following reaction: “A comprehensive upstream approach ensuring products are durable, repairable and re-useable is timely. Whilst tackling design of electrical products remains a priority, we welcome indications that other product categories such as textiles and furniture will also be addressed within a new Sustainable Product Policy”.
| The Bureau of International Recycling welcomes the EU's support for recyclers as laid out in their new Circular Economy Action Plan.
| The European Commission’s new Circular Economy action plan contains a patchwork of some positive initiatives on how we produce, consume and dispose of resources and products but will likely fail to prevent runaway resource overconsumption, according to Friends of the Earth Europe.
| Despite the absence of targets to halve resource use, the strategy is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the way we manufacture and use our products in a way that benefits people and the planet.
| ACE (The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment) welcomes the new EU Circular Economy Action Plan that will further accelerate the transition of the EU towards a circular and climate neutral economy.
| Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) welcomes the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) by the European Commission, as an important step to increase the EU’s circularity.


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In March, a piece by digital artist Beeple sold for a record-breaking $69 million at a Christie's auction. Unlike an actual physical painting, the pricey purchase is a high-tech doodad that you can look at but can’t hang on a wall—not an IRL wall anyways. That’s because the work is an NFT (short for non-fungible token) and only exists in the digital realm. It’s the latest internet craze that everyone is trying to cash in on. But can NFTs play a role within the events industry? We asked some pros for their thoughts on the new fad and the impact NFTs might have on future events.
NFT stands for “non-fungible token” and it can hold anything digital—from drawings to animated GIFs to even concert tickets. It can either be a one-of-a-kind item like the Beeple art or a copy like trading cards. The value of NFTs is subjective and therefore fluctuates, kind of like stocks. Blockchain technology (which is a data system that’s difficult to change, hack, or cheat) keeps track of who has ownership of the file. Because of the amount of energy it takes to keep this information up to date, many have begun to question the environmental impact of NFTs, especially given their recent surge in popularity.
When Kings of Leon released its new album earlier this year, in addition to offering it on streaming services like Spotify, the band also made it available in the form of three different NFTs, all of which included art designed by the band’s creative partner Night After Night. As part of the release, 18 “golden tickets” were created, six of which were auctioned off, the other 12 were put in a virtual vault. Each “golden ticket” unlocks actual concert tickets. Whoever owns the token is guaranteed four front-row seats to any Kings of Leon concert during each tour for life. The token owner also gets a V.I.P. experience that includes a personal driver, a concierge at the show, time with the band, exclusive lounge access, plus bags of merch.
In theory, this NFT strategy could be applied to all ticket sales. Every time an NFT is resold, a percentage of that money could go to the artist. A maximum resale price could also be established in order to deter scalpers. “From a ticket perspective, secondary market sales that actually benefit an artist would take the sting out of ticket resellers, but also allow an artist to own all data and communications related to their fanbase,” explained Casey McGrath, C.C.O. of Night After Night. He also added that NFTs could be used to award bonus swag to fans who purchase merch at the on-site store; an accompanying NFT could unlock a similar item in the metaverse.
Multi-hyphenate artist and musician Young & Sick recently teamed up with Goldflyer, a fundraising initiative from Neon Gold Records, Venue Group, and All Things Go, to raise funds for independent music venues, in conjunction with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA).
Each venue’s one-of-one NFT art included a special “Golden Ticket” component that grants the owner exclusive perks like V.I.P. tickets to every show at that venue for one year, as well as other venue-specific rewards like the winner's name on the marquee at The Metro in Chicago, a guided tour of First Avenue in Minneapolis with a photo opp on Prince's motorcycle from Purple Rain, and more. Goldflyer collaborated with Offsetra, which works with companies to offset their carbon emissions, to create a carbon-neutral experience.
“We first started getting into the NFT space at the end of 2020, and after watching our Neon Gold artists Young & Sick and The Knocks recoup a year's worth of lost touring income in mere minutes on their debut NFT collections, we couldn’t help but think of the incredible opportunity to harness the energy of the space to direct some much-needed relief to other sectors of the creative industry hit hard by the pandemic,” explained Derek Davies, co-founder of Neon Gold Records, referring to Young & Sick’s debut NFT collection that grossed over $1,000,000 in March.
As for the bigger picture, Davies echoes the sentiments of McGrath, saying he thinks that blockchain technology could “revolutionize the entire music industry in myriad ways…. Blockchain ticketing can offer the first real solution to the scalping and bot issues that have plagued the live industry for years, ensuring any secondary market sales flow through to the promoter or venue and tickets end up in the hands of fans and no one else.”
For this year’s Kentucky Derby, the Churchill Downs Racetrack launched a limited series of blockchain-backed digital collectibles (a.k.a. NFTs) by Fanaply, which has created NFTs for Death Row Records, Olivia Rodrigo, Ticketmaster, and others. Four different NFTs, all inspired by popular IRL products, are being sold, including mint julep glasses; the post position graphic, which commemorates the starting gate order; and the official artwork that’s featured on the commemorative posters and program covers.
While the digital Derby collectibles represent physical stuff, the N.B.A. recently monetized actual gameplay, with the advent of N.B.A. Top Shot. Created by Vancouver-based startup Dapper Labs, which builds marketplaces for tokenized digital collectibles, the new platform lets users buy and sell N.B.A.-licensed basketball highlight videos called "moments." Like old-school trading cards, but cooler, the video-based trading cards each show a short clip of an N.B.A. athlete making a play. Right now, a clip of a dunk by LeBron James is going for $240,000. Top Shot only releases a limited supply of each moment, so rare ones cost more, as is the case with most collectibles. Although the marketplace has been open to the public since October, fans and investors just recently started getting in on the NFT action.
Creative agency Manifold recently released the first-ever “Experience-based Concept NFT,” which is the blueprint of an idea, a digital representation of a creative concept. Titled "VORTEX," the piece, which is available on OpenSea (a marketplace for digital items), is being presented in four parts. The first “drop” is a conceptual build drawing. The following three drops show its evolution into a fully realized concept.
The agency believes this type of NFT is a way to democratize access to creative thinking and disrupt the traditional creative agency model. “We believe that really anyone might be interested in buying an experience-based concept NFT—an individual, an agency, a brand,” explained Kelly Long, co-founder and partner of Manifold. “Once purchased, it’s up to the buyer what they do with the concept. For example, they can keep it, they can resell it, they can iterate on the idea, they can produce it in the real world, etc.” Manifold will remain the original creator of the concept, as verified by blockchain.
“As a creative agency, concepting creative experiences is what we do all day,” Long said. “We come up with hundreds of ideas that never see the light of day. We think this is a great way to put those ideas that may have been tossed to the cutting room floor out into the wild.”
Over the past year, many event planners and producers were forced to embrace the digital side of the industry—from livestreaming to XR and everything in between. But will they be ready to take on another technology like NFTs?
Marc Herron, senior vice president of strategy for Sparks, said that some of his agency’s clients have already expressed interest in NFTs and predicts that by fall Sparks will be incorporating them into events. “Although we haven't currently incorporated NFT's into any virtual or live events we've done to date, we do see the potential integration of NFTs into events in the near future, especially when it comes to gifting, swag, and other unique items we can offer our attendees either pre-registration as an incentive to register and participate or during the event to amplify the experience,” he said.
Right now, the idea of enhancing an IRL experience with digital perks and capturing some “cool kid” points seems to be the biggest takeaway when it comes to NFTs, especially in the B2C space. “NFTs can build an even deeper relationship between attendees and organizers without having to go through traditional ticketing platforms. Not only is there an opportunity for organizers to engage with their attendees well in advance of an event through the art and content that will come with the ticket purchase, but they can also surprise and delight fans with drops post-event.”
Some critics are already questioning the sustainability of the NFT model and are wondering when the bubble will burst. But Manifold’s Long anticipates the new tech will stick around and find its way into creative industries, including events.
“This landscape is so new and clearly there is still a lot of confusion around NFTs. There is education that needs to happen to make all of this accessible to the masses, but we are confident that NFTs, especially experienced-based concept NFTs, are going to have an incredible impact on our industry in the near future.”


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Progressus has announced that it now has more than 1,000 customers for its PSA solution. It now has 1,043 customers from all across the world. The milestone was reached as its first quarter ended. The news comes a few weeks after it announced its latest version, 18.104.22.168.
Available from the Microsoft App centre, Progressus PSA is built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. This release features improvements to several functional areas including:
- Expense Sheets
- Sales Invoices/Credit Memos
- Work In Process
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
A significant milestone for Progressus as it looks to increase growth. In 2020 it has already issued more announcements in the first four months than it did in the whole of 2019. It promises more information in the coming weeks.


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Premier Foods to cut 2013 Hovis marketing spend
Premier Foods is pulling marketing spend from Hovis and switching it to Sharwoods, Bistro and its other grocery products in 2013.
Hovis: Premier Foods cuts marketing spend
The move follows long-running speculation that Premier Foods is plotting to sell off Hovis, but the company today maintained it was not "looking to offload the brand."
Hovis has endured a tough 2012, with hundreds of jobs being axed after it announced the closure of two bakeries and four distribution hubs after losing a major contract with Co-op.
Premier Foods said marketing investment is expected to remain stable in 2013 but there will be "greater emphasis" on its grocery products such as Loyd Grossman cooking sauces, Mr Kipling cakes, Oxo stocks and Sharwood’s sauces.
Activity in 2012 included a tactical Hallowean campaign and support behind its new Hovis Breakfast Bakes amid a difficult year for branded bread, which has been impacted by own-label sales.
In January it was announced that Michael Clarke, Premier Foods' chief executive was stepping down after less than 18 months. He will be replaced by Gavin Darby, the former Coke marketing director and Cable & Wireless chief executive.
This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk
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Source: USA Today
Dairy Farmers of America agreed to buy a “substantial” part of Dean Foods, the largest U.S. milk producer, for $425 million. As part of the deal, Dairy Farmers of America, an agricultural cooperative that represents roughly 14,000 dairy producers, would acquire 44 of Dean’s plants. Dallas-based Dean Foods filed for bankruptcy protection in November.
Dean Foods, which supplies supermarkets and schools, has struggled as the U.S. dairy industry grapples with declining milk consumption. The company’s efforts to close plants and cut costs haven’t offset declining sales as more consumers turn to plant-based milk alternatives such as soy.


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While we cannot ignore the impact that the climate crisis is having on ecosystems and wildlife, we would be wise to understand the dire consequences it is having on our own health.
Jamie, the 23-year-old co-founder of TreeCard, talks to us about launching an ethical FinTech product, his first ever business (it started in school) and his love of David Attenborough.
We’re excited to announce TreeCard — a wooden debit card that lets you plant Ecosia trees with your everyday payments.
The way we are cultivating crops nowadays is not sustainable. It’s not good for us and it’s not good for wildlife or the planet. Here’s how Regenerative Agriculture could change everything.
Young people’s grassroots activism has ushered in a new era of climate action. In an effort to amplify the work of youth climate activists on the front lines of the climate battle, we’ve partnered with Earth Uprising.
The effects of climate change are harming smallholder farmers in Senegal. Planting trees on their fields helps them take charge of their future.
While we’re all familiar with the Amazon, the Pantanal is a smaller and lesser known area, but it is a crucial spot in terms of biodiversity, and it is severely under threat.
Can companies take their footprint off the planet by buying carbon credits? Here's what to look out for.
Updates from your trees in Spain, India, Brazil and more. This is Tree Update 26!
More and more people don't want to be tracked online. A guest post by our friends at Vivaldi Browser on why people want to take control of their data.
Ecosia has launched its own mentoring program to make the tech industry more accessible.


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The 180-acre area around Franklin Street has about 40 potentially tainted parcels that the money from the Brownfield Opportunity Areas program will go toward improving, according to a statement.[dmc-related-post-wp numitems="3" title="Also read"]
Hempstead’s grant is part of $3.45 million given by the state to 15 communities from North Tonawanda to Red Hook in Brooklyn. The grants are aimed to create jobs, support environmental remediation, revitalize communities and expand the tax base in distressed neighborhoods that have been adversely affected by brownfield sites.
The BOA money supports investigations of site contamination conditions, environmental impact assessments, economic and market studies to determine best use, redevelopment plans, even marketing to attract developer interest.
More breaking news
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- US home contracts rise to 18-month high
- Economic growth in 4Q revised down
- January construction contracts up 11%


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Huawei spin-off Honor has confirmed plans to enter the wearables space amid rumours of an inbound Google Glass rival.
Having introduced its first smartphone efforts in recent weeks – the Honor 6 and the Honor 3C – the Chinese manufacturer has revealed it will be releasing body-based gadgets in the near future.
Despite announcing plans to enter the growing wearables sector, the company’s European head has failed to offer up any detailed information on particular products.
“Wearables in general are very, very interesting for us and we are observing this market segment very, very closely.”
While Weisswange was unable to discuss upcoming products, recent leaks have suggested Honor is preparing to launch a Google Glass rivalling pair of smart glasses in the near future.
Failing to either confirm or deny such plans, the Honor VP stated: “Unfortunately there is nothing we can share on this.”
Despite remaining schtum on a potential smart glasses launch, Weisswange hinted that Honor could look to introduce multiple wearable propositions moving forward.
“We are looking at other branches of the industry following discussions with the digital natives to see what’s important,” he said.
“We are relying on the feedback from the market we get – from the end customers and the retailers – about what’s really relevant for them.
“To be true with our slogan – from consumers, for consumers – we need to be able to offer the right wearables for the guys out there to support their lifestyles.”
In terms of a timeframe, Honor is currently remaining tight-lipped. However, with a third mobile device set to be introduced by the manufacturer before the end of the year, don’t expect to see the first Honor wearables hit retailers until early 2015.
Read More: Moto 360 review


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I’ve never seen anything like it. The streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City turned a sea of red as men, women and children raced around on motorbikes, cars and even tractors, waving the national flag and honking horns until the early hours.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Vietnam had won the World Cup. But no. The U22 men’s football team had just struck gold at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games with a 3-0 win against Indonesia.
For Vietnamese fans, it doesn’t have to be the first team, or the world stage, for the whole country to “đi bão” – or “storm the streets”– in a collective outpouring of joy.
The chaotic scenes of a “đi bão” celebration point towards an opportunity for sports brands that can tap into this passion.
The emotion that spilled onto the streets during a streak of unprecedented football success is one thing, but sports fans in Vietnam are also voracious consumers of sports media in normal times.
A report from Indochina Research found that the broadcast of the 2018 World Cup final garnered a 71.43-per-cent television audience share in Hanoi. The match was broadcast on free-to-air and cable pay-television channels. This is a huge figure considering Vietnam did not even play at the tournament. By comparison, television coverage in the UK of the Uefa Euro 2020 final featuring England against Italy achieved an 82-per-cent share.
The Vietnamese are savvy digital media consumers. With 61 million smartphone users, it’s very much a mobile- and video-first market.
Local influencer Anh Quan found it economically viable to secure rights to stream Euro 2020 highlights on his personal YouTube channel. Following a surge in use during the pandemic, 15 per cent of social media users say they now can’t live without TikTok.
Population size and youth have long been cited as strengths of the market. What is also promising is the growing middle class. According to a McKinsey report, another 36 million people may join Vietnam’s “consuming class” by 2030, when one in five of the population may be spending more than US$30 per day.
In a survey by We Create Content, 51.75 per cent of football fans said they would be willing to pay for access to exclusive content and genuine merchandise from their favourite foreign football club.
A sports-mad, digital-first population with money to spend signals opportunity for sports brands but, as with any emerging market, there are unique challenges to succeeding in Vietnam.
The opaque business environment is one issue – Vietnam is ranked 70th on the World Bank’s ease of doing business report. And while incomes are increasing, the average monthly per capita income in 2020 was still less than US$200.
Street celebrations in Hanoi after the Vietnamese men’s team secured gold in the 2019 SEA Games
Dos and don’ts
Several international sports brands have already jumped on the Vietnam opportunity, and their experiences provide some useful guidelines for those who follow.
Dutch football club SC Heerenveen’s social media following soared after signing Vietnamese international Doan Van Hau on loan, with their Facebook follower count increasing by 200,000 just three days after the signing was announced. The club got criticised on social media for never actually playing Van Hau.
Spanish football club Cadiz CF has effectively used Vietnamese language video content to win local support.
The German Bundesliga tapped into local trends by hiring an editorial team on the ground. The league’s “Bundesliga players speak Vietnamese” video series earned coverage from national news websites such as Vietnamplus, Kenh14, Bongdaplus, VTV and Zing.
Manchester City demonstrated awareness of how to appeal to Vietnamese consumers with simple fan club growth announcements – a move that cost nothing yet engendered considerable loyalty from Vietnamese fans thrilled to feel part of such a huge global club brand. City also produced a mini-documentary series about grassroots football in Vietnam with local partner SHB Bank and regional media partner Dugout.
Whatever brands choose to do in Vietnam, it is important to be culturally sensitive.
Coca-Cola slipped up with a campaign that was deemed “vulgar” by government officials. Spanish football’s LaLiga faced backlash on their social channels in 2019 when they wished Vietnamese fans a happy Lunar New Year using a social card including Chinese language.
Esports and gaming is an intriguing area of growth to consider for sports brands in Vietnam.
In 2020, esports in Vietnam generated revenues of $947.1m (€830m) and audiences totaling 435.9m. The market saw 42 per cent of gamers playing on mobile and 9.2 per cent playing the NBA 2K game, according to a report from Vero.
With the highest percentage of adult gamers in the world – 85 per cent according to the same report – targeting gamers who are sports fans could be a creative route to market for global brands.
The prospects for sports brands in Vietnam are as exciting as any “đi bão” celebration and the journey to market will most likely be just as chaotic.
But one thing is true: unique opportunities to build relationships with super fans and sports media consumers await the savvy and culturally sensitive brands brave enough to be among the first movers in this rapidly maturing market.


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Kirana warriors: On the frontline of battle against Covid-19, but unsung and unrecognised
Like in most places in the country, the kirana stores of Mumbai made sure their customers were well-stocked through the lockdown, when the world around them pulled their shutters down. Here are their stories.
Enforcement Directorate files charge sheets in Rs 750 crore fraud
Those charge sheeted are Sai Chandrasekhar, Virkaran Awasty, Ritika Awasty ...
From making face shields to recycling packaging, social entrepreneurs get creative in pandemic
Social innovation may be in the DNA of a socia...
Zomato makes its takeaway service available to restaurants at zero commission
Zomato looks at food takeaway as a gateway for restaurants to expand avenues to bring back customers while also providing more options for users who consider takeaway safer than delivery.
When less is more, more or less
Charging more for less soda is as wrong as charging more for more material.
Fidelity, D1 Capital likely to invest $100 million in Zomato
Zomato confirmed it has also raised about $145 million from Baillie Gifford, and new investors Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, US hedge fund Luxor Capital and private equity firm Bow Wave Capital and Steadview Capital
US pushing West-centric concept of a "rules-based world order": Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
"We can see that a number of US-led Western countries are unwilling to develop mutually respectful dialogue with the other members of international community. Quite to the contrary, they are doing their utmost to restrain the development of new global centres and to punish those who pursue independent foreign policies. As an alternative to international law, they are advocating a West-centric concept of a “rules-based world order.”
Food delivery volumes in India reach pre-Covid-19 peaks: Zomato's Deepinder Goyal
Since March 23, Zomato has delivered 92 million orders, with no reported cases of Covid-19 transmission through food delivery, or its food delivery agents, Goyal said.
MSP procurement of kharif paddy begins immediately in Punjab and Haryana: Centre
According to the ministry, state procuring agencies including Food Corporation of India (FCI) are in a state of readiness for smoothly undertaking procurement operations. The Centre has fixed MSP for 'common variety' paddy at Rs 1,868 per quintal and for 'A' grade variety at Rs 1,888 per quintal for the current year.
There is corruption, and law and order problems in Bihar, says Yashwant Sinha
The urge to get back into active politics arose from the situation I witnessed following the lockdown announced on March 24. The heartrending scenes of migrant labourers walking back, most of them are from Bihar and Jharkhand, left with no jobs, no food and now no work at home, said Yashwant Sinha.
Post-Covid order in FMCG is showing up
While the June quarter had FMCG companies slashing advertising spends during two months of national lockdown, they are likely to resume advertising to push consumption — albeit with a more stringent eye on the returns.
Court restricts CureFoods from selling movable assets
The company had sent a termination notice claiming that it was unable to do business owing to the Covid-19-induced lockdown.
Bihar orders home isolation for asymptomatic Covid patients, UP orders for SOP to be prepared
Bihar as of Sunday had 9,602 active cases while UP has almost the double number of active cases at 18,256, with UP reporting its highest number of 2250 cases in 24 hours while Bihar saw 1382. UP government in an order on Saturday allowing hotel isolation admitted that asymptomatic patients are hiding their ailment as they do not want to get admitted due to inadequate facilities at Covid Care centres.
Lite Bite Foods forays into cloud kitchens
The first kitchen is expected to go live in August 2020. Other locations will also include Pune and Hyderabad.
CII seeks exemption for e-commerce, ITeS, food processing from prohibitory orders
"For safeguarding the uninterrupted supply of consumer items in the market, CII urges the government to keep the manufacturing facilities of the food processing industry open under the strictest of safety and hygiene guidelines," Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said.


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A few days ago, a federal judge declared that the copyright on Happy Birthday is invalid. The copyright on Happy Birthday has long been pointed to as evidence that the entire copyright system has become absurd. The song has been around for over 100 years and its origins aren’t even entirely clear, yet people have been claiming to own the copyright since at least the 30s.
The current owners have basically been acting like copyright trolls, going around suing businesses that use the song without paying royalties. The judge ruled that the while the copyright itself is valid, the scope of the copyright is much more limited than claimed by the owner, effectively throwing the song into the public domain where nearly all agree it should belong.


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The ex-AMD guys are apparently drawing a lot of talent to the "dark side" as big names like Raja Koduri, Jim Keller, and, more specific for this case, Chris Hook, are drawing more and more people from AMD to Intel.
The latest big name to join Intel is Darren McPhee, an ex-AMD guy who was Radeon Marketing Executive, and probably enlisted by Chris Hook. Darren McPhee is another veteran from the ATI days, where he was Senior Product Manager back from 2003 to 2007, shifting to Senior Marketing Manager for Gaming, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Graphics, and Director of Graphics Products Marketing and Content Strategy before he left AMD in 2015.
Darren McPhee later worked for a couple of other companies before joining Intel Corporation this month as Director of Product Marketing for Discrete Graphics.
Intel is gearing up for its promised discrete consumer graphics card launch scheduled for 2020, by not only attracting a lot of big names from the industry but also working hard to get some other aspects in line, especially the graphics driver, which is now gaining a lot of traction with Lisa Pearce at the helm.
Of course, Intel has a lot of work to catch up with Nvidia and AMD in the discrete GPU market but nevertheless, 2020 will be an interesting year, and competition is always good for the consumer.


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Across the world stores are facing shortage of toilet paper as panic over the COVID-19 outbreak increases.
In Sylvan Lake, store shelves are emptied as soon as a shipment of the bathroom product is put out.
Mike Williams, owner of Western Business Solutions in Sylvan Lake, saw the opportunity to help his community, with of all things, toilet paper.
The local business owner had roughly 1,000 rolls of toilet paper normally sold to corporate partners on hand.
In a spur of the moment decision Wednesday afternoon, Williams decided he could help the community in Sylvan Lake in two ways, by accepting donations to Community Partners, and giving toilet paper to those who actually need it.
“If you had told me six weeks ago, not even years or months ago, I never would have thought I would be doing something like this,” Williams said.
On March 12, Williams opened the doors to his store after posting on Facebook his intentions to help those in need.
The response was a little overwhelming.
Over the course of the day, Williams collected roughly $700 in exchange for toilet paper, which he sold in packages of five in individually wrapped bags or packs of 12.
“Everyone who comes in has just been all smiles and so happy. It has been a great thing,” said Williams.
He said he felt out of his depth after telling the online world his intentions, as he didn’t think of the logistics of exchanging donations for toilet paper.
“I didn’t sleep [the night before], it just all came to me and I thought I was crazy.”
Some of the 1,000 rolls of toilet paper will also be donated to Sylvan Lake and Area Community Partners to be used for their Compassionate Care Program, Williams said.
“It’s just crazy to think it has come to this,” he said.
While stores may have difficulty keeping the product on the shelves, Canada’s leading producer of the product says there isn’t a shortage.
Kruger Products, which owns brands such as Cashmere, Purex, Scotties, White Swan and SpongeTowels, says customers will see the product catch up to the demand in coming weeks.
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said in a press conference this week that there is no need to stock pile the product.
“We always recommend that people have about 72 hours worth of supplies for any emergency… In this particular scenario, I think people are seeing what’s happening in other countries, maybe getting worried and starting to go out and buy large amounts of things,” Dr. Hinshaw said.
She continued to say, this type behaviour contributes to the spreading of panic.
“What is important is if people, again, think about who is in their neighbourhood, who is in their family, if they were to be asked to be self-isolated… who could help them get groceries, does their pharmacy deliver medication. There are other ways of getting those kinds of products if you do have to stay home for 14 days,” she said.
Over social media others have offered their services to help those who are unable to get groceries or other supplies due to extenuating circumstances.
Residents are encouraged to keep up with good hygiene and hand washing processes at all times.
COVID-19 is believed to be spread mainly by coughing, sneezing or direct contact with someone who is sick with COVID-19 or with surfaces they have recently touched.


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The company is going to launch MG Gloster Black Storm with a lot of updates but there is no such report that the company will make any changes in its engine.
MG Motor India has released a teaser of the upcoming variant of the full size SUV Gloster. The company has named this special variant of MG Gloster as ‘Black Storm’. Let us know how the company’s new Gloster is going to be and with what major changes it can be introduced.
MG Motor India has released a photo teaser of the special edition MG Gloster Black Storm of its SUV Gloster. According to the information received from this teaser, the company is going to introduce this Black Storm Edition with some updates which include some cosmetic and features updates. In this article, you know what to expect from this special edition.
MG Gloster Black Storm: Engine and Transmission
Talking about the engine, according to the reports, the company will give the same engine as the current model, which means that the company is not giving any mechanical update in it. In the current model, the company offers the option of two diesel engines. The first engine in it is a 2-litre turbo diesel engine that generates 161 PS of max power and 373.5 Nm of peak torque. The second engine is a 2 liter twin turbo diesel engine that generates 215.5 PS of power and 478.5 Nm of peak torque. An 8-speed automatic transmission has been given with both these engines. Apart from this, the SUV also has the option of 3 wheel drive and 4 wheel drive.
MG Gloster Black Storm: Exterior and Interior
In the MG Gloster Black Storm Special Edition, the company can make some cosmetic changes in which side graphics and chrome work can be seen. Apart from this, the company will present its front and rear bumpers with a new design in which fog lights will be given.
Talking about the interior, the features that it will get are newly designed leather seats with black sting, full black themed interior which may include dashboard to black leather steering wheel cover.
MG Gloster Black Storm: Tomorrow option
Currently, this SUV is present in the market with four color options, but the company can offer some new color options in the Black Storm Edition, which can also have two dual tone options.


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Limo Labels selects Xeikon CX3
Limo Labels in Denmark gears up production capabilities with a high capacity Xeikon CX3 digital label press.
Is there an issue you’d like us to address here? Do let us know on
Xeikon has developed a specific solution for printers looking to enhance and increase their range of #labels. It is… https://t.co/ESWeaQzhtp
Presenting the new Xeikon fleXflow for Pouch Production at Labelexpo
ARGRAF extended its portfolio with the acquisition of a Xeikon CX3 digital press, designed specifically for the production of self-adhesive labels.
Xeikon unveils 'Power of Dry Toner' campaign at Xeikon Café North America 2019
This latest innovation has been developed for consumer goods markets – food, beverage, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
It’s a misconception that digital print quality is inferior to conventional presses. And here is why.
Xeikon, an innovator in digital color printing technology, will be showcasing its Fusion Technology at drupa 2016, Messe Düsseldorf, May 31 to June 10 in Hall8a, stand B20.


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The time honored cliché of being invited to dinner…and then being forced to sit through a sleep-inducing, soporific slide show of your friends’ recent vacation has been replaced by instant photo posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the other social media sites.
“More and more travelers are choosing destinations which are not just on their bucket lists but also to create bragging rights,” said Tony Huffman, a travel advisor (they’ve eschewed the term ‘agent’) who spoke at this week’s Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas.
A selfie while ballooning over the Great Wall? Look Ma, no hands!
Virtuoso is a luxury travel company which pairs its’ 373 independent advisors in 30 countries with 1,700 rigorously vetted approved providers: resort properties, hotels, tour guides, and cruise ships. A combination of over 4,000 of them gathered this week to build relationships and compare notes to match up traveler desires and demands with destinations.
“Travel is no longer a luxury, it’s a part of our lives, and its’ impact on the world’s economy – it’s 10-percent of the GDP – is huge,” said Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso, which specializes in what it calls “the art of travel.” “The gift of longevity is that travel is now increasingly multigenerational. Families traveling together are on an intentional journey to create children and grandchildren who are ‘global citizens.’”
The savvy traveler demands an experience beyond booking airfare and a hotel online. “They are looking for authentically local, immersive experiences. They want to not just view the art at Musee d’Orsay in Paris, they want the opportunity to paint there, too. They want to stay on a working farm in Tuscany or Napa and help prepare and cook farm-to-table cuisine. They want to be cool,” said Jack Ezon, a Virtuoso advisor with Ovation Vacations.
“’Millennials,’ especially, are willing to get dirty and be in politically intriguing places with a touch of turmoil, but close out the day in the comfort of a luxury hotel and with the assistance of and security provided by a guide. They want the guides to hang out with them and take them where the locals go more than in their traditional, academic role of dispensing historical information,” said Kelly Grumbach, with Quintessentially Travel.
One Virtuoso tour operator, Norman Howe, of Butterfield and Robinson, is already planning guided trips to Iran and Cuba.
A review of autumn bookings, compiled by Virtuoso’s Misty Belles, reveals that traditional favorites Italy, Mexico and the United Kingdom are the top three most popular destinations; but, growing fast by percentage are Vietnam, India, and French Polynesia. “Expedition cruises are up 41-percent, and African safaris are very popular with families,” said Belles. And announcements by luxury cruise companies at Virtuoso Travel Week included partnerships with celebrity chefs, such as French Laundry’s Thomas Keller; and a ship outfitted with an in-cabin spa for unlimited treatments throughout the cruise.
In addition to posting on social media, some travelers write viewers on various travel sites websites, which can’t help but provoke the question “who do you trust?”
“In the era of personal trainers, hairdressers, therapists, nutritionists, and personal chefs, a trusted travel agent seems vital to make worthwhile, quality decisions with your time and money,” said Upchurch.
For more information visit www.Virtuoso.com
Michael Patrick Shiels may be contacted at email@example.com His talk show can be heard weekday mornings in Lansing on 92.1 FM .


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Whats in it for FDs?
On 18th May 2017
Here’s a photo of two great business improvement experts, specialising in quality and performance, at a BIN event.
On the left, Vince Desmond acting CEO of the Chartered Quality Institute together with Leadership expert Edward Gordon-Lennox discussing the role of the Financial Director in business development and what’s in it for them (FDs) to invest in business improvement.
The FD can be a key player in sponsoring larger scale quality, excellence and performance change programmes, and therefore understanding the importance and value that can be delivered is all part of getting their buy in which enables FDs to fulfil part of their role in securing the (financial) future of the business.


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Food prices continued to climb in September - for a sixth consecutive month - driven by sharp rises in meat, poultry and fish as supply chain issues and labour costs bite producers.
The price of chicken rose by 10 per cent while fresh eggs went up 12 per cent and roasting pork was up by 8.7 per cent, according to Stats NZ. Grocery items like chocolate biscuits (up 6.1 per cent), and sweets (up 3.2 per cent) also featured in the report.
Overall food prices rose 0.5 per cent in September compared to August 2021, the latest report said. After adjusting for seasonality, prices rose 0.9 per cent.
"The weighted average price of cage or barn-raised eggs rose sharply to $5.22 a dozen, up from $4.65 in August," consumer prices manager Katrina Dewbery said.
"Egg prices previously peaked at $4.81 a dozen in July 2021."
Infometrics senior economist Brad Olsen said labour shortages combined with higher wages and a general increase in production costs and supply chain restrictions were some of the reasons for skyrocketing food prices.
"With food prices continuing to rise and at a faster clip than what we've seen in previous times, household budgets are again being squeezed with higher prices across the board.
"Obviously, food and a number of these food products that we've seen go up in price are family staples, and so that is going to be weighing on New Zealand households as they figure out how to pay the bills."
On the flip side, fruit and vegetable prices fell in September 2021, down 1.5 per cent, largely due to falling prices for cucumbers (down 33 per cent), capsicums (down 28 per cent), and lettuce (down 21 per cent). These were partly offset by rising prices for tomatoes (up 3.0 per cent), apples (up 7.0 per cent), and pineapples (up 15 per cent).
"In the last few years, tomato prices have tended to peak in August before falling slightly in September," Dewbery said.
"This September, tomato prices rose slightly to a weighted average price of $16.27 per kilogram, up from $15.79 in August."
Overall, fruit and vegetable prices did not drop as much as they typically do in September.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, fruit and vegetable prices rose 2.3 per cent in September.
The largest annual increase in over a year.
Annually, food prices increased 4.0 per cent in September 2021, mostly due to higher prices for fruit and vegetables (up 9.3 per cent), restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food (up 4.6 per cent), and grocery food (up 2.9 per cent).
September's annual movement is the largest since August 2020, when prices increased 4.2 per cent.
The annual increase in fruit and vegetable prices was mainly influenced by higher prices for tomatoes (up 23 per cent), lettuce (up 52 per cent), and grapes (up 28 per cent). These were partly offset by decreasing prices for kumara (down 44 per cent) and avocados (down 34 per cent).
Olsen said consumers were bearing the brunt of labour shortages and supply chain restrictions.
Movement restrictions due to Covid-19 meant businesses had to pay higher costs for production even though the raw materials were available domestically.
"It's making it more difficult to move product around. And it's also harder to bring different products into the country. As well as that we're seeing that the prices that businesses are having to pay for their own inputs are going up.
"So for example, when it comes to chicken, we know that costs incurred for the likes of Tegel and other chicken providers have increased and those businesses are having to pass on those costs to consumers. And that's why we're seeing and part food prices are starting to rise higher."
He said a lot more of our food products including chicken and tomatoes are being produced domestically.
But, the price of the food had increased due to an increase in production cost, not necessarily because the raw materials were expensive.
"And that's [cost] being passed on to consumers," Olsen said.
This was a higher inflationary environment and the prices were most likely to hike next week when the inflation numbers get released again.
"Tomatoes are quite a good example where we've seen them increase further again, to possibly the highest price on record.
Olsen said the latest food price data was a good example of an inflationary environment.


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- The delinquency rate among millennial credit card holders has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center For Microeconomic Data. But delinquency rates among baby boomers, Gen X and Gen Z credit card holders remain in line with pre-pandemic patterns.
- About 2.9% of millennials are newly delinquent as of the third quarter of this year, slightly up from 2.5% in Q3 2019, according to a New York Fed blog post.
- After categorizing credit card delinquencies across four groups of incomes from the highest to the lowest, the Center For Microeconomic Data found that delinquencies among the lowest income credit card holders rank the highest at 3.4%, but the remaining three quartiles all have credit card delinquencies exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
Credit card balances rose $48 billion in Q3 to $1.08 trillion. The third quarter of this year marked the eighth consecutive quarter of year-over-year credit card balance growth, the New York Fed said.
In addition to income, the Center for Microeconomic Data also examined the impact of other household debt on credit card delinquencies. Consumers with auto and student debt had the highest rate of delinquencies in the third quarter at 3.7%, followed by consumers with only student debt (3.2%), auto loans (2.6%), credit card debt only (1.4%) and mortgage debt (1.2%).
“The labor market and the general economy have remained resilient throughout this period which makes pinning down the causes of rising delinquencies rates more difficult,” the researchers wrote in the blog post. “Apart from student loans, which were aided by administrative forbearance that only recently ended, new delinquencies for all loan types have risen since. Rising delinquencies were inevitable from historic lows, but it has been less clear how high and until when they might rise.”
The New York Fed has tracked rising credit card debt over the past year or so. In Q4 2022, consumer credit card balances rose 6.6% from the previous quarter to $986 billion. Though credit card debt remained the same in Q1 2023, consumers pushed their balances past the $1 trillion mark in the second quarter of this year, according to the Center for Microeconomic Data.


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As this article took shape, storage firm Iron Mountain lost backup tapes containing the personal records of 600,000 past and present Time Warner employees, and DSW announced that hackers had infiltrated its database, accessing personal information from 1.4 million credit and debit cards. In the past six months, George Mason University, the Las Vegas DMV, SAIC, Bank of America, Boston College and LexisNexis all admitted to security breaches that resulted in the theft of names, addresses and Social Security and driver’s license numbers. ChoicePoint, a data broker, was tricked into selling more than 145,000 records to fraud artists.
There appears to be a serious problem in how companies protect people’s personal data. There were 9.3 million identity theft victims in 2004, and those thefts cost the economy $52.6 billion. Data privacy is a growing issue that crosses application databases, operating environments and platforms.
To buck this trend, the United States has adopted federal privacy legislation, and individual states are adopting their own legislation as well. Consulting firms report increased business in their compliance areas, and numerous software solutions are appearing on the market. Using the appropriate tools, organizations should be able to automate their compliance management processes, effectively test their systems, and produce appropriate and complete documentation.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) limits financial institutions’ ability to disclose “non-public personal information” about customers to third parties. These institutions are required to tell customers how their privacy is being protected.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires healthcare professionals and institutions to protect the security and integrity of patients’ private information. NIST Special Publication 800-66, the recently released guideline for implementing HIPAA, is aimed at organizations that must comply with both HIPAA and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). It points out links between physical security, information security, and data assurance.
The Food and Drug Administration’s Code of Federal Regulations Article 21, Part 11 (FDA 21 CFR 11) requires all pharmaceutical, healthcare and food services and medical equipment manufacturing companies to preserve and secure information by establishing audit trails.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires companies become more fiscally accountable.
Section 302 requires companies certify that the officer who signs periodic financial reports has reviewed and found the reports true and not misleading, that internal controls were established and maintained, and that the audit committee has been apprised of all significant deficiencies.
Section 404 requires companies to document and assess their control environments. This is believed to be the single most important piece of federal legislation on corporate governance, financial disclosure and public accounting since the U.S. securities laws of 1930s. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act makes major changes to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to provide specific protections from fraud and identity theft. It requires merchants and credit agencies to tighten their systems for handling consumer fraud complaints and for protecting sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure.
The USA Patriot Act requires that financial institutions verify new accountholder identification, maintain information used for account verification, and cross-reference identities against federal terrorism lists. The legislation also makes businesses responsible for seeking, detecting and reporting computer trespasses.
Privacy regulations have been changing continually, and we expect additional legislation and changes. Visa and MasterCard are imposing new information security rules to avert identity theft. California and other states are passing additional state legislation. Clearly, compliance requirements will continue evolve, and to meet them, businesses will need funds, personnel and software.


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Get to know the stories of companies that have benefited from the support of the Polish Investment Zone and the special economic zone.
The story of Shapespark, a scale-up accelerated at the Kraków Technology Park proves that even niche products may gain global recognition.
Shapespark dates back to 2015. That is when Jan Wróbel and Wojciech Matyjewicz, university mates, realised the potential of WebGL technology for direct presentation of 3-D content in website browsers. They recognised that the technology will make a significant impact on the 3-D visualisation sector. WebGL solved the problem of distributing 3-D content, because it released the user from downloading and installing additional software on computers and smartphones. The future founders of Shapespark believed that to pave the way for interactive 3-D visualisations of architecture, which let you peek into any corner of complex spaces.
Selvita’s new investment
Selvita is building its own Research and Development Center for Innovative Medicines in Krakow in the Krakow SEZ.
Selvita is one of Europe’s largest biotech companies, actively discovering and developing drugs used in oncology. It also provides laboratory research and development services commissioned by pharmaceutical, biotech, and chemical companies from all over the world.
In September 2016 Selvita announced the plan to build its own Research and Development Centre for Innovative Drugs in Kraków. The plot where the development will take place lies several hundred metres away from Selvita laboratories, in the vicinity of the Kraków Technology Park (KPT), on the premises of the Kraków special economic zone, in ul. Podole.
Exim Coding is the first micro-company to have received tax relief as part of the new governmental programme: Polska Strefa Inwestycji – the Polish Investment Zone.
The company has been in the market since 2005, distributing and producing printers-labellers for packaging equipment that also supplies service, consumables, and spares. The company also provides production support equipment, and a range of health and safety industrial markings for industrial facilities.
Walker, producer of unconventional furniture, is the third company to have received the support decision as part of the new programme: Polska Strefa Inwestycji – the Polish Investment Zone.
The company produces unconventional furniture sets for professional and private use. The company provides complex services for restaurants, bars, hotels, cafés, schools, and individual clients, answering their specific needs.
Motorola Solutions develops advanced communication technologies and implements pioneering solutions all over the world, Poland included. On 2 October 2018 the company celebrated a double anniversary: 90 years of operation and 20 years of activity in Kraków.
There are two divisions of Motorola Solutions operating in Poland: the Kraków Software Design Center focused on research and development, and the Systems Engineering Eastern Europe Department in Warsaw. What Motorola opened first was a commercial office in Warsaw.
During the last five years the new company made the greatest leap in the history of the production facility in Klucze.
In the last 20 years, the paper production plant in Klucze and Velvet brand went through a number of ownership changes, becoming part of International Paper (1996–2003) and Kimberly-Clark (2003–13). The investment made at the time expanded the manufacturing equipment, adding modern processing lines.
Comarch is one of the first investors operating within the zone in Kraków.
In 1999, the company received the second permit for running business issued by the KPT. By now the Kraków tycoon has received five of them altogether. The latest lets the company build a new structure offering the total of 27,000 m² of space, which will significantly increase its IT system development and production capacity. It will let Comarch increase its employment by at least 300 people.
Mabuchi Motors is the leading global producer of small electric motors that supply among others windshield wipers, mirrors, seats, and other mobile elements in cars.
In 2016 the corporation decided to start the first production facility in Europe. The winning bid came from the Kraków Technology Park (KPT), who offered the best conditions for investment: a convenient plot in the Bochnia economic activity zone, situated by an exit from the A4 motorway, a short term for trudging through the red tape thanks ot the cooperation with the PAIH and the City of Bochnia, and obviously public aid in the form of a preferential tax relief.


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In a landmark announcement today, leading auction house Christie’s will break into a new territory for auctions. Christie’s will be the first of it’s kind to auction off a lot of NFTs with live bidding in Ethereum. The auction will be centered around Art Blocks Curated, a growing NFT series joining the ranks of some of the most sought-after NFTs to date.
Let’s take a look at what we know from the recent news.
Christie’s: Breaking Ground
We’ve seen a growing amount of NFTs go for auction on premier auction platforms such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s lately. Christie’s of course, first made headlines left and right for the $69MM sale of Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” earlier this year. Additionally, the auction house has gone on to build out “Christie’s Encrypted,” a subsection dedicated towards NFTs.
In a tweet on the official Christie’s Twitter, the auction house announced that an October auction will be host to the sale of Art Blocks Curated: Sets 1-3. The sets will be part of a broader ‘Post-War to Present’ auction series. Also aptly noted is that “bidding for this lot will be conducted live in ETH – a first for any leading auction house.”
We have seen the likes of CryptoPunks go up for auction on major auction houses with bidding that supported ETH payments, however this listing will seemingly be the first time that live bidding will be ETH-first.
Leave your USD behind and pack up your crypto wallet for this one.
New Kids On The ArtBlock
We covered a high-level primer on Art Blocks just a few weeks ago. Since then, they have continued to hold ground. Art Blocks have yielded over half a billion dollars in sales in the past thirty days, securing a firm positioning atop the NFT charts in terms of sales volume – second to only Axie Infinity.
Art Blocks have led a wave of generative art that many NFT projects are now tailing. The most notable NFTs in the Art Blocks umbrella are Chromie Squiggles. Squiggles are part of the Curated subset that Art Blocks brings to market, and are likely to be a featured piece of Christie’s upcoming listing next month. As we review in the aforementioned primer, Squiggles have become the predominant face behind Art Blocks.
Art Blocks will likely be the first of many more auctions to come for Christie’s that are Ethereum-first when it comes to bidding. What a time for NFTs.
Ethereum will be the primary bidding tool in next month's NFT series on Christie's, "Art Blocks Curated: Sets 1-3." | Source: ETH-USD on TradingView.com
Featured image from Pexels, Charts from TradingView.com