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January 28, 2021 Vancouver, BC – Extreme Vehicle Battery Technologies Corp. (the “Company” or “EV Battery Tech”) (CSE: ACDC) is pleased to announce the official launch of the first product from its IoniX Pro TITAN Series, the EnergyCore (the “EnergyCore”).
The Company recently revealed features and specifications of its IoniX Pro TITAN Series and began taking orders for the EnergyCore today through the IoniX Pro website www.ionixpro.com. Each device will be tailored to meet consumer requirements and prices will vary depending on the size of the EnergyCore.
“The addition of our exclusive and patented AI integrated BMS technology will allow EnergyCore owners the luxury of remote monitoring, maintenance and, in some cases repair and rebalance,” said EV Battery Tech CEO, Bryson Goodwin. “We hope the technology will represent a fundamental shift in both customer expectations and understanding of how flexible our offering is,” added Mr. Goodwin.
According to a 464 page report published by the International Energy Agency in Q4 2020, solar power offers the ‘cheapest electricity in history’.
“The world has reached a turning point with oil, gas and other environmentally harmful energy generation methods. The transition to cleaner alternatives has already begun and will only accelerate in the coming years. We will constantly evolve and improve to ensure we remain on the forefront of clean energy technology during this new industrial era,” Mr. Goodwin continued.
Left: Global primary energy demand by fuel in 2019, million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe). Right: Changes in demand by 2030 under the four pathways in the outlook. Source: IEA World Energy Outlook 2020.
The EnergyCore’s specifications will vary depending on consumers’ specific requirements, but the Company displayed specifications in its January 18, 2021 news release for an initial 2000kWh device for potential customers to use as a base for scalability. The Company intends for the EnergyCore to exceed the needs of today and meet the “smart” grid integration requirements of tomorrow.
The TITAN Series can be used for a multitude of applications, but the Company will primarily be targeting large scale mega markets, such as renewable energy, major industrial and cities.
“The adoption of the EnergyCore is expected to provide significant cost savings for businesses that purchase it,” said Mr. Goodwin. “Of greater importance is that our Company is providing an option for our customers to embrace a greener footprint.”
On behalf of the Company,
Chief Executive Officer
About EV Battery Tech
Extreme Vehicle Battery Technologies Corp. is a blockchain and battery technology company with revolutionary, patented Battery Management Systems (BMS) designed to meet the growing demand for scalable, smart solutions for the rapidly growing Electric Vehicle (EV) and Energy Storage Solution (ESS) markets. The company has committed to assisting global recycling solutions by offering recycling initiatives using their technology to analyze and fully refurbish used batteries.
Further information about the Company is available on its website (https://www.evbattery.tech).
Forward Looking Statements
The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management’s view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as “expects”, “intends”, “is expected”, “potential”, “suggests” or variations of such words or phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the launch of the EnergyCore, the specifications and features of same, the Company’s plan for taking orders of same and the expected benefits to using same to adopting businesses; the International Energy Agency’s predictions for energy trends over the coming ten years; the Company’s view respecting the world’s transition to clean energy alternatives; the Company’s hope that it will continue to evolve and improve and remain on the forefront of clean energy technology; and the Company’s hope that its technology will represent a fundamental shift in both customer expectations and understanding of how flexible its offering is. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statement will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.
The CSE (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.


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PROSPECT HEIGHTS — A more traditional opening would have had streamers. A free giveaway, maybe. A really giant sign.
But Phillip Lee is not your traditional restaurateur, and Kimchi Grill, his breathlessly-awaited bricks-and-mortar restaurant on Washington Avenue, is not your traditional Korean barbecue.
"I don’t want to go crazy and create such a high expectations," Lee said of the mellow opening. "I did that with the truck and I couldn’t really keep up with the demand."
The truck in this instance is the Kimchi Taco truck, whose Kim-cheesesteaks and eponymous kimchi tacos have been delighting New Yorkers in Manhattan for more than a year and will continue to operate now that its sister site is open. Like its forerunner, Kimchi Grill offers the same Instagram-inspiring dishes — now with better lighting.
In addition to a more comfortable spot to sit while you wolf down your tacos, the new eatery has expanded on the original taco truck menu, adding burritos, Korean fried chicken tacos, and the tantelizing promise Ssam, a traditional wrap of meat and spices, to come.
"This is a full kitchen and we’re able to produce a lot more things," Lee said. "We can also be more creative in terms of the menu items."
Lee thinks that creativity will pay off on Washington Avenue, where he saw both a need for quick, cool food and a burgeoning community of "adventerous eaters."
"I've been waiting for them to open for a long time," said neighbor Kenneth Hung, who owns Winey Neighbor down the block and was preparing to dig into a bowl of Korean shortribs — after photographing them, of course. "We need more places to eat on this street."

domain: news


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But Friday, the toy giant changed its tune. An executive offered a public apology to China and Chinese suppliers. "Our reputation has been damaged lately by these recalls," Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's
This kowtow isn't a sudden outbreak of good manners or even responsibility at a Fortune 500 company. Rather, it's a sign of how the balance of power has shifted between massive American consumer-products companies and their rapidly growing China-based suppliers.
Companies like Mattel have pursued a deliberate strategy in recent years: Get out of the low-margin, capital-intensive business of manufacturing goods and focus on the higher-margin business of branding and marketing. Pursuing this strategy has led them to relentlessly seek centers of low-cost production. As a result, China has quickly emerged as the world's workshop, able to cheaply mold petrochemicals into toys and just about anything else.
Today, Mattel and other American companies can't do business without Chinese partners. In a highly competitive environment, they need suppliers who can turn around new products quickly, complete their orders ahead of those placed by rivals, and commit to maintaining the desired production levels at the desired costs. Yes, Chinese toy producers need Mattel's orders. But it's now a two-way street.
The U.S. economy finds itself in a similar situation vis-à-vis China, as does Mattel and its supplies. America can't afford to offend or alienate China--not because it would suddenly stop selling goods to us, but because the U.S. economy has evolved in such a way that its health depends on China.
U.S. companies need China to produce goods cheaply and thus keep our rate of inflation in check. Many companies--from
Until recently, large companies haven't asked many questions about how China is delivering all the goods we require. And there's been a general willingness to overlook the downsides of China's rampant growth--the environmental degradation, the lack of civil rights, the culture of piracy--mostly because those are phenomena whose impact seems limited to China. As the Mattel recall shows, however, that is increasingly not the case. The relationship between the two distant countries has evolved beyond a simple supplier-purchaser relationship.
To a degree unthinkable 10 years ago, China and the United States now share a bloodstream. The toxins that China ingests as it produces goods are exported here. Clouds of mercury emitted from Chinese power plants waft over the West Coast of the U.S. several days later.
Financially, the two countries are connected as if through an umbilical cord. Inflation in China would translate into inflation in the United States. It works the other way, too. A sudden downturn in the U.S. economy would be horrific news for China. China has expressed concerns about the health of imported pork from America. And if Mattel is to be believed, some of the problems with its China-produced toys stem from flaws in designs created by Mattel.
All of which is to say that it's not sufficient for American executives or American consumers, who have benefited in equal measure from China's willingness to produce goods cheaply, simply to blame their Chinese counterparts for the problems that crop up, or to turn a blind eye to industrial conditions in China. Just as conditions in America's factories and slaughterhouses a century ago led to increased vigilance and reform, conditions in China should lead to similar vigilance and reform there. And it's likely we'll be seeing more apologies--from Chinese suppliers and from their American customers. On Friday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced it is recalling 1 million cribs made in China and marketed under American brand names, due to a potentially lethal safety problem.


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The global version of the mobile collectible RPG Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King, created based on the popular anime series Black Clover, has an exact release date. As announced by publisher Garena, the game will be released worldwide on November 30, 2023 on iOS And Android. There will be no support for the Russian language.
It was also revealed that more than five million people have pre-registered for Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King, opening up another level of milestone rewards. Thanks to this achievement, players will be able to receive the Mimosa costume – the cafe uniform – at launch, as well as a number of other useful rewards, such as black crystals and bond summon tickets.
Black Clover M: Rise Of The Wizard King (Black Clover Mobile: The Opening of Fate) is a mobile turn-based RPG from Vic Game Studios, a subsidiary of Pearl Abyss, known for the MMORPG Black Desert. The game is based on the plot of the anime series “Black Clover” and allows you to visit famous places, as well as assemble a squad of familiar characters.


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While it might not be obvious to the casual reader, some of fashion’s biggest blog empires — including those of Anna Dello Russo, Derek Blasberg, Bryanboy, and Susanna Lau, who runs Style Bubble — are hosted by NowManifest, which is owned by Condé Nast. Or at least, they were. The Business of Fashion reports that the network shuttered in November, a closure that has gone unreported until now. The company was acquired by Condé in 2012 (to the surprise of some of the bloggers, who thought they were entering into a partnership at the time), and lived under the Fairchild Fashion Group umbrella, hosting a multitude of bloggers — in addition to those listed above, Rumi Neely’s Fashion Toast, Danielle Bernstein’s WeWoreWhat, and Jane Aldridge’s Sea of Shoes existed on the network. When Condé Nast sold Fairchild Fashion Group to Penske Media Corporation last year, it retained control of Style.com and NowManifest. (The site, by the way, was still live and updated with posts as of today.)
“We are redoubling our focus on expanding our industry-leading site, Style.com,” a spokesperson for Style.com told the site. “We thank the NowManifest bloggers for their contributions to the portal.” So, where does that leave Blasberg et al? The design and content of their respective sites won’t be changing, but the NowManifest portal managed their advertising, which they now have to handle independently — without the might of a media giant like Condé Nast behind them. However, there doesn’t appear to be much (public) strife — both Dello Russo and Lau told BoF that they are excited for the new chapter, with Lau adding that her relationship with NowManifest remains amicable. So much for any hopes of soap-opera-style drama there.


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Ashley Furniture Industries is expanding its furniture manufacturing operations to Tolleson, Arizona. The 225,000 sq. ft. leased site will create more than 200 new manufacturing jobs.
This new location expands Ashley’s already established national network of 13 production facilities servicing the U.S. The company’s multi-million-dollar investment will be put toward updating the facility along with machinery and equipment costs. The Tolleson location is set to begin manufacturing upholstery furniture later this month.
“The high demand for furniture has led us to increase our manufacturing, distribution and retail operations. We couldn’t be more thrilled to expand operations into the state of Arizona. Local leadership has been very welcoming, and we look forward to working together on this landmark project,” said Todd Wanek, President and CEO, Ashley Furniture Industries.
Established in 1945, Ashley designs, manufactures, and distributes home furnishings through retail, e-commerce and wholesale markets. Earlier this year, the company announced their plan to invest more than $1.5 billion into the organization over the course of 18 months.


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Wool prices slipped 3% on a dollar basis between mid-October and the third week of November, due to spotty demand and the rising value of the Australian dollar.
The Australian Wool Exchange Eastern Market Price Index has declined from $4.82 to $4.68 per lb. in the past five weeks. Wool prices remain 12% higher than their 52-week low of $4.18 per lb. reached in July, but still well below the high of $5.37 hit in February.
Demand from Italy, China and India for higher quality finer counts has remained healthy, and in the past week has been met by improved supply.
Though the U.S. remains one of the top markets for wool apparel and accessories, demand for the fiber has suffered steady declines in recent years as the Americans migrate toward warmer climates and tend to prefer synthetics from both a fashion and cost standpoint.


text: Samsung’s 2014 flagship was one of the most hotly anticipated devices of this year. At MWC in February the company finally unveiled the Galaxy S5. It went on sale on April 11th in more than 150 countries around the world. A lot of customers will be upgrading from their existing phones to get their hands on this new flagship. Mobile trade-in website CompareMyMobile saw over one third, 38 percent to be precise, of all Galaxy S5 customers shifting from an iPhone.


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Malawi will not attend this year’s Africa Global Business Forum 2014, in Dubai next month,a platform that has been billed as important for the continent’s investment opportunities.
Analysts have often said Malawi and other African States need to attract as much investment as possible to create employment, prompt economic growth and development and reduce poverty.
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently announced that five African presidents, including Paul Kagame, of Rwanda and Armando Guebuza, of Mozambique; three prime ministers and more than seven ministers have confirmed their attendance.
But in a telephone interview on Tuesday, Ministry of Industry and Trade spokesperson Wiskes Nkombezi said Malawi has not been invited and will not attend the forum.
He was, however, quick to point out that Malawi will have a trade mission in Dubai in November which has been packaged to be as effective as possible.
“We believe that we cannot just be attending each and every forum for the sake of it. Malawi will have a trade mission, which we are organising with the private sector. We believe the mission will yield a lot of results because we will effectively market trade and investment opportunities that are available in Malawi,” said Nkombezi.
Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) public relations manager Deliby Chimbalu earlier said that during the Malawi-United Arab Emirate (UEA) mission, the country will sign two trade agreements—a double taxation agreement (DTA) and an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA)—apart from exhibiting opportunities in trade and investment that are available in Malawi.
Commenting on the effectiveness of the previous trade missions and forums, Nkombezi said that some of the investments that are in the country, including telecommunications, and agriculture are a result of the platforms.
He, however, said the investors being what they are take time to assess the opportunities and, therefore, results may not be immediate.
Government has pivoted towards some ministries, including Industry and Trade because they play a vital role in investment, job creation, economic growth and development.
Due to poor business environment and lack of focus, Malawi underperformed in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013 by attracting about $118 million approximately 10 percent lower than the previous year’s $129 million.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) 2014 Investment Report, Malawi’s 2013 FDI is far below what its neighbours attracted with Mozambique having raked in about $5.9 billion, Zambia $1.8 billion while Tanzania attracted $1.9 billion.


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// The Weston family has doubled its dividend payout for 2018 to £151m.
// Wittington Investments, the family’s British operation, was in £84m in dividends in 2017
// Most of the dividends went to the Garfield Weston Foundation charity. Remainder was shared among the family
// The Westons own Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Heals and Primark parent company AB Foods
The billionaire family behind the likes of Selfridges and Primark has almost doubled its dividend payout to £151 million.
According to The Sunday Times, Wittington Investments, the British operation of the Weston family, paid itself £92 million last year and £59 million at year’s end.
This compares with the total dividend of £84 million in 2017.
Most of the dividends went to charitable trust the Garfield Weston Foundation, which owns 79.2 per cent of Wittington Investments.
The remainder was shared among members of the Weston family, who are thought to be worth £10.1 billion, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
Wittington Investment reportedly had sales of £15.8 billion and made pre-tax profits of £1.3 billion in the year ending September 2018.
Iconic luxury retailers Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges are owned by Wittington Investments, as is furniture retailer Heal’s.
Wittington Investments also has a majority stake in Primark parent company AB Foods.
Fortnum & Mason chairwoman Kate Hobhouse is the sister of AB Foods chief executive George Weston.
Meanwhile, their cousin Alannah Weston was promoted from deputy chair to chair of the Selfridges Group with immediate effect just last week.
Alannah replaces her father Galen Weston, but he will remain on the board as chair emeritus.


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In a negative prelude to its fourth quarter earnings report due later on Tuesday, Yahoo confirmed it is cutting one per cent of its global staff, or about 140 employees.
MySpace is laying off 500 employees, or about 47 per cent of its global staff, as part of a restructuring by the once-leading, now struggling social-networking site.
MySpace will reportedly lay off more than half of its employees on Tuesday as the website scales back its social networking ambitions.
Myspace's China office cut about 30 employees last month and saw its CEO depart, a sign that the U.S.-based social networking service may be pulling back from the country's Internet market.
Yahoo confirmed that it has laid off 600 people, following news reports often based on Twitter messages from employees who had been let go.
Defence company BAE Systems has announced 1,307 job losses in the UK, and confirmed that some will be IT roles.
WiMax service provider Clearwire will lay off 15 per cent of its employees and suspend the opening of retail stores and marketing campaigns in some cities as it tries to conserve cash and raise additional capital.
Hewlett-Packard intends to trim 1,300 jobs in the U.K. as part of a "hell-bent" effort to "butcher" the country's high-tech work force, <a href="http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/latest_news/unite_brands_hp_s_job_cuts__bu.aspx">union official...
Oracle is making further job cuts related to its acquisition of Sun Microsystems, primarily in Europe and Asia, the company said in a regulatory filing Friday.
Microsoft has more than made good on its plan from a year ago to eliminate 5,000 positions by the middle of June 2010, the company reported as part of its quarterly 10Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Ericsson plans to cut up to about 1,000 employees, and will in the process close its site in the Swedish town of Gävle, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mobile phone giant Nokia on Friday said it will cut up to 330 people from its research and development staff.
AOL, which will be spun off from parent company Time Warner next month, wants to cut its staff by about a third, and is giving employees a chance to volunteer to join the ranks of the unemployed.
Sprint Nextel expects to lay off as many as 2,500 people by year’s end, on the heels of reporting that it lost 545,000 customers in its third quarter.
Adobe Systems will lay off 680 staff, or 9 percent of its workforce, in its latest move to cut costs, the company confirmed Tuesday.
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It might seem like Apple only added minor changes to the iPhone 14, but there’s one big change under the hood that makes it the most repairable iPhone in years, according to iFixit.
Unlike older models, the iPhone 14 can be opened from the back and Front of the device, making it easier to fix both the display and rear glass panel instead of picking them on top of each other.
iFixit discovered the change during a teardown(Opens in a new window) of the iPhone 14. Apple has previously made iPhone models accessible only through the front display, dating back to the iPhone 8. As a result, repairing a rear glass panel on an iPhone can be an expensive expense, ranging from $349 to $599, depending on that model.
With the iPhone 14, repairing the rear glass pane now only costs money(Opens in a new window) $149. This is because you can detach and unscrew both sides of the iPhone fairly easily provided you have the right tools.
Opening the iPhone 14 from the back. (Source: iFixit)
The design change promises to streamline iPhone 14 repairs and provide easier access to the various components inside. Apple achieved the redesign by adding a metal “middle frame” that can support holding internal components on either side.
“It’s no small matter,” iFixit said. “The new metal midframe that supports the structure required a complete internal redesign as well as a rethink of HF (high frequency) and effectively doubling their level of intrusion protection.”
The redesign led to iFixit giving the new model a seven out of ten in terms of repairability. This makes the iPhone 14 the most repairable model since the iPhone 7 from 2016.
The bad news is that Apple has turned on software locks when it comes to repairing the back glass of an iPhone 14, citing anecdotal reports, according to iFixit. So if you use a third-party back glass, the iPhone will issue a warning that the part isn’t genuine.
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“Using software to prevent the use of aftermarket parts gets a big thumbs down from us,” said iFixit. “These bans are frustrating and ultimately futile — Apple just can’t control all the repairs that are made to its products, no matter how hard they try.”
The other issue is that Apple hasn’t adopted the design change for the more expensive iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. As a result, iFixit said, “If you’re trying to decide whether to go with the 14 or the Pro or Pro Max, the answer from a repairability perspective is clear: it’s the 14 all the time. Let’s hope that this advanced design.” becoming the standard across the iPhone 15 lineup.”
The iPhone 14 Plus is scheduled to arrive on October 7th.
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Loop Media, Inc. has announced both expanded distribution to NBC Universal’s Peacock streaming service, and new channels for its SONIFI in-room partnership and its Loop for Business service.
Roku partners with Nielsen to enable cross-media measurement of traditional TV, CTV and mobile ad campaigns | Media StrategyNow, marketers running ads with Roku can deduplicate campaign reach and frequency across all four screens in the home.
EssenceMediacom names Benjamin Wei as China CEO | Media StrategyEssenceMediacom, GroupM’s newest media agency that combines Essence and MediaCom, has announced that it has appointed Benjamin Wei as China CEO for the merged agency, which launches in January 2023.
Hearst UK partners with Philips to create a beauty testing lab | Media StrategyPhilips will take over Hearst UK’s dedicated testing facility in St Anne’s Court, Soho in London – the first time a brand has ever taken over the space.
ITV teams up with Travel Weekly to support holiday firms through exclusive Backing Business Fund | Media StrategyNew and lapsed TV brands across the travel industry will be able to access an exclusive ring-fenced fund of £500,000 on a first-come, first-served basis if they meet qualifying criteria.
MediaCom has been named as Uber’s global media agency of record. The agency will expand its remit into every operational market for Uber across North America, Latin America, EMEA and Asia.
Com Hem's TV customers can now take part in a completely digital solution with Apple TV 4K that enables a modern experience for TV, film, music, games and apps.
VICE Media Group CEO Nancy Dubuc has announced that the company has appointed veteran marketing, brand and communications leader Nadja Bellan-White to its executive leadership team.
L’Oréal owned beauty and fragrance house Giorgio Armani has launched a multi-million pound campaign across the UK and Ireland for ‘My Way’, its new sustainably sourced fragrance.
Outbrain, a global discovery and native advertising platform on the open web, has announced the expansion of Conversion Bid Strategy, part of Outbrain's suite of optimization tools.
Google, Condé Nast Germany and media agencies Essence and OMD Hamburg, have released a cross-media content cooperation with talents such as musician and actress to make Chromebooks more widely known within the German market.
Havas Media Group, part of the Havas Group, has picked FreeWheel’s Strata platform to power its media buying and management business in the U.K. and France.
Europa+ announced the launch of its new subscription streaming video service that will, for the first time, bring Latin American and Caribbean audiences the latest and most popular television programming.
Hearst Magazines has announced the launch of Premium Print, a strategic initiative that includes a multimillion-dollar investment across its portfolio of more than 25 brands to further strengthen its position in the marketplace.
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, in partnership with marketers and agencies through the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, GARM, have agreed to adopt a common set of definitions for hate speech and other harmful content.
Global video advertising platform SpotX has announced new programmatic solutions that will allow TV programmers to unlock the full value of linear addressable television for the first time.
Microsoft has announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, one of the largest, privately held game developers and publishers in the world.
Nielsen has announced that Hearst Television has selected Nielsen Marketing Cloud to power access to premium audiences through its Hearst Anyscreen product.
Rainshine and UK's Five Fifty Five partner to develop, produce extraordinary stories for audiences worldwide
Rainshine Entertainment and Five Fifty Five announced a strategic joint venture, where the two companies will work together to develop, produce, and distribute extraordinary content.
The World Out of Home Organisation’s #OurSecondChance campaign has appeared on more than 40,000 digital screens worldwide, making it the world’s biggest all-format digital Out of Home campaign ever launched.
VMLY&R has announced that it will launch a new global healthcare agency, VMLY&Rx, to service specialty Rx pharmaceutical companies.
SEMrush, an online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform, has further expanded its ecosystem with the acquisition of a 100% stake in Poland's public relations SaaS startup Prowly.com.
Publicis Media has announced the promotion of Nadine Young to the role of CEO, Starcom UK, reporting to Sue Frogley, CEO, Publicis Media UK.
Hearst UK, the premium content and experience business, has announced the launch of a talent scholarship sponsored by flatshare site SpareRoom.
World’s largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms Banijay has announced the appointment of Lars Blomgren as Head of Scripted, EMEA.


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Members of the World Bank Group’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship team – along with two of the entrepreneurs supported by the team (with their affiliations in parentheses) – at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. From left to right: Temitayo Oluremi Akinyemi, Loren Garcia Nadres, Natasha Kapil, Kenia Mattis (ListenMi Caribbean), Ganesh Rasagam, Charity Wanjiku (Strauss Energy), Komal Mohindra, Ellen Olafsen.
What do you picture when you hear of new technologies and hot startups? Perhaps a trendy office space overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and tech moguls from San Francisco? Well, think again.
At the recent Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Silicon Valley — an annual event hosted by President Barack Obama and attended by nearly 700 entrepreneurs — one message came across clearly: Great ideas come from anywhere. And, increasingly, they’re coming from talented entrepreneurs who are overcoming the odds in cities like Nairobi, Kenya or Kingston, Jamaica.
Increasing internet and mobile-phone access is bringing new opportunities to young entrepreneurs from developing countries. More than 40 percent of the world’s population now has access to the internet and, among the poorest 20 percent of households, nearly 7 out of 10 have a mobile phone.
Businesses that can take advantage of the widespread use of digital technologies are growing at double-digit rates — in Silicon Valley, as well as in emerging markets. Ground-breaking technologies and business ideas are flourishing across the world, and a new, more global generation of tech entrepreneurs is on the rise.
The potential impact — economic and social — is significant. Entrepreneurs have a powerful ability to create jobs, drive innovation and solve challenges, particularly in developing economies, where technology can address old inefficiencies in key sectors like energy, transport and education.
“[I]n our era, everybody here understands that new ideas can evolve anywhere, at any time. And they can have an impact anywhere,” said John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State. “In my travels as Secretary, I have been absolutely amazed by the groundbreaking designs I’ve seen, by the ideas being brought to life everywhere — sometimes where you least expect it. By the men and women striking out to create new firms with an idea of both turning a profit as well as improving their communities.”
But for many of the brightest minds in developing countries, entrepreneurship is not an easy path.
As President Obama said during the Summit: “It turns out that starting your own business is not easy. You have to have access to capital. You have to meet the right people. You have to have mentors who can guide you as you get your idea off the ground. And that can be especially difficult for women and young people and minorities, and others who haven’t always had access to the same networks and opportunities.”
President Barack Obama on stage at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit with Mark Zuckerberg and entrepreneurs.
Electricity and other infrastructure are often unreliable. Business training and mentors are scarce. Funding is hard to come by. And government regulations may pose unnecessary hurdles to launching a business, protecting intellectual property or conducting trade.
The World Bank Group’s participation at the GES helped showcase various efforts to support entrepreneurs from across the world to overcome these barriers to growth and to scale their innovative businesses.
These included several initiatives of the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice focused on building favorable ecosystems through innovation hubs, training programs for emerging startups, and a global network of business incubators in the clean-tech, digital and agribusiness sectors.
Several entrepreneurs from this network shared their experiences at the event. Kenia Mattis, one of the entrepreneurs who participated in the eight-month Women Innovators in the Caribbean (WINC) Acceleration Program, won $15,000 at the summit’s “Spark the Fire” pitch competition for her literacy startup ListenMi. In many Caribbean countries, as many as 40 percent of students are underperforming or failing in their literacy exams, Mattis said. With support from the WINC program, she’s drawing from her background as a songwriter to build and launch a web app that boosts literacy through interactive games and animations.
Charity Wanjiku, co-founder of Strauss Energy, was also a finalist in the pitch competition. With support from the World Bank Group’s Kenya Climate Innovation Center, Charity and her brother Tony are commercializing solar cells — or “solar tiles” — that can be easily integrated into walls, windows and roofs. Unlike traditional installations, their system can feed unused electricity back to the national grid, generating much-needed income for poor households. Their idea has the potential to change the way millions of people meet their energy needs, while also helping the country reduce harmful CO2 emissions.
These inspiring entrepreneurs, like the hundreds of others who participated in the summit, remind us that talent is universal but opportunity is not — and that we have a role to enhance opportunities for the many aspiring entrepreneurs out there.


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Data security is imperative for any business, and more and more companies need tools and strategies to protect their sensitive data. Computer attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated, so that those responsible for information security are always alert and have a proactive attitude to security. When data security fails, the consequences for a company can be disastrous, leading to its end. In today’s article, we talked about the main consequences of lack of data security!
The business world is increasingly mobile and there is no denying it. Nowadays, we can work from anywhere, as long as we have a computer or mobile device and access to the Internet. This new era of technology and mobility brings new challenges, particularly in terms of information security. Business data is transferred more easily from device to device and steps need to be taken to ensure its safety. In today’s article, we leave the top tips for protecting information on mobile!
Companies generate more and more data in their daily lives, but more important than quantity is the ability to analyze the information generated. There is currently more than 5 times more information than in 1987, and one of the biggest challenges for companies is to analyze data effectively so they can make decisions on the basis of reliable facts. It is not always easy to deal with so much information and finding the best tactics for data analysis can be a very difficult task. In today’s article, we’ve put together 5 tips for doing a foolproof data analysis!
The new General Regulation on Data Protection takes effect in a few days. The new legislation provides for heavy fines for infringements and one of the main concerns of companies is related to possible private data breaches. Companies are increasingly concerned about the security of their customers ‘and vendors’ private data as security threats have increased in number and efficiency. But after all, what to do in case of private data breach?
A VPN network is a virtual private network that transmits encrypted data as it navigates from one point to another in the Web world. Connecting through VPN enables the user to browse websites securely and privately. VPN connections are increasingly used as they allow remote access to local files and is a safe way to browse through public Wi-Fi networks. In this article, we will give you some tips to protect your information on VPN connection!
Threats to data security are getting bigger and more sophisticated, making it harder to ensure data security in companies. Protecting the information that your company generates on a daily basis is essential to the success of the business and at this stage when the new general data protection regulation is about to take effect, it is even more important to work towards securing company data and its stakeholders. In today’s article, we leave you valuable tips to ensure the safety of your business data!
The social network Facebook has been the subject of numerous criticisms due to the case of Cambridge Analytics and the unauthorized access to data of more than 50 million profiles that were used to create a software that supposedly influences the results of referendums and elections . At a time when information privacy is one of the most talked about subjects, let’s see how Facebook is preparing to receive the new General Regulation on Data Protection (GDPR)!
The Internet of Things (IoT) has the power to change the way we live and the way we work. Nowadays, the cost of accessing the Internet is very low compared to the beginning of the technology age. Mobile devices are becoming more adept and more devices are built with network connectivity and built-in wi-fi. All these conditions create the ideal scenario for the Internet of Things and for its action in the business world. In a very simplified way, Internet of Things aims to connect any device to the Internet. According to Gartner, by the year 2020 there will be more than 26 billion devices connected to the network. At home, this concept aims to make life easier for people, but its application will also have an impact on the business world. In a world so connected and everything is connected to everything, the security challenges are immense. In this article we will analyze the main security challenges that the Internet of Things brings us! Read More


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According to the sixth annual MasterCard Cities Index, published last September, the city of Bangkok is currently major city destination, as determined by international tourist arrivals. According to the ranking, seven of the ten rapidly evolving city destinations are Colombo, Chengdu, Osaka, Taipei, Tokyo, Xi'an and Xiamen. Tourism in Asia however needs to develop in a more sustainable way.
As Thailand and a large part of Asia have begun to welcome an overwhelming number of tourists, regional policy makers and tourism stakeholders proclaim that the region needs to move towards more sustainable services and facilities, developing mainly the infrastructure.
The tourism authorities in South-East Asia and the entire region are facing a challenge. Although they are taking their best efforts to develop tourism in Asia– e.g. through the campaigns like “Malaysia Truly Asia” and the “Wonderful Indonesia” – they need to identify the dangers of uncontrolled economic development.
The problem is that the continual economic development is jeopardizing the long-term sustainability of tourist attractions that attract large numbers of visitors each year.
In Thailand, nicknamed the "Land of Smiles," the tourism sector contributed $36.7 billion to the economy, equivalent to 9.2% of total gross domestic product, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. WTTC predicts that the country is estimated to be the 10th fastest growing tourism economy in the comming decade.
The governments throughout the South-East Asia region and also around the world have been investing in travel and tourism, as well as in various country brand campaigns.
Asian countries need to address the issue of inequality of opportunities that is likely to affect small and medium-sized entrepreneurs as it is extremely important for the tourism in Asia and any country in the long run. This could entail transparent tenders for development opportunities, increase competition in the hospitality and aviation sectors.
Tourism experts based in Asia support more and more various community-based tourism projects that offer local residents a voice when deciding about the type of tourism projects to be planned for these communities.


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UBTECH ROBOTICS CORP was founded in 2012 in Shenzhen, China as an international hightech enterprise for the manufacturing and development of humanoid robots for private and commercial use. The company‘s goal is to develop groundbreaking artificial intelligence and build a robot ecosystem that integrates hardware, software, and service. For their market launch in Germany, UBTECH ROBOTICS rely on the proven consumer expertise of HBI. HBI communicated the launch of the two toy robots Alpha1 and Jimu Robot with an integrated crossmedia campaign accompanied by a targeted productseeding program with top consumer, lifestyle and daily press, blog-gers and influencers.
Keep up to speed with communication trends and HBI news


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As grocers’ labor issues persist, major brands are turning to automation to perform previously time-consuming tasks with greater efficiency and, ideally, greater consistency.
Walmart-owned, membership-based warehouse club chain Sam’s Club announced Thursday (January 27) Press release that it has begun deploying inventory scanning robots that collect data on the availability and placement of items as they clean aisles.
The machines, created by robotic artificial intelligence (AI) software company Brain Corp., collect information on prices, inventory, planogram compliance and more.
“By adding Inventory Scan to our current fleet of robotic washers, we are gaining critical inventory data that previously took a long time to obtain,” Todd Garnier, vice press for In Club Product Management at Sam’s Club, said in the statement. “This intelligence allows us to manage our clubs proactively and efficiently. Inventory Scan ensures items are available and easy to locate in the club, freeing up time for our associates to focus on members and the shopping experience they deserve.
This investment in inventory management could be critical for the warehouse club chain, which relies on its on-shelf storage to acquire and retain customers.
“In our research, if members say they can find their article easily, their Net Promoter Score increases,” Tim Simmons, senior vice president and chief product officer at Sam’s Club, said Karen Webster of PYMNTS in an interview in July. “If they struggle with it, it drops. We are therefore considering a number of initiatives to help members find their articles. »
Read more: Sam’s Club boasts a 90% reuse rate for its contactless payment and delivery technology
Albertsons leverages AI to increase margins on product sales
Sam’s Club isn’t the only grocery retailer leveraging AI to improve inventory efficiency. Also on Thursday, major grocer Albertsons Companies, which has a range of popular grocery brands, including its eponymous chains, Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco, announced in a Press release that it will implement new AI-based solutions to help acquire and sell fresh food.
The company will implement solutions from technology provider Afresh, using Afresh’s predictive capabilities to be more accurate in forecasting demand and purchasing fresher food. These types of solutions can help grocers both reduce the amount of product they will buy and then throw away, a sunk cost, and avoid understocking in-demand items, which will drive sales.
“We are now able to improve our processes to better manage our supply of fresh produce and provide our in-store teams with a tool to better forecast demand and monitor inventory,” Susan Morris, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Albertsons Companies, said in the statement. “Managing these variables ultimately allows us to provide our customers with even higher quality fresh produce and further reduce our food waste.”
Giant Eagle Aims to Increase Loyalty Program Personalization
In additional data analysis news Thursday, Giant Eagle, the Pennsylvania-based chain operating 470 stores in five states, announced in a Press release the selection of a new technological partner to improve the personalization of its loyalty program. The company is implementing marketing technology company Eagle Eye’s AIR platform, intended to boost the effectiveness of digital offerings.
“We are thrilled to partner with Eagle Eye to advance and accelerate our efforts to provide our customers with the most personalized and rewarding loyalty platform in North America,” said Justin Weinsteinvice president of customer experience at Giant Eagle, in the statement.
Rewards and loyalty offers that are relevant to the individual shopper can go a long way in increasing grocery spending, as revealed by data from PYMNTS’ report “Decoding Customer Affinity: The Customer Loyalty to Merchants Survey 2022,” created in collaboration with Toshiba Global Business Solutions. The study, which surveyed a balanced panel of more than 2,000 US consumers, found that 42% of shoppers said “loyalty programs with rewards I like” would improve their loyalty to their grocer.
Get the report: The 2022 Merchant Customer Loyalty Survey
Additionally, research from PYMNTS’ August study “What Consumers Expect From Their Grocery Shopping Experience,” created in collaboration with ACI in the worldfound that 61% of food loyalty program members reported spending more at grocery stores offering loyalty programs, and 63% said loyalty programs impacted their decisions about which grocery stores to use.
Read more: Digital features can help grocers win over 43% of shoppers
Instacart intensifies the advertising offer for brands
As grocers build their digital marketing capabilities, so do the aggregators they collaborate with and compete with. Instacart announced on a Wednesday (January 26) Press release a suite of new marketing products for brands, including brand pages and new display ads.
Such products allow the aggregator, which peddles the notoriously thin-margin delivery space for the equally thin-margin grocery industry, to bring in an additional revenue stream, monetizing eyes on its plate. -form for the benefit of brands.
“We know how consumers shop on Instacart varies. Some people head straight to a specific aisle to browse, and some start with the “Buy It Again” carousel… while others already have a list of items in mind or can use the search function for inspiration. », Ryan Mayward, vice president of advertising sales at Instacart, said in the statement. “As more and more people turn to Instacart…we’re focused on creating unique ways to help brands engage consumers throughout their online shopping journey.”


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BRAMPTON, Ontario — Sailun Tire Americas President Ron Dolan described Mavis Tire Express Services' acquisition of 595 retail locations from the TBC Corp. in one word, repeated twice: Win-Win.
Dolan said the industry-rattling transaction, which closed in early June, is good for both business entities.
In the deal, equity-group-backed Mavis acquired 595 TBC retail stores operating under the NTB Tire & Service Centers and Tire Kingdom Centers brands. Financial terms of the transaction, disclosed on May 22, were not released.
The TBC retail holdings are estimated to generate up to $2 billion in revenue annually.
"We believe the two companies are going to be able to do some things together and be interesting synergies going forward," Dolan said. "As far as Sailun is concerned, we don't think there is any negative impact of that sale to us."


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Google Algorithm Changes
- Quiet month. No reported changes.
- The Ravens may have won the big game, but Twitter was the true winner of the Super Bowl. The company was mentioned in 26 of the 52 commercials (compared to 4 mentions for Facebook and zero for Google+). If Twitter had actually paid the $3.8 million each 30 second ad during the Super Bowl costs, the company would’ve paid $98.8 million. I’d say getting close to $100 million in free advertising in front of the largest TV audience of the year counts as a HUGE win.
- The Super Bowl also brought out the best in brands on twitter. During the extended blackout in the middle of the game, companies like Tide and Oreo reacted fast to earn thousands of RTs.
- In all, there were more than 24.1 million Super Bowl-related tweets. At the game’s peak during the blackout, 231,500 Tweets were going out every minute about the game.
- It’s not all good for Twitter though. There were a number of high-profile hackings this month, leading many to question why adding LOLCAT as a supported language is taking precedent over adding two-factor login verification.
- Google Glass, the wearable computer headset was revealed in an awesome video. At $1500, the cost is going to be pretty steep though.
- Google is going to open its own retail stores before 2013 finishes, reportedly.
- Google is testing a new interface on its website that looks like its UI for Chromebooks and Android.
- Facebook is looking to beef up its advertising platform by purchasing Atlas from Microsoft.


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‘The Aesthete’ is a weekly column by journalist and editor Namrata Zakaria, illuminating the best in Indian design.
One fashion company has grown more than several thousand times over in the pandemic. This really is an unusual story about how an NGO that has existed for almost 30 years, has come to be one of the most important fashion enterprises in the country today. This is Okhai, a small women’s group that was started in a little village on the coast of Gujarat in 1996 by the Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development. The year had seen a four-year-long drought when agriculture was down to zero, the farmers were at home, and the women had to step up to generate alternate income. These women started making pickles, and Okhai, a marketplace for artisans, remained an informal livelihood generation project up until 2008.
Kirti Poonia, 36, and the former CEO of Okhai (she sits on its board now) is credited for turning the organisation around.
“I had a very corporate career as I was part of Tata Administrative Services,” she tells me from her Mahim, Mumbai, residence. “Like all good Indian children I became a software engineer. But I loved fashion, and ended up doing the clothes for actor Rasika Dugal for a film. When I came across Okhai in 2015, I thought it had a lot of potential and I wanted to take it to a much bigger social business. I felt the artisans deserved more income for their craft, and much of the funds were being spent on training, so obviously we needed to scale up,” she reasons. Okhai started selling home products, but soon discovered people buy maybe one bed cover a year. Then Poonia initiated the women into making kurtas and they proved to be a success. “I pitched a detailed 50-slide business plan to the good people at Tata and they were very happy. Six years later we’ve gone from 350 women in Gujarat to 27,000 women across India. And most of it happened during the pandemic.”
The pandemic drove the artisans to start selling via WhatsApp. Their homes were filled with inventory but no traders could arrive for them to sell to. Many of their children, who worked in jobs in cities, had returned home with their smartphones in hand and all the time in the world. They began to help their artisan parents. “We taught them to take better pictures, gave tech panels to the artisans, taught them to update their inventory on their phones or an old desktop computer. Everything moved smoothly,” Poonia says. The artisans would directly courier the products from their homes to the customer, Okhai became just tech support where bookings could be made on its website. Ashalata, Poonia points out, a Madhubani artisan, grew 40 per cent month on month. Okhai began to do extraordinarily well and show enviable results. It remains the most successful ecommerce site for artisanal craft products in India. The artisans don’t use it exclusively and are free to sell from anywhere they like. And soon enough, its name spread through the deepest part of the country with more artisans wanting to join in.
Poonia insists an organisation like Okhai cannot be measured by a turnover. Its returns are measured by the impact it is able to create. In five years, she sees it benefitting five lakh artisans across India. She has been recognised by the government’s NITI Aayog arm as well as the UN as being among 75 women transforming India.
Poonia then co-founded Restore, along with her partner Prateek Gupte (she has been married to him for four years now). Restore is a remarkable idea that promotes the idea of zero-waste among FMCG companies. “These companies spend billions of dollars on packaging, all of it ending up in landfills or garbage. We tied up with brands and offered to pack their products in glass or metal bottles, that would be returned to, washed by, and refilled by us. Linear economies take, make and waste from the environment. Circular economies return to the environment what they take from it,” she says, explaining her closed-loop model. But sustainable ventures such as these can work only when cost, convenience and consciousness are all taken care of. “Only 22 percent of people were returning the bottles. When sustainability is more expensive, it’s a slower process,” she avers.
Poonia and Gupte then founded Relove, which seemed to be more doable as it didn’t cost the consumer much. Relove allows consumers to sell garments that aren’t being used via the stores itself. “It saves the process of a brand new garment being produced,” she reasons. Relove is a tech platform that enables brands to build their own resale stores. Relove builds the tech for them on the brand’s own websites, they can now sell the garment twice and get a new set of customers for the same item. Relove also takes care of customer care and fraud prevention between buyer and seller. It currently works with 13 brands and has 30 more in the pipeline.
“I’ve been surprised every month to see how people welcome second-hand clothing. It takes us an average time of six days to make a sale on Relove, and 89 percent of our inventory is sold out,” she smiles. Much of this credit goes to the pandemic too, which saw influencers and movie stars selling their personal items to raise money for needy COVID patients and oxygen cylinders. “Everyone is running their own thrift shop now, whether you have another day job or are in college,” she laughs. “The thing that’s worked is also that younger people have a different concept of ownership: they prefer experiences to material things in life.”


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The new year is under way, and the new games have already begun shipping. I wrote at the tail-end of last year that 2012 was a year of game evolution, not revolution. With new Xbox and PlayStation consoles not likely until the end of the year, I’d say 2013 is looking to continue that evolution, with developers eking out the last drops of improvement from the current seven-year-old boxes.
Some of this year’s most-anticipated games won’t even be on consoles. Others will continue moving tightly-knit communities away from broader social networks, like Facebook and binding them further to corporate servers, where they can communicate with fellow players on- and offline, download content and conduct transactions via smartphone apps. Expect continuations or renewals of beloved franchises, including a couple of complete reboots and dropping the practice of attaching “3,” “4″ or “5″ to games.


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Trade wars kills jobs. CNN reports:
US farm bankruptcies were up 20% in 2019, despite the billions of dollars in aid President Donald Trump has paid to farmers hurt by the trade war with China.
That’s the highest level since 2011…There were 595 Chapter 12 family farm bankruptcies, nearly 100 more than in 2018…China retaliated to Trump’s tariffs with duties on a range of American farm goods. As a result, exports of soybeans to China nearly stopped for about a year. Prices plunged and a record number of soybeans to piled up in storage. To make up for some of those losses, and shore up political support, Trump has allocated a $28 billion aid package for farmers over the past two years. Most of that money was paid to farmers directly, and about $4 billion was used to purchase surplus food for food banks and given to groups that promote agricultural aid. The aid payments boosted farm income, which was projected to be up 10% in 2019. It would have shrunk without the subsidies.
Trump’s trade wars have also come with a political cost for the administration. “Across the Midwest, Farmers Warn of GOP Losses Due to Trump’s Trade Policy,” reported the New York Times in April 2018.
In states like Iowa, some farmers who support the GOP in local elections turned against the GOP in national elections due to Trump’s trade policies. The Des Moines Register reported that, “Iowans delivered an apparent rebuke of Republicans in Congress while seemingly validating GOP efforts at the state level.”


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Following a successful launch in the US, P&G hopes to beat its own record by creating the largest FMCG launch in the UK.
In 2006 the company achieved the accolade of second-largest launch with the Gillete Fusion razor.
The razor, tested on 30,000 men, is claimed to have unique technologies, including re-engineered low-cutting-force blades, and an improved precision trimmer.
Irwin Lee, P&G's UK vice-president and general manager, said: "To continue to grow and succeed, big brands need to stick to what they're good at – innovation.
"With Fusion ProGlide, we’re bringing together the best of Gillette's razor technology and P&G's skincare pedigree. We believe it's going to be a very exciting year."


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India Yamaha Motor total sales up 34% in May
New Delhi: Two-wheeler maker Yamaha Motor India Sales (YMIS) on Saturday reported 34 percent increase in total sales for May at 49,460 units.
The company had sold a total of 36,956 units in the corresponding month last year, YMIS said in a statement.
In the domestic market, the company registered a rise of 30 percent in its sales at 34,104 units compared to 26,287 units in the year-ago period, it added.
In the export markets, YMIS sold 15,356 units in May 2013 as against to 10,669 units in the same month last year, achieving a growth of 44 percent.


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The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in business losses, financial difficulties for governments, and debt strangulation for individuals. At its peak, the novel coronavirus nearly brought down economies as they scrambled for safety through lockdowns, curfews, and other restrictive measures.
However, a common misconception is that the economic consequences of the health issue are the same for all countries around the world. COVID-19, contrary to popular belief, wreaked havoc on various economies in different ways.
The following is a list of some of the world’s economies made vulnerable by the pandemic:
The United States
The US economy suffered significant blows during the COVID-19 pandemic, from financial markets to employment and the travel industry. The US GDP was at first projected to contract by 3.5 percent in 2020. The annualized loss was the largest since the end of WWII, indicating that the United States is one of the worst-affected economies.
The drop in household spending reflects changes in the US economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail sales fell by 8.7 percent between February and March 2020, reflecting a massive drop in consumer spending. The COVID-19 situation had a negative impact on the country’s industrial production and employment in relation to business cycles, resulting in widespread business closures. These indicators show that the COVID-19 pandemic had a wide-ranging impact on the US economy and could take some time before normalcy resumes in some industrial sectors.
An early assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi revealed that it had affected every aspect of the country. It was particularly bad in the agricultural sector, which serves as the nation’s engine.
An increase in COVID-19 cases pushed the Malawian economy even further down. The external shock had several short-term effects on the country. The developments occurred due to disruptions in remittance flows, foreign domestic investments, trade, and the tourism industry. Inflationary effects in 2021 caused many to seek assets to protect against it. Cryptocurrencies became the go to for this type of investment throughout Africa.
The novel virus has also been wreaking havoc on Malawian urban life. Individuals and businesses in the manufacturing, hotel, export and agri-food system sectors have seen a significant drop in earnings. The COVID-19 pandemic is adversity that directly and indirectly affected Malawi’s economy.
India has also experienced regress as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Almost every economic sector has suffered a setback in one or more areas. Agriculture has suffered the most severe effects of any affected economic sector. Agriculture is India’s backbone, as it is in Malawi. Due to movement restrictions and other containment effects, both primary agricultural production and subsidiary agro-inputs have been hampered.
The aviation and tourism sectors in India have also suffered a decline. Because the locality relies heavily on imported raw materials, the famed pharmaceutical industry also faced difficulties due to travel restrictions. The overall effect in the country includes a decrease in household expenditure due to the decline in disposable income among individuals. The novel virus almost put a noose on India’s economy and made life difficult for Indians, especially low-income households.
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is also a major victim of the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite an apparent steady recovery, the novel coronavirus caused a severe recession.
COVID-19 had the most significant impact on people in the United Kingdom during its peak. The novel virus prompted authorities to implement measures to reduce virus transmission. The restrictions contributed to a 9.7 percent drop in GDP in 2020. The decline was the steepest since 1948, indicating the severity of the impact on the UK economy.
Despite the decline, the UK economy has been steadily improving as the number of COVID-19 cases decreases and better measures are implemented. On the other hand, the novel Omicron variant poses a significant threat to this advancement.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated Angola’s economic problems, which had been present since 2014. The Angolan financial crisis worsened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Due to the country’s overreliance on the oil market, the external shock had a tremendous impact in 2020. The country’s GDP fell by 4.5 percent over the year. However, Angola’s government declared a state of emergency and enacted several measures that caused it to skyrocket in 2021. The implementation of the measures protected all Angolans, including the most vulnerable citizens. Even though it was a negative phase, Angola is working hard to resolve issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economy is steadily picking up.
In 2020, most economies were expected to experience significant declines. However, most countries had a better year in 2021 due to their efforts to improve their well-being.
Despite the upcoming COVID-19 virus variants, the current anti-virus measures promise a brighter future for most countries in 2022 and beyond. Economists and financial market experts project a steady economic recovery phase once the COVID-19 blows over. Regardless of the consequences, most economies are expected to grow exponentially in the near future.


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Learn more about how to grow your business for free at anytime by browsing our extensive library of helpful articles.
Are social marketing strategies in the B2B and B2C worlds converging? In some ways, yes, according to today's infographic. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
San Francisco is the US city offering the most jobs (per capita) for digital marketers seeking employment, according to recent research from MarketPro. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
It's a multibillion-dollar problem that's shaking the confidence of thousands of marketing decision-makers. But what is it, exactly, and why is it leaving CMOs fed up and frustrated? Read the full article at MarketingProfs
The new ABM order consolidates your more conventional marketing segments (industry, product/solution, marketing channels, etc.) into one living and breathing target of focus. In essence, each one of your accounts is a nation on its own, made up of individual citizens available to you in the form of company contacts. From here on, we marketers know that to get ahead of our competition and target these accounts and contacts effectively, we must “obsess” about the language of our customers. So let's get down to business.
Unclear about what transparent SSL and HTTPS are, how they affect your website, and why you should think about them before October this year? Check out this infographic for the details. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Many Americans say technology has made them more impatient today than they were five years ago, according to recent research from Fetch and YouGov. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
Drawing inspiration from some of the brightest B2B content marketers, here are five ways to help solve the problem of planning your content marketing and elevating the content experience of your customers to meet their evolving expectations. Read the full article at MarketingProfs
We all may be wishing for an endless summer, but the reality is it’s never too early to start planning for the holidays. While future holiday shoppers are still enjoying the beach, it’s time for marketers to start thinking like Santa’s elves.
In this episode of "TM Top 3," Taylor Knight reviews the top marketing tips, tools and news from Target Marketing posts this week, including B2B marketing jokes; Google's firing of an engineer who authored a sexist viral memo; and the success of billboards.


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Category: Bitcoin. 2016 Bull Run Imminent? Hodl Waves Chart Shows 60% of Bitcoin Hasn’t Moved in a Year. May 27, 2020 Bitcoin Number of Bitcoins on Crypto Exchanges Hits 18-Month Low. May 27, 2020 Analytics Bitcoin Holds above $8,600, Makes Upside Correction. May 27, 2020 Bitcoin Slipping Yuan May be Good for Bitcoin Price, Past Data Suggests. May 27, 2020 Bitcoin Bitcoin prepares for even ... The annual production of Bitcoin is worth $3.5 Billion USD at current Prices. Miners need new hardware as new chip technologies, such as those produced by Ebang, is both more powerful and energy efficient. In 2019, 82% of Ebang’s revenue came from application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips. ASIC mining. Similar to FPGAs, application-specific integrated circuits are chips designed for a specific purpose, in our case mining bitcoin, and nothing else. ASICs for bitcoin were introduced in 2013 and, as of November 2017, they are the best processors available for mining bitcoin and they outperform FPGAs in power consumption. Mining pools. Vertans, **BEGIN!** --a432511 **Edit: Taking an intermission until 8:00PM CST. Please continue to post your questions, but be patient as our... 3Commas Review: Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Trading Bot Platform By Eugene Kem November 3, 2020. As the cryptocurrency world continues to mature, crypto traders are being presented with an ever increasing range of services designed… Trading. Cryptohopper Review: Cryptocurrency Trading Bot Guide By Eugene Kem November 3, 2020. Cryptohopper is a cryptocurrency trading robot designed to help ... New high efficiency Bitcoin mining hardware is coming in 2020 will be a huge game changer. Bitmain will be releasing the new Antminer s19 based on the 7nm manufacturing process. Competing ASIC manufactures are also making new chips, with Innosilicon and Canaan hot on the heels. This die shrink increase the hashpower of chips whilst reducing ... Nowadays, Bitcoin mining is conducted through specialized hardware equipment known as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips. These functional chips are built specifically for mining Bitcoins. They carry huge processing power and are much faster than normal CPUs. Additionally, they are also expensive piece of hardware to invest in. YoBit.net virtual mining. What is the performance? Feedback and Review Nvidia Geforce RTX 3090 - the hashrate of the video card in Ethereum mining became known Nicehash Miner - Ethereum mining on video cards with 4Gb video memory is not available Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 first test in mining cryptocurrency Ethereum TeamRedminer 0.7.14 - Ethereum mining is available on 4Gb video cards up to ... Recording success in cryptocurrency Bitcoin is not just buying and holding till when bitcoin sky-rocks, this has been longed abolished by intelligent traders ,mostly now that bitcoin bull is still controlling the market after successfully defended the $9000 support level once again ad this is likely to trigger a possible move towards $12000 resistance area However , it’s is best advice you ... China-based cryptocurrency company Macau Quantum Gold Blockchain Technology Limited announced a partnership with two Chinese resource mining groups earlier today.. The company aims to create a cryptocurrency backed by physical gold reserves. Quantum Gold was established in Macau last year to launch its Quantum Gold Token, or QTG.
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Lets tear down this $20,000 ASIC Miner and discuss just what exactly is an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) crypto miner and what are the top c... Setup BitCoin ASIC Mining On Raspberry Pi ... Official Antminer A3 Review w/ Overclocking - ASIC Mining Profits + Siacoin Forking? - Duration: 11:41. VoskCoin 22,600 views. 11:41. USB Asic Miner ... Berikan saran yg baik dan sopan dikomentar :) Ingin belajar menjual membeli bitcoin? Ketik link di bawah ini untuk mendaftar :) https://goo.gl/gWWVeu daftar disini juga jika ingin bitcoin gratis ... Samsung Bitcoin Chips Samsung Electronics (KRX: 005930), the flagship company of the Korea-based multinational conglomerate Samsung Group, has entered the bitcoin mining business according to ... yobit affiliate yobit api yobit api c# yobit api example yobit api php yobit api python yobit app yobit arbitrage yobit awaiting deposit yobit b2 yobit bcc yobit bcc wallet yobit bch yobit bitcoin ... In this video I talk about how litecoin's hashrate has tripled since scrypt asic's have come online. I also discuss how I believe GPU miners will start to leave scrypt based coins and allow asic's ... This is a antminer s9 giveaway with the psu. whoever shares, likes and comments will be eligible for the giveaway. I want screenshots of everything I asked in the video. If you want a chance to ...


text: On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of New Jersey\u2019s case to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), thereby paving the way towards legalizing online sports betting in the U.S. PASPA prohibited\u00a0all states other than those with existing legislation\u2014Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana\u2014from legalizing online sports betting.The big business of online sports bettingIt comes as no surprise that sports gambling is big business. In 2017, Nevada\u2019s Gaming Control board reported a $4.8 billion bet at its sportsbooks. This was a new record high, but legal betting is just the beginning of the story. No one has a definitive number for how much money is bet illicitly. For example, the research firm, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, projects that this number could fall between $50 billion and $60 billion.While the Supreme Court\u2019s decision opened the door for individual states to regulate sports betting, it didn\u2019t prohibit future federal regulation in the industry. The House of Representatives is planning a hearing titled \u201cPost-PASPA: An Examination of Sports Betting in America.\u201d It was scheduled for June 19 but was postponed to a later date.Individual states will regulate and define through legislation how sports betting may be implemented.\u00a0 Anticipating a repeal of PASPA, several states introduced legislation ahead of the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling, while many others are drafting bills. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming projected that if the law was overturned, 32 states will authorize some form of sports betting by 2023, with annual revenue projected at $6 billion.States are trying to figure out the best approach. Some will only permit wagering on location at a designated establishment such as a casino or racetrack. This will likely require an in-person identity proofing event where a hopefully well-trained person will properly identity-proof the sports gambling applicant. More progressive states realize that each of us has a mobile wagering device in our pocket and will permit wagering online through a mobile app or web browser.\u00a0Digital onboarding and the SCOTUS decisionThe SCOTUS decision comes at a time when technology has advanced to the point where digital onboarding of customers is quickly becoming commonplace. Especially so in industries where it is imperative to know the identity of the customer and ensure they meet specific legal requirements.\u00a0Banks have quickly embraced identity verification solutions to digitally onboard customers and are realizing reduced costs, paperwork reduction, and higher customer satisfaction as a result. This technology is expected to expand into other areas such as ride sharing, the hospitality industry, online education, social media and likely online sports gambling. For the end-user, it is as simple as taking a photo of their driver license and a selfie. The back-end technology will verify that the document is genuine and has not been altered. Facial recognition technology will determine if the individual on the driver license matches the selfie. In addition, the demographic data can be verified on the back-end using a variety of sources, such as mobile phone account records. Moreover, any terms and conditions can be acknowledged with an electronic signature. All this takes place in seconds.Security will be of the utmost importance to state gaming commissions. States have a golden opportunity to get it right the first time and leverage the latest technologies in identity and access management and authentication. After verifying the identity of the individual, the identity should be bound to a device to ensure that future bets are coming from a trusted device. States will likely deploy the latest in easy to use mobile apps for users to download from the App Store or Google Play Store or from their own state-managed website.All too often, organizations focus on the user experience of their mobile app with security being an afterthought. When it comes to financial transactions, including wagering and the storage of personally identifiable information, security must be of the utmost importance. The mobile app must be resistant to intrusion, tampering, and reverse-engineering via app shielding technology. Securing the core components of the gambling app, including communications between the mobile device and the server, storage, and user interface, are critical.Deploying online sports betting the right wayIf states are to deploy online sports betting the right way, they need to know that the person placing the bet is really the person whose identity was verified. Static passwords should not be considered; nor should any authentication method that could impede usage. Imagine how angry one might be if they didn\u2019t get their Super Bowl bet placed in time, because they were fumbling with some heavyweight authenticator.\u00a0 States should turn to the latest available adaptive authentication solutions that analyze and score hundreds of user, device, and transaction data in real-time to determine the precise authentication requirements for each transaction. This level of intelligence ensures the best possible customer experience, while safe-guarding transactions and customer data.Some states may require that bets take place within the state\u2019s borders. By combining geofencing with behavioral biometrics, the user experience will be frictionless, while the state will have confidence that they are in compliance.It remains to be seen, but I am willing to bet (pun intended) that those states that procure and implement the latest mobile security and authentication technologies and permit online and mobile wagering on sports will reap millions more in annual revenue than those states that only permit sports betting at the horse track.


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More games are offering special charity items for sale with profits being donated to support Ukraine gamigo announces its continued support for children and families from Ukraine by making more unique in-game items available across more games. This means players can donate by buying items from even more gamigo published games. The following titles are also offering special items to suppo...[Read More]
gamigo is thrilled to announce that its second partnership with the Eden Reforestation Projects has been successfully concluded. Players were able to purchase special Charity-Packages throughout December and January. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, enough funds have been raised to plant over 105,000 trees.
Due to the success of the cooperation, gamigo will extend their charity event with Eden Reforestation Projects until the end of January. gamigo is thrilled to announce that it will be extending its partnership with the Eden Reforestation Projects. During the cooperation, its many gaming communities have been able to purchase specially created in-game packages filled with goodies. Thanks to everyon...[Read More]


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In 1964, a young Tom Raper opened a used car lot with his father on the corner of North 14th and E streets in Richmond, Ind.
This year, Tom Raper RV, one of the most successful and well-known RV dealerships in the nation, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
“Everyone I knew, with the sole exception of my father, told me I was going to go broke, that I wouldn’t make it. I told them, ‘You know what? I’m going to give you a chance to say I told you so, because I think I’m going to make it,’” said Raper, now retired and living in Florida.
It’s safe to say that Tom Raper did indeed make it.
At its three locations – Cincinnati and Columbus were added in 2004 and 2010, respectively –Tom Raper RV employs 185 people, has over 1,000 new and used RVs in its inventory and does over $100 million in business each year. The dealership sells 72 lines of RVs from 12 manufacturers.
Raper converted his business from cars to RVs in the late 1960s when he added Apache tent campers and then the entire Shasta lineup to his inventory.
Raper built his business with aggressive marketing – he said he spent millions on advertising – and by surrounding himself with quality employees. Lying was cause for immediate dismissal, Raper said, and profanity and negativity also were not tolerated. Those who cut the mustard were rewarded with generous benefits, including profit-sharing.
He sold his dealership to then-general manager David Bane in 2002. Bane knew he had to adapt to a changing landscape in order to continue the Tom Raper RV legacy.
“When I look at 50 years in business, I know it’s built on the reputation and legacy of Tom Raper,” Bane said. “But I also look at how we’ve had to adapt and adjust to the Internet, to national buying power, to multiple dealerships, to changing demographics, and to the changing buying habits of consumers.”
“Any dealer who stays rooted in the past will not succeed,” he added. “You can’t live on your legacy forever. You have to change. You have to grow. You have to adapt.”
Bane said his 12 years as owner have been “interesting” – especially since not long after he took over the economy hit the skids. But the recession of 2008-09 taught the industry how to “get by with less,” he said.
“We learned, just like everyone else learned, that we had to make it with the assets we had,” Bane said.
Bane said the future of Tom Raper RV is tied to strategic growth. He said the business is looking to continue to expand to other markets to service existing customers and appeal to new ones.
Tom Raper, philanthropist and former owner of Tom Raper’s RV, has established an endowed scholarship fund for Ivy Tech Community College’s Richmond, Ind., campus. According to a press release, Raper finalized the gift during a signing ceremony at Ivy Tech’s Indianapolis location.
Steve Tincher, chancellor of Ivy Tech’s Richmond region, said, “This scholarship endowment is a wonderful example of Tom Raper’s continued significant support for education and investment in the lives of individuals in our community. We are honored to have the Tom Raper Foundation Inc. Scholarship Endowment for Ivy Tech students.”
“We’re grateful to Tom and Suzanne Raper for establishing the scholarship endowment. Their generosity will support five Richmond area students with financial need to learn skills to be employees or employers,” said Thomas J. Snyder, Ivy Tech President.
The five scholarships will be awarded annually in fall semester. To qualify for the scholarships students will need help with college expenses and have a 2.5 or higher grade point average.
Tom Raper’s RV is headquartered in Richmond with Ohio-based dealerships in Cincinnati and Columbus.
Tom Raper RV announced the appointment of Eddie Unger III to the position of general sales manager for the dealership’s two locations in Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, and its headquarters in Richmond, Ind.
According to a press release, Unger is a 2004 MBA graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., a 2001 graduate of Cumberland College, and a lifelong resident of the Richmond area. He began his career at Tom Raper RVs in 1999 as a finance office representative and was named sales manager for the Richmond store in 2006.
“Eddie grew up in our company and we have a great deal of confidence in him, his experience, work ethic and leadership skills will fuel our continued growth in the marketplace,” said president and CEO David Bane.
It was a fairly typical Friday at Tom Raper RVs in Richmond, Ind. Until the White House called, that is.
Seems the vice president of the United States wanted a motorhome to relax in before and after his speech Monday (Sept. 5) at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO’s annual Labor Day picnic at Coney Island, the Richmond Palladium-Item reported.
Ed Unger, director of corporate operations for Tom Raper, first took a phone call Friday from the AFL-CIO, asking if the Richmond recreational vehicle company would be willing to provide a motorhome for Vice President Joe Biden.
Unger said yes. Then the White House advance staff called — first to say thanks for filling the need on short notice, then to work out the key details.
Unger brought in one of his sons — he has four who work for the company — to help meet the request.
“Dad was pretty surprised (to get those calls),” Eddie Unger, sales manager at Tom Raper, said Sunday.
Biden’s temporary home was a 2008 Phaeton, a 40-footer made by Tiffin Motor Homes Inc. in Red Bay, Ala. The vehicle was delivered Sunday so Biden’s staff could make sweeps and security checks before the vice president climbed aboard.
“President Obama took a lot of heat for using a million-dollar bus made in Canada (during his recent bus tour),” Eddie Unger said. “They requested the one for Biden be made in America and I wanted to make sure it was one we actually sold new at Tom Raper so we could get some recognition, too.”
Eddie Unger included one request of the White House: A chance to meet and shake Biden’s hand, and perhaps have a photograph taken with the nation’s second-in-command. The White House agreed to the request and Unger attend the event on Monday.
Biden’s speech was expected to fire up the troops on the biggest issue to face organized labor in Ohio in decades — the effort to pass a referendum doing away with Senate Bill 5, which would limit public employees’ bargaining rights, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported last week. At least 15,000 area union members and their families attended the annual picnic.
Tom Raper RV in Richmond, Ind., expects as many as 50 people to RSVP for a ”career night” Feb. 15 when the dealership anticipates hiring five new sales people.
”As the economy and our business is picking back up, we need some quality people on board,” said Eddie Unger, Raper general sales manager. ”It’s a no-strings-attached opportunity to show people what we offer and give them the possibility of having a sales career here.”
The career event will feature a two-hour presentation that will explain the details of the positions available followed by one-on-one interviews with Raper managers. Health insurance, a 401(k) retirement plan, a training program and a $5,000 signing bonus are included in the positions that Raper is looking to hire.
”They could have experience in any type of sales — RVs, furniture, cars — but that’s not necessarily required,” Unger said. ”It does help, though.”
This is the second career seminar in recent years, which looks to build on last year’s 20% sales growth versus 2009. The first was in pre-recession 2006. ”We had quite a few folks that came out and we hired several people as a result of that event,” Unger said.
Raper currently employees about 125 people at its headquarters location in Richmond and at two satellite stores in the Cincinnati suburb of Fairfield, Ohio., and a six-month-old store in Columbus, Ohio.
The company currently has 23 sales people handling a full line of RVs at all three stores.
An ad for the Feb. 15 career night has been placed in the nearby Dayton (Ohio) Daily News and one likely will also appear in the Indianapolis Star, about 70 miles to the west. Unger said Raper already employs several people from the Indianapolis area who make the daily drive down I-70.
So, Unger’s looking aggressively at 2011.
”Last year was a great year for us,” Unger said. ”And the opening of the Columbus store was a huge success.”
He said retail sales at recent RV shows in Columbus and Dayton were promising. ”We are seeing demand for RVs picking up,” Unger said.
Those interested in attending the career night should RSVP to (800) 727-3788 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
Ed Unger hopes Tom Raper Inc. can do for Exit 79 on Interstate 70 in central Ohio, what it has done for Exit 149A in Indiana, Columbus Business First reported.
The recreational vehicle dealer, after decades of wooing central Ohioans to visit its complex in Richmond, Ind., has decided to bring its inventory to the Columbus region with a 14-acre dealership in London, 15 miles west of Columbus.
“Columbus has always been a great market for us,” said Unger, Tom Raper’s corporate operations director. “When gas was cheap, people could drive to our superstore. People are more reluctant to drive now.”
Central Ohioans now need travel only minutes west of Interstate 270 rather than make the 100-mile trek into Indiana to peruse Tom Raper’s trailers and RVs. Unger said the London dealership, which opened last month, also makes sales and service operations reachable from other parts of the state.
Recently formed Prime Time Manufacturing, a division of Forest River Inc., celebrated a manufacturing milestone Tuesday (May 11) with the delivery of its 1,000th travel trailer from its production facility in Wakarusa, Ind. The company also used the opportunity to announce a planned expansion and the addition of “a significant amount” of employees.
The towable builder recognized the achievement with a brief ceremony and luncheon attended by more than 130 production workers, vendors and Wakarusa town officials. Many of the employees have been with the company since its inception in September 2009.
Special guests included the management team of Tom Raper RV, who were presented the keys to the milestone unit — a Tracer 3000 BHD. With three locations in Indiana and Ohio, Tom Raper RV is Prime Time’s largest volume dealer.
“Both the Tracer and LaCrosse have proven to be very innovative, well-built and quite popular with our retail customers,” said Dave Bane, president of the multi-site dealership. “We love Prime Time’s aggressive approach to product development and are proud to take delivery of their 1,000th unit.”
During the ceremony, Prime Time President Jeff Rank announced plans to introduce the company’s first line of fifth-wheels, to be called Crusader.
“We will begin production by the end of May and expect to be hiring a significant amount of additional employees within the next few weeks,” he noted. “The management team at Prime Time understands the fifth-wheel market and we look forward to making Crusader an industry leader.”
For more information regarding Prime Time Manufacturing, go to www.primetimerv.com or call (574) 862-3001.
Consistent with widespread projections that the RV industry is poised for a recovery in 2010, many dealers for recently formed Prime Time Manufacturing in Wakarusa, Ind., have enjoyed dramatic increases in retail traffic and sales during the first two months of the new year, according to a news release.
“This year’s Indianapolis show was the best I’ve seen in several years,” according to Dave Bane, president of Tom Raper RV in Richmond, Ind. “Customers are starting to feel more comfortable about their finances and seem ready to make the commitment to a new RV.”
Tom Raper RV, Prime Time’s largest dealer, is focusing on the towable market in 2010 to compliment its existing motorhome sales.
According to Bane, “For years, Tom Raper RV has been one of the nation’s largest motorized dealers. But we believe that towable RVs are going to lead the recovery so we are aligning ourselves with aggressive, innovative manufacturers like Prime Time in order to maximize our sales and profits. Prime Time has made a considerable contribution to the direction of our dealership with their product offering.”
Colleen Botello, sales manager at Hi-Way Campers in Plainfield, Conn., saw similar action at the recently completed Springfield RV and Camper Show where they sold nine Prime Time units.
“Traffic has been exceptional, retail sales are good, and we are starting to see some daylight. Consumers are taking more time in the buying process and are more cautious with their money, but they tend to be looking forward,” noted Botello. Two factors that are more of a priority for consumers, according to Botello, were weight ratings and value. “Prime Time’s LaCrosse offers a lot of bang for the buck with its upscale look and features while Tracer has opened up new markets for us with its low weights and towability,” Botello said.
Prime Time Regional Sales Manager Jason Gill said that many dealers will benefit from the pent-up demand that has been created the last two years as retail sales have slowed along with the national economy.
“Across the board, we are seeing huge increases in retail traffic and most dealers are selling more than they have the last couple of years,” commented Gill. “We are feeling confident about 2010 and Prime Time continues to increase production rates in anticipation of strong retail demand.”
Prime Time Manufacturing is a division of Forest River Inc, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Prime Time offers towable RVs under the brand names of LaCrosse and Tracer.
Some may say that good fortune doesn’t strike the same place twice. For Tom Raper RV’s in Fairfield, Ohio, this is not the case. From Feb. 19 through March 1, the dealership hosted yet another successful RV disposal sales event which brought more than 320 interested RV buyers through the dealership’s doors in only eight days, according to a news release from G&A Marketing which assisted the RV dealer in the event.
This event, which was slightly longer than the dealership’s first asset disposal event, helped the dealership to successfully sell 54 new, used and old aged units; 25% of which were motorhomes.
The recent sale was once again facilitated by G&A Marketing, a promotional sales and marketing agency based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since first working with G&A in January of this year, Tom Raper’s Fairfield location has hosted more than 640 interested buyers during the advertised events, resulting in the sale of over 80 units in a combined total of 11 days.
“We are ecstatic about these results,” said Pat Gunning, president of G&A Marketing, “This sale was 48% better than the first event which took place between Christmas and New Year’s. It is always our goal to help our dealers improve upon previous events, and we are happy that we were able to help Tom Raper achieve this.”
The market exclusive program offered by G&A is continuing to gain in popularity among RV dealers for a number of reasons. As Gunning points out, the traffic being generated for RV dealers as a result of staffed events offer a number of both short-term and long-term benefits. While the influx of customers creates a show floor buying frenzy and increased profitability during the sale, the dealership is also presented with a number of follow-up opportunities which help to clean out old age inventory, boost the morale of the sales force and continue the momentum that was initially created by the event.
“Our events are about more than just a shock to the market. It’s about helping our dealers create a strategy for prolonged success,” said Gunning.
G&A Marketing is a promotional sales and marketing agency that recently resumed providing support to help RV dealerships market and sell old inventory.