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Larry Jackson and the 2,600 General Motors employees in Oklahoma City may be looking at a somber holiday season and an unclear future after the company announced Monday its plant will cease production in early 2006.
Jackson said he likes to â€œsplurgeâ€ on gifts for his family at Christmas. Now he and his wife, also a GM employee, effectively have been laid off.
â€œGifts are going to be very slim, very scarce, this year,â€ he said.
Isn’t that nice of GM, right before the holidays.
Flickinger nearly was moved to tears by the thought of having to leave Oklahoma, a place heâ€™s not from but has come to love. He is in management and said he will likely be relocated within the company. But he worries about his family – a wife and a son who is a senior in high school.
â€œIâ€™m pretty sure Iâ€™ll land on my feet, itâ€™s just hard to uproot from Oklahoma,â€ he said. â€œMy son is set on going to college this fall and that might change a little bit.â€
â€œIâ€™m 48 years old. Iâ€™ve got 28Â½ yearsâ€ with GM, he said. â€œIâ€™m too close to retirement and too young to retire.â€
Yeah, 28Â½ years and GM doesn’t care. But you can bet that the CEO who’s making $11 million a year won’t have to uproot his family.
Somber workers floated in and out of area convenience stores before and after their shifts at GM. Some talked with friends. Some bought beer and lottery tickets.
Minutes after the announcement came over the radio, convenience store employee Jennifer Southerland said a GM worker came in to the Paris Plaza Route 66, off Interstate 240 and Sooner Road.
â€œWell, he did buy a 6-pack (of beer) this morning,â€ she said. â€œThat about says it all about how his day was going.â€
Marquiata Mallory, who works at Flash Mart south of I-240 on Sooner, said several GM employees came through and bought lottery tickets during the day.
â€œThey hope theyâ€™re going to hit the jackpot on one of â€™em,â€ Mallory said. â€œAll theyâ€™ve got is the hope of the lottery tickets – thatâ€™s wrong. Thatâ€™s terrible.â€
Hereâ€™s what the 2000 legislation did:
* Gave General Motors a sales tax exemption on construction materials bought to expand the Oklahoma City plant.
* It allowed General Motors to have a five-year property tax exemption even if the company didnâ€™t create new jobs. The exemption generally goes to companies creating new jobs.
* It allowed General Motors to use an investment income tax credit for up to 15 years instead of just 5 years.
For example, if GM had a $10 million tax credit and used only $1 million of it, it could retain the remaining credits and continue using them for up to 15 years.
Then, a 2003 tornado heavily damaged the plant.
The legislation gave General Motors a 5-year property tax exemption on property installed to replace tornado-damaged property.
This sure reminds me of what happened with the Wrangler plant in Seminole, when the city and state bent over backwards to keep the plant through handing over pork to the crooks at the VF Corporation (parent company of Wrangler) and Wrangler shut down the plant anyways (while making massive profits)

domain: news


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UK households are throwing out £10 billion-worth of edible food every year, a study revealed today.
The average household throws out one-third of all food bought, wasting £420 each year or £610 for those with children, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) said.
The figure is £2bn higher than previously estimated, the report said.
The government described the figures as ‘staggering’ and ‘shocking’.
Researchers found that more than half the discarded food, worth £6 billion a year, was bought but left untouched.
Number of whole chickens thrown away each day in UK
Each day householders throw out 1.3 million unopened yoghurt pots, 5,500 whole chickens and 440,000 ready meals, according to the report.
It found £1bn-worth of discarded products were still ‘in date’, and that local authorities were spending the same amount each year disposing of food waste.
Most of the wasted food went to landfill sites where it emitted methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.
Cutting food waste could limit carbon dioxide emissions by 18 million tons – the equivalent of taking one in five cars off UK roads, the report concluded.
Environment minister Joan Ruddock said: ‘These findings are staggering in their own right, but at a time when global food shortages are in the headlines this kind of wastefulness becomes even more shocking.
‘This is costing consumers three times over. Not only do they pay hard-earned money for food they don’t eat, there is also the cost of dealing with the waste this creates. And there are climate change costs to all of us of growing, processing, packaging, transporting, and refrigerating food that only ends up in the bin.
‘Preventing waste in the first place has to remain a top priority.’
Wrap chief executive Liz Goodwin said: ‘Food waste has a significant environmental impact. This research confirms that it is an issue for us all, whether as consumers, retailers, local or central government.
‘I believe it will spark a major debate about the way food is packaged, sold, stored at home, cooked and then collected when it is thrown out.
‘What shocked me the most was the cost of our food waste at a time of rising food bills, and generally a tighter pull on our purse strings.
‘It highlights that this is an economic and social issue, as well as about how much we understand the value of our food.’
Researchers interviewed 2,715 households in England and Wales and analysed waste from 2,138 of them.
© The Press Association. All rights reserved


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Vitamin D deficiency is very common in the world, according to PubMed.gov. Meanwhile, there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and dry eye syndrome. It was found that serum vitamin D levels in patients with dry eye syndrome were significantly lower than normal.
Thus, scientists have been able to obtain evidence that nutrition and dietary intake of vitamin D affects human eye health. This vitamin prevents age-related diseases and ensures cellular communication in the substance of the eye. Moreover, vitamin D reduces inflammation of the ocular surface.
Low vitamin D levels lead to a decrease in tear fluid production, which can lead to a burning, tingling sensation, and the eyes themselves become red and sensitive to light. All this is dry eye syndrome. “Dry eye syndrome is a common condition that occurs when the eyes don’t produce enough tears or they evaporate too quickly,” the researchers say.


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Guess Inc. said Thursday that sales in the month of November surged 25% to $58.2 million from $46.6 million in the year-ago period. Comparable store sales increased 15.8% in November. Guess GES, +3.92% said a larger percentage of full-price sales drove the year-over-year increase.
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Social gaming giant Zynga is back in court again, issuing a lawsuit against Kobojo. According to GamesIndustry, the publisher alleges Kojobo’s Pyramidville infringes on Zynga’s trademarks, namely Farmville, FrontierVille, CityVille and the like. Zynga has requested injunctions against the title and demanded damages of three times the profits the rival game has brought in so far. Zynga does not own a trademark on “Ville”.
Here’s a Black Friday 2017 circular many of us have been waiting for: Newegg
Battlefield 1: Turning Tides early access listed for December 11 on official website before being pulled
Two weeks early access to the Turning Tides expansion for Battlefield 1 is set to kick off on December 11, apparently.
The 2017 Golden Joystick Awards winners have been announced, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild taking home the ultimate prize.
Zynga and French social developer Koboko have settled a trademark dispute over the “Ville” suffix, which Zynga attaches to a range of games. Gamasutra reports that the terms of the agreement have been kept confidential, but Kobojo said no money changed hands. Pyramidville was recently renamed PyramidValley, though.
Capcom has secured a US trademark which might imply Monster Hunter XX is headed stateside.
It appears Blizzard has run into a bit of a snafu with its trademarks for Overwatch, its upcoming team-based multiplayer shooter.


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[ FAST FACTS HAWAII ]
BACK TO TOP
Warner Bros., Fox triumph in off year
LOS ANGELES » In a year when box office revenue will decline for the first time in more than a decade, venerable Hollywood movie studios Warner Bros.
and 20th Century Fox
-- both more than 80 years old -- have managed to stand above the fray to achieve record years.
Speculation abounds over why ticket sales are more than 5 percent behind 2004 levels but executives at Warner Bros. and Fox have spent much of the year with mostly big smiles on their faces when receiving their weekend box office estimates.
As of Monday, first-place Warner Bros. had reached $1.32 billion in domestic ticket sales compared with the $1.29 billion earned by second-place Fox, according to Box Office Mojo. Warner Bros. has now grossed $1 billion or more for three consecutive years and exceeded 2001 totals, the studio's previous best.
Warner Bros. was the only studio to have three films gross more than $200 million at the box office. Its successes were led by "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the third movie in a series based on the popular books by J.K. Rowling.
Spitzer subpoenas music firms
ALBANY, N.Y. » State investigators have subpoenaed several major music companies as part of a preliminary inquiry into whether the digital music services have engaged in any illegal price-fixing activity.
Darren Dopp, a spokesman for state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, said the office was seeking information on wholesale prices the music labels charge for digital music files that can be downloaded. Dopp said yesterday that it would take months for the office to launch a full investigation, if one is warranted.
Sharp to boost production capacity
, the world's biggest maker of liquid-crystal display televisions, will expand production capacity by more than 10 percent to meet demand driven by soccer's World Cup and the Winter Olympics, according to executives involved in the plan.
The company plans to increase monthly capacity of glass sheets to at least 56,000 units as early as March from 51,000 now, the executives said. Sharp had forecast in August that it would process 54,000 glass sheets, which can be cut into eight 37-inch screens. Sharp's public relations office declined to comment.
Anheuser, Pepsi may raise prices
, the world's largest brewer, plans to toast the New Year with higher prices for Budweiser and Michelob. Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.
may drink to that too.
Companies such as DuPont Co. and Clorox Co. are joining the party with price markups of their own, celebrating the return of pricing power after a year in which many struggled to recover higher costs for energy and raw materials, and some were forced to discount.
Economists say U.S. businesses stand a better chance of getting higher prices in 2006 because unemployment is low and factories are operating near capacity. That already has the Federal Reserve on watch for production bottlenecks that might heat up inflation.


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Just in case if you are not aware of this, let us tell you. Almost half of 2021 has appeared to be the year of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Believe it or not, NFTs took over the world. Prolific celebrities, athletes, and musicians are pouring almost all their creativity into the NFT space and its working. Although the NFT is in the nascent stage, there is so much excitement in it. On the other hand, the NFT marketplace is still yet to go in a full-swing. The idea of it had frozen over, leaving everyone second-guessing the NFT market - if it is going to be the multi-billion dollar market in the next five years or just go dead!
Well, after all the machine bots and enormous technology backups, thought art could never come back. But then, NFT changed everything. It has added new hope to artists and art lovers. Life is coming back to the tech & blockchain market.
“NFT weekly trade volume across the top NFT marketplaces surged 3,300% from the beginning of the year ($5.9 million) to its peak in February ($198 million) before diving 82% to $35.3 million in May. Since then, NFT activity has been grinding higher, reaching $78 million in transaction volume the last week of June, a rebound of 120% month-over-month.”
The creators are working to build and make their communities stronger and layer incentives to energize the NFT space for them. Thanks to all those creators who are working to strengthen their NFT community and grow the entire NFT space.
Not just to sell or buy, but NFT has become a social status for each individual. It offers a badge to display on social media that conveys ones openness to the NFT community and the new technology. This will build social engagement, create awareness among other artists’ communities and ordinary people. Like luxury brands and goods, high-value NFTs are beginning to benefit the cultures and embrace the communities and influencers. Recently, famous artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, smashed digital art records when his art piece was sold for nearly $69 million at Christie’s. According to the auction house, this has positioned him “among the top three most valuable living artists,” according to the auction house.
OpenSea is the world’s largest digital marketplace for crypto collectibles and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It is a great platform to buy anything from art to virtual reality, sports, and trading cards.
In June 2017, CryptoPunks was one of the first NFT projects that set the standard for the modern crypto art movement. The CryptoPunks of 10,000 (ever be minted) has unique traits with varying degrees of rarity algorithmically generated through computer code. Initially, they were released for free and could be claimed by anyone. But later, the high demand with secondary sales that exceeding millions of dollars for individual CryptoPunks. The CryptoPunk owners proudly display their avatars, symbolizing that they are the early adopters of the ethereum-based NFT ecosystem.
Jay-Z recently purchased a CryptoPunk and set it as a Twitter profile picture. This added significant credibility to the project and exposed to Jay-Z’s three million followers for the first time. He brought it for 55 ETH, worth $126,000, on April 25.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is one such project again. The platform created 10,000 unique digital ape avatars that offer special access to owners, such as the digital graffiti wall called The BAYC Bathroom. This feature is only accessible to wallets that own at least one ape.
The BAYC platform is also developing to provide unique features to each owner. Recently, the BAYC included fundamental changes such as clear intellectual property rights for ape owners. As a result, ape owners can create t-shirts or other merchandise with digital avatars linked to them. Hence, there will be no copyright infringement or any other legal battles for the owners.
Cool Cats is one more recent launch with 10,000 programmatically randomly generated cartoon cat avatars. It gains all the power and popularity with a unique body, hat, face, and outfit with 300,000 possibilities. Soon, they might also launch the possibility of breeding capabilities, monthly exclusive custom Cool Cat airdrops, merchandise giveaways, 3D cats, or cat comics. This indeed increases social engagement and strengthens the community with an increased market value.
So not just the digital cartoon avatars, but there is also a lot of content on NFT platforms. Paintings, music, digital creators, etc. NFT artist Mike Winkelmann, popularly known as Beeple, has launched WENEW, an NFT platform that curates and provisions iconic moments and powerful cultural artifacts. This represents him as an artist turning to an entrepreneur building a premier NFT platform.
WENEW’s first auction memorializes tennis star Andy Murray’s historic 2013 Wimbledon victory. The top edition provides the auction winner the chance to play tennis with Murray at the All England Club, two VIP tour experiences, and Centre Court tickets to the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Final in 2020, including various physical and digital memorabilia. The auction was completed, with the winner bidding $177,777 for the top edition.
As we see the potential of NFT, sooner or later, it would also have the artistic tribute to momentous historical events, celebrating sports and every moonwalk. The NFT space is excepted to grow and flow with greater user engagement and increased revenues. We will see more and more breakthroughs in the non-fungible token (NFT) market.


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Australian consumer electronics and audio lifestyle brand BlueAnt has released what it says are the world's smallest true wireless earbuds, for high-quality audio during the toughest of workouts.
Samsung's Gear Sport watch and wireless Bluetooth IconX earbuds billed as "perfect summer wearables" have arrived in time for the season of heat and the season of sales.
"Technology doesn't have to look like technoloogy," says will.i.am, launching his premium BUTTONS Bluetooth earphones for those who demand uncompromising audio quality and uncompromising style.
Thanks Peter! A story well worth reporting.A tiny step in a better direction except that 2035 will be far too[…]
Pyramid payments for the rollout and the smallest chunk for the actual guys doing the rollout. What a surprise from[…]
By moving away from fibre and sticking with an archiac mess of copper the Coalition ensured that wireless would be[…]
This is such an interested case, that will shape the World's view of a controlled monopoly or is it a[…]
Excellent article thx Alex -Pricing to enable bonuses to execs while hiding what they do to their 'essential workers' -[…]


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The Central Statistical Office (KSH) said factory gate prices in Hungary rose by an annual 21.6 percent in November, accelerating from an 18.5 percent increase in the previous month, adding that prices went up mainly because of dearer raw materials, feedstock and vehicle fuel. Prices for domestic sale climbed by 31.2 percent. Export prices rose by 16.8 percent. KSH noted that prices for domestic sale of the manufacturing sector, which accounts for a 63 percent weight in the PPI, increased by 22.3 percent, while prices in the energy sector, which has a 31 percent weight, jumped 53.0 percent. In a month-on-month comparison, factory gate prices were up by 2.7 percent as prices for domestic sale increased by 4.0 percent and export prices rose by 2.0 percent.
Photo credit: Shutterstock


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.- Southern Germany is overcome with enthusiasm and expectation for the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI.
In what a spokesman for the Diocese of Regensburg has called “an authentic catechesis,” State television and radio in the region are programming a wide array of reports on the events, personalities, and Catholic places linked to the Pontiff.
Numerous web pages have been created to offer people the chance to send virtual postcards from Pentling, the location of the house where the Pope lived with his sister Maria when he was professor in Regensburg until he was named Archbishop of Munich.
The papal colors have decorated the entire city and stores have stocked up on items related to the visit, such as special candles, plates, medals, and even stuffed bears dressed as the Pope.
Local businessmen have created special beers and lemonade with labels showing the face of Benedict watching over the city of Regensburg with fatherly care.
But the most important sign of the impact of the Pope’s visit has been the decision by BMW to halt its daily production of 1000 cars and to close its manufacturing facility located about one mile from “the Pope’s Meadow,” so that workers who wish will be able to participate in the Papal Mass scheduled for September 12.
Many of the streets the Pope will be traveling are being specially prepared, while neighbors and students are decorating the house and the street where the Pope will spend his private day in Pentling.


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New York Times
Link to article:
For Nissan, A Designer Fragrance To Float Among Its Cars
For the Paris and now the Detroit Auto Show, stand designers for Nissan paired with Australian scent branding experts Air Aroma to come up with a green tea fragrance described as "modern, fresh, luxurious, and oriental". Subfloor vaporizers emit such a low level of the fragrance that visitors to the Nissan display may not even notice it but will respond to the emotional triggers of the scent.
Excerpt: "Joel McCall is creative director of George P. Johnson, the firm that designs and builds stands for the Detroit auto show and other auto shows. He walks through the show floor with a different mission from the average visitor.
He spent months strategizing the form of Nissan’s stand, down to every shape, sound — and smell. The stand offers its own brand signature fragrance.
Having filled sight and sound with videos and pounding rock ‘n’ roll, stand designers at the Detroit show are adding another sense: scent. Fragrance is a new channel for branding. Mr. McCall said, 'Smells bring memory, like music brings memories.'
So when Mr. McCall walks the show floor he sees — that is, smells — it differently than most of us. His nose notes mostly background noise: the smells of new carpet and plasticlike high pressure laminate, the rubber and metal of new cars and, perhaps coming from the kitchen behind Audi, a hint of weisswurst. The fragrance is part of a high concept stand design for Nissan. It takes the form of an amphitheater, Mr. McCall said, with rising levels of floor in a circular layout. Overhead, a hovering structure called the halo carries images and lights. The space is supposed to bring people together. Images and sounds play off the walls."


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By paying Comcast to improve its internet streaming service in a new deal announced this weekend, Netflix is setting the stage for similar agreements with the likes of AT&T and Verizon, as broadband access becomes the province of a group of digital superpowers.
“It sets a new business model in place,” Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott, told TheWrap. “Anybody who is sending a lot of data through the internet will presumably have to pay more.”
Netflix is one of the largest consumers of bandwidth over the Internet, and the deal makes other pacts seem inevitable in the increasingly competitive video streaming arena. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam told CNBC on Monday that a deal with Netflix is already in the works.
However, the arrangement has little to do with the core issue of net neutrality, because it is not an example of a company paying more for better placement of digital content. In a release touting the deal, Netflix made a point of stating it will receive no preferential treatment on Comcast’s network.
Netflix ponied up to improve its streaming service, but companies such as Google pay fees to directly connect their content delivery networks to internet service provider’s networks. Others, such as CBS and Fox pay third-party networks to link up to providers’ architecture, as analyst Dan Rayburn notes on his blog.
“The concept of net neutrality refers to the non-discriminatory treatment of traffic within a given carrier’s network,” Craig Moffett, an analyst with MoffettNathanson, wrote in a note. “Contrary to what has been reported, the deal has nothing to do with paying for speed or network access; rather it is simply a commercial payment to Comcast to open up additional ports to allow traffic to flow in excess of the settlement-free ratio.”
Netflix was the lone holdout among the internet giants in refusing to pay for direct access. Seeing that Comcast was poised to dominate the bulk of the major media markets, Netflix had little choice but to capitulate and pay the fees.
The deal is further evidence that Comcast, which stands to be the high-speed internet provider for nearly 40 percent of American homes if its deal to acquire Time Warner Cable is approved, has an enormous amount of leverage when it comes to negotiations. It is yet another indication, as if more were needed, that the internet is becoming a battleground largely reserved for new media and technology titans with money and access.
“It’s a game of elephants,” Paul Saffo,a technology forecaster at the investment firm Discern Analytics, said. “The vision of an open internet in which everyone is equal is in danger of disappearing.”
Many analysts believe that Netflix may benefit from the deal, because it unfolds over many years, during which time streaming video seems likely to continue growing in popularity and choking up more and more bandwidth.
“By going straight to Comcast’s network, Netflix knocks out the intermediaries,” Saffo said. “It saves on costs and Comcast makes money by having them connect directly. The net effect on consumers is minor.”
Yahoo and Google have already paid for direct access, but the fees that exist across America’s broadband infrastructure point to a troubling reality: These costs are nothing for wealthy companies such as Netflix or Google, but the barriers to entry are becoming steeper for new players who might be interested in video or disseminating other high capacity content. That creates a playing field that is less meritocratic and harder for entrepreneurs to access.
“The plan that the cable providers, the monopolists had, is coming together,” Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Stanford University and a technology entrepreneur, said. “America is at a big disadvantage because the internet availability is poor, pathetically slow and expensive.”
That in turn, could provide more of an impetus for the expansion of alternatives to cable internet, such as fiber-optic cable, which carry with them more bandwidth and speed. That’s something that Google has been investing heavily in, announcing last week that will roll out its high-speed internet service, Google Fiber, to as many as 34 new cities.
For Wadhwa, the Comcast deal with Netflix is an example of the short-sightedness that is prompting customers to abandon cable for the internet as a means of cost savings. It may lead them to migrate towards fiber-optic services.
“The cable industry is accelerating its own demise,” he said. “They’re doing the same monopoly garbage that is hurting cable. These companies don’t get it. They’re living in the past.”


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Alternative investment manager Apollo Global Management’s impact investing platform, Apollo Impact, announced today an agreement for the acquisition of European recycled cartonboard producer Reno De Medici S.p.A. (RDM).
Under the terms of the deal, Apollo will initially acquire the 67% stake in RDM held by majority shareholders Cascades Inc. and Caisse de dépot et placement du Québec for €1.45 per share, valuing the company at a market cap of €545 million (US$647 million). Upon closing of the transaction, expected by Q3 2021, Apollo will launch a mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares.
According to Apollo, the company expects RDM to benefit from increasing shifts in consumer preferences and EU-wide regulations supporting the use of sustainable, recycled fibers, with cartonboard increasingly used as an alternative to plastic packaging. 100% of RDM’s products are composed of recycled materials, positioning RDM to play a central role in increasing sustainability and contributing to a circular economy by minimizing waste, emissions, and raw material and water usage.
RDM has been actively expanding its business, including recently closing the acquisition of mills in Spain, and announcing the acquisition of mills in the Netherlands, which will bring its operations to nine mills and five specialized cutting and sheeting centers across Europe and the US.
Michele Bianchi, CEO of RDM group, said:
“We are excited to work with Apollo through this next phase of growth for RDM. Over the last five years, our exceptional team has made significant progress in scaling our platform and optimizing our operations across Europe. Looking ahead, we are equally excited about Apollo’s shared commitment to the circular economy of which we are both contributors and beneficiaries. We look forward to building on our ambitious sustainability goals to shape a better future for all our stakeholders.”
The deal marks the first transaction for Apollo’s impact platform. The company announced the launch of Apollo Impact in September 2020, with a goal to focus on the key areas of economic opportunity, education, health, safety & wellness, industry 4.0, and resource sustainability.
Marc Becker, Senior Partner and Co-Lead of Apollo Impact, said:
“As the inaugural investment led by the Apollo Impact platform, RDM reflects our strategy to find good businesses where we believe we can drive financial and impact performance to increase their beneficial effects on society and the planet.”
The post Apollo Impact Acquires Sustainable Packaging Company RDM appeared first on ESG Today.


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Translating “beer” and “wine” to “hop” and “grape” is second nature for news readers in the UAE.
This regulation has gone up another notch with the UAE government’s new guidelines for social media influencers and advertisers. On Monday, the National Media Council issued 19 content writing guidelines addressing social media influencers and digital marketing channels. When boiled down, the guidelines advise against offending the UAE’s religious and cultural norms. It also discourages content that interfere with intellectual property and portray women and children in a disrespectful light.
Here’s what #teamSOCIATE thinks of the new laws.
Rosa Bullock, Founder and PR Guru
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
The UAE has a right to protect its cultural identity and I believe this is a graceful way to do it.
Rabab Hussain, PR Director and Wizard of Comms
With the ever-growing power of the digital world, rules and regulations are necessary so that emitting misleading information can be limited and controlled.
Sabrina Moutarde, Marketing Director and Digital Enthusiast
Welcomed, in my opinion, and great steps from the government to regulate and set guidelines in the ever changing digital landscape for agencies, brand owners and individuals who are actively promoting a product or service in the UAE across social media channels. We are living in a digital era – long gone are traditional advertising methods therefore inherently imperative.
What’s your take on the matter? Tell us in the comments below 🙂


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April 23, 2023 is WORLD BOOK DAY and Amazon is back for World Book Day this year with a FREE digital title to read!
These are different books than last year’s freebies!
You can download one of titles from around the world for free – This year’s countries include China, Italy, UK, Iraq, Andorra, India, Mexico and more – including books in the categories of historical fiction, contemporary fiction, true story, memoir, romance and more!
Previously, Amazon has allowed you to download ALL the World Book Day titles, but this year you can only pick ONE for free. Choose wisely!


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news Consumer advocacy group Choice has backed recommendations by the Productivity Commission to make copyright more consumer friendly and called for an end to geoblocking of Internet content.
If implemented, the Productivity Commission’s recommendations would see an end to companies blocking consumers based on location, and would allow shopping on international websites for products and services such as music, movies and clothing.
“The Productivity Commission has called out the fact that copyright in Australia overly favours owners and forgets about the rights and needs of consumers,” said Alan Kirkland, CEO of Choice. ”We’d like to see the Federal Government embrace the key recommendations of this report and end geoblocking by making it clear to consumers that they have a right to access international markets and services.”
“It’s time the era of geoblocking and digital discrimination ended. Consumers should no longer be restrained from accessing competition in international markets – and more accessible content benefits creators as well, being the best way to reduce piracy,” Kirkland added.
The Productivity Commission report calls for an overhaul of the existing user rights system, including the introduction of a broad, principles-based ‘fair use’ exception.
‘Fair use’ is a defence to copyright infringement found in some jurisdictions that allows use of all or part of copyrighted works under certain conditions. In Australia, the legislation is widely considered to be not broad enough, outdated at a time of rapid technological change and creating uncertainty for both copyright holders and consumers.
“The fact is our copyright system is broken and imbalanced. It was designed for an age before Google, Netflix and countless other digital businesses that Australians have embraced,” said Kirkland.
“Right now, all sorts of everyday, ordinary behaviour is not allowed under Australian law. It can be an infringement of copyright for a teacher to do something as harmless as record a documentary to show their class,” he said. “If we adopted a fair use defence, though, this sort of ordinary behaviour would be covered.”
Kirkland suggested it is time to “rebalance” Australia’s copyright system to make it “fair and flexible” and supportive of creators and consumers.
“The Productivity Commission makes it clear in its report that the copyright system is out of kilter, favouring big copyright owners over consumers. It’s time to fix this problem, by adopting the reforms and making the system work for everyone,” he said.
The Productivity Commission report also covered the potential risks associated with international trade agreements, and suggested that they could constrain Australia’s flexibility over its intellectual property policy.
The Commission recommended that Australia should not enter into any agreements that would restrict Australian consumers’ rights to circumvent geoblocks, or that would extend the copyright protection period for pharmaceutical products.
“The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will impact on our intellectual property framework, further locking in lengthy protection periods and providing a boost for medical patent holders at the expense of Australian consumers and patients,” said Kirkland.
“This is exactly the sort of trade agreement that the Productivity Commission warns against, and the Federal Government has yet to release any independent cost-benefit analysis that would justify entering into the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” he concluded.
Image credit: Netflix


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Campaign: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter announcement
Client: Universal Orlando Resort (UOR)
PR teams: Fleishman-Hillard Travel & Tourism, Fleishman-Hillard Digital
Timescale: April-June 2007
To herald the launch of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter globally. To ensure the buy-in of dedicated Harry Potter fans. To convey the credibility of the theme park and fidelity to the characters and stories. To generate coverage emphasising that UOR is the creator of the theme park.
Strategy and plan
Online communities revolving around a shared love of the Harry Potter brand were initially targeted over traditional media. By embracing these communities and providing the individuals concerned with key information, it was hoped that the news would spread rapidly throughout the world.
The team set up a live webcast and invited the ten most influential individuals in the online arena – the webmasters and owners of the biggest Harry Potter fan sites. This would form the first global announcement of the story, with the traditional media push following immediately afterwards.
Broadcast agency USP Content was brought in to manage the production of the webcast, which featured Scott Trowbridge, SVP of creative services at Universal, and Stuart Craig, Academy Award-winning production designer of the Harry Potter movies.
The webcast, which was filmed on the Harry Potter film set in London, gave the audience access to exclusive artwork and the chance to pose questions in real-time via a purpose-built microsite.
The content was offered to major online media channels, including MSN. Fleishman-Hillard Travel & Tourism managed subsequent media relations with print and broadcast media while F-H Digital dealt with online portals.
Measurement and evaluation
More than 1,000 pieces of coverage were generated across international press and broadcast media within 24 hours of the announcement. Coverage appeared on BBC Breakfast, GMTV, Sky News, across national radio and in most national daily newspapers.
Online coverage by The Times ranked it as the most-read story for more than 24 hours. Yahoo and Google listed more than 6.5 million searches.
More than 18,000 blog posts were made expressing positive sentiments towards the announcement – roughly 0.3 per cent of all global blog posts that day. The exclusive artwork was reproduced online more than 8,000 times.
Visits to the UOR online press office jumped from 30,000 unique users in a month to 1.5 million in just a few days.
Approximately 175 million people read, saw, heard or talked online about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the week after the announcement. A total of 60,000 people registered their details on the website.
Drew Benvie (r), director, Hotwire: What the PR team for this campaign did well was to make sure core enthusiasts were on-board first before reaching out to wider, less informed audiences.
But what really added value was the mix of digital and traditional launch tactics used by the PR team.
The team’s strategy of using video and images alongside an online press release to maximise fansite and blogger pick-up worked well, as did the dedicated webcast for fansite owners to generate interest in the run-up to the launch.
Social media can be used for PR advantage in myriad ways, but to get the most out of the new digital arena takes a real understanding of the way technology and human nature can interact to create brand awareness.
The campaign certainly got plenty of coverage, but while it seems quite a triumph to generate 1,000 pieces of press coverage in just 24 hours, a search for Harry Potter coverage online in a random 24-hour period showed 6,500 articles online.
What this PR launch missed was an opportunity to target the ‘long tail’ of social media to generate further pick-up among fans who are on social networks or have blogs. There are 9.8 million blog posts mentioning Harry Potter, 79,000 photos on Flickr, 766,000 MySpace pages and more than 1,000 groups and events on Facebook – some with in excess of 10,000 members each. A number of other brands have targeted niche social networks such as these to generate mass awareness with staggering success.
However, that aside, the launch of the Harry Potter theme park has been one of the most memorable launches in recent years.


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Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, CON., SAN
India and Nigeria enjoy warm, friendly and deep-rooted bilateral relations. India established its Diplomatic House in Lagos, Nigeria in November 1958 even before our independence in 1960.
Both countries were in the forefront of international anti-colonial, nonaligned and later anti-apartheid struggles. Close collaboration on diverse global issues in international fora was therefore easy. There was a large Indian expatriate community in Nigeria, the largest in West Africa, underscoring our closeness and long-standing relationship. You were traders, industrialists and professionals in various fields, but more importantly, you were teachers.
Of course, we all grew up watching Indian movies the Bollywood. Just like the whole of Africa and maybe the world today is watching Nigeria’s Nollywood, an industry, according to the World Bank, is worth now about US$5 billion per annum. Imagine if Bollywood were to support that sector with capacity training and skills development and financial capital investment. This is one of the things we believe India should be doing. It is good for our relationship. It is also good for business.
The enormous goodwill earned by India and Indians in Nigeria is everlasting.
POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CONTACTS
Suffice to say that Nigerian leaders have, as a matter of course, made a point of our relationship, to meet every Indian leader. Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari was in India for the India-Africa Summit in 2015. He met Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Your Vice President, Hamid Ansari visited Nigeria in September 2016. He had audience with our President and the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, providing yet another opportunity to further deepen our bilateral relationship. Vice President Ansari had a CII business delegation which met their counterpart in Nigeria.
As a Federal Minister in Nigeria about 12 years ago, I ensured that I attended every cultural or business event hosted by the Indian High Commission in Nigeria. In the true spirit of “DOSTANA”.
FRAMEWORK AND MECHANISM FOR COOPERATION JOINT TRADE COMMITTEE
Trade Agreement: Moving forward from the 1983 Bilateral Trade Agreement signed between Nigeria and India, our relationship was elevated to a STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP with a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) in 2017 to review bilateral trade and commercial relations. As part of the commitment, a Nigerian delegation is to be in New Delhi this month for the first JTC meeting. Critical among issues that would be resolved would be the issue of prevention of double taxation. Last week, a Bilateral Air Service Agreement, BASA, was signed. This should open up direct flights between the two countries. These service were being operated 40m years ago. It is high time they are resumed again.
Both the Government of Nigeria and the organised private sector actively supported the launching of the Nigerian Chapter of ASSOCHAM in Nigeria. In 2016, the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) signed a strategic partnership Agreement with ASSOCHAM. I signed for NACCIMA. And my presence here today underscores the importance we attach to the spirit and the words of that Agreement. And it is a work in progress.
Today over 135 Indian companies operate in Nigeria. They are owned and or operated by Indians or Persons-of-Indian origin (PIOs) like Chanrai family (Agribusiness and automobiles), Dana Group (Pharma, steel, electronics, consumer goods, aviation), Chellarams (consumer goods, foodstuff, financial services, art), Keshwanis (Retail and Construction) and Mehtanis Churchgate Group (Construction and commodities), DUFIL Prime Food Ltd., Indorama and Olam Nigeria Ltd (agriculture).
Other companies include: Bharti Airtel, Tata, Bajaj Auto, Birla Group, Kirloskar, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, NIIT, Aptech, New India Assurance, Bhushan Steel, KEC, Skipper Nigeria, Dabur, Godrej, Ranbaxy and Primus Super-speciality Hospital actively working (and some say, dominating) critical sectors including health, power, manufacturing and retail, pharmaceuticals, aviation, telecommunications, infrastructure, construction and diverse consultancy services.
Confederation of Indian Industries, CII.
In Nigeria, we are proud to be associated with the Confederation of Indian Industries, CII, a very formidable body with over 300,000 membership. We also key into its INDIA RISE Initiative, RISE, stands for Responsible, Inclusive, Sustainable and Entrepreneurship. We all want to be responsible, inclusive, sustainable and above all entrepreneurial. We have consistently related with CII in a dynamic way. And I say a big thank you to CII. Last year training programs were provided for our top staff in the OPS. We look forward to working closely with CII in the future, and even on this trip, to further deepen Nigeria-India partnership.
BENEFITS OF A GOOD RELATIONSHIP
Today, India is Nigeria’s largest trading partner. And Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner in Africa. India is number one buyer of Nigerian crude oil. The bilateral trade between India and Nigeria during the year 2017-18 increased to US$11.76 billion. Indian exports to Nigeria went up to US$ 2.26 billion in 2018. India’s imports was US $ 9.5 billion in 2017- 18. However the import matrix is narrow. Crude oil and LNG import accounted for $ 9.29 billion out of this. It is also believed and informally estimated that there would be around US$ 10 billion of investment by Indian companies in Nigeria. Most PIOs are funded through Nigerian funding systems.
NIGERIAN ECONOMIC SCENARIO
Up to 2014 we had maintained a sustained economic growth of around 7% but with contraction occasioned by the drop in global crude oil prices in 2016, Nigerian economy officially slipped into recession – for the first time in 25 years.
The Government of Nigeria launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) in second-half of 2016 for the period 2017-20 focusing on restoring growth, investing in people and building a globally competitive economy.
Nigerian Central bank had to limit forex lending to importers of 41goods (rice etc.). This restriction had a temporary adverse impact on bilateral commerce. Despite this brief interruption, the positive growth of two-way trade volumes was not really hindered as India continue to enjoy a buoyant and steady overall India-Nigeria trade and commercial relations.
Nigeria started and is still implementing a regime of easing bureaucratic bottlenecks for ease of doing business and creating an enabling environment for business to thrive. The impact is being felt. Nigeria moved up by 24 places in the Ease of Doing Business Rating in 2017. FDI also increased dramatically with US $12.2 billion capital inflow in 2017, 139% higher than 2016.
SMART ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Our economy is now on a northern rebound. We have made a smart recovery, exiting recession in the second quarter of 2017. Inflation came down to 11% in July 2018 from 18.5%. The Exchange Rate has also stabilized. IMF predicts that Nigerian economy will grow by 2.1% in 2018 and 2.5% to 3% in 2019. The foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria increased to US $ 47 billion in July 2018 from US $ 30.3 billion in 2017.
Nigerian Government took steps to diversify the Nigerian economy with focus on agriculture, mining and industrial development. We require more India-Nigeria partnerships and investment in these areas.
NIGERIA AND INDIAN PATRONAGE
The Dangote Group, (owned by Aliko Dangote), the largest business conglomerate in Africa, which is currently developing one of the largest Petro-chemical and fertilizer complexes patronises several Indian companies in project management, construction and plant supply and installation. Engineers India Limited (EIL), Fabtech, Indcon Projects, Skipper, Patels, Airtemp, Temasme, Phils Engg, Techno, Larsen & Toubro, Godrej, Vijay Tanks, ISGEC, Altech, Diamond Engineering, Bharat Bijlee, Thermax and Emmerson etc, to mention a few.
The Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), HPCL and BPCL enjoy crude oil lifting contracts. Sterling and Essar are involved in oil exploration while others are in partnership with Nigerians in the midstream and the downstream sub-sectors of the oil sector. But we can do more. More Nigeria-India partnership and investment, working together are required in the oil to chemical sector. The profit will be huge. As Nigeria is poised to industrialise, more chemicals will be required.
India is traditionally the largest source of pharmaceuticals imports into Nigeria, supplying over a third of the country’s demand. The Indian Pharmaceuticals’ Manufactures and Importers in Nigeria promote the interests Indian pharma sector in Nigeria recording about $500 million revenue last year. Companies active in this sector includes; include Ranbaxy, Cadila, Emcure,. But this may actually represent about a quarter of the actual volume of pharmaceutical transactions since a lot of the business is still being done in an informal way which largely do not go through our Central Bank.
For several years also, the Indian health sector is the recipient of over US$1.2 billion worth of medical tourism business from Nigerians on medical treatment. Again this is mainly heavily under recorded. There are also Indian run health facilities in Nigeria
Nigeria is also a very major market for Indian electrical machinery and equipment. Over 20 Indian companies are engaged in our power sector. Transactions in this sector is expected to grow dramatically as the Nigerian government is poised to radically transform and encourage investment in the electricity sector this year, immediately after the elections. So this is a good time to take an investment position in that sector. Big business is coming.
Nigeria is seeking to achieve 30% electricity generation from solar power. This is also an area that we want India to focus more. In June 2018, ASSOCHAM, the Abuja Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) and your High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr Reddy, we organised a highly successful ‘Nigeria-India Cooperation in Solar & Other Renewable Energy Sources Opportunities and Way Forward’ business summit in Abuja, Nigeria. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Authority (IREDA), EXIM Bank, BHEL and Avada Group, Nigerian and Indian companies in Nigeria like Skipper Siel, Simba Group, participated.
When Vice President Ansari visited Nigeria in September 2016 he identified agriculture as an important sector for greater cooperation particularly mechanisation, processing,storage and packaging, equipment, rice and milk production as well animal husbandry
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture, ASSOCHAM’s Nigeria Chapter, Abuja Chamber of commerce, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA). Indian companies, the Managing Director of the Exim Bank, Chambers of Commerce of the various State Governments, Nigerian Central Bank, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, agriculture and farmers associations attended the business forum on the back of that visit.
Indian auto companies, TATA, ASHOK LEYLAND, MAHINDRA (automobiles), SONALIKA, (tractors) in automobiles, Bajaj Auto and TVS are involved in motorcycles, (two-wheelers) TVS and Kinetic (three wheelers) and other utility vehicles and have created a niche in this area. They enjoy a virtual monopoly. Nigeria is one of their largest markets outside India.
Industrial activities in Nigeria is essentially an Indian business. There is an INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMMENT REVOLUTION policy designed and being sought to be implemented by our government. There will be more opportunities for further investments in agro production and processing, industrial production in household office goods and utilities, processing equipment and spare parts manufacturing. We need to have Nigeria-Indian Industrial Parks, especially in technology, plastics, and polymers (for various industrial use), metal, and recycling industries (and for the new WASTE TO WEALTH Programs driven principally by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce) with the support of our government.
India is a world power in the technology space. Africa wants to share this space with your collaboration and partnership. We have over 150 million Nigerians below the age of 35 years. We all know what that means. We want more exchange and partnership in Indian technology. It is good business. We will all profit.
But in doing all these, we must remember that it is always good business to partner with local businesses. And this is in line with the 10 principles for India-Africa engagement enunciated with great vision, by your leader and the highly respected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi; a vision for India-Africa partnership on a win-win basis. These are his thoughts, his words and Africa is in harmony with that. A great man called Mohandas K Gandhi said happiness is when, what you think, what you say and what you do, are in harmony. Let us be in harmony. Invest jointly, share technology, create and share value and wealth together. The prosperity of Africa, the prosperity of Nigeria is, can and must be equal to the prosperity of India. And this is the only way to do good business.
This is my first time in Gujarat. But will not be the last. Nigeria does over 40% of its Indian business with Gujarat. In fact I should be back in March, to follow up, for myself as well as for members of my Chambers, some of the business opportunities that this Summit has enabled us to open up.
I want to thank the Government of India, the Government of GUJARAT, Chief Minister Shri Vijay Rupani, the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and our Indian friends for continuing to organise the VIBRANT Gujarat, a truly global Summit. And for your warm hospitality.
BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.
PRINCE ADETOKUNBO KAYODE, CON. SAN.PRESIDENT ABUJA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY, COUNCIL, MEMBER of NACCIMA made the presentation on behalf of Nigeria at the 9th Vibrant GUJARAT GLOBAL SUMMIT, 2019.


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New environmental initiative will see household brands Ariel and Lenor sold in 50 per cent recycled bottles from 2016
Over 230 million laundry products will boast a lower carbon footprint from next year, thanks to a new environmental initiative announced by global consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble yesterday. Household...
An all-you-need-to-know guide to all the top green corporate announcements from a busy Climate Week in NYC
Plus EU's plan to cut aviation CO2, Norway's CCS project, Australia's green tech investment blitz and the top green business news from around the world this week
PM touts 'green industrial revolution' as fix for climate and Covid crises as he urges countries to step up climate efforts
PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte all back environmental social governance reporting framework headed up by the International Business School


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Kids are told not to judge a book by its cover, and that it’s what on the inside that counts.
That may be true, but it turns out that stylish clothes actually serve a purpose: when kids feel like they fit in at school, they can better concentrate on learning.
That’s one of the goals behind Threads & Treads, a free clothing shop open to families of Northshore School District students. Recipients don’t have to demonstrate need or be referred. Eileen Jowell, the community schools coordinator for NSD, said the district has done surveys that show that students who’ve received clothes from Threads & Treads can concentrate more on school when they have clothes that make them feel comfortable and stylish.
Threads & Treads, located at Canyon Park Junior High School, provides three outfits and one pair of shoes per month to every family member, and Jowell is generous in her definition of an outfit. It can be more than a shirt and pants, she said. Layers are fine; unusual items such as pajamas and prom dresses are considered "extras."
"We want them to have a full outfit they’re going to wear," she said.
The clothes come from donations, and the store is run by a staff of about 40 volunteers, which includes Northshore students, parents and community members, as well as students from Cascadia Community College taking service learning classes. Jowell strives to stock the store with clean, high-quality clothes that aren’t too outdated or worn out.
And don’t expect to find sweatpants with provocative sayings written on the butt.
"We want stuff that follows the school dress codes," explained Srishti Mathur, a Bothell High School junior who volunteers at Threads & Treads. "Anything that would work for a Washingtonian — like, we don’t really wear tank tops. We want stuff that people are going to be comfortable wearing around school, to the grocery store."
The store also offers adult clothes, so parents of Northshore students can shop for clothes for job interviews or work, and clothes for school activities like sports and music groups.
"I would hate for any family to go out and buy the one skirt they need for the band concert," Jowell said. "Maybe that skirt is here."
The volunteers donate items that can’t be used at Threads & Treads to the Northwest Center, which pays Threads & Treads $0.04 per pound of clothes. Jowell uses that money to buy new socks and underwear to give out, as well as shelves, pens and other supplies to use in the store.
Three school counselors from Kenmore Junior High School started Threads & Treads, Jowell explained.
"In 2009, we laid off a bunch of people from the district, the economy was tanking and middle class families found themselves qualifying for services," Jowell said.
When families can get clothes for free from Threads & Treads, it lets them spend their money on food, school supplies and other necessities, Jowell said. It also gives the families a chance to get more involved in the school district by finding out more about open houses, sports programs and other school events. Some beneficiaries of the program even become donors or volunteers.
"A lot of the people who’ve shopped actually come back to volunteer, and they donate whatever they can, if they’ve outgrown it," explained Donna Ribary, who’s volunteered at Threads & Treads for three years.
Mathur began volunteering at the start of this school year. She likes the way younger kids look up to her, and she enjoys assembling outfits, but most importantly, she can give back to the community in a direct and meaningful way.
"I have a chance to interact with people and help them get what they need, whereas if you’re standing outside Safeway collecting cans, it’s not as interactive," she said.


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It almost seems anachronistic that we can't send money from PayPal to Venmo or Alipay the way we can send email from Gmail to Yahoo Mail or a text message from an Android on Sprint to an iPhone on T-Mobile.
Blockchain startup Circle would like to change that.
The Boston-based company announced Thursday that it is offering up the technology needed to enable global peer-to-peer payments.
Taking a playbook from a new trend in crypto to use tokens to launch decentralized networks, it is doing the same — creating a set of protocols that will be open source, creating a foundation to manage this public resource and releasing tokens that will be used to facilitate some of the transfers on the network as well as pay for services on it.
The major difference is that it is doing so not for crypto assets but for fiat money — digital dollars, euros, pounds, rupees, renminbi and others.
“What’s needed is a way to issue fiat money in cryptographic tokens and protocols and network schemes to allow for the instant settlement and exchange of those in a safe, compliant way and in a way that meets business needs and obligations,” said Circle cofounder and CEO Jeremy Allaire. “The design of this is such that we think businesses and people with websites will have digital wallets just like businesses have web services where people can visit their businesses using a web browser.”
The protocols and smart contracts it is devising, called Centre (for Cent Routing Exchange), will be decentralized and open source. A current but proprietary implementation of the protocols has been in use by Circle and its partners. The first open source implementation is being built on Ethereum but is designed to run on any number of blockchains in the way that the http protocol for the web can run on Mac OS, Windows and Linux. Circle also plans to create a Centre Foundation, a non-profit, which will manage the protocol. The company did not provide a date for the release of the open source code code.
Nodes running the network will include participants such as wallet providers, financial institutions and software companies. Centre will also accommodate third parties to offer services such as fraud detection, risk assessment, identity management, anti-money-laundering monitoring, etc.
The target users are those that Allaire says are leading innovation in consumer finance and ecommerce, such as Paypal, Square, Stripe, Ant Financial in China, or Adyen in Europe.
“They are all software-based companies that are trying to innovate on how things work. They they want things to be fast, global, secure and cheap,” said Allaire. Noting the advantages of blockchains over the rails of traditional finance where an international transaction could take a week or more compared to the seconds or minutes the same would take on a blockchain, Allaire adds, “Consumer and fintech companies trying to build things in a more natively digital way will want to adopt technologies to allow them to do things in a digital way.”
All nodes will be required to hold Centre tokens (CENT) to facilitate transactions between two wallet providers who do not share currencies in common. For instance, if someone in Paytm in India wanted to send rupees to a friend using Vipps in Sweden, since Vipps doesn’t take rupees and Paytm doesn’t take Swedish kronor, the wallets could complete the transfer using CENT. Third-party providers used in the transaction for services such as anti-money-laundering, risk assessments or compliance requests, would be paid in CENT tokens. CENT is somewhat similar to the Ripple XRP token, which is used to facilitate inter-bank, typically international, financial transactions, however CENT will be used to facilitate P2P transactions between different wallet providers such as Venmo and WeChat.
The company currently has no specific plans for releasing the token although node operators are required to use it.
Circle has so far raised $140 million from Breyer Capital, Goldman Sachs and Accel Partners, as well as Chinese investors including IDG Capital Baidu and Fenbushi. Circle Pay began as an app for P2P payments that also enabled users to buy, hold and pay in Bitcoin in addition to fiat currencies. It later dropped Bitcoin entirely although it continued to use blockchains on the back end to make fiat currency transfers possible. Aside from its consumer-facing application, the firm also runs Circle Trading, a major crypto asset market-making and liquidity provider.


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NEW YORK (Press Release – January 19, 2012) – America’s #1 volume SBA lender, Chase increased small business lending by 52% in 2011, providing $17 billion of credit through nearly 400,000 new loans and lines to American small businesses. In 2010, Chase provided $11.2 billion in credit to businesses with less than $20 million in annual sales.
“Chase continued to invest in the success of small businesses across the country with nearly 400,000 new loans and credit lines in 2011,” said Scott Geller, CEO of Business Banking at Chase. “Since 2009, we have provided more than $35 billion in working capital, term loans for expansion, commercial mortgages, lines of credit and business credit cards to small businesses.”
For the past three years, Chase exceeded annual small business lending commitments and, at a White House-sponsored event last fall, pledged to maintain elevated lending volumes through at least 2013.
Lending to small businesses in each of the 23 states with a Chase branch presence increased over 2010. More than 75,000 companies in California received $4.7 billion in credit, representing 28% of Chase’s total small business lending in 2011. Combined lending totals for California, New York, Texas and Illinois were up 50% over 2010.
2011 increases in dollars lent to small businesses among states with a Chase branch presence:
|Michigan||27||All others 46|
For fiscal 2011, Chase was the #1 SBA lender in number of loans in many markets around the country, including:
Chase ranked first in both SBA volume and dollars in New York (city and state) and Texas.
The continued increase in Chase’s lending reflects the bank’s pledge to help American small business grow. In 2011, the bank hired 450 new bankers to serve more than 2 million small businesses. Chase also launched business banking innovations such as Instant Storefront from Chase, Jot and Chase QuickDeposit, well as enhancements to Chase Mobile for Business and an array of free fraud protection services. An exclusive series of Chase business insights seminars in markets around the country bring entrepreneurs together for networking and business development.
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.3 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. Chase serves consumers and small businesses through 5,400 bank branches, 16,800 ATMs, mortgage offices, and online and mobile banking as well as through relationships with auto dealerships and schools and universities. Chase also has issued more than 90 million credit cards. More information about Chase is available at www.chase.com.


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Recent patent drawings unearthed by Dutch website Auto Visie reveal what is believed to be the next hybrid supercar from Porsche. The new car bears a striking resemblance to the “917 Living Legend” concept car (shown below) that debuted last year — and it looks like it could arrive just in time to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Porsche 917’s historic win at the 24 hours of LeMans.
It’s been about five years since the last Porsche 918 Spyder rolled off the company’s Stuttgart assembly line, and it seems like the enthusiast world has been waiting with heavy anticipation to see what the stories German brand had in store for us next. It seems now that last year’s 917 concept was much more than just a styling exercise — it may have been testing the waters to see what demand might be for a million-dollar Porsche hybrid.
The concept sported wheels and a high exhaust position first seen on the Porsche 918 Spyder. At the time, that led some people to believe the concept was “merely” a re-bodied 918. With the advancements Porsche and its parent company, Volkswagen Group, have made in terms of battery and electric component technology since that car was launched in 2013, however, it’s probably safe to assume that there’s more going on here.
I’d expect to see a tightly wound version of the company’s latest twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine mounted in the middle of the car and driving the rear wheels, with a high-efficiency capacitor and small, lightweight battery powering the front wheels electrically. The whole thing will very likely have an “EV only” mode to meet the demands of a growing number of cities that have “zero emissions zones” as well. If so, it would be safe to expect about 30 or so miles (50 km) of range on a full battery.
Those are all my guesses anyway — what do you guys think? Is this Porsche hybrid going to be a one-off? A limited production special? Or are these drawings — which really highlight the car’s moveable aero rear wing and “pop up” air scoop for the engine — just red herrings to keep people from looking too closely at the tech involved? Take a look at the pictures below and let us know your take in the comments.
2021 Porsche Hybrid Hypercar
Source | Images: Auto Visie, images used with permission.
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Although this will see Huawei expanding into a new product area, the suggestion is the company has high expectations of success as it is currently targeting ten million units sold annually. For a company yet to establish itself in this sector, that’s a big ask and if achieved will only further add to the ‘rise of Huawei’ narrative.
The same unnamed source has also apparently confirmed the TVs won’t be just a TVs, but more of a hub due to the products arriving with a focus on gaming and social features. This in addition to the inclusion of dual cameras.
The last point is an interesting one as it remains to be seen how receptive consumers will be to TVs equipped with cameras. On the one side, this offers up additional ways to broadcast yourself and is likely to be highly beneficial for video chatting with family and friends.
On the other hand, privacy has become an increasingly important and promoted quality and products that are suddenly having cameras attached to them are coming under greater scrutiny from consumers. For example, Facebook has received a fair amount of criticism for its camera-touting smart displays, and the company is also rumored to be working on its own TV equipped with cameras.
Of course, Facebook has been at the center of many privacy-related scandals and debates recently which does add to the heightened level of skepticism, but so has Huawei.
More widely speaking, Huawei’s move into the TV space seems to only further highlight what is clearly now becoming a trend with many non-traditional TV makers now looking to make gains in the TV world. Besides the old guard of makers, and of course Huawei and Facebook, OnePlus is also keen on a move to the TV market.
One of the likely reasons for this newfound interest in the home TV market by these companies is the growing importance of the TV in general. Not only is it now a display for video content, but these units are becoming increasingly more competent as central command units for the entire home.
This is in part due to the expansion of the TV’s interface over the last couple of years and the ability for that interface to be a greater ecosystem in its own right. Facebook, Huawei, and OnePlus are all very much interested in software ecosystems and the services related to them, so this only acts as further motivation for these companies to branch off in this way.
According to the latest information, when Huawei does unveil its new TVs, the lineup will be limited to begin with – only 55 and 65-inch options are set to be announced.
The two sizes are understood to be drawing on different producers for the display, BOE and Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics, respectively.
Towards the end of 2018, Huawei was spotted looking to protect the “Huawei AI Window” name. A name that at the time appeared to be related to to the smart TV sector. Leading to the suggesting this might be what the company’s TV products arrive branded as.


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A Banksy artwork set a world record earlier this month at International Art Centre, fetching a whopping $126,000 – twice what is was predicted to reach.
The work, Have A Nice Day, was expected to fetch $60,000 at a sale of collectable art at the International Art Centre, in Parnell.
To the auction house’s delight, a bout of spirited bidding saw the buyer, an unidentified New Zealander, shell out $126,000 for the military-themed work which was created nearly 20 years ago.
The sale price was the most ever paid for a print of Have A Nice Day, of which there was a limited issue of authentic copies.
International Art Centre director Richard Thomson said inquiries about Have A Nice Day had come from around the world.
He confirmed it went to an unidentified New Zealand buyer.
Have A Nice Day features 27 military police or riot police, all dressed in black riot gear and standing on either side of a tank. Each is wearing a yellow smiley face, which Banksy often uses to portray figures that use fear as a means of control. At the bottom of the print is the message: Have A Nice Day.
It is the third time the International Art Centre has achieved a world record price for Banksy works this year following sales in August and June.


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Sinnett Realty Group is proud to announce that Bryan Sinnett, Owner of Sinnett Realty Group, has been added to the prestigious Compass Triangle Luxury Collective. This exclusive collective was established to provide unparalleled support and elevate the marketing standards for the most luxurious properties in the Triangle area.
The Compass Triangle Luxury Collective recently held a spectacular launch party to unveil its founding members, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter in luxury real estate. As a founding member, Bryan Sinnett brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the collective, particularly in the luxury Raleigh market.
The luxury endeavour is kicking off just in time for the spring market, which experts anticipate will be a busy season for luxury home sales. Year over year, total existing home sales were up 1.3% in January, but the number of homes selling for $1,000,000+ jumped 27%. As affluent buyers appear to be jumping back into the market more quickly, the Compass Triangle Luxury Collective stands ready to help.
Sinnett Realty Group Owner, Bryan Sinnett Named Founding Member of Compass Triangle Luxury Collective.
“As a founding member of such an elite collective, I’m thrilled to showcase Raleigh’s booming luxury market and leverage its unparalleled offerings. This collaboration will allow us to provide an even higher level of service and exposure for our clients’ exceptional properties. I’m excited to be a part of it all!”- Bryan Sinnett, Owner/Broker of Sinnett Realty Group.
Sinnett Realty Group is renowned for representing some of the most anticipated luxury homes and custom new construction listings across the Triangle. With a deep understanding of the local high-end market and a commitment to excellence, Bryan Sinnett and his team are poised to deliver exceptional results for their clients.
Check out a full gallery of photos from the February 18th launch party hosted by the Carolina Exotic Car Club.
“As a founding member of such an elite collective, I’m thrilled to showcase Raleigh’s booming luxury market and leverage its unparalleled offerings,” states Bryan Sinnett, Owner/Broker of Sinnett Realty Group. “This collaboration will allow us to provide an even higher level of service and exposure for our clients’ exceptional properties. I’m excited to be a part of it all!”
In addition to his involvement with the Compass Triangle Luxury Collective, Bryan Sinnett was recently quoted in the Compass 2023 Ultra Luxury Report. This comprehensive report offers a year-end snapshot of Compass brokerage’s $10 million-plus sales nationwide. Featuring insights from 79 markets, the report highlights a total $26.84 billion in $10M+ listing sales volume and 1,560 total $10M+ listing sales.
For more information about Sinnett Realty Group and its luxury listings, please visit www.sinnettrealty.com and follow along on social @SinnettRealtyGroup across all platforms, or search #SelectSRG.


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Amerisleep Says Labor Day Weekend Could be Mattress Industry's Black Friday/Cyber Monday
Tempe, AZ, August 31, 2013 --(PR.com
)-- Amerisleep, the leading visco memory foam sleep products e-retailer, said that Labor Day weekend is fast becoming the mattress industry’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday and it’s responding by taking several steps to increase its promotions, offering consumers sale prices and giveaways, plus its first-ever next-day shipping promotion on the company’s top selling Liberty and Revere mattresses.
“There are a lot of millennials moving into new apartments, students moving into new housing and families closing on new homes around this time of year. Labor Day may be the last blast of summer, but for an increasing number of consumers it is the time they shop for mattresses,” said Amerisleep President Moe Kittaneh.
Amerisleep has launched several initiatives to help consumers find the best deals on mattresses. If shoppers click to buy the company’s most popular models on Labor Day – Liberty or Revere – they’ll have the added benefit of sleeping on them sooner with Amerisleep’s first-ever next day shipping promotion. This bypasses the typical 7-10 day waiting period. The Liberty Bed is characterized by a plush feel, offering a pillowy soft top without sacrificing support, while the Revere Bed provides a firmer comfort feel and exceptional spinal support. All Amerisleep beds are made from eco-friendly memory-foam designed to be cool, responsive and supportive. The company has been actively building up its stock on those models to meet the anticipated demand.
“We know that customers want a quality product at a competitive price, but our research has also shown that they want to enjoy their purchase as soon as possible, and that’s why we’ve increased our production for this special event,” added Joel Holt, director of operations
Additionally, during the holiday weekend Amerisleep will offer $200 off all mattresses plus two free pillows and $200 off all adjustable bases.
“Several factors have made Labor Day a popular time for consumers to invest in a new mattress. The three day weekend provides ample time for shopping, plus families are getting back into a routine as children head back to school and that means sleep is a priority. More than that, with the next major shopping holiday – Black Friday – a few months away, deal hunters are active right now,” said Kitteneh.
The trend Amerisleep is finding is backed up by a survey of more than 1,000 shoppers by the world’s leading digital coupon marketplace, RetailMeNot.com. They found that 59-percent of respondents plan to shop during the upcoming holiday weekend and deals on household items will be high on their list. Now, they can shop from the comfort of their own home, the backyard barbeque or the beach and be sleeping better sooner.
Founded in 2008, Amerisleep has been leading the way in bringing mattress manufacturing back to the US, and creating new and innovative green mattress technologies. Amerisleep’s e-commerce website features highly-rated memory foam mattresses, adjustable beds and bedding accessories. All of the company’s products are American-made, environmentally safe and sold at competitive prices. For more information please visit www.amerisleep.com.


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4 Things You Need to Know About the Border Adjustment Tax
Products made in the U.S. and overseas could soon be subject to new tax laws. Here’s what we know so far.
The proposed border adjustment tax—a sweeping change to the U.S. tax code— continues to be a hot topic in Washington, D.C., as Congress begins the heart of its legislative session. As I discussed in a previous article, the border adjustment tax as proposed by House Republicans could have dramatic impacts on your tax bill, depending on where you manufacture your product.
Not surprisingly, outdoor companies have a lot of questions about how the border adjustment tax would work and the likelihood that it will actually become law. A record number of OIA members tuned in for a webinar we put on recently on this issue and I wanted to share some of the questions from that session and others I have received from members.
Clearly, we got your attention, and the industry will be heavily engaged as the border adjustment tax makes its way through Congress.
It is almost certain that the House will vote on a tax reform plan this year—possibly before the 4th of July recess—and the border adjustment tax will be a key component. As we discussed previously, the Senate is working on its own plan but has yet to embrace the BAT. And President Trump likewise hasn’t made clear where he stands. So, the fate of the BAT is still up in the air.
If it does pass, however, it is unlikely that it will take effect immediately. We expect a transition period—possibly five to seven years—before it takes full effect. It is also possible that it would be phased in over that time with the amount of covered products increasing every year.
Interested in learning more about domestic manufacturing? Think now might be a good time to invest in reshoring efforts? Reach out to OIA Policy Advisor Andrew Pappas to learn about or join our Made In America Working Group.
No. The border adjustment tax would not impact products manufactured abroad and sold abroad. It would only cover products sold in the U.S. Products made in and exported from the U.S. would be exempt altogether.
Unclear. Foreign inputs for a product manufactured in the U.S. and sold in the U.S. would still be subject to the border adjustment tax. If that product is subsequently exported for sale, it is possible that you could deduct the cost of the imported inputs from your tax bill. We will not know for certain, however, until we see the final details of the plan. This is one of the key questions we have shared with members of Congress and their staff who are preparing the tax reform legislation.
Again, unclear until we see the final text. And this is a key point for outdoor companies. Most outdoor products—apparel, footwear, travel goods—are import-dependent, and outdoor companies already pay stiff import tariffs, which are essentially taxes that lead to higher consumer costs, fewer jobs and less innovation. While the average tariff on most imports is less than 3 percent, the average tariff on outdoor products is 14 percent and can go as high as 40 percent.


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WACO, Texas (KWTX) A brick and mortar restaurant that was a dream years in the making for the operator of a popular local food truck officially opens for business Wednesday in the transformed Big Green Automotive Shop at South 11th Street and Franklin Avenue in downtown Waco.
Milo All Day owner Corey McEntyre. (Staff photo)
The doors to Milo All Day open at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
“Our food is going to be great. Our drinks will be great. Our experience is going to be great,” said chef and owner Corey McEntyre.
“But the main thing we're selling is hospitality.”
“I think there are a lot of great places here in Waco,” he said
“Some are more fried oriented or barbecue oriented and I love barbecue. I could eat it every day. But, I’m excited to bring that freshness to Waco and in a different perspective on local ingredients and seasonal ingredients as well.”
The restaurant will serve a full menu from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week except Tuesdays.
The menu will include everything from eggs and burgers to salads and fine dining and of course the biscuit that started it all.
“Number one best biscuit in the world, in my opinion,” McEntyre said.
“It's my grandmothers biscuit recipe and so we're offering that in a couple different ways throughout the day.
McEntyre says Milo All day will be much more than a typical restaurant, offering a coffee bar, pastry counter, bar, wine, craft beer store, cheese shop, and a butcher shop.
But above all, he says, the restaurant will give people a place to gather no matter the hour.
“I want people to know that this wasn't built to be a special occasion place. This was built to be your everyday place. Your all-day place. Your neighborhood restaurant,” McEntyre said.
“I want people to feel comfortable spending $10 or $100.”
Renovations on the building started in November and until just a few weeks ago, McEntyre continued to operate the popular food truck, but for now, he’ll offer everything at Milo All Day.
“I love the location. I love the building we’re in because it's so open. It’s so fresh. I definitely think it feels comfortable in here. It makes you feel welcome.”
Milo All day will have a friends and family night Tuesday night before officially opening to the public Wednesday morning.


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Speaker 1: This is CNET. And here are the stories that matter right now, the 2021 nominations are out and Netflix and Disney plus are leading the charge. The crown and the Mandalorian were both recognized with 24 nominations each including nods for outstanding drama series. Also bringing it home for Disney plus was one division, which was no nominated for limited series and Hamilton, which aired exclusively on the streaming service. In 2020, the Emmy award ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 19. And [00:00:30] you can read the full list of nominees on CNET. Apple has released a new mag safe battery pack for wireless iPhone charging. The $99 battery pack works with the iPhone 12, 12 pro 12 pro max and iPhone 12 mini offering wireless charging that apple says won't interfere with credit cards or key fobs. The accessory launched on the apple store on Tuesday, joining Apple's range of MagSafe accessories, including card wallets cases, and wired charges. Twitter has admitted verifying a small number [00:01:00] of fake accounts on its plats form. The admission came after one Twitter user spotted six Turkish accounts all made less than a month ago. And mostly with the same followers had received the coveted blue tick. Twitter has since permanently suspended the accounts saying the error was due to a problem with training and procedures. The company announced a new verification process in may, which has led to you a flood of new requests.
Speaker 1: Stay up to date with the latest by visiting CNET.


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Monika Hauck, Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at WHU and Anja Gräf Director Alternative Investments HSBC Germany have brought the movement to the fashion city of Dusseldorf. The event started with a presentation of Fashion Revolution movement that sees fashion as a force for positive change and implements it with strong social media campaigns (#whomademyclothes) and events. The initial push, for the movement to emerge, was the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, which became a symbol of the catastrophic working conditions in the fashion industry.
The award-winning documentary RIVERBLUE was shown during the event, which highlighted that fashion and apparel industry is responsible for not only unfair working condition but also environment adversities. Following the film, Israeli tech company Kornit Digital demonstrated its water-saving textile printing technology and showed that tech innovation and sustainability can go hand-in-hand.
Modern and sustainable fashion was then shown by two labels Rhumaa from Amsterdam and Wunderwerk from Düsseldorf.


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Beer is Hot in 2012
Beer is all the rage these days and is growing increasingly sophisticated, while wine takes the peasant road of becoming more mainstream.
In a recent Rmgt Magazine article, Andrew Freeman, who heads a high-end hospitality agency and when asked about 2012 cocktail and beer trends, said “people are wanting the best experience for the price. That means paying more for something that is truly unique. People want something that is different, that they can’t get everywhere.”
2012 beer trends:
Specialty Beer Releases Increase
It is quite funny how beer prices are creeping up for the specialty beers, but beer people don’t seem to mind, they pay for it especially when it’s RARE or limited.
Vintage beers are coming of age, and are being asked for at bars and restaurants, and appearing on retail shelves. What makes ‘vintage’ beer age-worthy? According to vintage beer review by Chris Shanahan, the biggest element is the bottle conditioning process – where a secondary fermentation produces carbon dioxide and absorbs oxygen. This in turn reduces oxidation of the beer. Subsequently the high alcohol, opulent malt flavors and assertive hopping tend to mask oxidative character that might show more in a lighter beer.
Craft beers are up 15%. Consumer interest in more flavorful beverages has led to the rise of craft beers. Craft beer selections are continuing to expand at many c-stores and grocers. Walmart announced recent plans to up more space on its shelves to have a larger craft beer assortment. Some stores have even started contract-brewing their own private labels, such as Harris Teeter’s recently introduced Barrel Trolley. One Piggly Wiggly grocer in Myrtle Beach added a Growler Station where you can bring home a growler, a 64oz glass jug, of craft beer on tap.
A recent issue of Single Store Owner highlighted the Super Deli Mart convenient store in Seattle, who tapped into the niche market by offering craft beer tastings in the store. The store is licensed as a restaurant since it sells cold sandwiches, allowing him to serve beer on tap. A different brewery is featured each week and on tap for sampling – right in between the aisles of energy drinks and bags of chips. Consistently going through 15 to 20 kegs per week, Chung estimates sales have risen 300 percent in his three years of ownership.
We have all seen menus offering wine pairings, but this year in restaurants, expect to see more beer pairings. The choice and diversity of beers today from light lagers to heavy stouts has created increased interest in cooking with beer, and pairing it with food.
With the recent popularity of food trucks growing at the rate of it was only a matter of time before drinks tested out their drive.
Cocktail trucks are slowly beginning to rove streets. The Leblon Cachaca Caiprinhas Truck has multiple locations nationwide, and the BrewTruc rolls around San Francisco.
These cocktail and beer trucks serve primarily as promotional vehicles to promote a brand at parties and special events. But where it’s legal, they have the potential for doing quite well.
In an effort to expand beyond its well-known coffee, Starbucks is even planning to sell beer (and wine) in some of their cafes this year.
Other beer trends include breweries that add fruit to beer. The category of beer just gets more and more interesting. What could be next… adding vegetables or vitamins to beer?


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Opportunities for SMEs that are ready to adapt
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on economies globally. It has led to large increases in unemployment and put businesses everywhere under enormous financial strain. In recent months however, hope of recovery has grown and countries seen to be exiting the pandemic have witnessed large increases in hiring rates, especially in sectors such as services.
In this regard, the pattern of economic recession and recovery is undoubtedly similar to the financial crisis of 2008. However, there are also key differences which are significant for SMEs.
Professor Alan Ahearne, Director of the Whitaker Institute at NUIG helped guide the Irish government out of the financial crash of 2008, and in July 2020, was appointed as special economic adviser to the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin.
Speaking on the important business impacts and opportunities associated with Covid-19, Prof. Ahearne’s webinar forms part of a content series from InterTradeIreland’s All-island Innovation Programme, which aims to give cross-border SMEs access to cutting-edge thinking through practical business advice.
As we exit a second lock-down we examine why his message is still relevant.
Covid-19 VS. 2008: The key differences
The financial crash of 2008 led to credit and budget deficits that could only be filled by raising taxes and cutting spending, which in turn, added to the economic downturn. This most critically affected the financial and construction sectors.
Professor Ahearne explains that the sectors most critically impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic are dominated by SMEs and micro businesses. Among these are the consumer-facing sectors of the economy; tourism and hospitality, leisure and personal services and some retail.
The key difference between Covid-19 and 2008 has been that throughout the pandemic, governments were able to borrow to support the economy without yet resorting to higher taxes and expenditure cuts. Signs of growth in these sectors is reason for optimism. And now is the time to focus on enabling SMEs to bounce back as quickly as possible and re-enter productive and growth phases in their businesses.
New normal business opportunities:
The tourism sector has been heavily challenged by the pandemic, but continued travel restrictions will encourage domestic tourism. SMEs should be thinking about the opportunities to capture value from this market. Not only to support recovery but also for long-term growth.
It’s believed that in the future, climate change will cause a much bigger crisis than Covid-19. Prof. Ahearne explains that government’s need to enable a green recovery, in order to become a low carbon economy. This means opportunities exist for businesses to adapt, transition, re-brand and market themselves now as climate or eco-friendly and “ride the tailcoats coats of the green economy”.
InterTradeIreland has committed to enabling businesses to adapt to a low carbon economy, including our Synergy programme, which has supported projects such as the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation on an all-island biomap.
David Burns, Science, Technology and Innovation Manager at InterTradeIreland said, “The key to success in the transition to low carbon economies will be cross-border collaboration”.
“New breakthroughs in science and technology will be needed to address the unmet challenges in achieving low carbon and ultimately circular economies. Collaboration across the island of Ireland will be crucial to realising those goals”.
Global supply chains were very much interrupted during the pandemic and many think they may be leading towards de-globalisation. What this means essentially, is a shift towards more localised supply chains, with businesses producing locally and consumers buying more locally – ultimately providing business security.
This is supported by InterTradeIreland data from the All-Island Business Monitor, which has shown that in the last year 35% of firms have made changes to their import supply chains to limit disruption to their business and 1 in 10 of those have shifted to sourcing components locally.
Kerry Curran, acting Director of Strategy and Policy at InterTradeIreland, suggests this trend is likely to continue in 2021 and beyond “As businesses strive to be competitive in a rapidly shifting market, gains made from supply chain adjustments will likely remain a strong feature in the months and years ahead.”
As a consequence, Prof. Ahearne advises that businesses remain agile, adapt where possible and “grab these opportunities by the horns” in order to prosper in a post Covid era.
Covid-19 threatened the health and wellbeing of people across the world and because of this, we’re more conscious than ever. Opportunities are therefore arising for business to create products, services and experiences that offer real wellness benefits. Surges have been experienced already in parts of some sectors such as leisure, with more people taking part in activities than ever before.
How to get support
A key ingredient for prospering in recovery is “agility and adaptability”. Prof. Ahearne also explains that businesses need to find a way to tap into consumer savings.SMEs need to examine and act on changes in consumer trends and spending. One thing the pandemic has revealed is the surge in eCommerce and online sales. For companies who wish to develop their online sales and marketing, business supports and funding are available through the E-Merge programme.
Contact us today for more information on business supports from InterTradeIreland.


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With less than two weeks to go until the 2023 Superyacht Design Festival, there are only a few tickets still available for this year's event, which is taking place in Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy (8-10 February).
Returning to the mountains for the first time since 2020, the event incorporates the BOAT Design & Innovation Awards, an A-list lineup of speakers, and a lively social programme – culminating in the Ski Cup & Après Ski Party, held in association with Lürssen.BUY TICKETS
“Don’t miss your opportunity to attend this year’s Superyacht Design Festival and what is set to be a memorable few days,” says BOAT’s Editor-in-Chief, Stewart Campbell. “The speaker line-up promises to be stronger than ever before and the social programme is a great opportunity for first-class networking.”Read More/Everything you need to know about the 2024 Superyacht Design Festival
If you haven’t already seen what’s on the programme, here are some of the highlights:
BOAT Design & Innovation Awards
Recognising the naval architecture, styling, innovation and engineering of the world’s best superyachts, find out which designers will be crowned winners during the live awards ceremony. Click here to see this year’s finalists.
Curated to inspire, educate and stimulate the conference element of this year’s programme includes industry leaders from the world of superyachts and far beyond. Be inspired by a an art director from Hollywood, hear from an owner whose revolutionary new build challenged superyacht norms and find out why being on the water is good for you from Oxford University’s Professor Charles Spence. See this year’s speakers here.
Lively social programme
Returning to the stylish town of Cortina this year’s event will make the most the stunning alpine setting. Enjoy celebratory cocktails after the Design & Innovation Awards, don your finest Alpine chic for the Festival Party and put your skills to the test in the Ski Cup. Click here to see this year’s full agenda.
For all this and more, guests can purchase a ticket for €1,500 plus VAT to gain access to the two-day Festival as well as the social events.BUY TICKETS
In honour of the event and for those wanting to make the experience even more special, BOAT International has secured bespoke and discounted hotel packages for various hotels within close proximity to the event locations in Cortina d'Ampezzo. To find out more about the offers, click here.
If you have any queries, please contact email@example.com.