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Dhaka, June 25 (UNB)- The two-day ‘International Clean Technology Fair’ will begin on Wednesday at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh in the capital.
It aims to explore potential markets and establish new partnerships for the technology suppliers. The fair will be open for all from 10am to 7pm.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) and Resource-Efficient Supply Chain for Metal Products in Buildings Sector in South Asia (METABUILD) are jointly organising the fair.
Md Helal Uddin, Chairman, Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA) is expected to inaugurate the fair as the chief guest.
Siddique Zobair, Member (Additional Secretary) of SREDA, DCCI Senior Vice-President Waqar Ahmad Choudhury and Vice-President Imran Ahmed will also be present at the opening ceremony, according to a press release.
The fair will host around 70 exhibitors from Bangladesh and India to interact with about 300 METABUILD partner companies as well as other industries.
METABUILD is a four-year project supported by the European Union (EU) under the SWITCH Asia Programme emphasising sustainable consumption and production in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
DCCI is the implementing partner of METABUILD project.
Berlin, June 25 (AP/UNB) — Scientists in Europe say they've successfully transferred a test tube rhino embryo back into a female whose eggs were fertilized in vitro, as part of an effort to save another nearly extinct sub-species of the giant horned mammal.
Thomas Hildebrandt of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin said Tuesday the procedure was performed last month on a southern white rhino at Chorzow Zoo in Poland.
Hildebrandt is part of an international team trying to save the northern white rhino. The team is hoping to get permission from Kenya to harvest eggs from the last two surviving female northern white rhinos soon.
He told reporters that "this is the first positive proof that the entire procedure we've developed in theory can be successful."
New York, June 25 (AP/UNB) - Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency has taken a lot of criticism from Western government officials and media commentators – but it’s not meant for them. A major target market for the Libra is users in developing countries.
From researching cryptocurrency, blockchain and other technologies in the context of developing countries, I can see that digital payment systems are already attractive. Libra may potentially be even more so, because Facebook has the money and technological advances that could make Libra easier than many existing methods.
A huge market opportunity
Most of Facebook’s 2.4 billion users, and the 1.5 billion users of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, live in developing countries.
India is WhatsApp’s biggest market, with more than 300 million users. There are 120 million WhatsApp users in Brazil. In those two countries, 80% of small businesses use WhatsApp as part of their business activities, such as exchanging bills and receipts with customers and suppliers.
WhatsApp has been testing a new feature called WhatsApp Pay, which lets users send money directly to each other’s bank accounts. It’s only available in India, where there are 1 million users – and it’s not the only peer-to-peer funds transfer service in the country. In addition to sending each other money, people also use WhatsApp Pay for buying goods and services from vendors.
However, WhatsApp Pay depends on the Indian government’s Unified Payments Interface to handle the transactions. That means banks have to pay a fee to let their customers use the service.
Libra could be cheaper to use, and could expand WhatsApp Pay’s reach far beyond India. Expanding the service across many countries could prove a huge opportunity for families with members working overseas. Many people who emigrate from developing countries to more developed nations send money back home to help their families get by. In 2018, people sent US$689 billion to family members in other countries – and $529 billion of that money went to people in low- and middle-income nations.
The fees for those services are enormous – $25 billion a year, or 3.5% of the total amount sent. Facebook knows that saving money on these transfers, which the financial industry calls “remittances,” would be a huge draw, letting emigrants send home most or all of the fee savings, rather than paying it to middlemen.
In addition, Facebook’s Libra is designed to be a place to hold users’ funds, as well as allow people to exchange money. That could reduce, or even eliminate, fees for other transactions too. People who use other online financial services like PayPal and Coinbase, could also connect to their Libra wallets, further expanding how useful a digital wallet could be.
Easier to use
There are other companies developing similar services. Humaniq, for instance, is a blockchain startup that offers its 500,000 users in 46 developing nations a digital wallet coupled with an online chat service. Its customers can exchange money and messages through its app.
But Humaniq is a young company with more limited resources and a short track record of success and security. Facebook is much better positioned to dominate. In addition to its enormous user base, Facebook has the programming expertise to design user-friendly interfaces. For instance, WhatsApp already provides messaging in 13 Indian languages.
Libra is intended to integrate with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp so its users can also send money back and forth just as easily as they send text messages. Libra’s other partners include financial and technology giants like Visa, PayPal, Spotify and Uber, who are equally experienced at providing users with easy experiences.
Providing stability, efficiency and security
Cryptocurrencies, including the Libra, can prove attractive to consumers and businesses in economies suffering from high inflation, high interest rates and unstable currency exchange rates. For instance, the Argentinian e-commerce company Avalanchaoffers a 10% discount for payments in bitcoin. That makes sense because the Argentinian peso lost half its value in the first eight months of 2018. If a customer pays with a credit card, Avalancha may not get its money for a month – and that money may not be worth what it once was.
Libra also has the potential to transform the extremely inefficient microlending industry. For instance, the person-to-person microlending site Kiva has, over the past 15 years, let 1.6 million people provide small-amount loans totaling more than $1 billion to more than 2 million needy entrepreneurs in developing countries. But Kiva doesn’t lend the money directly to these budding businesspeople. Instead, it works with local microfinance institutions, most of which charge exorbitantly high interest rates, averaging around 40%.
Kiva is another backer of Libra, no doubt hoping to make its lending even more effective by directly transferring money from donors and investors to its entrepreneurs.
Cryptocurrency systems are attractive to people in developing countries because they have the potential for greater security. Digital payment systems in developing countries, such as the M-Pesa, are increasingly popular targets for hackers and cyber-thieves. Many users of India’s UPI system have also been victims of financial cybercrime.
Libra has the potential to bring many benefits, but only if it can address a wide range of national and international concerns, from financial regulators and consumers alike. Facebook must prove that the Libra system can combat money laundering and fraud both at the sending end of a transaction and the receiving end.
At the same time, Facebook will have to convince its customers that it can keep their financial information private. Libra’s integration with WhatsApp and Facebook, and potentially Instagram, suggests financial accounts will be linked to social media identities. Facebook has alarmed regulators and customers alike with its violations, and exploitations, of users’ privacy.
On an even wider scale, some governments – in both developing nations and developed ones – are worried Facebook might become a “shadow bank,” a place to store money that’s not subject to regulations regular banks are. Others have expressed concern about the sovereignty implications of a private company issuing its own currency.
Facebook has a lot of work to do before Libra can live up to its potential – and there’s no guarantee that will happen. But it is clear that consumers and businesses in developing countries want technological help engaging in transactions and storing money.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: http://theconversation.com/facebooks-libra-may-be-quite-attractive-in-developing-countries-119206.
Dhaka, June 25 (UNB) - The Netherlands has been hit by its largest telecommunications outage in years, with the 112 emergency number knocked out across the country, reports BBC.
The disruption, which lasted four hours, originated from national carrier KPN, and affected other providers linked to its network.
KPN said the cause was still unclear but it did not appear to be a hack.
"We have no reason to think it was (a hack) and we monitor our systems 24/7," a company spokeswoman told Reuters.
Landlines and mobile phones linked to the KPN network were also affected, but it was the failure of the national emergency line that was most worrying. Emergency services responded by putting out alternative contact information on social media.
Speaking to public broadcaster NPO, KPN board director Joost Farwerck said the network had been backed up to prevent any malfunction, but the backups had not worked.
KPN has been told to explain to Justice and Security Minister Ferdinand Grapperhuis on Tuesday what went wrong. It has also emerged that the company's chief executive, Maximo Ibarra, is to step down, although KPN has stressed it has nothing to do with the outage.
How bad was the outage?
During the disruption, additional police were sent on to streets around the country.
Authorities also advised people to go directly to hospitals or to police or fire stations for any emergencies.
Firefighters also announced they were going out into key areas, with one fire brigade appearing at a key harbour in a Rotterdam suburb in case people needed help.
It took more than an hour for authorities to find an alternative emergency number, and even then the NL-Alert service designed to get in touch with people via their mobile phones during an emergency had problems.
The popular Telegraaf newspaper revealed that the justice and security ministry had used NL-Alert to send out the paper's WhatsApp tips-line as an alternative to 112 by mistake.
An alert was later sent out with the correct number, images of which have been posted by social media users.
Mr Grapperhaus told De Telegraaf that the ministry was investigating how the wrong number was given out.
"Was it an office prank or was there really no plan?" Dutch Green politician Kathalijne Buitenweg tweeted.
What has reaction been?
Political reaction to the failure of the 112 emergency number has been one of shock.
"This just shouldn't be possible," complained centre-right MP Chris van Dam, who said it was simply incomprehensible that the 112 line was "so vulnerable".
Commentators pointed out that national security co-ordinator NCTV had warned only this month that "dependence on digitised processes and systems has become so big" that it could disrupt society and it called for "fallback options and analogue alternatives".
Many others were bemused by the failure. One social media user noted drily that politicians had been trying for years to get more police on the streets, and KPN had managed to do it in a couple of minutes.
KPN is not the only telecoms provider to suffer network problems recently. Earlier this month, Vodafone experienced a "disruption" to its mobile and fixed-line broadband services, affecting subscribers in the UK and several other countries.
Cape Canaveral, Jun 25 (AP/UNB) — SpaceX has launched its heftiest rocket with 24 research satellites.
The middle-of-the-night rideshare features a deep space atomic clock, solar sail, clean and green rocket fuel, and even human ashes, including an astronaut's.
The Falcon Heavy rocket blasted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday morning at 2:30. It was the third flight of a Falcon Heavy, but the first ordered up by the military.
The Defense Department mission is expected to provide data to certify the Falcon Heavy — and reused boosters — for future national security launches. It was the military's first ride on a recycled rocket.
Both side boosters landed back at Cape Canaveral several minutes after liftoff, just as they did after launching in April. But the new core booster missed an ocean platform.


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Tamron Co. declared its profits for the first six months of 2015. The company has noted an increase in its revenue by 7.5% to 35.235 billion yen. This performance has been attributed to the favourable sales of its interchangeable lenses. The company’s net profit surged by 47.1% to 2.678 billion yen, mostly, due to the acqusition of stocks of Koyu Kosan—Tamron’s founding company. The stocks were sold immediately after acquisition in June. This transaction raised the stock price.
Tamron’s photography-related business witnessed a rise by 15.5% to 26.666 billion yen. Favourable sale of its ultra-telephoto zoom lens had a crucial role to play in this success. The profit in operation received a boost by 32.4% to 3.059 billion yen whereas the component lens-related business plummeted by 36.1% to 2.249 billion yen due to the slow sales of digital cameras and video cameras. The profit in operation was halved down by 57.2% to 111 million yen.
The industrial equipment business gained by 2.6% while the profit in operation fell by 31.4% to 752 million yen due to fierce price competition of surveillance cameras in China. The company began a production base in Vietnam in July 2014 with 200 workers. As of August 2015, the number has risen to 1,114 workers. The first to be manufactured were lenses for surveillance cameras besides interchangeable lenses for SLR cameras. The company has estimated its sales to 59.5 billion yen than its earlier 56.9 billion yen. The profit in operation is expected to be 7.2 billion yen than its earlier 6.4 billion yen.

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You’ve probably heard of extreme couponing, but this is a bit different.
Yaritza Pacheco, 24, was fatally hit by a stray bullet fired as she walked to a store on East 174th Street in the Tremont section. Police say the bullet struck her in the neck. She ran and then collapsed.
Deciding on a school outfit is a tough decision. This is how to look like a million bucks while spending a lot less.
Workers voted 137-85 against unionization. A “yes” vote would have made the Valley Stream store the first Target in the country to be unionized.
It could be a historic vote at the Valley Stream Target. If the 260 workers approve a vote to unionize the store. Voting ends at about 11:30 p.m. with results expected to be announced by 1a.m. Saturday.
Washington, 29, allegedly would purchase XBox and Nintendo game consoles and swap out the contents of the box with paper.
Videotape shot from inside the store shows Target employees and a fellow shopper help the 28-year-old Krantz get to his feet as people continue to barge through the doors.
Stores are already running out of the hottest holiday season toys as the price wars heat up, forcing savvy shoppers to be swift and smart, CBS 2’s Magee Hickey reports.
The way Wal-Mart handled Black Friday changed after 2008.
The holidays are coming early at stores as some major retailers are starting their so-called “Black Friday” sales now.
As a parent you may need a few incentives to get your kids a bit more enthused about beginning a new school year and retiring their tank tops for more school appropriate attire. Luckily New York City is ripe with funky boutiques.
A New Jersey school library is getting a facelift, courtesy of some area workers, as WCBS 880′s Levon Putney reports.
According to a recent study, the olive oil you use for cooking may not be what you think it is.


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said it signed a purchase agreement to acquire Wattyl – one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading manufacturers of paint for the decorative and protective segments with a turnover of €150 million and 750 employees – from The Sherwin-Williams Company.
The transaction is now pending customary approval from the authorities, which is expected in the first quarter of 2021.
“We are now taking the first large, visible step in our ambition of doubling Hempel by 2025, and the acquisition will have a major, positive impact on our footprint and development in our South & East Asia region,” Hempel Group President & CEO Lars Petersson said.
“The acquisition is in line with our Double Impact strategy and the growth ambitions for our decorative and protective segments. Furthermore, the acquisition of Wattyl clearly highlights key points of the Hempel strategy: We are going for leadership positions in selected segments and geographies, and we aim to double our revenue within five years to €3 billion. Doubling our revenue will allow us to double our positive impact by investing in more sustainable coating solutions, innovation and digitalization.”
Wattyl's business model is similar to the Hempel company Crown Paints in the UK, with a portfolio of branded products and nearly 100 company-owned stores across Aus-tralia and New Zealand, and strategic distribution partnerships servicing the DIY and trade consumers.
“Hempel and Wattyl working together, not only within decorative paints but also within protective coatings solutions, will put us in a great position to deliver our strategic ambition, particularly in our Decorative, Infrastructure and Energy segments, through combined expertise, industry knowledge and quality products," Petersson said. "Consequently, our expectations for Wattyl as part of our family are high, and together, Wattyl and Hempel will create a strong platform for continued growth for our entire South & East Asia region."
Going forward, Wattyl will still be managed by current Managing Director Matt Crossingham.
“The entire team and I are pleased to join the Hempel family, and we are looking forward to contributing to Hempel’s growth and development – not only in Australia and New Zealand – but throughout the South & East Asia region. We will gain access to increased know-how, experience and innovation as well as a broader product portfolio, which will benefit our customers," he said. "With Hempel’s ownership, I am certain that Wattyl will raise to the next level.”
From a branding perspective, Hempel intends to use the endorsement “A part of Hempel” in branding and communication.


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It is true that small household appliances have not only rigid demand and stable market, but also new products such as traditional cooking products, vacuum cleaner, air purifier and other new products. The entry of these small household appliances will undoubtedly reduce our household work, improve the home environment and improve the quality of our life. . Perhaps the future of small appliances will bring more changes to our lives.
In fact, compared with the developed countries, the popularity rate of small household appliances in China is relatively inadequate at present. The market space of small household appliances in the future is still larger. With the new round of consumer upgrading, the size of small household appliances market is expected to achieve a sustained and rapid growth. Insiders said that under the promotion of the trend of consumption upgrading, the market share of quality and quality of small household electrical appliances will rapidly increase.
With the recent hot and hot food machine small household appliances as an example, the retail sales volume of 3 billion 440 million yuan in 2017, the growth of 55% on the same year, 8 billion 410 million yuan under the line of retail sales, up to 90%, become one of the small household appliances category. In addition, the traditional cooking small household appliances such as rice cookers and pressure cookers also showed stronger growth momentum on the online market. Data showed that the retail sales volume of rice cooker was 5 billion 790 million yuan, an increase of 21% over the same period last year, and the online share of the electric pressure cooker was 2 billion 910 million yuan, an increase of 44% over the same period last year.


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The Travel Network Group announced a new operating structure at its Beyond the Expected conference in Budapest.
New roles have been created: chief operating officer and chief commercial officer, which will be taken up by Lisa Henning and Vim Vithaldas respectively, who have been promoted.
Meanwhile Alexis Coles-Barrasso, who has been supporting TTNG for the past nine years on a part-time basis, will take up the full-time role of PR and communications director, and joins Lewis, Henning and Vithaldas on the board.
In a letter sent to the membership after the announcement, chief executive Gary Lewis said the size and scale of the group had “changed dramatically in recent years”.
In her new role, Henning will assume responsibility for all TTNG’s member-facing functions, including: membership, marketing, Honeycomb, Cruise Club Concierge and the group’s wholly-owned retail stores.
Henning is currently in the process of recruiting a senior marketing role and a product executive within Cruise Club Concierge.
“Providing leadership for all these services will enable us to get a 360-degree overview of our membership delivery, ensuring our members remain at the heart of our business and that we can manage our relationships as effectively as possible,” said Lewis.
Vithaldas, meanwhile, will continue to provide leadership for commercial, finance, risk and trustees and in this new role assumes responsibility for operations.
Lewis added Coles-Barrasso would be responsible for managing TTNG’s image as a business across all media and will be tasked with developing a detailed proposition about how the group can “best support our members with their own PR strategies”.


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Article originally published by Tom Corrigan, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., August 11, 2015. Full article can be found here.
The owner of the once hugely popular mail-order music brand Columbia House will keep its doors open while it pursues a bankruptcy court-supervised sale of the brand and its remaining DVD business.
Filmed Entertainment Inc. made its first appearance in a New York bankruptcy court Tuesday, winning Judge Shelley Chapman's permission to continue accessing its bank accounts, honor obligations to customers and otherwise maintain normal operations.
FEI also won permission to use its existing cash to stay afloat until it can finalize a sale, the proceeds of which will ultimately be distributed to the its creditors.
During the hearing Tuesday, Scott Griffin, a lawyer for FEI, said he hoped to pursue an expedited sale process, since the company and its financial adviser began trying to identify potential purchasers almost a year ago.
According to court papers, those efforts turned up about 20 potential purchasers, and FEI remains in active discussions with at least one of them.
FEI's creditors will gather for a meeting next week, according to Andrea Schwartz, a lawyer for the government agency tasked with forming a committee to represent unsecured creditors.
Judge Chapman said an accelerated sale timeline was reasonable, but she noted that many potential purchasers and their professionals may take vacation in August, potentially slowing down the process by several weeks.
Historically, Columbia House was most active in the music industry, offering stacks of CDs, vinyl, 8-track and cassette tapes for as little as a penny. But the company ended that business in 2010, leaving only its DVD club business.
Columbia House has licensing agreements with major film studios as well as smaller independent studios. Those licenses, however, are restricted to physical DVDs and don't cover digital formats.
The DVD club currently has about 110,000 members, according to court papers.
During Tuesday's hearing, a day after the company field for chapter 11 protection, Judge Chapman summarized the company's demise in just two words: "the Internet."
Digital music formats, most notably MP3s, began disrupting the market for CDs in the late 1990s. Digital formats were easier to copy and share over the Internet, making them readily available to illegally download, gutting the value of recorded music.
Similar trends driven by the growth of digital media have also significantly eroded Columbia House's DVD sales.
Apple Inc ., Amazon.com Inc ., Netflix Inc ., big box retailers and cable providers were all mentioned Tuesday as having either fundamentally changed the music and film industries or directly usurped business from Columbia House.


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The global industrial machinery market will reach $514 billion by 2015, growing by 7.2% annually. The industry is showing signs of improvement with increasing economic activities, which in turn increase the demand for industrial equipment. However, the rising cost of raw materials and environmental regulations are a challenge for this industry. This article analyzes three industrial companies adopting different strategies like new products, entering into a joint venture, and signing new contracts to keep pace with industry growth.
Joint venture with growth in rail group segment
On May 7, Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN) entered into a joint venture with Napier Park Railcar Lease Fund and its co-investors to form Rail Holdings. In this joint venture, Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN) will own 31%, while Napier and its investors will have a 69% interest. The joint venture will provide railcar leasing services in North America. RIV will acquire approximately $1 billion of rail cars from Trinity Rail Group and Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN) leasing company. The joint venture provides opportunities for Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN) to grow its leasing platform by reducing capital investment, which is required by a growing lease fleet.
Napier and its co-investors also purchased 55% interest in TRIP Rail holdings, reducing Trinity’s holdings from 73% to 45%. These transactions will generate cash of $575 million – $625 million to Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN) by the end of 2014, with $175 million already received. Trinity Industries Inc (NYSE:TRN) has the modest dividend pay-out ratio of 8.80%, which should increase in the coming quarters.
The company’s rail group segment will show strong performance this year due to increasing orders for railcars. This segment reported revenue of $625 million in the first quarter ended March, representing growth of 33.9% year-over-year. The revenue was driven by railcar deliveries totaling 5,230 units at an average sale price of $120,000. In the future, the company will benefit from its order backlog, as it had 42,265 rail car orders at the end of the first-quarter. The company will deliver 22,000 rail car units this fiscal year. Therefore, revenue from this segment will rise to $2.6 billion this year compared to $2 billion last year.
New product and capital deployment
On May 1, Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) announced the launch of its new Limitorque UEX electronic control package for L120 series actuators. Actuators are a type of motor for moving or controlling a system operated by a source of energy like electrical current. The new UEX provides customers expanded features and will include liquid crystal displays, or LCDs, that will provide actuator set up by displaying continuous position indications and fault conditions.
The company is expanding worldwide. It won a multi-million dollar contract from M.N Larnaca Desalination in April to provide a complete pump package and energy recovery devices. Additionally, it will have a few other large deals. New product innovation will help the company meet customers’ expectations and will enhance its revenue in the coming quarters. With the help of the new addition to its Limitorque product line, its revenue is expected to rise to $4.91 billion this year and $5.23 billion next year compared to $4.75 billion last year.
On May 23, Flowserve Corporation (NYSE:FLS) announced an increase in quarterly dividend from $0.36 per share to $0.42 per share, indicating growth of 16.7%. The company has a strong history of returning cash to shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividends. It has paid a quarterly dividend for the past 23 years, increasing the dividend every year. In the first quarter, it announced the share repurchase plan of $750 million. This includes around $193 million of a previously announced buyback of $1 billion. This additional buyback will uplift its share price in the future.


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From Money And Markets: We often overlook supposedly “old school” blue chips that are adapting quite well to the technological landscape. Wal-Mart is an excellent example.
From Zacks: The struggles seem to be over for Wal-Mart (WMT). According to Jim Cramer, Wal-Mart has proved the “theoretically impossible” point with a host of growth initiatives and posed itself as one of the close competitors of Amazon (AMZN).
The recent surge in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) post a well-received quarterly earnings report (it has rallied over 3.7% just in the past five days) has boosted the Retail Equity sector in general, especially those ETFs which have a considerable weighting to the stock.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) now faces some major competition in the “free shipping” retail space, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) upping the ante and offering free two-day shipping without a subscription.
From StockNews.com: Retail superpower Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), intent on competing with Amazon, has acquired a major online shoe retailer via a subsidiary, it announced yesterday.
NYSEARCA:XLP, NYSEARCA:SH, NYSE:MCD, NYSE:KO, NYSE:KFT, NYSE:PG, NYSE:ABT, NYSE:MRK, NYSE:PPL, NYSE:DUK
This week has marked a rare departure from international headlines, as media attention has been centered around numerous government data announcements in the US.


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Satisfaction among both exhibitors and visitors at the close of the first industrial fair held since the start of the pandemic
Optimism marks the most sustainable and innovative edition of the Expoquimia, Equiplast and Eurosurfas event
After four days of much activity, Expoquimia, Equiplast and Eurosurfas close their doors today to an event that has highlighted the status of these three must-attend events for the chemical, plastics and surface treatment industries. The focus on sustainability, digitalisation and technology transfer at the three trade fairs organised by Fira de Barcelona has aroused the interest of the numerous professionals who visited the three events with a spirit of optimism with regards to the economic recovery.
From 14 to 17 September, Hall 3 of the Gran Via venue brought together a total of 377 exhibitors and 654 brands in an event adapted in terms of volume and size to the current situation. They presented their new products and initiatives committed to the environment and received a very positive reception.
In this regard, the event has registered nearly 15,000 professional visitors, which has allowed the exhibiting companies to create new business opportunities. Similarly, the event featured a national and international VIP Buyers programme with the presence of 150 potential buyers from countries such as Algeria, Colombia, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, the Ivory Coast, Sweden and Tunisia, among others.
Expoquimia’s President, Carles Navarro, pointed out that “this year’s event has shown the sector’s commitment to innovation in order to achieve the decarbonisation that our planet requires.” For this reason, the Smart Chemistry, Smart Future innovation space, promoted by the Spanish Chemical Industry Business Federation (FEIQUE in its Spanish initials), was one of the main attractions of the show, presenting the products developed by various companies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as the first emotional humanoid robot, biodegradable and compostable bioplastics, chemical recycling technologies and the first PVC produced from biomass.
Recycling and Digitalisation
Thus, the sector’s commitment to the circular and sustainable economy was the focus of an event in which, in a truly unprecedented initiative in Spain, Equiplast set up a recycling plant which processed a total of 4,500 kilos of plastic during the four days of the event. The President of Equiplast, Bernd Roegele, emphasised that “the exhibitors have expressed their satisfaction with the quantity and quality of the visitors under such complicated circumstances as those we are currently experiencing.”
As for Eurosurfas, it has presented the latest advances in the field of functional surfaces, which allow certain properties such as antioxidants or water repellents to be added to the final finish of all types of products. Its president, Giampiero Cortinovis, expressed his “appreciation for the companies that have chosen to participate in this year’s edition and the trade fair’s contribution to the digital transformation of this industry.”
The Eurosurfas Eurocar congress, the Expoquimia and Equiplast Awards, as well as various conferences, seminars and presentations with the participation of among others, the Secretary General for Industry, Raúl Blanco; the head of Public Affairs and Sustainability at BASF, Iván Albertos and the head of Business Development at Telefónica, Miquel Nieto, completed this year’s offer.
As it is a three-yearly event, the next edition of these three events, which have the support of the technology centres Leitat and Tecnalia as strategic partners, will take place in 2023.


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Turkmenistan’s Ak Gap annually sends to consumers 500 million polyethylene terephthalate preforms (PET preforms) for bottles and cans and about 200 million polyethylene caps, the country’s official media reported on Sunday.
PET preforms are widely used by local manufacturers in the food industry, including for the packaging of carbonated soft drinks, dairy products, juices and vegetable oil, according to the report.
Turkmen companies such as Arçalyk, Ýüpekçi, Mahmal Zip, Tolkun, Galkyn, Kristal and Akar use Ak Gap’s PET preforms. Ak Gap has been the official supplier of preforms for the Turkmenistan Coca Cola Bottlers Economic Society for several years.
Founded in 2007, the Ashgabat-based Ak Gap was one of the first in Turkmenistan to start the production of plastic packaging products. The company also manufactures polyethylene caps complying with national and international norms and standards.
The company recently commissioned its new production facilities in Ashgabat’s Täze Zaman settlement. Since its foundation, the production capacity of the enterprise has increased tenfold.


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- Foot Locker announced Thursday that it has taken a minority stake in Super Heroic, a children's athletics startup that makes footwear, clothing and accessories, according to a company press release.
- The athletics retailer invested $3 million in a Series Seed II investment for the younger company, bringing Super Heroic's total capital raised to $10 million since its founding in 2016, per the release. Foot Locker Inc. will also serve as a board advisor to Super Heroic, "partnering with the company on various growth initiatives from product to content."
- The startup was founded by Jason Mayden, current CEO, and Harshal Sisodia, Chief Marketing Officer, who both previously held footwear roles at Nike, according to their LinkedIn pages. Mayden's last role at Nike, which ended June 2014, was senior global director for the Jordan brand, while Sisodia's final role at the athletics giant was global digital brand director, until his departure in November 2016.
Foot Locker's investment not only provides some solid funding for a startup looking to find its way in the children's footwear space, but also breathes new life into its own Kids Foot Locker branch, which will be the first brick-and-mortar retailer to sell Super Heroic products in the U.S., according to the company.
Super Heroic's shoes were "specifically created for children," and feature bright colors and easily adjustable straps in lieu of laces. The company's mission is based on the idea that "play is good for the soul," per the company website, and their shoes are designed with children's play in mind.
Foot Locker is far from the first to invest in an innovative, younger company with the hopes of reaping benefits from it. Macy's invested in retail store concept b8ta last year, Walmart has flat-out acquired several younger companies to grasp category expertise, and Target has several programs aimed at giving startups a leg up, including one aimed at Gen Z entrepreneurs, a beauty-focused accelerator and Target + Techstars, the last of which often leads to partnerships with Target.
Fresh ideas from Super Heroic could help the company with its kids unit the way other partnerships have helped its flagship. The company has experimented with different retail formats, including a pop-up with Nike focused around the NBA. Foot Locker is competing in a difficult space, albeit helped by a widespread obsession with sneakers as everyday footwear. The retailer struggled slightly to produce positive earnings results last year, but reported better comps later in the year.
"With its robust talent and cutting-edge innovation, we look forward to working with Jason and the entire Super Heroic team to offer an exciting, fresh product to our customers, while realizing additional growth opportunities for the future," Richard Johnson, Foot Locker's chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "Giving kids the tools to be active is in our DNA. Having our two companies come together to empower kids to play has the potential to be game changing."


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Tesla is getting back in the booze business.
During the automaker’s Giga-fest to celebrate the impending opening of its new factory in Germany this past weekend, Elon Musk said the company would be selling its own Gigabier at the factory. Gigabier is German for “Gigabeer.”
Musk was talking about the train station and graffiti art that would be at the Berlin-area plant when he said, “and we’re even going to have a beer.”
He didn’t reveal anything more about the drink, but an image of a bottle with the same sort of angular design featured on the Tesla Cybertruck was flashed on the screen behind him.
In 2020, Tesla launched a limited-edition Teslaquila tequila that it sold on its U.S. website for $250 per bottle and offered a second run in 2021 that was also quickly spoken for. The lightning-shaped bottle is often listed by resellers online for over $1,000, with and without the liquor still inside.
The drink was inspired by an April Fool’s joke tweet that Musk posted in 2018 declaring Tesla had gone bankrupt that was accompanied by a photo of him passed out holding a “bankwupt!” sign and the caption, “Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by ‘Teslaquilla’ bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.”
The price and availability of the Gigabier hasn’t been announced, but Tesla is aiming to start production of the Model Y at the Germany factory by December.


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Skilling has signed a contract with Aston Villa Football Club. The foreign currency exchange firm is becoming the English club’s sponsor for the ongoing 2020/21 Premier League campaign.
The deal will provide Skilling good presence through LED advertising boards and the big screen at Villa Park stadium. Through the club’s digital and social channels, Skilling can carry out promotional activities.
Due to their rich history in Europe and England, Aston Villa is considered as one of the most prestigious in British football. Skilling’s CCO insisted that the club’s history makes this deal even more significant.
Pavel Spirin, Skilling CCO said, “Both ourselves and Villa are on an exciting upwards trajectory, and with a shared ambition to bring accessibility to users and fans alike, this partnership couldn’t be timelier, and we share a great deal of excitement as to what the upcoming season has in store for us both.”
Nicola Ibbetson, CCO of Aston Villa said, “We are delighted to announce Skilling as a global partner of the club. Skilling is a young and exciting brand that matches our own ambitions. We look forward to welcoming them to the Villa family for our upcoming campaign.”
Ahead of the start of the 2020-21 EPL season, Aston Villa added automotive retailer Cazoo as its front-of-shirt sponsor. It has also recently added Asian betting operator and online gaming platform LT.com as their shirt sleeve sponsor.


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Apple’s new model iPhone 14 Plus may become an odd bird in Apple’s range. The company does not break out sales figures for individual models, but most reports from other sources point to the model selling poorly, relative to Apple’s other iPhone 14 models.
Last in line is the reliable Apple analyst Ross Young who claims that subcontractors’ deliveries of screen panels for the Plus model will be “close to zero” in the month of December, writes 9 to 5 Mac, which indicates that Apple has many iPhone 14 Plus models left in stock.
Also read! Apple flags that some gadgets will not have time to be delivered before Christmas
However, the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max have been more popular than the iPhone 13 Pro series from last year. Overall, Apple is buying ten percent more screen panels for the entire iPhone 14 series, compared to the iPhone 13 series from last year.
Test! iPhone 14 and 14 Plus – two iPhones for the people


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November 26, 2012
Alcom LLC has signed a lease to establish a new, 70,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Bonner, Mont. Production of hand-built aluminum trailers is expected to begin in early 2013. The company expects to employ about 60 workers initially, expanding to 200 within the first two years of operation.
The company, which employs about 200 workers at its 70,000-sq.-ft. facility in Winslow, Maine, produces trailer sizes from mini-trailers that attach to all-terrain vehicles to large, enclosed car trailers.


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| Mar 22, 2012
| 5:00 AM
A 40-year-old woman told a deputy that when she came out of the shower at 2:00 a.m. she noticed that a man that had been in her residence, Wayne C. Graham, was gone — along with her Pontiac, reports Will Greenlee in his Off the Beat blog for TCPalm....
| Mar 29, 2012
| 11:47 AM
Below is a list of vehicles investigators are seeking more information for in regards to the murders of Heidi Childs and David Metzler.
The two Virginia Tech students were killed in August of 2009 in the Caldwell Fields part of the Jefferson National...
| Aug 24, 2011
| 12:04 PM
According to the "Consumerist", Forbes magazine has released the top ten most frugal cars to own. with the Toyota Yaris being the most frugal car to own. The list is interesting because it takes into account things like depreciation and maintenance...
| Sep 18, 2011
| 6:44 AM
An overnight fire damaged a house and a garage in Jenison.
At 11:30 p.m. Saturday, firefighters responded to a report of a car fire inside an attached garage in the 7700 block of Park Lane Avenue, near Wagonwheel Street in Jenison. The homeowner said she...
| Aug 21, 2012
| 4:15 AM
This teen had a short trip to the pokey.
Less than an hour after Richard Anthony Owens, 18, was let out of jail for trespassing, the Zephyrhills teen was back inside the slammer after he allegedly tried to break into a car — in the parking lot of...
| Sep 21, 2012
| 6:19 AM
General Motorsannounced a recall Friday of more than 400,000 sedans because of a transmission problem that causes cars to roll when they're supposed to be in park.
GM said the recall applies to 426,240 Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn sedans to repair a...
| Sep 21, 2012
| 6:23 AM
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- General Motors announced a recall Friday of more than 400,000 sedans because of a transmission problem that causes cars to roll when they're supposed to be in park.
GM said the recall applies to 426,240 Chevrolet, Pontiac and...
| Sep 21, 2012
| 8:17 AM
General Motors this week recalled more than 426,000 cars from several model years for a problem where the transmission gear position displayed could be wrong.
The recall affects cars with GM's 4-speed automatic transmission. The tabs on the shift cable...
| Apr 20, 2012
| 4:11 PM
Bidding was opened Friday for companies in the U.S. to submit proposals to manufacture approximately 130 high-speed passenger trains, including 88 rail cars for Illinois and neighboring Midwest states.
The $551 million request for proposals was announced...
| Jun 17, 2008
| 11:08 AM
While car dealerships have been offering discounts on big pickups and sport utility vehicles for a while, they've recently started to show rebates on smaller rides. A leading source of automotive cost analysis, IntelliChoice.com, announced its "Best Deals...
| Apr 14, 2008
As you cruise car shows in the greater Los Angeles area, you might notice that muscle cars from the 1970s are increasing in popularity. Phil Skinner, editor of Kelley Blue Book's "Early Model Values Guide," agrees. He's the sort who would rather spend...


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Sacramento’s Light Harmonic LLC again struck gold with a crowdfunding campaign for high-end audio gear. With more than a month to go, the company raised more than $239,000 for its newest audio component, the Geek Pulse, which is a desktop digital-to-audio converter.
The company had hoped to raise just $38,000.
The Indiegogo campaign is reminiscent of the company’s successful 30-day Kickstarter campaign, which raised $303,061, or 1,082 percent of its $28,000 goal, to build the Geek Out, which is a portable digital-to-audio converter for headphones.
“Again, the goal we set was to raise the money to build the tooling,” said Bill Leebens, spokesman for Light Harmonic. “And it turns out it is doing quite well.”
The Indiegogo campaign reached its goal in less than four hours, Leebens said. The campaign was at $239,192 early Monday.
The Geek Pulse will retail for $499. The early bird price for the unit on the crowdfunding site was $249, and all 300 at that price level sold out.
Check out the Light Harmonic crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo.
With the Geek Out, the campaign made its goal in 11 hours, and it passed $100,000 in the first 25 hours of the Aug. 13 launch.
The company buys high-end chips from the Bay Area and uses machine shops in Roseville and Grass Valley. The Geek Out is assembled by Pride Industries in Roseville.
It’s unclear where the Geek Pulse will be built, Leebens said.
Light Harmonic is a boutique high-end audio technology developer that used to manufacture only really expensive equipment for audiophiles. The company’s cheapest Da Vinci DAC, which is a digital to analog converter, sells for $20,000. The high-end Da Vinci DAC sells for $31,000.
The company turned three years old in January, and generally sells about 100 units a year.
The success of the Geek Out, and now the Geek Pulse, is helping the company get in front of international distributors and retailers, as well as direct to customers, Leebens said.
“A lot of customers are just contacting us directly,” he said.
In its Kickstarter campaign, the company offered to sell the Geek Out for $99, a huge cut from its $299 retail price.


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Category: Class Actions
Court Denies Direct Purchasers’ Second Attempt at Class Certification in In re Lamictal
In a recently unsealed opinion, a court in the District of New Jersey has declined to certify a direct-purchaser class in In re Lamictal on numerosity grounds. It joins the growing number of courts in recent years to have held that a putative class included too few members to warrant certification. (We discussed those prior decisions in an article published in the Global Competition Review’s 2022 Annual Review, available here).
GlaxoSmithKline Faces Antitrust Suit Over Alleged Inhaler “Hop”
Missouri resident Elliot Conrad Dale recently filed an antitrust lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”), claiming GSK employed a “device hopping” scheme to ensure uninterrupted patent and regulatory protection for its brand-name asthma inhalers Ventolin and Arnuity Ellipta. The complaint, filed in the Western District of Missouri on behalf of putative nationwide and state antitrust classes, alleges violations of Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits the unlawful maintenance of monopoly power, and 28 state antitrust acts. Alleging that GSK’s practices stifled generic competition, Plaintiff seeks treble damages and injunctive relief.
Justice Breyer’s Antitrust Legacy
Under the Biden Administration, the FTC and DOJ have voiced a commitment to an expansive enforcement of antitrust law. The recent confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to assume Justice Breyer’s position on the Supreme Court raises the question of how antitrust jurisprudence might develop against that backdrop. Those questions loom particularly large given that Justice Breyer’s antitrust opinions have not reflected a predictable theoretical approach to antitrust issues facing the Court; instead, they have tended to manifest the pragmatism that guides his judicial philosophy.
Suit by Diners to Proceed Against Food Delivery Platforms
More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and driven in part by the suspension of indoor dining, the practices of restaurant platforms and food delivery services are facing increased scrutiny. A few weeks ago, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Grubhub, Postmates and Uber’s joint motion to dismiss in Davitashvili et al. v. Grubhub Inc. et al., allowing the proposed antitrust class action against the food delivery giants to move forward.
Fourth Circuit Affirms Local Government Antitrust Immunity for Atrium Health
The Fourth Circuit ruled last month that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which does business as Atrium Health, is immune from antitrust damages as a “special function governmental unit” under the Local Government Antitrust Act of 1984 (the “Act”). The decision in Benitez v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority clarifies the scope of local government antitrust immunity and confirms that mere growth of an organization beyond local borders does not prevent it from continuing to enjoy antitrust immunity as a “local government.”
Major Development in BCBS Association Antitrust Litigation
Antitrust litigation has been ongoing for several years in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against one of the biggest business associations in America, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (“BCBSA”) and its members. We previously wrote about this litigation here and here. BCBSA is comprised of independent health insurers that license the “Blue Cross” and “Blue Shield” trademarks from BCBSA. As a condition of their licenses, BCBSA members grant each member exclusive geographic territories where each is allowed to use the Blue trademarks; some BCBSA members also happen to enjoy very high market shares in a number of their respective jurisdictions. There are also licensing rules that limit how much revenue each member can derive from lines of business that do not use the Blue trademarks. One of these rules was the “National Best Efforts Rule.” This rule required that two-thirds of each member’s national revenue be derived from Blue-branded plans. In other words, while each member could theoretically compete in others’ territories using brands that did not include the “Blue Cross” and “Blue Shield” trademarks, there was a cap on how much business a member could generate this way. These restrictions allegedly reduced competition between BCBSA members
2019 Pharmaceutical Antitrust Round-Up: A Year in Pay for Delay [Part 2]
Yesterday we discussed 2019’s most significant developments in challenges to reverse-payment settlements. Today we continue our analysis of recent trends in pharmaceutical antitrust actions with a discussion of cases addressing class certification requirements in the reverse-payment context.
2019 Pharmaceutical Antitrust Round-Up: A Year in Pay for Delay [Part 1]
2019 witnessed a number of developments in challenges to reverse-payment settlements. In its first decision on a pay-for-delay settlement since the Supreme Court’s seminal 2013 decision in FTC v. Actavis, the FTC took an aggressive approach to evaluating a plausible restraint on trade and analyzing proffered procompetitive benefits, reversing the ALJ who heard the case. In the Southern District of New York, an attempt by direct purchasers to plead a conspiracy arising out patent-infringement settlements without an alleged reverse payment failed. And, in the class certification context, district courts grappled with Rule 23(b)(3)’s predominance requirement. These notable cases in antitrust actions concerning the pharmaceutical industry are discussed below.
Classes Certified in In re Suboxone “Product-Hopping” Case
Recently, Judge Goldberg in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania certified two classes of plaintiffs asserting antitrust claims based on alleged “product hopping” by the manufacturer of branded tablets treating opioid addiction. In re: Suboxone (Buprenorphine Hydrochloride and Nalaxone) Antitrust Litig., 13-md-2445, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166524 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 26, 2019). While declining to certify a class of end payors seeking injunctive relief, the court nevertheless certified (1) a damages class of direct purchasers of Suboxone tablets under Rule 23(b)(3) and (2) an issues class of end payors certified under Rule 23(c)(4). The court held that certification of the latter class would materially advance the litigation because the issue of alleged anticompetitive conduct—which focuses only on the conduct of defendants—is “wholly severable” from the issues of antitrust impact and damages, which could raise individualized issues.
In re Asacol: First Circuit Sharply Limits Certification of Antitrust Classes Containing Uninjured Members
In a recent decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that Rule 23’s “predominance” requirement barred certification of a class of all indirect purchasers of a prescription drug because the class included members who were uninjured by the alleged anti-competitive activity – they were “brand loyal” and would not have purchased a cheaper generic product even were it available. Asacol makes it more difficult to certify antitrust class actions in the First Circuit and its effects may extend further if the First Circuit’s reasoning is adopted by other circuits.
Solicitor General, States Weigh In On Apple Supreme Court Case
As the Supreme Court prepares to hear Apple Inc. v. Pepper, a major case involving antitrust standing, interested parties across the political spectrum are weighing in with their ideas of how the case should be resolved. As we previously reported, the Supreme Court decided to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision that because Apple sold iPhone apps directly to consumers, consumers are direct purchasers that have standing to sue Apple for alleged monopolization of the market for iPhone apps. Apple contends that the app developers – not Apple – are the sellers of apps to consumers because the app developers set prices; Apple contends that it sells only distribution services, and sells those services to the app developers, not to consumers.
Supreme Court Grants Apple’s Petition To Take Major Antitrust Standing Case
Sovereign Immunity for State Plaintiffs in Antitrust Class Actions?
The Third Circuit recently denied a petition for rehearing en banc a panel’s earlier decision in the In re Flonase Antitrust Litigation. In that case, the panel decision addressed the degree to which class settlements can bind non-participating U.S. state class members. After vigorous briefing on the issue, the panel found that the state of Louisiana had not waived its sovereign immunity, and therefore could not be bound by a class settlement that enjoined class members from subsequently bringing separate suits. This is a case with potentially wide reaching implications, as it could impact the negotiation of settlements in class actions that include states as class members.
Claims Against Sanofi for Improper Orange Book Listings and Sham Litigation Dismissed
On January 10, 2018, in In re Lantus Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litig., the District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed the antitrust case against Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC (“Sanofi”), the manufacturer of Lantus and Lantus SoloSTAR, which use the insulin product glargine to treat Type I and Type II diabetes. The plaintiffs in the multi-district litigation, a group of purchasers of the Lantus products, alleged that Sanofi unlawfully prolonged its monopoly for the glargine products after the expiration of the relevant patent in two ways. First, the plaintiffs alleged that Sanofi improperly listed six patents in the FDA’s Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations (the “Orange Book”). Second, the plaintiffs alleged that Sanofi pursued sham litigation against Eli Lilly in which Sanofi asserted claims of patent infringement without any reasonable basis. That litigation was settled by Sanofi and Lilly shortly before trial.
Indirect Purchasers Cannot Sue Qualcomm Under Federal Law, But State Law Claims Survive
A federal judge in California has refused to allow indirect purchasers of semiconductor chips—i.e., cell phone consumers—to bring claims against Qualcomm under federal antitrust law.
Are Restaurant No-Tipping Policies the Product of an Antitrust Conspiracy?
In July of 2013, Danny Meyer, the CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group, tweeted that he was considering eliminating tipping at his restaurants and solicited the opinion of other restaurant owners. Meyer and others eventually followed through on this idea and eliminated tipping at some of their restaurants. Instead, they began charging service fees while also raising menu prices to account for the increase in wages needed to compensate previously tipped employees. A newly filed putative class-action complaint alleges that these no-tipping policies, rather than being undertaken for largely equitable reasons, are in fact a massive antitrust conspiracy among restauranteurs to raise consumer prices.
Third Circuit Holds No Sham Litigation or Unlawful Reverse Payment in Wellbutrin XL Litigation
The Third Circuit recently affirmed the grant of summary judgment to GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) in the nearly 10-year-old Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litigation, which challenged the lawfulness of settlement agreements resolving patent disputes over Wellbutrin XL. In determining that GSK had not violated the Sherman Act, the court determined that GSK’s settlement of patent infringement lawsuits did not reflect that GSK had engaged in sham litigation, or that GSK made unlawful “reverse payments” to settle that litigation. To reach these conclusions, the court carefully picked apart years of evidence
Class Action Alleges Antitrust Conspiracy Among “Circle of Five” German Automakers
On July 28, 2017, a group of plaintiffs filed a putative class action in the Northern District of California against BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Daimler, and Mercedes-Benz, as well as auto-parts manufacturer Robert Bosch. The suit alleges that, extending as far back as 1996, these five German car manufacturers colluded to suppress competition by agreeing to limit technological advancement, selecting favored suppliers, and exchanging confidential business information. The class-action suit follows recent publications reporting that European Union antitrust officials and the German Cartel Office are investigating allegations of a cartel among these manufacturers.
Eighth Circuit Applies Continuing Violation Doctrine to Extend Statute of Limitations for Sherman Act Claims
Recently in In re Pre-Filled Propane Tank Antitrust Litigation, an en banc panel of the Eighth Circuit clarified the application of the continuing violation exception to the statute of limitations for claims under the Sherman Act. The Court was closely divided, with a 5-to-4 split between the majority opinion and a sharply worded dissent. The majority held that, in an antitrust conspiracy suit, a continuing violation tolls the statute of limitations as long as there were unlawful acts (e.g., sales to the plaintiff) within the limitations period, even if the alleged conspiracy was hatched outside the four-year statute of limitations period. The dissent, however, argued that to avoid dismissal plaintiffs are required to show a live, ongoing conspiracy within the limitations period.
No Use Crying Over Settled Claims?: Second Circuit Affirms Approval of Dairy Farmers’ Settlement
This week, the Second Circuit affirmed the approval of a $50 million agreement settling price-fixing claims brought by a class of farmers against a dairy cooperative and a dairy marketing company. The settlement in Allen et al. v. Dairy Farmers of America et al. was notable for at least two reasons that were seemingly at odds: First, the unusually high number of claims filed; and second, the vociferous advocacy of two named plaintiffs who objected to the settlement. The objectors argued that class counsel colluded with defendants’ to reach a settlement agreement, and coerced class members to support the settlement.
The UFC’s Biggest Bout Yet: Its Battle Against Its Fighters’ Antitrust Lawsuit
We have not previously reported on an antitrust litigation that is enveloping the mixed martial arts (“MMA”) world. Six current and former MMA fighters have filed a class action lawsuit against the company that owns the UFC, Zuffa, LLC, for violations of the Sherman Act. A review of the docket indicates that the UFC will have to go a few more rounds before it has another opportunity for a knockout.
Second Circuit Declares That, to Survive Motions to Dismiss, Antitrust Allegations Require Factual Support for All “Necessary Premises”
Last Wednesday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals partially vacated the judgment of the district court in In re Actos End-Payor Antitrust Litigation.
Court Finds Apple is a Distributor of iPhone Apps, Allows Antitrust Suit
In a significant Illinois Brick decision, the Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion concluding that consumers who purchase apps from Apple’s “app store” directly purchase those apps from Apple, which acts as a distributor. The purchasers therefore have antitrust standing to sue Apple for alleged monopolization of the iPhone app market. The decision could make it easier for consumers to bring antitrust claims against sellers in e-commerce.
Circuit Split on Certification: How far can evidence of price-fixing carry antitrust plaintiffs?
Manufacturers of containerboard and corrugated products have asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on a Circuit split concerning the impact of negotiated prices on class certification in antitrust cases brought under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Petitioners filed for a writ of certiorari on December 30, 2016, arguing that the Seventh Circuit in Kleen Products LLC, et al. v. International Paper Company, et al., Nos. 15-2385, 15-2386 (7th Cir. Aug. 4 2016), erred in two related ways, both of which flow from the fact that prices of the containerboard products at issue in the case tend to be individually negotiated.
Two reverse-payment appeals to watch
It has been over three years since the Supreme Court’s Actavis decision. Since then, numerous putative class actions alleging harm to competition as a result of “reverse-payment” settlements have flooded the courts. The complexity of these cases, along with the vague guidance provided by the Supreme Court, has given rise to intricate questions about how courts should apply Actavis and scrutinize settlements of Hatch-Waxman litigation.
Searching for Causation in ACTOS Complaint
How explicitly must a complaint sounding in antitrust allege causation? At oral argument last week, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit evaluated the sufficiency of the plaintiffs’ allegations that certain Takeda entities, in their representations to the FDA, falsely described patents for the antidiabetic drug ACTOS in order to delay the entry of generic competitors into the market—specifically, whether the plaintiffs had pleaded enough facts to show that these representations plausibly caused the delay.
Third Circuit says sunk discovery costs not a proper factor in class certification analysis
It is not every day that antitrust plaintiff classes fail to win certification due to lack of numerosity under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a)(1). Yet this week, absence of numerosity was the reason a Third Circuit panel reversed an order from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania certifying a class of 22 plaintiffs. The putative class included direct purchasers allegedly injured by reverse-payment agreements between Cephalon and four generic manufacturers of Cephalon’s narcolepsy drug Provigil.
European truck cartel’s €2.93 billion in fines may just be the beginning
The European Commission on Tuesday announced its decision finding truck makers MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, and DAF liable for violating EU antitrust rules. The companies acknowledged that for 14 years they colluded in setting truck prices, settling the case for a record total of €2.93 billion. Competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager reported that the five-company cartel “account[s] for around 9 out of every 10 medium and heavy trucks produced in Europe.” Vestager also said that the unprecedented fines send a “clear message to companies that cartels are not accepted.”
After Favorable LIBOR Ruling from the Second Circuit, Investors Now Allege Anticompetitive SIBOR Manipulation
On July 5, 2016, investors filed a federal class action [add link to pdf] in the Southern District of New York alleging defendant banks had manipulated the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) “and/or” Singapore Swap Offer Rate (SOR) market, forcing investors to pay artificial prices for financial derivative transactions based on these benchmarks. This lawsuit follows on the heels of the Second Circuit’s decision in In re: LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, which allowed the case to proceed.
Banks Speak: LIBOR Plaintiffs Are Not Efficient Enforcers Of Antitrust Laws
As our loyal readers know, on May 23, 2016, the Second Circuit issued a decision in the In re: LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation vacating the District Court’s prior decision dismissing one case in this consolidated action. Our analysis of that decision is available here. Notably, however, the Second Circuit declined to rule on whether the plaintiffs (the “Plaintiffs”) are “efficient enforcers” of the antitrust laws and remanded that question for the District Court’s consideration.
First Opt-Out Class Action Underway In The United Kingdom
On June 21, 2016, the United Kingdom Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) published notice of an application to commence collective proceedings under Section 47B of the UK’s competition act. If this action continues, it will be the first opt-out collective (class action) competition claims to be heard by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Procompetitive Effects of Business Associations in the Balance?: Business Association Membership and the Sufficiency of Sherman Act Allegations
What facts beyond mere membership in a trade association trigger Sherman Act liability? Next term, the Supreme Court will hear an antitrust case testing the requirements for pleading the conspiracy element of a claim brought under the Sherman Act—namely, whether the allegation that defendants belong to an association is sufficient for a Section 1 claim.
Expert Analysis Guides Decision to Certify Class of Automotive Part Purchasers
Certifying a class of direct purchasers of sheet metal parts alleging claims under section 1 of the Sherman Act, Judge Lynn Adelman of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin focused on what it means for common questions to predominate in an antitrust class action.
2nd Circuit Speaks: LIBOR Plaintiffs May Pursue Claims
On May 23, 2016, the Second Circuit issued a long-awaited decision in the In re: LIBOR‐Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, vacating the District Court’s (Buchwald, J.) prior decision dismissing one case in this consolidated action.
District Court Finds Uber CEO, by Driving for Uber, May be Liable for Driving Up Prices
It is plausible that Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, may have violated antitrust law by fixing prices charged to Uber passengers, a judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York concluded last week in denying Kalanick’s motion to dismiss. The lawsuit, Meyer v. Kalanick, is a putative class action initiated by Spencer Meyer, a resident of Connecticut, on behalf of people who, like him, have used Uber car services. The complaint also names a subclass of people who have been charged according to Uber’s “surge pricing” model.
MLB Settles, Leaving Unanswered Questions: Do Sports Leagues’ Regional Blackout Agreements Violate Antitrust Laws?
In the wake of Major League Baseball’s settlement of antitrust claims on the eve of trial, the central question from the lawsuit remains: are sports leagues’ exclusive broadcasting territories for live games an antitrust violation? Although suits against the MLB and National Hockey League have both settled, analogous antitrust claims are pending against the National Football League, leaving open the possibility that these issues may be finally resolved in the court room.
MLB Pitches Around Consumers by Settling Suit, Avoiding Further Litigation on the Scope of Its Longstanding Antitrust Exemption
We’ve previously written about litigation involving the scope of Major League Baseball’s long-standing antitrust exemption. Earlier this week, on the eve of trial, MLB settled Garber v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, a class action lawsuit challenging its territorial broadcasting policy. The lead plaintiff Marc Lerner is a Mississippi resident and New York Yankee fan who was allegedly charged supracompetitive prices to watch the Yankees due to MLB’s territorial broadcast policies. Under MLB’s policy of territorially restricting television broadcasts, consumers could only watch “out-of-market” games subject to certain limitations, including a requirement to purchase every out-of-market game, even if the consumer was only interested in following a single team. By avoiding the bench trial, MLB avoided having to further litigate the scope of its unique “antitrust exemption” in front of Judge Scheindlin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, who had previously expressed skepticism about the continuing viability of the exemption.
Defendants Summary Judgment Motion in In re Cathode Ray Tube Antitrust Litigation May Illuminate Policy Justifications Behind Ownership or Control Exception
Earlier this month, defendants in the In re Cathode Ray Tube Antitrust Litigation moved to challenge the standing of major retailers to pursue damages claims under the Supreme Court’s 1977 Illinois Brick decision.
In re Capacitors Antitrust Class Action Update: Claims Slightly Narrowed, Parties Continue Discovery
When we last wrote in June 2015 about In re Capacitors Antitrust Litig., No. 14-03264-JD, consolidated putative class actions pending before Judge James Donato in the Northern District of California, the plaintiffs had just largely survived a motion to dismiss. That blog post, which describes the background of the case and the first round of motions to dismiss, is available here. Recently, on December 30, 2015, the court ruled on several additional motions to dismiss based on plaintiffs’ amended complaints.
Polar Air Cargo Settles Antitrust Claims for $100 Million
A settlement agreement last week in the long-running U.S. Cargo Antitrust Class Action brought the settlement fund in that case to over $1.1. billion. Polar Air Cargo, Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, and Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings agreed to pay $100 million in three installments. The settlement is the second-largest so far in this case, after Korean Air Lines's agreement in December 2013 to pay $115 million. It is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, where the case is pending.
Second Bite at the Apple in AT & T Aftermarket Case?
On December 14, 2015 Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers heard oral argument on a motion to dismiss filed by Apple in an antitrust action brought against the company in connection with its 2007 deal to sell iPhones exclusively to AT&T Mobility. The next day, Judge Rogers denied Apple’s motion. The lawsuit, one of several arising from the Apple-AT&T agreement, raises interesting questions about how to define a relevant product market using an “aftermarket” theory.
Breaking News: $6 Million Cox Communications Cable Box Jury Verdict Overturned
As we previously reported (click here, to read more), last month, a jury returned a $6 million verdict for a class plaintiff in a suit alleging that Cox Communications had illegally tied its premium cable services to rentals of its set-top boxes. Yesterday, the court granted Cox’s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law, overturned the jury’s verdict, and entered judgment for Cox.
Jury Returns Verdict in Cable Box Antitrust Suit in Favor of Cox Subscribers
We reported earlier today that the jury began deliberations this past Monday in the antitrust class action lawsuit against Cox Communications brought by its premium services subscribers. The jury returned its verdict today in favor of the plaintiffs and found that Cox had violated the Sherman Act by illegally tying its premium cable services to rentals of its set-top boxes. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $6.31 million in damages, which will be trebled to $19 million. The jury awarded damages based on one aspect of the plaintiffs’ claims for fees from set-top box rentals but declined to award damages based on the plaintiffs’ DVR fees. Thus, the damages award came back much lower than the $49 million figure the plaintiffs were seeking.
Cox Communications Tying Class Action Goes to the Jury
After a near two-week trial in the consumer class action lawsuit against Cox Communications, the jury began deliberations this past Monday to decide whether Cox’s alleged practice of tying premium cable services to rentals of its cable boxes violated the Sherman Act by harming competition in the set-top box market.
Ninth Circuit Disallows Additional Compensation for College Athletes
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit ruled in the long awaited O’Bannon v. NCAA case, which challenged NCAA rules that bar student-athletes from “being paid for the use of their names, images, and likenesses” (NILs) – part of the so-called “amateurism rules.” The Court upheld the district court’s decision finding the NCAA amateurism rules to be an unlawful restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Act and upheld part of the district court’s remedy which permanently enjoined the NCAA from prohibiting its member schools from giving student-athletes scholarships up to the full cost of attendance at their respective schools. The Ninth Circuit struck down, however, the district court’s second remedy which would have permanently enjoined the NCAA from prohibiting its member schools from giving student-athletes up to $5,000 per year in deferred compensation.
Seventh Circuit Affirms in Favor of Cheese Maker in Milk Price Fixing Case
This past Tuesday, the Seventh Circuit upheld the decision of Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granting cheese manufacturer Schreiber Foods Inc.’s motion for summary judgment in an antitrust class action. The Seventh Circuit agreed with the District Court that the plaintiffs, led by a cheese distributor and a dairy farmer and milk futures trader, lacked evidence to support their claims that Schreiber conspired with Dairy Farmers of America, a dairy marketing cooperative, to increase the price of raw milk.
"Airline Collusion" Private Class Actions
Last week, we discussed public reports of an investigation by the DOJ of four major airlines (American, Delta, Southwest, and United) regarding possible collusion. Over the past two months, a number of consumers have filed class action complaints against the airlines, putting forward their own theories regarding collusion.
Ninth Circuit Clarifies Analysis of Alleged Hub-and-Spoke Conspiracies Under the Sherman Act
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion affirming the dismissal of plaintiffs’ consolidated complaint in In re Musical Instruments and Equipment Antitrust Litigation. In addressing plaintiffs’ allegations of a hub-and-spoke conspiracy, the Ninth Circuit reiterated that each component of such a conspiracy (both vertical and horizontal) must be evaluated separately.
Ninth Circuit Stays Injunction in O’Bannon v. NCAA Pending Final Decision
The Ninth Circuit issued an order last Friday staying an injunction from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken of the Northern District of California in O’Bannon v. NCAA until it reaches a decision on the merits of the appeal.
Second Circuit Affirms Ruling Against Apple in E-book Price-Fixing Case
We have previously posted about United States v. Apple, Inc., a blockbuster trial that ended with Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York concluding that Apple had conspired with five publishing companies to raise the price of e-books. At oral argument before the Second Circuit, the panel hearing Apple’s appeal seemed particularly interested in whether the district court had erred in applying the relatively lenient per se standard rather than the rule of reason, under which the plaintiffs would have had to prove that the anti-competitive injury caused by Apple outweighed any pro-competitive benefits of its conduct.
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Whether or not you've got the memo yet, it's Air Max 95 season. A silhouette that's never faltered from the line nor faded into obscurity, it's enjoying particular attention from Nike in 2023. Reveling in the moment, the Air Max 95 appreciation society has an unlikely member in Terry Crews.
American celebrity sneaker watch has been active in the first few months of the year. As we collectively gear up for the launch of AIR, we've found ourselves unable to look away from the feet of Ben Affleck, whose sneakerhead chronicles have continued with a slew of Air Jordan silhouettes across several screenings and a premiere.
In and amongst the Affleck of it all, Charlie Hunnam showed us what happens when you throw on a pair of your vintage grails as his DQM x Nike Air Max 90 "Bacon" crumbled before our eyes.
Now, it's Terry Crews diverting attention to his feet, stepping out in a pair of Air Max 95 "Winter Utility" en route to his America's Got Talent All-Stars duties – a sneaker silhouette he's shown some love to over the years.
Over the past few months, the Air Max 95 has been catapulted back to center stage.
It's hard to attest its return to the spotlight to a single event. Still, Nike's decision to boost its monochromatic essential colorways to the forefront of several storefronts, including its own, and the rollout of CORTIEZ's collaborative efforts (which still has a third to come), have certainly helped it on its way.
Back to Crews – overall, the 'fit doesn't quite hit the mark. The lime leather trucker jacket is certainly a statement piece, and it works, but throwing a pair of 95s on with cuffed cargos might be an unforgivable move; in the UK, at least.
While I can't speak for the rest of the world, we've got a deep love and appreciation for the 95 (or 110s) in the UK. You can't go a day in a major city without spotting a few dozen pairs, and I wouldn't change a thing about that.
Let's see some more of the classics come back this year, though, please, Nike? We're hungry for more "Neons."


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In full populist mode, President Barack Obama on Monday ripped Bank of America for its new $5 a month debit card fee — and was met with a stinging counterattack from American Bankers Association President Frank Keating.
Obama told ABC News that the charge is unfair to customers, saying, “My hope is that you’re going to see a bunch of the banks say this is not good business practice.”
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“You can stop it because if you say to the banks: You don’t have some inherent right just to, you know, get a certain amount of profit, if your customers are being mistreated, that you have to treat them fairly and transparently,” Obama said.
The president said the $5 per month charge “is exactly why we need somebody whose sole job it is to prevent this kind of stuff from happening” and noted that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the type of strong watchdog agency the U.S. needs to crack down on cases like this.
Keating hit back at Obama in POLITICO’s “Morning Money” on Tuesday, condemning the president for what he deemed an unfair attack on the bank’s response to new government rules that are forcing companies to drastically change their business practices.
“It’s disappointing and puzzling that the president would attack a private corporation for responding to government price fixing that has fundamentally altered the economics of offering a debit card,” Keating said. “As a direct result of the Durbin Amendment, consumers have started paying for financial services they previously enjoyed free of charge. Unfortunately, this proves that whenever government tries to control pricing of a product or service, consumers lose.”
A top financial industry source said to “Morning Money” about Obama’s ABC interview, “It’s like he’s channeling his inner Hugo Chavez.”
Keating, Bank of America and many Republicans consider the charge — which has been dubbed the “Durbin fee” by some critics — a direct consequence of Sen. Dick Durbin’s swipe fee reform that capped the amount banks could charge retailers for processing debit cards.
The Illinois Democrat joined Obama in slamming the new fee on Monday, calling on Bank of America customers to “get the heck out of that bank.”
“Bank of America customers, vote with your feet,” the Senate majority whip said in a floor speech Monday. “Get the heck out of that bank. Find yourself a bank or credit union that won’t gouge you for $5 a month and still will give you a debit card that you can use every single day.”
Durbin added that “what Bank of America has done is an outrage.”
Republican Rep. Tom Price of Georgia shot back at Durbin in a tweet, saying, “Had Sen. Durbin read the Dodd-Frank bill, he would have known the cost of debit cards would go up. His action, our sad consequence.”


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Cowboy Coffee owner Rob Ottaway is feeling better these days about his shop’s spent coffee grounds.
Instead of going to the dump, the soggy mass travels to Thayne, where WyoFarm Composting (motto: Grow food, not landfills) combines it with other food waste in piles that, with careful tending, decompose into a wholesome fertilizer.
Cowboy Coffee doesn’t have to work hard to make it happen. The baristas put the grounds and other food waste like banana peels and eggshells in a cart provided by WyoFarm Composting. Then WyoFarm picks it up and takes it away.
“Between brewed coffee, drip coffee and espresso it’s a lot of coffee every day that was just going into the garbage,” Ottaway said. “It doesn’t feel great to throw it into the dumpster.
“Now we just have a bucket for all the coffee and a trash bucket,” he said. “The trash is lighter, easier to manage and doesn’t have to be taken out as frequently.”
WyoFarm Composting, which offers food scrap pickup for residents as well as businesses, is part of a trend. All over the U.S. composting is gaining popularity as people see the environmental benefits.
According to a report by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, “Composting can help tackle global warming by diverting organic waste away from landfills where it produces methane, by helping plants and microorganisms, which pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, to grow; and by replacing nitrogen fertilizers that produce nitrous oxide, an extremely potent greenhouse gas.”
The Environmental Protection Agency says food composting rose from 1.84 million tons in 2013, or 5% of food, to 2.6 million tons, or 6.3% of food, in 2017.
“It’s so sexy right now,” said Carrie Bell, waste diversion and outreach coordinator at Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling. “It’s a constant topic.”
Next spring or summer her agency will start a commercial food waste composting program. The first participants, she said, will be “early adopters,” like those involved with a recent food waste collection pilot in Grand Teton National Park, and other “interested large producers.” (The waste in that program went to the West Yellowstone Compost Facility, and a portion went to WyoFarm.)
Terra Firma Organics, a Jackson business, will be the composting contractor, and Westbank Sanitation will initially do the hauling. The interim transfer station will serve as the food waste building, but details like tip fees haven’t been worked out yet, Bell said. And it’s only a commercial program. Allowing residents to drop food waste there for composting is “probably a ways off,” she said.
An executive summary of the park composting program said food makes up 20% of the state’s waste stream and 40% of Teton park’s. Even with the county program, the region has room for other composting players, like WyoFarm, Bell said.
“There is plenty of food waste to go around,” Bell said.
WyoFarm Composting is operated by the same family that runs Haderlie Farms in Thayne, which produces vegetables, flowers, herbs, raw milk and grass-fed and -finished beef and pork.
Owner Curtis Haderlie said his food scrap collection operation started around 2013 as a loose, no-fee arrangement with Healthy Being Juicery and Hole Food Rescue.
Ali Milburn, founder of Hole Food Rescue, was thrilled when Haderlie asked her about taking food scraps. Her newly formed nonprofit was keeping still-edible items out the trash and distributing them to needy people. But it was still throwing away hundreds of pounds of food that was too rotten for people.
“For us, especially at that point but all along, it’s just been this amazing opportunity for us to actually put to use this product we’ve put a lot of energy and resources into saving from the landfill,” she said.
Milburn estimates that about 18% of the food her nonprofit rescues these days ends up as compost. That’s 18% that would have gone to the trash. And the nonprofit serves pork from Haderlie Farms at its annual Million Pound Party for a full-circle, zero-waste meal.
“It definitely fits our mission of keeping food out of the landfill and using food to its fullest potential,” she said of WyoFarm’s services.
As a business WyoFarm Composting is still fairly new.
“About a year and a half ago I decided to turn this into a business to charge for those services,” Haderlie said.
Today he has about 40 commercial customers and 80 residential customers. So far this year he has hauled more than 380 tons of food waste from Teton County.
Some feeds the farm’s 120 pigs, he said, “but we are already hauling many more scraps than the pigs can eat.”
So he has several huge mounds where vegetable peelings, fruit rinds, coffee grounds and more are transforming into what he describes as “the best fertilizer ever.”
“It’s a remarkable process that you can pile up all these different organic materials that are, in a lot of people’s opinions, stinky and yucky and, by managing it, making sure it has the proper moisture and oxygen, you can turn it into this black, very valuable substance for the soil.”
In addition to the usual suspects, like fruit and vegetable remains, WyoFarm takes meat scraps and bones, which might surprise anyone who has composted at home and been told they’re verboten.
“Meat is a problem in a backyard,” Haderlie said. “The neighbor’s dogs will come in and dig it up. ... And meat has a higher pathogen problem than broccoli.”
But with his large piles, he said, the temperature rises as high as 151 degrees for sustained periods, enough to kill weed seeds and pathogens.
“Anything over 131 — that’s the magic number,” Haderlie said.
Though meat is OK, WyoFarm Composting doesn’t accept yard waste. (Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling has a program for that through Terra Firma Organics.)
Because of “persistent herbicides,” Haderlie said, things like grass clippings aren’t appropriate for a closed-loop nutrient cycling system like his.
“We are not a composting company,” Haderlie said. “We are a farm. Our product is food. ... We pick up your food scraps, bring them into the farm, grow nutrient-dense food for people and animals, and the cycle starts all over again.”
Haderlie said WyoFarm Composting’s services are seeing rapid adoption, and part of that is the low cost. Residents pay a small fee for a 5-gallon bucket. They drop their full buckets (and grab clean ones) at specified locations for $4.75. If they opt for home pickup that costs around $6 or $7.
“We’ve tried to price this comparable to trash pickup to make it a no-brainer,” Haderlie said.
For businesses the price depends on how many 32-gallon carts they require and how often they want pickup service. One cart and one pickup a week runs about $6, Haderlie said.
“I was actually taken aback by how cheap it was for them to come pick it up,” said Holly Mackin, sustainability coordinator for the Bentwood Inn in Wilson.
Mackin said that through its overall sustainability efforts (not just composting) the Bentwood is diverting 50% of its waste and working toward the same 60% goal that Teton County seeks to reach by 2030.
With daily breakfast, bistro dinners once or twice a week, and evening wine and cheese, the Bentwood produces about 50 pounds of compostable material every week and a half, she said. Keeping that separate from the trash isn’t difficult.
“We set up a system in our kitchen that makes it really easy,” she said.
The Bentwood tried on-site composting, Mackin said, “but due to the high volume of food waste we were producing we weren’t able to keep up with converting our compost to mulch.”
Cowboy Coffee’s Ottaway said that without the pickup option he might not have gotten into composting.
“We have so much we’d have to hire someone or spend a lot of time taking it someplace,” he said.
Eco-minded residents appreciate the service too.
“I live in a condo in East Jackson and don’t have space for a composter or anywhere to use the compost I would make,” said Mari Allan Hanna.
“I also trust Curtis’ expertise and am glad to know my food scraps are going to a better place and not to waste. He has been so courageous and put in so much effort to build momentum for composting in the community.”
One glitch in the system is contamination. Residential customers are generally good about putting only compostables into buckets. Haderlie said he occasionally finds a piece of foil, but generally it’s only the appropriate stuff (see box).
But all sorts of undesirables make their way into commercial customers’ scrap piles. Knives, forks and spoons, plastic bottles, glass ramekins, ice cream cartons ... even cast-iron pans turn up in the slop.
Haderlie is working on educating businesses.
“In my experience the larger you are the more contamination there is,” he said. “That’s the learning curve.”
Other than that, Haderlie has no end of good things to say about composting.
“Compost is the original fertilizer,” he said. “What makes more sense: to take petroleum and turn it into a chemical fertilizer that you spread on your crops or take food scraps away from the landfill that are doing no one any good?”


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Greetings, there’s a lot of news to get into today, and my head is spinning a little bit from that January 6th testimony today, so let’s get right into it. Oh, and londonbusinessblog.com+ is having an Independence Day sale! Save 50% on an annual subscription here. (More about londonbusinessblog.com+ here if you need it!) Now that you’ve said you have a subscription, skip to hi‘s story about your pitch deck in need of a surgery plan. † Christine
The londonbusinessblog.com Top 3
- Kid ‘n Play wouldn’t be amused: Airbnb has spoken and ends party houses with permanent bans, Ivan reports. This is something the company first started doing 2 years ago, and it seems to have worked – the company reports 44% fewer party complaints year over year.
- On target: Although the CEO of crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, denied that he was interested in buying Robinhood, Alex goes into why FTX would be interested at all.
- The headline speaks for itself† Mike hit a headline home run for a story about four European founders turned angel investors giving some of their venture capital competitors — many say they’ve never run a business before — a run for their money.
Startups and VC
We enjoyed Ingrid‘s story about Speechmatics, a company that raised $62 million for its speech-to-text artificial intelligence approach. One of the interesting things it does is remove some of the bias so that if you have an accent or speak a certain way, it will still be picked up and accurately translated.
Ecommerce is hot, hot, hot, but it can be daunting to browse through the 7,500 apps Shopify has to find the one that works best for your business. I wrote about Shop Circle, which came out of stealth mode today with $65 million. The company has searched and acquired all those apps so you don’t have to.
We know that electric vehicles are expensive, so wouldn’t it be great to defer some of the monthly payment? Meet Tenet, which raised $18 million for its loan offer that could save an average of $200 off the bill, Harris writes.
Here’s the short, short version of other stories:
- Managing job boards: As the tech sector sees layoffs, Kylea reports that Gloat is raising $90 million to build better internal job boards.
- Rising tide and stuff: Sustainable Ocean Alliance, an early-stage ocean-focused startup incubator, received $18 million in new funding from sources, most notably Marc and Lynne Benioff, writes Devin.
- you have a friend in me: Finding friends is hard, and if Catherine points out that it gets even harder as you get older. That’s why it’s heartwarming to read about apps like Hank, who raised $7 million in seed money and connected older adults with something fun they love to do.
- Vice no more?: It wasn’t that long ago that venture capital firms were wary of the idea of investing in one of the “vices”, you know, like alcohol and cannabis. hi reports that JourneyOne has a new $10 million fund ready to be put to work in cannabis technology.
Use chronological scenario planning to help your startup through a potential recession
People who burn wood to keep warm through the winter know how to calculate how many cords to chop and stack. However, creating a winter strategy for a startup is a less straightforward process.
In this environment, entrepreneurs need to build decision trees that can help them manage 36 months of runway, recommends Gaetano Crupi, partner at venture capital firm Prime Movers Lab.
A three-year outlook “is a more appropriate time horizon for gathering more information, so you can slow down even further (with cash turning over) if things are worse in 12 months, or speed up if things are better in 18 months.” be,” he advises.
(londonbusinessblog.com+ is our membership program that helps founders and startup teams move forward. You can register here†
Big Tech Inc.
The start of our Big Tech news today is a handover of one of India’s largest telecom companies and the start of a new generation. manish reports that Akash Ambani took over the reins of Reliance Jio from his father, Mukesh Ambani, in what analysts saw as “a clear illustration of a leadership transition in one of Asia’s wealthiest families.”
carly writes that cybercrime operation RansomHouse (why do they sound like book publishers?) is probably behind the extortion of some data from the American chipmaker AMD. The company is investigating the incident.
Ron attended some of Google’s Sustainability Summit this week and shared a story about Google Cloud’s new sustainability platform to empower businesses with data to help them achieve their climate goals.
More for your viewing pleasure:
- Oh, yeah, we got problems, problems, problems: When you buy an electric vehicle, you want it to drive with the same reliability as your old combustion engine car, but if Jaclyn reports, a JD Power survey found that this was not the case.
- Bring the band back together: Spotify’s new Supergrouper in-app feature will create a kind of mixed tape for up to five of your favorite artists, Aisha writes.
- Convoy† Rebecca reported an open letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom from a group of autonomous truck developers urging the state to reconsider a previous ruling banning these types of vehicles in the state.
- Listen up: If you are looking for new earbuds, Brian gives an overview of the prototype of Nura.
- Developer’s delight† Frederic writes about Hasura’s new GraphQL data connector that allows “developers to bring virtually any data source into Hasura to present it as a GraphQL API.”