From romantic partners who sneak peeks at their companions’ texts to the companies that harvest and sell data we don’t even know we’re giving away, internet privacy in the U.S. is ever more the exception than the rule. This three-part series asks: Does it have to be? When did surveillance become a business model — and what would it take to rein it in? Getty Images Part I: A violation of trust Listen to Part I pam emails and social media scams provide regular reminders of how online behavior can be tracked and used against us with varying degrees of harm. But some data-privacy invasions are far more up-close and personal — as Ann found out the hard way. “I don’t know that I could say that it changed the way that I view people, but it changed my behaviors certainly,” Ann recalled. Ideally, everyone would have trusted friends or family to help them through vulnerable processes like surgery and recovery. Ann, still fairly new in town, didn’t. So she placed her trust in a coworker she occasionally dated. “At the beginning of the year, I had had a major surgery, and he helped a lot with that and […]

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Fitch Ratings – Sydney – 21 Feb 2023: Fitch Ratings has upgraded Australia-based Emeco Holdings Limited’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B+’. The Outlook is Stable. The upgrade reflects the improvement in Emeco’s revenue visibility and defensibility, through diversifying its service offerings, increasing contract tenures, and improving its customer and commodity diversification. The rating also incorporates the benefits that the reduction in the cost base and more flexible fleet and cost structure provide – particularly in the more cyclical mining services industry. The Stable Outlook reflects our expectation that Emeco will maintain a conservative financial profile, with EBITDA net leverage remaining below 1x through the cycle. It also recognises that the company has addressed underperformance in a few contracts. Further, Fitch believes that Emeco is well-positioned to benefit from rising demand for minerals amid the green energy transition, which will support ongoing demand, particularly as the company increases its exposure in Western Australia. Improved Revenue Visibility: Emeco’s revenue visibility has benefited from rising service revenue, customer and commodity diversification, and the ability to switch its fleet between commodities. Service-based revenue has increased as a proportion of revenues – these contracts are typically longer-term and more integrated […]

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With a crown and a passion, Diana Diaz gives a tour of her brand-new shop which carries everything from Latino-inspired children’s books to clothing. Diaz owns the Goddess Mercado Boutique, a collective of local entrepreneurs in El Sereno. In addition to books and clothing, the business sells art, makeup and even handmade greeting cards. The boutique is also a way for Diaz to sell her goods and share the cost of the shop. "I’m a former street vendor and my parents worked in manufacturing," she said. Diaz is a full-time high school counselor and started making purses as a side hustle six years ago. During the pandemic, her "Mexichic Crafts" took off prompting Diaz to realize that her hobby had more potential. "When I first launched the boutique I realized I needed a larger network — that I had so much to learn, so much I didn’t know," she said. Looking for some help, Diaz teamed up with the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity, or CAMEO for short, which helps small businesses throughout the state thrive. "I was like what do I do? But, miraculously these women from these organizations were coming to help," Diaz said. "I got […]

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BASKING RIDGE, NJ – Verizon Business will showcase immersive solutions at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2023 (Hall 2, Stand 2G60) to demonstrate real 5G use cases, and how the latest technologies are solving organizational challenges in the ever-evolving global business landscape. "Consumer and business needs have changed dramatically. With this shift for business, connectivity and the ability to leverage technology to gain a competitive advantage is crucial," said Massimo Peselli, CRO, Global Enterprise & Public Sector, Verizon Business. "Verizon Business and our global reach is uniquely positioned to solve business challenges for enterprises of all sizes and geographies including multinationals. Verizon 5G, our world-class people, our partner ecosystem and industry leading network technology continues to position us as the industry leader." The Verizon Business booth, located in Hall 2, Stand 2G60, will be demonstrating a range of current and forward-looking scenarios. Innovative Experiences QA for Warehouse – Verizon 5G Edge Quality Assurance for Warehouse is a private mobile edge computing (MEC) solution that uses Computer Vision technology to enhance warehouse and/or logistics operations by ensuring picking and packing accuracy, and reducing the need for manual inspections. Verizon will be demonstrating a reverse supply chain use case for retailers; automating […]

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The Big Picture Crowdsource Innovation The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) sets ambitious targets to conserve nature and ensure its sustainable use and businesses are essential to its implementation. A key step for businesses to successfully contribute to the GBF is transparency and awareness of their impact on nature, reducing their adverse effects while ramping up good practices. Businesses would do well to collaborate with others and ensure they include indigenous people and local communities within decision-making. The ground-breaking Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) was signed in December 2022 by 196 parties committed to halting biodiversity loss by 2030. After four years of negotiations, the GBF sets ambitious goals with 23 targets for the conservation and sustainable use of nature. Businesses are key to implementing the GBF – target 15 calls for them to “progressively reduce negative impacts on biodiversity.” The stakes are high and the risks of biodiversity loss are well documented, with half of the world’s global domestic product highly or moderately dependent on nature. Nevertheless, there is a significant economic opportunity, circa $10.1 trillion annually , to be seized by taking the right action now. Here are five ways businesses can […]

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Europe’s biggest economies beat expectations as business activity returned to growth, boosting the chances they can stave off recessions. Gauges of private output in Germany and France both signaled expansion in February after pullbacks in January, while the UK’s purchasing managers’ index showed the first positive reading in six months — jumping to 53 from 48.5. In the 20-nation euro zone, activity rose at the fastest pace since May 2022. The numbers suggest the economic downturns many analysts had forecast after Russia’s war in Ukraine sent energy prices rocketing may not materialize, though the Bundesbank says Germany may yet endure a slight contraction in 2023. There are potential knock-on effects for monetary policy. As fears of economic damage recede and firmer growth underpins inflation, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England may be more inclined to push on with raising interest rates. “Growth has been buoyed by rising confidence as recession fears fade and inflation shows signs of peaking,” Chris Williamson — an economist at S&P Global, which compiled the PMIs — said Tuesday in a statement. “Manufacturing has also benefitted from a major improvement in supplier performance.” What Bloomberg Economics Says… “The euro-area composite PMI survey […]

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PHILADELPHIA PA – Small businesses that are PECO customers located within its natural gas service territory can now apply for a $500 grant to help pay their natural gas bills, the utility company said Monday (Feb. 20, 2023). The new grant program is part of what PECO President and CEO Mike Innocenzo called the company’s “commitment to small businesses and the communities they serve.” Its Small Business Natural Gas Grant Program will provide $450,000 in grants to 900 local small business customers with past due balances, on a first-come, first-considered basis. Its support is being offered as business costs remain high, and energy bills have risen nationally during the winter season. Qualifying applicants can apply to receive the one-time grant of $500, which will be applied directly to the customer’s bill and lower past due balances. Businesses must be existing PECO natural gas customers with an account in the business’s name, be on PECO’s Gas Commercial Service rate, and have fewer than 25 total employees. Businesses also can save energy and money by taking advantage of the company’s energy efficiency savings opportunities. To learn about them, see PECO’s website or call 844-424-9728 .

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Stephanie Hart, owner of Brown Sugar Bakery, bought a candy factory and expanded her product line. A lot is going on inside the old Cupid Candies factory in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood. Chocolate mixers are whirling and cans of evaporated milk are stacked knee-high. One worker is unwrapping brick-size sticks of butter, and someone is giving a decades-old piece of equipment the "old Fonzie nudge." The most exciting part for Stephanie Hart isn’t the candy: It is the construction. The nearly 70-year-old facility is on its way to a second life, and Hart is giving it breath. Hart, the owner of Brown Sugar Bakery, bought the factory in late 2020 to expand her cake-making operation, which had outgrown its storefront on 75th Street on Chicago’s South Side. Hart took on the candy-making, too, to expand her business and keep some of the longtime workers employed. "This is going to, at minimum, (quadruple) my capacity to make cake," Hart said, standing behind trays of chocolate turtles. "My hope is I’ll be able to grow to meet that capacity." Hart calls this stage "escaping mom and pop" as she takes her business to the next level. Brown Sugar launched online sales […]

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Matt Dunlap is Chief Operating Officer at Rise Brands , a leading brand-strategy firm based in Columbus, Ohio. getty During Covid-19 lockdowns, businesses everywhere found themselves on life support. Our company, once a fast-growing brand-strategy company, was one of them. In 2020, as shutdown orders spread far and wide, Rise Brands saw its sales plummet from $1 million a week to $0 . Headcount cratered, too, dropping from 550 employees to 25 in mere days. It was a hellish time for many small to mid-sized enterprises. Those that survived the pandemic were fortunate, even if they were also impaired. Now, even as life returns to something resembling normal, all companies must endure a new and daunting set of circumstances: a pending recession, rapid workforce turnover and waning consumer confidence. There’s no instruction booklet for this “ next normal ,” but businesses looking for an edge can borrow a page from our company. In 2022, our sales and staffing returned to (and now exceed) pre-pandemic levels. Getting back to growth took hard work. Fortunately, the company was able to lean on one distinct advantage: its background in branding. As the firm’s chief operating officer, I’ve found that many of the […]

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Founder of three-time "SEO Agency of the Year" finalist LSEO.com . Serial Entrepreneur. Best-Selling Author (over 100,000 books sold). getty In many ways, search engines are the great equalizers when it comes to business growth, brand awareness and audience reach. Web crawlers used by Google, Bing and their ilk don’t care how big or small your company is; in fact, in some cases, these companies actually place greater emphasis on boosting local small and medium-sized businesses rather than national enterprise businesses. The things that matter to search engines most are the same things that matter to consumers: How clearly and comprehensively can you answer a searcher’s query? How authoritative are you on a subject? Have other searchers found your information useful, or have they left your page quickly, never to return? Everybody wants to be No. 1 online. That means getting your webpages onto the first page of search results and, if possible, into that coveted top spot. For enterprise businesses, typically the best way to do that is to work closely with an SEO agency. But how do you determine which SEO agency is right for you? Know Your Goals What exactly do you need an SEO agency […]

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