• An offer by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to cover NASA costs of an astronaut lunar lander increased from $2 billion to upwards of $3 billion
• Bob Smith, the CEO of Blue Origin said that the company would “add valuable competition” and help in covering NASA’s “budget and funding shortfall” for the program that led to the agency selecting just one company for the HLS contract

Roblox and Nike strike deal to create virtual world called “Nikeland”

• On November 18, Nike announced that it is partnering with Roblox to create a virtual world called “Nikeland” on Roblox’s gaming platform online
• In this virtual gaming space, it will include Nike buildings, fields, and arenas for players to compete in multiple mini-games
• The company eventually plans to integrate in-play moments that emulate global sporting event

Amazon and Starbucks open chashierless coffee shop showcasing new technology

• In midtown Manhattan, New York, Starbucks is opening a pick-up cafe with Amazon that utilizes cashierless technology
• The first Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go location opens Thursday in New York City on 59th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, with a flag outside waving both companies’ logos
• Amazon’s technology allows customers to leave without seeing a cashier and scales, cameras and shelf sensors tally up customers’ totals and charge them when they leave 

GlobalFoundries and Ford partner to increase supply of chips for vehicle production

• Included in Ford’s plans to inrease its short- and long-term supply of semiconductor chips, the company has announced a new partnership with GlobalFoundries
• This may eventually result in new chip designs specifically for Ford and an increase in the domestic production and supply of chips for the overall automotive industry

CVS plans to close 900 stores in transition to its “digital strategy”

• On November 18, CVS Health said that it will close about 900 stores over the next 3 years as it transitions to better serving online shoppers
• The chain has said that it will focus more of its funding towards digital growth and transitioning its stores into a sort of department store for health-care products
• According to CVS, store closures will begin in the spring of 2022

Ford CEO says EV production to increase to 600,000 by 2023

• According to Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, the company plans to increase production capacity of its electric vehicles to 600,000 vehicles
• Farley expects this mode to make Ford the second-largest US based EV manufacturer in the world, behind tesla
• Ford’s first three new Electric vehicles are currently the Mustang Mach-E, E-Transit, and F-150 Lightning

The post Business News – 11-18-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• On November 3, Democratic lawmakers unveiled their new social spending and climate provision that increases the EV tax credit of up to $12,500 for higher prices vehicles
• According to this new update, vans, SUVs, and trucks prices up to $80,000 will be eligible for the full tax credit

Kroger to use automated robots to get groceries to customers

• With the help of UK based company Ocado, Kroger is opening automated warehouses across the United States
• According to Kroger, the robots will help to retrieve bags of items like fruit, meat, and more to speed up the fulfillment of customers’ grocery orders
• Once the groceries are gathered for an order, Korger will have their fleet of delivery drivers drop off the bagged groceries to the customer

NASA wins lawsuit against Blue Origin over SpaceX lunar Lander contract

• According to the US Court of Federal Claims, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin lost against NASA over $2.9 billion lunar lander contract awarded to SpaceX
• In a statement in defense of Blue Origin, its spokesperson said that the company’s lawsuit “highlighted the important safety issues with the Human Landing system procurement process that must still be addressed’

WHO says that Europe is the center of the COVID-19 pandemic once again

• According to the World Health Organization, Europe is facing another spike in COVID-19 cases
• The WHO has two main reasons for Europe’s soaring case numbers which are low vaccination coverage and less strict public health and social measures

Google invests $1 billion into CME, as both sign cloud deal

• Two large tech companies CME Group Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google have made a deal to move Google’s core trading systems to the cloud
• Google will invest a total of $1 billion into this project 

The post Business News – 11-04-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Boston Beer and PepsiCo are going on a joint-venture to create an alcoholic Mountain Dew which is expected to reach shelves by early 2022
• These new drinks are a part of Pepsi’s effort to use the popularity of the Mountain Dew name to move the soda into new categories

Beyond Meat’s meatless pepperoni to be offered by Pizza Hut in 5 markets

• Pizza Hut is now offering meat-free pepperoni by Beyond Meat as a topping in 5 cities in the United States
• Customers will be able to find the topping in 70 locations across Houston; Albany, New York; Macon, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; and Jacksonville, Florida

NASA is offered next-generation spacesuits by SpaceX

• NASA has been offered next-generation spacesuits by Elon Musk’s SpaceX after a response to a report by NASA’s inspector general on spacesuit development
• Since 2007, NASA has spent more than $420 million on spacesuit development but even with another $625 million in spending planned, the suits will not be ready for flight until April 2025

Canada and Moderna reach deal to construct vaccine manufacturing plant after shortages

• Moderna has announced that they have reached a deal with the Canadian government to construct a vaccine manufacturing plant to supply the country 
• Earlier in 2021, Canada has had difficulties with Covid vaccine supply shortages 

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• Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, has offered to give NASA $2 billion to cover their costs in exchange for a contract to construct a “lunar lander” to land astronauts on the moon
• Back in April, NASA has awarded SpaceX with a $2.89 billion contract to build the next crewed “lunar lander under their Human Landing Systems Program

New home sales drop to pandemic low and possibly marks end of housing boom

• The annualized sale rate of single family homes of 676,000 is 6.6% lower than May’s rate of 724,000 and 19.4% lower than June 2020 level of 839,000
• From June 2020 to June 2021, the median price of a newly built home increased by 6%

The post Business News – 07-26-2021 appeared first on Easy Ad - Local Small Business Resources.

• Jim Conroy, the CEO of Boot Barn expects sales to increase in the coming months as rodeos, country music concerts, and fairs bein their return
• So far, Boot Barn Shares have risen by more than 86% for this year 

• Nextdoor, a social media app to connect neighbors teams with Albertsons and Moderna to release a Covid-19 vaccine map
• This map will essentially let users be able to easily find vaccination sites in their area and schedule appointments

• Today (Tuesday), Anthony Fauci said that the delta variant of the coronavirus is the “most dangerous threat” as it is highly contagious
• This variant was first found in India and currently makes up 20% of new cases in the US and has had a 10% increase in infections from 2 weeks ago

• Beginning on July 8, McDonald’s will release their new loyalty program in the US
• Other fast food chains have looked to loyalty rewards programs in order to increase sales and keep online customers that they attained during the pandemic

• Recently, Peloton has been working on a new product which is a digital heart rate armband 
• This wearable will come in 2 different sizes and sync to other Peloton products such as the treadmills and cycles along with phones, tablets, and TVs that run the Peloton app
• The company has recently acquired Atlas Wearables which makes heart rate tracking fitness products earlier on this year

• The To Go brand sector of Tide detergent is in development for astronauts as the company and NASA have partnered
• Proctor & Gamble, the parent company of Tide, aims to use their fabric care products along with newer technological advancements to help areas with less water

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