New Orleans City Business: Louisiana’s new website for the life sciences industry. “[The site] features an interactive resource guide with information about dozens of established life sciences entities that range from startups and incubators in New Orleans, Thibodaux and Lafayette to established research institutions in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Covington, a news release said.”
Washington Post: Opinion: Distinguished persons of the week: Defying anti-mandate nuttiness. “Companies as diverse as BlackRock, McDonald’s, Cisco, IBM, Citigroup, CVS and Goldman Sachs have instituted some form of vaccine mandate. So have Google and Walmart. Many universities have done so as well — even before Biden announced the federal directive. Businesses have received a lot of criticism lately for reneging on promises not to fund candidates who participated in the violent insurrection or for equivocating on voting rights. When they do act responsibly, risking the ire of state officials and vengeful MAGA politicians, they should be applauded. In defying the MAGA death cult, business leaders are demonstrating what ‘pro-life’ actually means.”
New York Times: ‘It’s Not Sustainable’: What America’s Port Crisis Looks Like Up Close. “Like toy blocks hurled from the heavens, nearly 80,000 shipping containers are stacked in various configurations at the Port of Savannah — 50 percent more than usual. The steel boxes are waiting for ships to carry them to their final destination, or for trucks to haul them to warehouses that are themselves stuffed to the rafters. Some 700 containers have been left at the port, on the banks of the Savannah River, by their owners for a month or more.”
CNN: Apple Store security guard stabbed over face mask dispute in NYC. “Officers responded to the West 14th Street location in Manhattan about 6:20 pm ET, Lt. Thomas Antonetti said. The victim, a 37-year-old male whose identity was not publicly disclosed, did not suffer life-threatening wounds and was sent for treatment to Bellevue Hospital, Antonetti said.”
Asahi Shimbun: Tokyo’s vintage bookstores look for pandemic lifeline online. “Hunting for that perfect find amid a trove of old, leather-bound antique books is one of the earthly pleasures the novel coronavirus crisis robbed from bookworms and collectors. But while becoming immersed in the ambience of the historic bookstores in Tokyo’s famous Jimbocho Book Town in person is still impossible for many, store owners have teamed up to make that experience possible online. The effort is aimed at promoting Tokyo’s Kanda-Jimbocho district, an area well known for its many specialty secondhand bookstores, in the hopes that book lovers will still enjoy touring through used bookshops, even if only done virtually, during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Business Facilities: New Program Aims To Strengthen Kansas’ Manufacturing Supply Chain. “An online manufacturer database and connectivity platform, CONNEX™ Kansas is provided as a free resource for Kansas manufacturers. The platform is designed to allow manufacturers in Kansas to connect with each other, find local and domestic suppliers, explore production capabilities and manage their supply chain.”
Bank of America: Announcing the Bank of America Access to Capital Directory for Women Entrepreneurs. “Today, during National Women’s Small Business Month, Bank of America, in partnership with Seneca Women, announced the launch of the Bank of America Access to Capital Directory. This first-of-its-kind platform is a resource to help educate women-owned businesses in the U.S. on navigating the capital landscape and identifying potential sources of funding, such as equity, debt and grant capital.”
Washington Post: Hospitals in less-vaccinated areas are struggling financially as infections mount and stimulus runs out. “Many hospitals in Southern states and rural areas of the country — even in states with otherwise high vaccination rates — have been forced once again to temporarily curtail elective procedures such as hip replacements that bring in the most money. Meanwhile, rates of burnout and nurse attrition have soared at institutions with overburdened ICUs and covid-19 wards, contributing to severe labor shortages that are driving up costs for replacement workers, hospital officials said.”
Stuff New Zealand: ‘I have zero people’: Napier restaurant forced to close for two weeks over staff shortages. “The owner of a Napier restaurateur forced to close for two weeks due to staff shortages says Kiwis must be prepared to pay more to dine out if the hospitality industry is to survive. Nadia Nazaryeva, who opened wine bar and restaurant Matisse on Herschell St three-and-a-half years ago, said the problems began with Covid-19 closing borders.”
New York Times: ‘Everything Going the Wrong Way’: Dollar Stores Hit a Pandemic Downturn. “Dollar stores, which pay among the lowest wages in the retail industry and often operate in areas where there is little competition, are stumbling in the later stages of the pandemic. Sales are slowing and some measures of profit are shrinking as the industry struggles with a confluence of challenges. They include burned-out workers, pressure to increase wages, supply chain problems and a growing number of cities and towns that are rejecting new dollar stores because, they say, the business model harms their communities.”
Associated Press: Employer vaccine mandates convert some workers, but not all. “Even before President Joe Biden’s Sept. 9 announcement that companies with more than 100 workers would have to require vaccinations, dozens of companies, including Amtrak, Microsoft, United Airlines and Disney issued ultimatums to most workers. And smaller companies in New York, San Francisco and New Orleans have been required to implement mandates for customers and workers. Some mandates seem to have converted hesitant workers, but employers are still dealing with holdouts.”
ZDNet: Preparing for the ‘golden age’ of artificial intelligence and machine learning. “Can businesses trust decisions that artificial intelligence and machine learning are churning out in increasingly larger numbers? Those decisions need more checks and balances — IT leaders and professionals have to ensure that AI is as fair, unbiased, and as accurate as possible. This means more training and greater investments in data platforms. A new survey of IT executives conducted by ZDNet found that companies need more data engineers, data scientists, and developers to deliver on these goals.”
CNET: Coronavirus pandemic continues to stunt women’s careers, study finds. “In the annual Women in the Workplace report from consultancy McKinsey & Company and nonprofit women’s advocacy group Lean In, data shows that even more women are struggling with their careers than last year. Forty-two percent of women said they felt burned out ‘often or almost always,’ up from 32% in 2020. This stands in contrast to 35% of men, up from 28% last year. ”
BBC: Nike and Costco warn of product shortages and delays. “US sportswear giant Nike and US retail giant Costco both say they are facing product shortages and delays due to global supply chain problems. Nike said production and delivery of its shoes would impacted until next spring, as it struggles with shipping issues and a worker shortage in Asia. Meanwhile, Costco has re-imposed limits on items like toilet paper.”
