EV announcement juices VW stock
Shares of Volkswagen jumped another 29.25% Wednesday as investors continue to be encouraged by the company’s plans announced Monday to surpass Tesla and become the world’s largest seller of electric vehicles by 2025.
VW said Wednesday it expects to deliver more than 450,000 electric vehicles in 2021, including the ID.4 SUV that will initially be made in Europe but will soon also be produced in Chattanooga.
In trading on the OTC markets Wednesday, Volkswagen AG stock rose $9.58 per share to close the day at $42.33 – its highest price since 2008. In the past week, shares of the VW American stock have jumped by nearly 53.3%.
Georgia boat maker adds 70 more jobs
A south Georgia power boat maker is expanding, saying demand for boats has jumped amid a pandemic-driven increase in outdoor recreation.
Cairo-based Sailfish Boats said it is investing more than $1 million to increase manufacturing capacity at its Grady County plant, adding 70 workers to the current 130.
Privately-held Sailfish, founded in 1986, makes dual and center-console fishing boats. President and CEO Rob Parmetier said the company is introducing new boats, expanding its dealer network and sees strong demand.
The company will be hiring assembly workers and engineers. New assembly workers are expected to make between $11.50 and $22 an hour.
Sailfish could claim various tax breaks, including an income tax credit allowing it to annually deduct $3,000 per job from state income taxes for five years, as long as workers make at least $28,000 per year.
Disneyland reopens April 30 in California
More than a year after closing due to the pandemic, the theme parks at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim are scheduled to open April 30 with limited capacity and restrictions on some attractions.
Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Chapek made the announcement Wednesday, telling CNBC: “We’ve seen the enthusiasm, the craving for people to return to our parks around the world.”
The resort also plans to reopen its hotels in phases, with Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa set to reopen on April 29, Disney Vacation Club Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa on May 2, and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel and the Disneyland Hotel at a later date, the park announced on its website.
Since the park closed in March 2020, Disney executives, elected officials and business leaders in cities around the resort have been urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to allow the parks to reopen to help reopen struggling businesses that rely on tourists who visit the parks.
With COVID-19 cases dropping and the vaccine rollout expanding, the state unveiled new guidelines March 5 that would allow theme parks and sports stadiums in counties with low enough virus transmission to reopen with limited capacity starting April 1. Chapek has said Disneyland needed more time to staff up.
Walmart vaccines verified on new app
People who get COVID-19 shots at thousands of Walmart and Sam’s Club stores may soon be able to verify their vaccination status at airports, schools and other locations using a health passport app on their smartphones.
The retail giant said Wednesday that it had signed on to an international effort to provide standardized digital vaccination credentials to people. The company joins a push already backed by major health centers and tech companies including Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Cerner, Epic Systems, the Mitre Corp. and the Mayo Clinic.
“Walmart is the first huge-scale administrator of vaccines that is committing to giving people a secure, verifiable record of their vaccinations,” said Paul Meyer, chief executive of the Commons Project Foundation, a nonprofit in Geneva that has developed health passport apps. “We think many others will follow.”
The company said people who get COVID shots at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores will be able to use free health passport apps to verify their vaccination records and then generate smartphone codes that could allow them to board a plane or enter a sports area.
Lobbyist for nuke deal found dead in Florida
A powerful Ohio lobbyist who spent decades at the center of many of the state’s significant policy battles was found dead in Florida as he faced charges in a sweeping federal bribery investigation, authorities said Tuesday.
Neil Clark, 67, was found dead Monday by a bicyclist in an isolated area of Collier County, Florida, where he had been living, authorities said.
The local sheriff’s office provided a report describing the body being found, and the county medical examiner confirmed the body was Clark’s. The cause of death wasn’t determined, but a medical investigation and an autopsy were being performed.
When officials reached out to the man’s wife, she said that the couple was having financial issues and that she had not heard from her husband for a couple of hours, according to the sheriff’s report.
“It’s just a tragic loss of a good friend,” Clark’s attorney Will Ireland told WBNS-TV. He declined to provide any additional information on Clark’s death.
Clark had pleaded not guilty to the role federal prosecutors allege he played in an elaborate $60 million scheme led by then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to pass legislation containing a $1 billion bailout for two Ohio nuclear power plants. Clark had denied all wrongdoing.