FILE – In this July 15, 2015 file photo, an Uber driver sits in his car near the San Francisco International Airport. Uber and advocates for the blind have reached a lawsuit settlement in which the ride-hailing company agrees to require that existing and new drivers confirm they understand their legal obligations to transport riders with guide dogs or other service animals. The settlement is designed to resolve a lawsuit in federal court that alleges Uber discriminates against passengers with service dogs. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) Atlanta airport weighs Uber service options
Atlanta leaders are studying Newark, New Jersey’s deal with Uber as they consider a plan for the ride-booking service to pick up passengers at Atlanta’s airport.
Atlanta’s city council is considering a plan proposed by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport that would allow Uber and other ride-booking services to operate at the world’s busiest airport under certain conditions.
Criminal background checks have been a point of contention in Atlanta, with Uber objecting to the type of fingerprint checks being proposed. Uber maintains that its own background checks are sufficient. Others, including many law enforcement experts, say background checks without fingerprints are far less effective.
In Newark, officials say Uber will pay the city $10 million over 10 years for the right to pick up Newark-Liberty Airport passengers. After a delegation of city and airport officials from Atlanta visited Newark to learn about its agreement, Atlanta officials are putting new regulations on hold for now.
“What we learned is that there’s actually additional due diligence in Newark’s contract that actually yields more information than a fingerprinting would,” said Katrina Taylor Parks, who is Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s deputy chief of staff.
Doyle Weaver, machine operator, keeps and eye on the needles inside the Colortron machine. The machine is a one-of-a-kind weaving tool. Workers at the Dixie Group carpet plant in Eton, Georgia, produced, inspected and shipped carpet.Dixie Group stock lowest since 2012
Shares of Dixie Group fell Wednesday by nearly 7.1 percent, or 25 cents per share, to close at $3.29 a share – the lowest price for the Chattanooga-based carpet maker since late 2012.
The decline in Dixie shares reflected the overall pessimism in the market Wednesday, which pushed the Dow Jones Industrials by 1.2 percent, or 217.23 points, to 17,711.12, and Dixie’s report of disappointing earnings last week. Last week, Dixie reported that operating losses in the first quarter doubled the year ago levels, rising to nearly $4.8 million, after sales dropped by 6.9 percent from a year ago to $89.2 million. Dixie results were about 10 cents per share worse than what analysts had forecast.
Since the start of 2016, Dixie Group shares are down 37.1 percent.
Japanese firms employ 48,000 Tennesseans
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam hosted the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in Tokyo Wednesday with more than 200 business representatives as part of his week-long business recruitment trip to Asia.
Since Nissan opened its first U.S. auto assembly plant in Tennessee in the 1980s, 184 Japanese companies have located in the Volunteer State and collectively such firms employ 48,000 Tennesseans. Japan is Tennessee’s largest foreign investor, responsible for more than half of the state’s total foreign direct investment.
During Wednesday’s seminar, Nissan Manufacturing General Manager Fumitaka Nishimura praised the state for its support of Nissan and other Japanese companies.
“Tennessee’s relationship with the Japanese business community is historic,” Haslam said. “We are honored to have Japanese companies contribute so much to the state, and our goal is to help both existing and new Japanese companies thrive in Tennessee as we continue the tradition of our successful partnership with Japan for years to come.”
Obama signs bill against theft of trade secrets
President Barack Obama signed into law Wednesday a bill that gives employers a new tool in preventing the theft of trade secrets.
The legislation gives companies the right to sue in federal court to recover damages. It also gives employers the opportunity to seek an order that directs law enforcement officials to seize stolen material.
Obama says one of the biggest advantages the United States has in the global economy is that “we innovate” and come up with new goods and technologies.
“Unfortunately, all too often, some of our competitors, instead of competing with us fairly, are trying to steal these trade secrets from American companies,” Obama said.
Such theft leads to lost American jobs and markets, Obama said before signing the Defend Trade Secrets Act.
Previously, U.S. businesses could seek amends in state courts for trade secret thefts, but taking a civil case to a state court can prove more time consuming than going to a single federal judge, particularly when a defendant has crossed multiple state lines and multiple jurisdictions get involved.