Black Rifle Coffee builds new plant
Black Rifle Coffee Co., a veteran-owned coffee roaster, plans to open a new $6 million coffee roasting and production facility in Manchester, Tenn..
The new facility will allow black Rifle Coffee to increase production capacity to keep up with growing demand and is expected to create 52 new jobs over the next five years, according to a joint announcement from the company and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The company expects to produce about 7 million pounds of coffee at the new location.
More than half of the company’s hires are veterans, according to Black Rifle Founder Evan Hafer.
Sales of new homes drop 1.5 percent in April
Sales of new U.S. homes fell 1.5 percent in April, held down by a shortage of affordable houses in the most desirable areas and sharp pullback in purchases in the western United States.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that new homes sold last month at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 662,000. Despite the setback, new-home sales so far this year are 8.4 percent higher than in 2017.
A solid job market and a shortage of existing homes for sale have led more people into the new home market, even though they are generally more expensive than existing homes.
The median sales price of a new home rose 0.4 percent from a year ago, to $312,400. But that masks a broader change last month, which was more sales at luxury price levels.
United Technologies to hire 35,000 people
United Technologies plans to hire 35,000 people and invest more than $15 billion in the U.S. over the next five years.
The company said Wednesday that the investment will go toward research and development and capital expenditures.
United Technologies Corp. has more than 200,000 employees in over 75 countries. It currently has 67,000 workers in the U.S.
The 35,000 positions will mostly be from retirements and normal turnover, the company said, but it anticipates several thousand will be new jobs. While jobs are anticipated in all states, the greatest hiring needs are in Connecticut, Florida and Georgia. Half of the jobs are expected to be in production and maintenance, with the rest being professional and managerial positions.
United Technologies makes Otis elevators, Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines and other products.
New Jersey OKs nuclear subsidies
Legislation that would authorize $300 million annually to rescue New Jersey’s nuclear energy industry – a request for financial help made by the state’s largest utility company – was signed into law Wednesday.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy alongside lawmakers at a solar array in central New Jersey also signed a measure aimed at strengthening the state’s renewable energy goals. The nuclear measure will be funded by ratepayers; the cost of the renewable energy legislation is unclear.
The nuclear legislation stems from a request from Public Service Enterprise Group for financial assistance for its three nuclear plants, which supply about 40 percent of the state’s electricity. PSEG says the plants might not be viable in two years given other cheaper fuels. The company’s president and CEO, Ralph Izzo, also points to the nearly 2,000 jobs that would be at stake if the plants shuttered.
“Signing these measures represents a down payment to the people of New Jersey on the clean energy agenda I set forth at the beginning of my administration – a plan that will always consider the best interests of our residents and our environment while growing our economy,” Murphy said.
The legislation was bitterly opposed by some environmental groups as well as manufacturers and consumer advocates. They say it’s unclear the subsidy is needed.