Lavidge directing GigTank
Alex Lavidge on Thursday became director of GigTank.
He moved to Chattanooga-based Co.Lab’s startup accelerator from Variable, where he was vice president of business development.
Lavidge will continue to serve as a business development consultant for Variable, the Chattanooga electrical design and software development firm that created the Node.
Factory orders slow in December
U.S. factory activity grew at the slowest pace in six months in December, weakened by declines in orders and production.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, says its manufacturing index fell to 55.5 in December from 58.7 in November. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. November’s figure was just below a three-year high reached in October.
December’s reading is the lowest since June. But it is also close to the average for all of 2014, a sign factory output remains healthy. Manufacturing was a key source of growth last year.
Despite the slowdown, a measure of employment rose, suggesting factories likely added jobs last month.
Coke settles billing dispute
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola and a company that makes it possible for consumers to use a debit or credit to buy a vending machine beverage have settled a dispute over nearly $1 million in fees collected from the machines.
Coca-Cola Refreshments USA Inc. and USA Technologies Inc. said they have resolved the billing dispute but did not provide details.
In a federal lawsuit filed last August in Atlanta, CCR, the U.S. bottling and fountain operations of Coca-Cola, said Malvern, Pa.-based USA Technologies failed to disconnect its card-reading devices on Coke vending machines and continued to collect monthly fees as if it were still servicing the devices and processing transactions.
USA Technologies received 5 percent of a vending machine’s monthly proceeds as a service fee and then “a percentage” for processing transactions after soft drinks were purchased, according to the suit. The remainder of the “cash-free revenue” was turned over to CCR, the suit said.