Business Briefs: Walker County Chamber plans annual meeting and more business news from the Chattanooga area

Walker County Chamber plans annual meeting

Paul R. Cook of Shop Rite in Rossville, Ga., will take over the gavel as chairman of the Walker County Chamber of Commerce at the Chamber’s annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 28 at the Walker County Civic Center.

Cook succeeds outgoing chair Melissa Roden of CHI Memorial as the volunteer head of the business association. The transition will occur at the annual meeting where the group will also present its annual Small Businesses of the Year and the Ambassador of the Year awards and be entertained by comedian Mark Robinson, a motivational speaker and magician who has appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel SHow and previously opened for Jeff Foxworthy. Along with recording shows for ABC, NBC and Warner Brothers, he has performed his unique act at half-time shows for the Atlanta Hawks and the L.A. Lakers.

Tickets for the Chamber annual meeting are $50 per person (open seating) and corporate tables with recognition in the program are $500. Reservations can be made by visiting http://business.walkercochamber.com/events/details/2016-annual-dinner-942 or by calling (706) 375-7702.

Shaw’s Murray finalist for environmental award

Paul Murray, vice president of sustainability and environmental affairs at Dalton-based Shaw Industries, has been named a finalist for a global sustainability award, according to Shaw officials.

Murray is a finalist for The Circulars, a global sustainability awards program. He is recognized in the People’s Choice Award category, which celebrates individuals, public sector programs and organizations that have the most inspiring circular economy stories, according to a news release.

Murray has 30 years’ worth of experience in sustainability studies, according to Shaw officials.

The Circulars awards will be presented during a ceremony at the World Economics Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland this month.

European Commission OKs

FedEx buying TNT Express

The European Commission has unconditionally approved the 4.4 billion euro takeover by FedEx of Dutch-based package deliverer TNT Express, saying it will not undermine competition in the sector.

The Commission says in a statement that an in-depth investigation found that the merged company will have a “moderate” market position in Europe and that joining forces will cut costs and benefit customers.

The companies welcomed Friday’s announcement, saying that the combined entity “will provide significant value to the employees, customers and shareholders of both companies.”

FedEx and TNT Express announced the planned takeover last year. The companies say they are still working to get regulators’ approval in countries including Brazil and China and anticipate that the deal will be completed in the first half of the year.

Businesses cut stockpiles 0.3%

U.S. wholesale businesses trimmed their stockpiles for the second straight month in November, while their sales plunged by the largest amount in 10 months.

The Commerce Department says wholesale inventories fell 0.3 percent in November following a similar 0.3 percent drop in October. Sales plunged 1 percent, which was the biggest setback since January.

Economists are hoping that continued strong job gains will boost consumer spending and businesses will respond by restocking their empty shelves in coming months. They believe that slower inventory growth in the October-December period held back economic growth in the fourth quarter

JPMorgan Chase economists forecast the economy grew at a moderate 2 percent rate in the fourth quarter, with weaker inventory rebuilding cutting growth by about 0.3 percentage point.

Consumer borrowing rises by $14 billion

U.S. consumers boosted their borrowing in November, as higher credit card spending partially offset slower growth in auto and student loans.

Consumer borrowing rose $14 billion in November to a fresh record high of $3.53 trillion, the Federal Reserve said Friday. Economists believe that strong job gains in the labor market will boost consumer confidence and convince households to finance purchases by taking on more debt.

For November, the category that covers credit cards increased $5.7 billion after a much smaller $65 million gain in October.

The category that covers auto loans and student loans rose by $8.3 billion. That was the smallest monthly gain for this category in more than three years.

In its monthly credit report, the Fed does not break down auto loans and student loans in the seasonally adjusted data. However, analysts said they believed the slowdown occurred in student loans given that car sales have been so strong in recent months.

The overall monthly gain of $14 trillion was slightly below the October gain of $15.6 trillion. It was the smallest overall gain since an increase of $10.8 billion last January.