Prizes expanded for Chattanooga’s ‘Will this Float?’ event
Both adults and students who pitch business ideas at October’s “Will This Float?” competition will now be eligible for a monetary prize.
The Chattanooga entrepreneurial development agency CO.LAB announced Wednesday that in addition to the $5,000 awards for adults, students may now vie for a $500 prize.
“We wanted to incentivize the students with real dollars, and the requirement is that The Company Lab will help make sure the funds go back into the students’ business idea,” CO.LAB’s Director of Communications Chloé Morrison said.
Potential applicants also now have more time to sign up for the pitch competition. The new deadline for both the adult and student tracks is Sept. 30.
Powered by The Double Cola Company, “Will This Float?” is a chance for both seasoned and budding entrepreneurs to pitch ideas related to consumer packaged goods, meaning products, Morrison said. If selected, entrepreneurs will work on a 3-5 minute pitch, with help from CO.LAB.
The event is slated for Oct. 17, and is free and open to the public. Double Cola is celebrating 100 years in business and “Will This Float?” serves as the culmination of that observance.
Wholesale inflation rises 8.7% in August
WASHINGTON — Inflation at the wholesale level jumped 8.7% in August from a year earlier, a slowdown from July yet still a painfully high level that suggests prices will keep spiking for months to come.
The government also said that on a month-to-month basis, the producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — declined 0.1% from July to August, the second straight monthly decline. Yet the better readings mostly reflect plunging gas prices and don’t necessarily point to a broader slowdown in inflation.
On Tuesday, the government reported that consumer inflation was rampant across much of the economy in August.
Stock market rises 0.3% on Wednesday
Stocks closed modestly higher on Wall Street after a day of veering between gains and losses.
The tentative trading came a day after the market’s worst drop in two years, which was set off by fears that higher interest rates could cause a recession. The S&P 500 added 0.3% Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended just slightly in the green and the Nasdaq composite added about three-quarters of a percent. A report on inflation at the wholesale level showed prices are still rising rapidly. It echoed a report on inflation at the consumer level a day earlier.
California sues Amazon for antitrust violations
California is suing Amazon, accusing the company of violating the state’s antitrust and unfair competition laws.
The state says Amazon has stifled competition and engaged in practices that push sellers to maintain higher prices on products on other sites. In an 84-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court, the California Attorney General’s office says Seattle-based Amazon had effectively barred sellers from offering lower prices for products elsewhere through contract provisions that harm the ability of other retailers to compete.
The lawsuit mirrors another complaint filed last year by the District of Columbia, which was dismissed by a district judge earlier this year. That decision is being appealed.
— Compiled by Dave Flessner