The viral pandemic wiped out jobs and businesses and left many U.S. families unable to afford food. It also caused a crisis for charities: Too much need, too little funding.
by GLENN GAMBOA / AP Business WriterIs it Mr. Potato Head or not?
by JOSEPH PISANI / AP Retail WriterPresident Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday intended to boost manufacturing jobs by strengthening U.S. supply chains for advanced batteries, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and semiconductors.
by Josh Boak and Tom Krisher / Associated PressWalmart will close its Neighborhood Market at Shallowford and North Moore Road next month - the third grocery store to shut its doors in the past five and a half years in the Brainerd and East Chattanooga area.
by Dave FlessnerChattanoogans Normand Lavoie and Michael Ryan aim to make composting food waste as easy as taking out the trash for area businesses and residents with a new business known as NewTerra, which they say is the only local company that composts food scraps.
by Emily CrismanA Chattanooga panel on Wednesday approved more affordable housing and, for the first time, used a new financing package to help solve what one official called "skyrocketing" rents in the city.
by Mike PareLowe's Cos. extended its strong sales streak through the holiday season as customers kept investing in their homes during the pandemic.
by Anne D'Innocenzio /AP Retail WriterFormer Nissan Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa told a Japanese court Wednesday he believed the compensation for his predecessor Carlos Ghosn was too low "by international standards," and so he supported Ghosn's retirement packages to prevent him from leaving.
by Yuri Kageyama / AP Business WriterPresident Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated three postal experts to the governing board of the U.S. Postal Service, a move that could alter the course of an agency grappling with delivery delays and rumored cuts under its embattled Republican leader.
by Staff and wire reportsAs Gov. Bill Lee pushes for another $200 million to expand broadband access in Tennessee, an expert group said the state should first map out just where hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans without access to high-speed Internet live, so officials don't have to rely on federal maps that overstate coverage in some communities.
by Jonathan Mattise / Associated PressThe housing market was among the very few bright spots for the U.S. economy in the year of the lockdown and Home Depot became its supplier, racking up an unprecedented $132 billion in sales for 2020.
by Michelle Chapman / AP Business WriterMichael Christiansen first came to Aaron's to get a refrigerator for his mother through the store's rent-to-own option and has since returned several times to buy furniture and appliances outright from the discount retail chain.
by Dave FlessnerSeen as a major step in conserving key natural areas around Chattanooga, an environmental group is launching a $5.25 million fund to protect forests in the tri-state region.
by Mike PareChattanooga home prices outpaced the nationwide increase last year and ended 2020 at a record high median price of $220,100 in the fourth quarter, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors.
by Dave FlessnerMore than 90% of those buying and selling a house work with a real estate agent, but state regulators aren't doing enough to help consumers choose among America's nearly 2 million licensed agents, according to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA).
by Staff ReportThis week's restaurant report card.
by Staff ReportAmerica is mired in a retirement savings crisis, the consequences of which are coming into focus as more Baby Boomers retire and Gen X does the math. The demise of private employer pensions and the rise of defined contribution plans like 401(k) and 403(b) accounts has shifted the burden to the individual, and we are not keeping up. Savers need as much help as they can get, so it is important to be familiar with all the tools. One of the least appreciated supplemental retirement vehicles is the tax-free Roth IRA account.
by Christopher HopkinsFacebook announced Tuesday that it would lift a ban on Australians viewing and sharing news on its platform after it struck a deal with the government on proposed legislation that would make digital giants pay for journalism.
by ROD McGUIRK / Associated PressThe U.S. Post Office said Tuesday that it has chosen Oshkosh Defense to build its next-generation mail-delivery vehicle, part of an effort to make the USPS more environmentally friendly by switching a portion of its huge fleet to electric vehicles.
by Wire reportsPilgrim's Pride Corp., one of the top U.S. chicken producers and one of Chattanooga's biggest employers, has become the first company sentenced to pay a criminal fine as part of an ongoing antitrust investigation into the industry by the Justice Department.
by Michael Hirtzer / Bloomberg News via Tribune News ServiceTwo of the biggest remaining American tire companies are joining forces.
by MATT OTT / AP Business WriterPresident Joe Biden announced changes Monday to target more federal pandemic assistance to the nation's smallest businesses and ventures owned by women and people of color.
by ZEKE MILLER / The Associated PressThe volatile rates and power interruptions that left millions of Texans without power or with higher electricity bills during last week's winter storms underscore the value of Chattanooga's decision last year to stay with America's biggest public utility rather than shop the marketplace for power, according to EPB President David Wade.
by Dave Flessner