Mohawk among top 500 greenest firms
For the eighth consecutive year, Mohawk Industries has earned recognition as one of Newsweek magazine's 500 greenest companies in the U.S., and once again it is the only flooring manufacturer to make this influential list.
The Calhoun, Ga.,-based company ranked 265 in Newsweek's 2017 Green Ranking program, which uses key indicators to measure environmental performance of large publicly traded companies that are delivering solid business results while minimizing their environmental impact. Mohawk was the only floorcovering manufacturer on the Newsweek list.
As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainable business practices, Mohawk Industries recycles approximately 5.5 million plastic bottles each year.
Winter storm cuts some Chattanooga air flights
More than a half dozen flights to and from Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport were canceled Thursday as cities continue to deal with wintry weather.
Five of the cancellations involve flights to and from Charlotte, according to Lovell Field. A pair of the flights go to or from Washington, D.C., and another is a departure from Atlanta.
"We continue to ask anyone traveling to always check with your air carrier before arriving at the airport for your flight," said Chattanooga airport spokesman Albert Waterhouse.
Nationally on Wednesday, nearly 1,800 flights were canceled and another 5,300 were delayed, according to USA Today.
Wyndham to buy La Quinta chain
Wyndham is buying La Quinta's hotel franchise and management businesses for $1.95 billion in cash.
Wyndham said Thursday that the investment will push the hotel further into the upper-midscale segment.
Before the deal is closed, La Quinta Holdings Inc., based in Irving, Texas, will spin off real estate assets into a publicly traded real estate investment trust called CorePoint Lodging.
The sale is targeted to close in the second quarter, if approved by La Quinta shareholders.
Emirates to buy 20 A390 aircraft
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The Middle East's largest airline, Emirates, is purchasing 20 A380 aircraft with the option for 16 more in a deal worth $16 billion.
With Thursday's deal, the airline is throwing a lifeline to the European-made double-decker jumbo jets. Airbus had said earlier that if it didn't close the deal with Emirates, it would end production of the jet.
Hospitals to make cheap generic drugs
TRENTON, N.J. - Several major not-for-profit hospital groups are trying their own solution to drug shortages and high medicine prices: creating a company to make cheaper generic drugs.
The plan, announced Thursday, follows years of shortages of generic injected medicines that are the workhorses of hospitals, along with some huge price increases for once-cheap generic drugs.
Judge dismisses GM switch settlement
Judge Martin Glenn of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York has thrown out a settlement agreement that could have triggered a payment of $1 billion of General Motors stock to owners of cars with defective ignition switches.
The case is tied to GM's 2014 recall of 2.6 million vehicles with defective ignition switches, including one linked to 124 deaths.
Most of the cars were produced before the automaker's 2009 bankruptcy restructuring.
Lawyers for the car owners and the trust had agreed to a deal in August calling for the trust to pay $1 billion in shares of new GM, but they never signed the agreement. The trust walked away several days later, instead accepting GM's offer to help pay for the trust's defense against the car owners' claims.