Forum aids applicants for more PPP loans
The U.S. Small Business Administration, in consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department, is reopening the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan portal to PPP-eligible lenders this week with $1 billion or less in assets for First and Second Draw applications.
To aid small businesses in the area, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday with a business panel to inform business owners on important information needed to apply for the forgivable federal loans.
On the call we will have Marcus Johnson from Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (TVFCU), DeJuan Jordan from Launch Chattanooga and Justin Groenert from the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. Interested persons may register for the seminar here.
French unions strike drug maker Sanofi
Unions at French drug maker Sanofi held a one-day strike Tuesday at the lab where it is developing a COVID-19 vaccine and some other sites, to protest job cuts the company plans despite a boost in investment amid the pandemic.
Some 200 workers with union flags and megaphones gathered outside the entrance to the sprawling Sanofi research and development facility in Marcy l'Etoile in central France. They said that hundreds of planned job cuts in France could slow the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The company announced last year it plans 1,000 job cuts across France over three years "to reinforce the effectiveness of our organization and adapt to the evolution of jobs and stakes of tomorrow." It said in a statement Tuesday that it would rely on voluntary departures, but wouldn't comment further because of confidentiality rules amid ongoing negotiations with unions.
Union members at Sanofi also plan to join broader demonstrations Saturday in France against job cuts during the pandemic.
Sanofi, France's biggest pharmaceutical company and a world leader in vaccine development, has also come under criticism for its slow COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Sanofi and British partner GlaxoSmithKline said last month that their potential vaccine won't be ready until late 2021 because they need to improve the shot's effectiveness in older people.
NHTS rejects requests to avoid air bag recalls
The U.S. government's highway safety agency has rejected a request from Ford and Mazda to avoid recalling about 3 million vehicles with potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the ammonium nitrate propellant used to inflate air bags is showing signs of decay and poses a safety risk.
The companies now have 30 days to give the agency a schedule to notify owners and begin the recalls.
Vehicles included are the 2007 through 2011 Ford Ranger, the 2006 through 2012 Ford Fusion, Lincoln Zephyr and Lincoln MKZ, the 2006 through 2011 Mercury Milan, the 2007 through 2010 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX. Also covered are Mazda's 2007 through 2009 B-Series small pickups.
FireEye releases tool to limit future hacks
Efforts to assess the impact of a more than seven-month-old cyberespionage campaign blamed on Russia - and boot the intruders - remain in their early stages, says the cybersecurity firm that discovered the attack.
The hack has badly shaken the U.S. government and private sector. The firm, FireEye, released a tool and a white paper Tuesday to help potential victims scour their cloud-based installations of Microsoft 365 - where users' emails, documents and collaborative tools reside - to determine if hackers broke in and remain active.
The aim is not just to ferret out and evict the hackers but to keep them from being able to re-enter, said Matthew McWhirt, the effort's team leader.
"There's a lot of specific things you have to do - we learned from our investigations - to really eradicate the attacker," he said.
Walmart pays fine for privacy violation
Walmart will pay $10 million to some Illinois employees to settle allegations it used a palm scanning device that violated their privacy rights.
The deal could amount to a couple of hundred dollars for each person who is part of the class-action settlement, which received preliminary approval from the Cook County Circuit Court last month.
In a lawsuit filed in 2019, former Walmart employee Ethan Roach alleged the retailer required him to use a palm-scanning device when checking out and returning cash register drawers without obtaining his written permission, violating an Illinois law protecting residents' biometric information. Roach worked at a Walmart in Litchfield, an Illinois city about 50 miles from St. Louis, the lawsuit said.
The settlement applies to current and former Walmart employees in Illinois who used a palm scanner to access a cash recycler system, without first providing written consent between Jan. 28, 2014 and when the retailer stopped using the scanners. Use of the scanners ended Feb. 28, 2018 at Walmart stores and April 24, 2019 at Sam's Club stores.
- Compiled By Dave Flessner