Lauren Hall named head of First Things First
Lauren Hall, the interim head of First Things First since January, has been named CEO of the nonprofit group that promotes marriage and families in Chattanooga.
Hall, who previously served as communications director for First Things First, fills the vacancy created when former First Things First President Julie Baumgardner left the organization earlier this year to serve as senior director of marriage at Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation.
"After nine months of conducting a national search and vetting numerous qualified candidates, FTF's search committee, executive committee and board of trustees unanimously and enthusiastically voted Lauren Hall as the right CEO to lead our next chapter," said Mike Webb, chairman of the First Things First board. "The future is bright for FTF, and we believe families in the Chattanooga community and beyond will continue to receive invaluable relationship resources delivered in new and exciting formats."
In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first began, FTF made the strategic decision to pause all face-to-face interaction and adapt all its resources to a digital format.
"Since then, the organization's reach has increased 95% year-over-year and some 12 million people have received help in preparing for married life, working through challenges in marriage and parenting children of all ages," Hall said.
Hall says the organization is slowly beginning to hold in-person events again.
Half of small businesses report supply problems
Half of the small business owners surveyed by the National Federation of Independent Businesses reported that supply chain disruptions have a significant impact on their business, up from 32% two months ago.
More than half (55%) of owners impacted report that the supply chain disruption is worse than it was three months ago.
"Supply chain disruptions and the staffing shortage have become substantial issues for small businesses across the country," said Holly Wade, executive director of NFIB's Research Center. "Small employers are making business operation and hiring adjustments in order to compensate for both issues."
The vast majority (86%) of owners anticipate supply chain disruptions will continue for at least the next five months or more.
More than one-quarter (27%) of small employers are currently experiencing a significant staffing shortage and another 18% are currently experiencing a moderate staffing shortage.
Of those small employers currently experiencing a staffing shortage, 25% are experiencing a significant loss of sales opportunities and 27% a moderate loss of sales opportunities because of their inability to fill open positions.
MassMutual fined over GameStop saga
Massachusetts is fining MassMutual $4 million after accusing the company of failing to supervise an employee whose online cheerleading of GameStop's stock helped launch the frenzy that shook Wall Street earlier this year.
The settlement announced Thursday by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin centers on the actions of Keith Gill, an employee at a MassMutual subsidiary from April 2019 until January 2021.
Under the nickname Roaring Kitty, Gill sent numerous tweets and created hours of YouTube videos championing GameStop and backed up his support with big personal trades.
Regulators say MassMutual failed to follow policies meant to flag such actions. MassMutual neither admitted nor denied the regulators' findings.
- Compiled by Dave Flessner