The public is invited to an informational community meeting on June 23 from 2-4 p.m. at the Gig Harbor Public Library. The speaker will be Michelle Vest, who will discuss the effects of the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as ObamaCare) on health care.
The presentation will cover:
There will also be time for questions.
The Gig Harbor Library is at 4424 Point Fosdick Drive NW. read more »
When the White House decided to crack down on patent trolls, administration officials didn’t waste time identifying the industry that has quickly become one of trolls’ biggest targets — retail.
“Patent trolls are increasingly targeting Main Street retailers,” the White House said, specifically citing infringement claims over retail point-of-sale software and business methods. “End-users should not be subject to lawsuits for simply using a product as intended.”
When the most recent patent reform law was passed just two years ago, frivolous lawsuits over dubious patent claims were a problem mostly for the high-tech industry and were rarely seen by retailers. Since then, patent trolls — companies that buy obscure patents from inventors and then make millions threatening to sue innocent users of the technology — have gone after merchants on a large scale. read more »
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook and Google are pushing to go green by going Arctic to tap the environmental benefits of setting up shop in that part of the world.
Facebook this week switched on its first data center outside the U.S., located on the edge of the Arctic Circle, which it says could be the most environmentally friendly facility of its kind.
The social network said its facility in Lulea, Sweden is “now serving live user traffic from around the world.”
The announcement follows last week’s news from Google that it has agreed to buy the entire output from a wind farm in Sweden for 10 years to power its data center in Finland. read more »
OLYMPIA — Broadband advocates in six counties and 10 tribal communities will spend the next year improving access and increasing broadband use in their part of the state. The five Local Technology Planning Teams will begin work this month thanks to $300,000 in grant money awarded by the Washington State Broadband Office of the Department of Commerce.
Successful proposals showed community or regionwide collaboration on programs that included everything from training in e-commerce and web site development for small businesses to a regionwide project for underserved tribal lands. All work proposed in the applications must be completed by June 30, 2014.
Successful applicants were read more »
PR Newswire
GREENWICH, Conn. — Starwood Capital Group, a global private investment firm, and Starwood Retail Partners announced that an affiliate has acquired Kitsap Mall and two adjacent properties, Kitsap Place and North Point, in Silverdale.
According to a report in the Kitsap Sun, Kitsap County Auditor’s office information shows the sale price was $111 million for controlling interest in the mall, and a combined $16 million for the smaller properties. The mall, which opened in 1985, was sold by Macerich, a California-based retail development company that purchased the mall in 1999 for $70 million. read more »
By most accounts, the commercial Internet was born in 1995 - the same year as today’s high school seniors. That makes this Taylor Swift and Snapchat-loving generation of teens the first wave of Americans who have literally never known life without the modern web.
So if you’d expect anybody to feel more at home spending money online than at a brick-and-mortar store, it might be them. But you would also be wrong. The investment bankers at Piper Jaffray & Co., which has long tracked teenager consumer habits, recently asked more than 5,000 teens whether they prefer to do their shopping on the Internet or IRL. read more »
FORT WORTH, Texas — Millennials struggling to get a foothold in a challenging economic environment are looking to a range of financial services providers for lower, more transparent fees and convenient access to their money, according to a new study released by Think Finance, a leading developer of online financial products that bridge the gap between payday loans and credit cards.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive, on behalf of Think Finance, among 1,021 Americans ages 18 to 34, and found that Millennials are using a mix of traditional and alternative financial services to meet their needs. While nearly all (92 percent) Millennials report that they currently use a bank, almost half (45 percent) indicate that they have supplemented banking services with some form of alternative financial product or service (e.g., prepaid debit card, money transfer service, check cashing, pawn shop, payday loan, etc.) within the past year. read more »
Visa Inc. sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in a bid to stop the world’s largest retailer from bringing price-fixing claims over merchant swipe fees.
Wal-Mart is among more than 7,000 retailers that dropped out of a multibillion-dollar settlement with Visa and MasterCard over the fees, which are charged to merchants when consumers pay with credit cards. In a complaint made public June 14 in a New York federal court, Visa said it wants to prevent “the continuation of endless, wasteful litigation between the parties.”
“Put simply, Visa seeks finality in its dispute with Wal-Mart,” the Foster City, Calif.-based credit card firm said in the complaint. read more »
The Building a Sustainable Economy (BASE) Bainbridge Lecture Series will feature a presentation by entrepreneur Michael “Luni” Libes on June 21, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Bainbridge Library.
His presentation will explore the similarities of philanthropy and social purpose investing through stories from Luni’s Fledge program, helping “impact” entrepreneurs with their business planning and launch. A reception will follow the lecture. Space is limited for the free event, and anyone who would like to attend should register at bainbridgeinvest.eventbrite.com. read more »
