No veterinary lab necropsies Feb. 20-24
Necropsy services at the Arkansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory won't be available Feb. 20-24 because of maintenance, the state Livestock and Poultry Commission said Friday.
The lab accepts dead livestock and small animals from ranchers, veterinarians, pet owners, zoos and others seeking the cause of animals' deaths. "We understand that individuals travel many miles for necropsy services," Patrick Fisk, the commission's deputy director, said. "We hope to avoid inconvenience to any residents."
The Arkansas lab is part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The network coordinates the nation's response to animal disease outbreaks such as avian influenza, equine infectious anemia, tuberculosis or brucellosis.
—Stephen Steed
Investment round closes at WattGlass
WattGlass, a Fayetteville-based technology company, has closed its series A investment round led by DSM Venturing, an investment arm of Royal DSM.
WattGlass is developing a coating technology that makes glass anti-reflective, self-cleaning and highly transparent. CEO Corey Thompson, who developed the coating and founded WattGlass as a University of Arkansas graduate student in 2014, said the coating increases the efficiency of solar panels and reduces cleaning and maintenance costs.
The amount of the first-round investment was not disclosed, but Thompson said the funding would be enough to further develop the technology and give it the ability to compete in the marketplace.
Based in the Netherlands, Royal DSM is a global science-based company active in health and nutrition and is a leader in the anti-reflective coatings market, according to a release.
WattGlass received a $679,413 award from the U.S. Department of Energy in September and a $746,366 grant from the National Science Foundation to further develop its technology.
WattGlass employs eight people and is based at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in Fayetteville.
-- John Magsam
Survey finds consumer sentiment down
Consumer confidence retreated in February from a 13-year high, as Americans tempered expectations of their finances and the economy.
The University of Michigan said Friday that its preliminary index of sentiment cooled to a three-month low of 95.7 from 98.5 in January. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey called for 98.
Expectations for wage gains in the coming year deteriorated even as more respondents said this month that they were better off financially than at any other time in the past 12 years. More than half of those surveyed expect better economic conditions in the future, though the results reflected stark differences between Republicans and Democrats.
"Confidence remains quite favorable," Richard Curtin, director of the University of Michigan consumer survey, said in a statement. Still, "the data do not reflect any closing of the partisan divide."
The sentiment report's current conditions index, which takes stock of Americans' view of their personal finances, was little changed at 111.2 from a reading of 111.3 in the prior month.
The measure of expectations six months from now decreased to a three-month low of 85.7 from 90.3.
-- Bloomberg News
Facebook agrees to media-audit plan
Facebook agreed Friday to submit to audits by the media industry's measurement watchdog, the Media Rating Council, a move that could appease some advertising executives who had become skeptical of the social network's metrics.
Facebook had come under fire recently after a series of missteps in which it disclosed several mistakes in reporting metrics to partners and advertisers. The company conducted its own review of practices and vowed to be more transparent about errors.
According to plans for the next year laid out in a statement Friday, Facebook said it aims to release more detailed information, such as metrics on how long users viewed an ad and how much of it was visible on the screen.
"We want to provide transparency, choice and accountability," Facebook said.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported on plans for an audit.
-- The Associated Press
Disney boosts stake in Paris theme park
Walt Disney Co. plans to take full ownership of its ailing theme park in Paris to get the resort under control after 25 years of ups and downs at its first and only outlet in Europe.
Disney is acquiring a 9 percent stake in Euro Disney SCA from Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. for $2.13 a share, payable in Disney stock. That will give it an 85.7 percent holding, and it's offering the same price in cash for the rest, according to a statement Friday. The offer is 67 percent higher than Euro Disney's closing price Thursday.
Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger is doubling down on the troubled resort, which has been bailed out by Disney more than once. Hurt by sputtering European economies in recent years, the park's finances were further hit by the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks and challenging business conditions that continued through 2016, Burbank, Calif.-based Disney said.
-- Bloomberg News
Delta Air Lines: Will hire up to 25,000
ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines announced plans to hire as many as 25,000 workers over the next five years.
Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in a statement Thursday that the Atlanta-based company is growing its ranks as it expands and upgrades its hubs at several of the nation's airports. Bastian's statement was released after he and other airline CEOs met with President Donald Trump at the White House.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the 25,000 figure includes a combination of growth and backfilling attrition, but Delta didn't specify the breakdown. Delta currently has about 80,000 employees.
Likely referring to competition from Middle East carriers, which receive subsidies from their governments, Bastian said the hiring could be contingent on the support of the government in establishing "a level playing field."
-- The Associated Press
Business on 02/11/2017