REPORT SAYS COLORADO IS BECOMING HOTBED IN USE OF FUEL CELLS
Colorado received a nod from the U.S. Department of Energy in a new report on the growth of fuel cells as an alternative resource.
According to the “State of the States: Fuel Cells in America 2015,” Colorado is “fast becoming a hotbed of energy and clean technology industries, including fuel cells and hydrogen.”
Fuel-cell activity in the state included food retailer Kroger, which owns King Soopers, using 120 fuel cell-powered forklifts at its Stapleton warehouse; the creation of the Colorado Hydrogen Coalition to focus on developing hydrogen fuel-cell technologies; and ongoing research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.
GoPro cutting about 100 jobs after weak sales B
new york» Wearable-camera maker GoPro says it will eliminate about 100 jobs after its fourth-quarter sales fell far short of its expectations.
GoPro says fourth-quarter revenue was $435 million instead of the $500 million to $550 million it forecast in October. The company lowered the price of its new Hero4 Session camera after saying it made the product too expensive, which reduced its fourth-quarter revenue by $21 million. FactSet says analysts expected GoPro to report $521.2 million in revenue.
The San Mateo, Calif., company had about 1,500 employees at the end of 2015 after hiring more than 500 people that year. It is cutting 7 percent of its jobs, or about 100 positions.
AB InBev raises $46 billion in bond market. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV sold
$46 billion of bonds in what might become the largest corporate offering in history, signaling that investors’ need for yield trumps caution amid turmoil in financial markets.
The world’s biggest brewer issued the notes to finance its takeover of SABMiller Plc, shaving about $100 million in annual interest costs after receiving $110 billion of orders, the most ever for a corporatebond deal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and a person with knowledge of the transaction.
B new york» Sears Holdings Corp. is confirming it’s closing a handful of Kmart stores across the country by mid-April as it continues to trim its ailing fleet. Howard Riefs, a spokesman for the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based parent, which also operates Sears stores, declined to give a number or offer how many people would be affected, but he said that the number of store closures is consistent with a year ago.
Some Kmart stores to close
FDA OKs genetically engineered potato
B boise, idaho» A potato genetically engineered to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine is as safe as any other potato on the market, the Food and Drug Administration says.
In a letter this week to J.R. Simplot Co., the FDA said the potato isn’t substantially different in composition or safety from other products already on the market, and it doesn’t raise any issues that would require the agency to do more stringent premarket vetting.
Before the potato is marketed to consumers, it must be cleared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said Doug Cole, Simplot’s director of marketing and communications. That’s expected to happen in December.
Lego changes policy on bulk orders
B beijing» Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said Wednesday that a change in policy by Lego to allow bulk orders of its toy bricks for projects with a political purpose is a victory for freedom of expression.
The Lego Group last year refused a bulk order for the toy bricks for an exhibition of Ai’s in Melbourne, Australia.
This week, Lego announced it would no longer ask what the “thematic purpose” of a project is. Instead, customers who intend to display their creations in public will be asked to make clear that Lego does not support or endorse them.