AUTO RECALLS SET RECORD LAST YEAR
detroit» Automobile recalls hit another record last year as stronger government enforcement and widening recalls of exploding air bags pushed the total above 51 million vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recorded almost 900 separate recalls last year, beating the 2014 record of 803, the agency said.
The 2015 number barely beat the old record, set in 2014, after that total was adjusted downward from nearly 64 million to eliminate double counting in the massive recalls of air bag inflators made by Takata Corp.
On average, automakers fix 75 percent of cars covered by a recall in 18 months, but that means a quarter go unrepaired.
Red cups didn’t hurt Starbucks over holidays
B seattle» An alleged war on Christmas by Starbucks apparently didn’t dampen the chain’s holiday sales, but its outlook going forward fell short of Wall Street expectations.
The Seattle-based company says sales rose 9 percent in its flagship U.S. market and 8 percent globally during the final three months of the year. The increase at home and abroad was the result of a mix of higher customer traffic and increased spending.
During the holidays, the company said $1.9 billion was loaded onto Starbucks gift cards. It said one in six American adults received a Starbucks gift card, up from one in seven a year ago.
Galvanize raises $3 million. Denver-based Galvanize
has picked up another $3 million in investment, this time from the Colorado Impact Fund, which puts money into local ventures only.
The startup, which first raised $18 million in mid2014, plans to use the money for further product development and expansion, said Jim Kelley, founder and managing partner for the Colorado Impact Fund.
Galvanize offers crash courses in software development and takes an entrepreneurial slant when teaching students about data science and coding.
Dizzion to move its headquarters.
Fastgrowing Dizzion said Wednesday that it will move its headquarters to downtown Denver this quarter.
The company, which helps clients access their desktop computers in the cloud, said that it tripled its staff to 22, “with six openings being filled as we speak,” Dizzion’s marketing director, Lawrence Goldman, said.
Next month, Dizzion will move to the 26th floor of the Dominion Towers at 600 17th St. The move will triple its office space. The company also plans to open an office in San Antonio, where its chief technology officer, Rob Green, lives.
Boeing to cut 747 production. Boeing Co. said
it plans to halve production rates of its 747-8 plane this year, the latest step in the decline of the iconic jumbo jet and a fresh signal of persistent weakness in the global air-freight market.
The aerospace giant said Thursday that it would shift in September to producing the jet at a rate of six a year.
As a result of the change, it will recognize an after-tax charge of $569 million against its fourth-quarter results, which it is scheduled to report Wednesday.