How Can You Make Money off the Pokémon Go Craze?

Pokémon Go has become a global phenomenon. It gained popularity immediately and businesses have creatively determined ways to capitalize on that. Individuals are becoming entrepreneurs by advertising personal assistance in playing the game. If your business wants to get in on the Pokémon Go craze and profit from it, there are a few suggestions here to help you get started.

Create a Pokémon Go Pop-Up Shop

If your business does not want to apply to be a Pokestop, you can take the business to the nearest Pokestop. Create a pop-up shop in close proximity to a popular Pokestop to sell products, food, or tech accessories to get the attention of Pokémon Go players. Advertise a small discount for Pokémon Go players that prove to be playing in real-time.

Just by being part of the trend, you can get new customers now thanks to Pokémon Go. Connecting with the local community, showing approachability, and showing that you adapt to trends helps draw in an expanded consumer group that can end up permanently increasing your annual revenue.

Pokestop Window Advertisements

Place an advertisement poster in your window of your business advertising it as a Gym Pokestop location, once you are approved as a Pokestop. Offer those that come in a promotion, such as a discount or free item, for playing the game and coming by your business. This is just one way that businesses are trying to cash in on the Pokémon Go craze.

You can also advertise your business as a "Pokémon Go Safe Place" where game players can come into your business to determine their path to the next Pokeball. While taking a break, gamers are more likely to make a purchase, especially if you are a food industry business like a coffee shop or restaurant.

Make Your Business Known on Google Places

If your business does not have a Google Places page, it should. Google already provides general information about your business for search purposes, but a Google Places page is different. Here you control what information is displayed and can customize your page with trending hashtags that help your business be more recognized locally. You can list your business as a #Pokestop and offer a promotion to Pokémon Go players for stopping by while catching their Pokémon. Optimizing SEO for Google Places with proper hashtags and a tag line that draws Pokémon Go players in will help increase your revenues.

Advertise Player Services

Become an entrepreneur from your experience playing Pokémon Go. A creative way to start earning money from Pokémon Go is to become a Safe Pokémon Chauffer or offer your services as a trainer. Some individuals have gone so far as to sell off advanced accounts, start over, and repeat the cycle. Other player services that have gained attention are the $20-per hour rate to hatch eggs in the game for players who do not have time.

Offer a Pokémon Go-Specific Service

Several heavy hitters, like T-Mobile and Uber, have created Pokémon Go-specific services to generate additional revenue. Uber has created a Pokémon Go bus in New York in an attempt to help users play the game safely and make money themselves by transporting players to Pokestops. T-Mobile created an "all you can eat data plan" for players of Pokémon Go to boost contract sign-ups. These two industry leaders have learned how to cash in on the Pokémon Go craze rather well.

Buy and Cast Lures

Usually, Pokémon Go players purchase lures with Pokecoins via the app. You can cast those lures and draw immediate attention to your business. A pizzeria in New York cast a lure and their sales rose by 75-percent the weekend following the lure casting. Lures trigger the spawning of Pokémon in short intervals. It is important to post the casting of a lure on your business' social media pages, to email subscribers, and to text subscribers immediately upon casting the lure to get people rushing to your business. For example, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia did a lure-a-thon to attract people to their theme park one Sunday.

Final Thoughts

Your business can profit from Pokémon Go, without infracting on any copyright or trademark laws. It is a good idea to create a themed special or promotion because although it is at a slight discount it still turns a profit as you make more sales. If Pokémon Go is a craze in your local area, consider holding a Pokémon Go player workshop. Hire a trainer, and charge a workshop attendance fee with discounts on refreshments, gear, or items associated with your business. Promoting safe gameplay while making money helps increase your positive reputation.

How will you or your company make money from the Pokémon Go craze?

Once The Domain Of Millennials, Uber And Lyft Are Now Pursuing Seniors

Ride-hailing services want to make sure Grandma Betty can get to bridge club just as easily as her 22-year-old grandson travels to and from ... whatever it is young folks are doing these days.

Once the domain of 20-somethings who might have a drink or two and need a safe ride home, companies like Lyft and Uber have set their sights on a different age range entirely: senior citizens.

Lyft announced Tuesday it has partnered with GreatCall, a mobile phone company that specializes in providing cell phones to seniors, to extend its ride-hailing services to those who ― like the elderly ― may not have a smartphone, much less want to learn how to use an app on one to hail a ride.

Instead of an app, GreatCall customers dial “0” to talk to an operator, who can provide a cost estimate and book a ride. The fare is tacked onto the customer’s monthly cell phone bill.

The L.A. Times notes Uber struck up a similar arrangement with a company called 24Hr HomeCare last week.

Several third-party ride-hailing services also specialize in giving lifts to older adults who don’t have smartphones, including GoGoGrandparent, a newer entrant that adds additional features like meal and grocery delivery options.

As people age, one thing to go is the ability to drive. That means losing your freedom to get to doctor’s appointments and to stay social with friends.

This is far from either company’s first foray into the senior market, which, judging by recent moves from both Uber and Lyft, seems ripe for disruption.

And it couldn’t come at a better time. The first wave of the so-called “baby boomer” generation turned 65 in 2011, with the number of Americans aged 65 and older projected to keep growing until 2030, when it’s expected to peak at around 71 million people.

Earlier this year, both Uber and Lyft began offering non-emergency medical transport services, specifically targeting customers whose rides would be reimbursed by Medicaid. 

And in the Denver suburb of Centennial, where 15 years from now at least 30 percent of the population is projected to be over the age of 65, city officials are exploring replacing current dial-a-ride services with less expensive, more efficient rides via Lyft.

Starting Aug. 17, the city has embarked on a first-of-its-kind, six-month long pilot project, paying for Lyft rides to and from the area’s major light-rail station in a bid to increase mobility.

“We call Centennial the Silver Tsunami,” Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon told The Atlantic blog CityLab. “As people age, one thing to go is the ability to drive. That means losing your freedom to get to doctor’s appointments and to stay social with friends. We really want to help keep the people who started Centennial engaged in it.”

Note: The Huffington Post’s editor-in-chief Arianna Huffington is a member of Uber’s board of directors and has recused herself from any involvement in the site’s coverage of the company.

Mylan CEO Should Resign (And Take Her 'Coupons' With Her)

I recently wrote a Huffington Post piece demanding that embattled Mylan CEO, Heather Bresch, cut the price of EpiPens and resign. After days of media coverage regarding Mylan’s price gouging of the EpiPen auto-injector, Bresch finally took an interview with CNBC that could, at best, be described as a friendly exchange. There were no hard hitting questions. This wasn’t journalism; it was public relations’ version of tee-ball. I am writing again to reiterate my demand that Heather Bresch cut the price of EpiPens and resign immediately.

When Bresch finally broke her silence, it was to offer coupons and an increase in a program that gives low-income families free access to EpiPens. Coupons! I can’t make this up. This gives us more perspective on how important the systematic EpiPen price increases are to Mylan and its CEO.

Bresch and her fellow Mylan executives undoubtedly have spent dozens of hours over the past few days hunkered down in a conference room with a public relations crisis team, lawyers and other advisors. After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

Heather Bresch’s comments on CNBC’s Squawk Box were a distraction. Bresch didn’t even consider cutting the price, stating, “Had we reduced the list price, I couldn’t ensure that everyone that needs an EpiPen gets one.”

Look closely at what she is actually saying in this statement that was clearly drafted with legal expertise. Bresch is saying that if she cut the price, she could not guarantee that every single person who needed an EpiPen gets one. This statement is true to the extent that if she lowered the price and even a single person wasn’t aware that they could now afford this life-saving drug, that one person might not receive an EpiPen. This statement was artfully crafted to make it sound as if Bresch has no ability to increase access to EpiPens for millions of people who need them. But Bresch knows this isn’t true. The best way to increase access to this life-saving medication is to cut the price.

Bresch also offered to increase the income threshold for lower-income families who have free access to EpiPens. This is also calculated. In my professional role, I work with many lower-income families. I know from experience that these families are the more likely to be unaware of complicated programs that may require forms, a visit to the doctor, and other obstacles. It’s often very difficult to increase awareness of programs that benefit these lower-income families. Bresch and Mylan are making an offer that appears to be more altruistic than it really is. They know that many of these families will still pay for EpiPens or go without them because they won’t have an awareness of this program and any changes to it.

You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign.

What happens when the national public outcry dies down because Mylan has appeared to appeased people just enough so that our short-term memory news cycle moves on to the next big scandal? The coupon and the program for lower-income families can be cut or eliminated altogether. And Mylan still has a virtual monopoly in the national epinephrine auto-injector market.

Why is Bresch even offering coupons and additional access to a free EpiPen program? Bresch and Mylan have lost billions of dollars in stock value in a number of days due to the negative press about their systematic price gouging. If they act quickly and quiet the national fervor, they will disappear from the national media spotlight, the waters will calm and their stock may continue to gain back those billions.

The really disgusting part of all of this? Mylan’s stock could actually gain value as a result of Bresch’s sleight of hand comments and offers to customers. The only way that real change will come to Mylan is if our nation’s media outlets - and all of us regular hardworking Americans – continue to demand price cuts and Bresch’s resignation.

The calculated response and “fixes” that Mylan CEO Heather Bresch offered people like my two-year-old daughter are further evidence of a culture of greed that employs deceit and misdirection to maintain its extortionate prices and profit margin.

The most despicable part of Bresch’s theatrical CNBC comments was that she claimed, “No one’s more frustrated than me.”

I’ll bet you your $19 million salary that I’m more frustrated than you! You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign!

Related...

• The CEO Who Raised EpiPen Prices Should Resign
• Mylan Executives Got Pay Increases As Price Of EpiPen Soared
• EpiPen's 500 Percent Price Hike Leaves Patients Scrambling

Mylan CEO Should Resign (And Take Her 'Coupons' With Her)

I recently wrote a Huffington Post piece demanding that embattled Mylan CEO, Heather Bresch, cut the price of EpiPens and resign. After days of media coverage regarding Mylan’s price gouging of the EpiPen auto-injector, Bresch finally took an interview with CNBC that could, at best, be described as a friendly exchange. There were no hard hitting questions. This wasn’t journalism; it was public relations’ version of tee-ball. I am writing again to reiterate my demand that Heather Bresch cut the price of EpiPens and resign immediately.

When Bresch finally broke her silence, it was to offer coupons and an increase in a program that gives low-income families free access to EpiPens. Coupons! I can’t make this up. This gives us more perspective on how important the systematic EpiPen price increases are to Mylan and its CEO.

Bresch and her fellow Mylan executives undoubtedly have spent dozens of hours over the past few days hunkered down in a conference room with a public relations crisis team, lawyers and other advisors. After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

After days of public outcry over yet another case of extreme corporate greed and indifference for human life, they decided to offer us coupons.

Heather Bresch’s comments on CNBC’s Squawk Box were a distraction. Bresch didn’t even consider cutting the price, stating, “Had we reduced the list price, I couldn’t ensure that everyone that needs an EpiPen gets one.”

Look closely at what she is actually saying in this statement that was clearly drafted with legal expertise. Bresch is saying that if she cut the price, she could not guarantee that every single person who needed an EpiPen gets one. This statement is true to the extent that if she lowered the price and even a single person wasn’t aware that they could now afford this life-saving drug, that one person might not receive an EpiPen. This statement was artfully crafted to make it sound as if Bresch has no ability to increase access to EpiPens for millions of people who need them. But Bresch knows this isn’t true. The best way to increase access to this life-saving medication is to cut the price.

Bresch also offered to increase the income threshold for lower-income families who have free access to EpiPens. This is also calculated. In my professional role, I work with many lower-income families. I know from experience that these families are the more likely to be unaware of complicated programs that may require forms, a visit to the doctor, and other obstacles. It’s often very difficult to increase awareness of programs that benefit these lower-income families. Bresch and Mylan are making an offer that appears to be more altruistic than it really is. They know that many of these families will still pay for EpiPens or go without them because they won’t have an awareness of this program and any changes to it.

You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign.

What happens when the national public outcry dies down because Mylan has appeared to appeased people just enough so that our short-term memory news cycle moves on to the next big scandal? The coupon and the program for lower-income families can be cut or eliminated altogether. And Mylan still has a virtual monopoly in the national epinephrine auto-injector market.

Why is Bresch even offering coupons and additional access to a free EpiPen program? Bresch and Mylan have lost billions of dollars in stock value in a number of days due to the negative press about their systematic price gouging. If they act quickly and quiet the national fervor, they will disappear from the national media spotlight, the waters will calm and their stock may continue to gain back those billions.

The really disgusting part of all of this? Mylan’s stock could actually gain value as a result of Bresch’s sleight of hand comments and offers to customers. The only way that real change will come to Mylan is if our nation’s media outlets - and all of us regular hardworking Americans – continue to demand price cuts and Bresch’s resignation.

The calculated response and “fixes” that Mylan CEO Heather Bresch offered people like my two-year-old daughter are further evidence of a culture of greed that employs deceit and misdirection to maintain its extortionate prices and profit margin.

The most despicable part of Bresch’s theatrical CNBC comments was that she claimed, “No one’s more frustrated than me.”

I’ll bet you your $19 million salary that I’m more frustrated than you! You can keep your coupons, Heather! Cut the price of EpiPens and resign!

Related...

• The CEO Who Raised EpiPen Prices Should Resign
• Mylan Executives Got Pay Increases As Price Of EpiPen Soared
• EpiPen's 500 Percent Price Hike Leaves Patients Scrambling

5 Reasons To Choose Private Equity Real Estate Funds

Sell everything. That's what famed investors such as George Soros, Carl Icahn, Jeff Gundlach, Bill Gross and Stan Druckenmiller have been preaching about equities since May, noted Barrons this August--at the same time CBOE's Volatility Index fell to its lowest level in two years.

Despite the fact that the 2016 S&P 500 is up 5.9 percent on a price basis in the face of uncertain times (think Brexit, the U.S. elections, the record low yields of the U.S. 10-Year Treasury Note and more), the stock market can't and won't go up forever. Bad news drives interest rates lower, and lower rates support loftier valuations, said Barrons.

Bonds are equally risky. In a weak business climate, the fixed yields of bonds look more attractive as stock prices fall. But that traditionally inverse relationship between stocks and bonds has broken down in the last two decades, noted The Wall Street Journal.

A 2016 McKinsey Global Institute report suggests the combination of higher interest rates, lower economic growth and weak corporate profits is here to stay - and a portfolio made up only of stocks and bonds will generate lower returns for years to come.

Commercial real estate has the potential to offer long-term returns that are both healthy and stable. Most significantly, when added to a traditional portfolio of stocks and bonds, this asset class can decrease volatility and increase returns. But it's important to understand the different types of real estate investments you can make, and each one's potential impact on your portfolio.

For instance, an investor recently asked us why buy into our Fund III at Origin Investments instead of a successful publicly traded REIT such as Realty Income Corp. (O-NYSE)? Both products boast similar target returns, and the REIT has a lot going for it. This includes:

• A proven long-term record of 14 percent returns (compared to Origin's Fund III's targeted return of 17-19 percent), with a current dividend yield of 3.76 percent;
• Dividends that have increased over time; and
• Liquidity, since the REIT is traded on an exchange and can be sold like any other stock.

In truth, when it comes to deciding between a publicly traded REIT and a private equity real estate fund, it isn't an "either-or" proposition but rather an "and" proposition; you don't necessarily have to choose between the two. Here's why, along with four other compelling reasons to invest in private equity real estate funds:

1.Unlike REITs, private equity real estate isn't tied to stock market fluctuations.
While public real estate products can be lucrative investments, they are highly correlated to the stock market. That means they rise and fall based on what's happening in the economy, and their values can be impacted by events that have nothing to do with real estate fundamentals. Because of this, adding publicly traded REITs alone will not necessarily improve your portfolio's risk-adjusted returns.

2.Public equity real estate funds achieve different investing goals.
When evaluating a potential investment, it important to look at alpha and beta. Beta measures the volatility of a fund relative to the market by gauging how much the fund's returns move up or down given the gains or losses of its benchmark market index. Alpha is the difference between a fund's expected returns based on its beta and its actual returns, and it is sometimes interpreted as the value that a portfolio manager adds, notes Morningstar.

Public REITs are a good example of the difference between alpha and beta.

With pubic REITs you are essentially buying beta, while a private equity real estate fund seeks to achieve alpha--and does with strategic business plans for properties and skilled asset managers. Origin's goal is to outperform the market on a risk-adjusted basis and achieve returns well above the index. We focus on finding high quality, underperforming commercial real estate properties that can be turned around. Our philosophy is that this is the best way to protect the downside while maximizing the upside of each deal.

3. REITs are a volatile asset class.
When the economy tanks, REITs can get hit hard. "In 2007 and 2008, REITs lost 15.7 percent and 37.7 percent, respectively," the Wall Street Journal noted recently. Also, since 2000, REITs "are second only to emerging-market stocks as the most volatile asset class. And with interest rates likely to rise, the next few years could be tough," especially for investors buying REITs now, concluded the WSJ.

4. Funds minimize risk exposure.
Our private equity funds are one of the most effective options for investors because they are a diversified investment. At Origin, each of the properties in a fund are run as a separate businesses. So if one underperforms it doesn't impact the others. A deal by deal investment strategy does not offer this same benefit.

To better gauge how well a fund will perform, it also helps to look at a company's other products. In our case, our earlier Funds I and II had projected returns of 17-19 percent, however Fund I is on track to generate a 28 percent net return and Fund II is on track to deliver a 26 percent return. Preqin, an industry leader that tracks performance of private equity fund managers, ranked these two funds in the top quartile as of June 2016.

5. Consider the manager's alignment of interests.
According to Towers Watson, a leading global advisory company, co-investment is the most effective way to align the interests of a manager and investors. We started Origin to invest our own capital, and maximizing investment performance remains our primary goal. We continue to keep our skin in the game with Fund III by committing $10 million of our personal resources.

If private equity real estate isn't part of your portfolio, it needs to be; asset allocation is a large determinant of investment success. Private real estate has low correlation to other asset classes, high expected returns and low volatility. That makes it a trifecta, since most asset classes only have one or two of these qualities.

CEO Of Giant Corporation Tells US Government He's The Boss Of Them

Are We the People the boss of giant multinational corporations, or are they the boss of us?

Imagine, if you will, going to the IRS and saying, "I don't think the tax rate is fair so I'm not going to pay it." Regular Americans can't do that. But Apple just did.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook was interviewed by the Washington Post early this month. He was asked about the vast sums of profits that Apple has shifted into overseas tax havens thanks to a loophole in US tax law that lets them "defer" paying taxes on those profits as long as the money technically stays outside the country. Cook said (emphasis added, for emphasis):

And when we bring it back, we will pay 35 percent federal tax and then a weighted average across the states that we're in, which is about 5 percent, so think of it as 40 percent. We've said at 40 percent, we're not going to bring it back until there's a fair rate. There's no debate about it.

What would happen to any regular American if they did what Cook did, and said they they aren't going to pay taxes because they don't think the tax rate is "fair"? (Hint: Jail. And maybe 2 or 3 years added to the sentence for the contempt of saying, "There's no debate about it.")

But Apple is a huge multinational corporation, and these days huge multinational corporations are the boss of our Congress. So, CEO Cook gets away with it -- and with keeping $181 billion in tax havens to dodge paying $59 billion in taxes. Cook knows he can just come out and say they are not going to pay their taxes until there is a "fair rate."

Of course, huge multinational corporations will tell you a "fair rate" would be zero. Or better yet, how about We the People just bow down and pay taxes to them. The corporate tax rate used to be 50%. CEOs complained it was "unfair" so it was lowered to 35%. Also, by the way, Apple can deduct taxes it pays elsewhere, including to states, from its federal tax bill.

Think about what We the People could do with that $59 billion Apple owes us.

In all multinational corporations have more than $2.4 trillion stashed in tax havens, dodging maybe $700 billion in taxes.

Think about what We the People could do with that $700 or so billion they owe us.

Meanwhile

Americans for Tax Fairness released a new investigative report showing that Gilead Sciences exorbitantly priced hepatitis C medications -- price gouging ill American patients -- then shifted billions of dollars of the resulting profits to offshore tax havens to dodge taxes.

An August 21 news story in FORA, an Irish business publication, confirmed key findings of the report:

Company filings show that one of the firm's main Irish subsidiaries had revenues of $2 billion in 2012 and made a full-year profit of $1.3 billion but paid nothing to the Irish exchequer as the firm was tax resident in the Bahamas - where zero corporate taxes apply.

At the end of the year, after which the subsidiaries finances are not publicly accessible, the Irish subsidiary had accumulated profits of just under $7 billion.

The company also transferred the ownership of one of its most valuable money-makers, which it acquired for $11 billion, to a separate Irish subsidiary.

So, this company gouges sick Americans and shifts the profits out of the country to dodge taxes. Are We the People the boss of these giant corporations, or are they the boss of us? Whose government is this, anyway? Who is our economy for?

"The Little People Pay Taxes"

Times have changed. People and companies didn't used to get away with snubbing their nose at We the People, and doing things like dodging taxes.

In the 1980s Leona Helmsley was known as the "Hotel Queen." Helmsley and her husband Harry were known for buying apartment buildings, forcing out the tenants, and converting them into condominiums. The Helmsley real estate empire included the Empire State Building.

They also owned hotels. Leona ran as many as 30 Helmsley hotels, with the luxurious Helmsley Palace at the peak, and became famous after she was featured in advertisements.

But Helmsley became known as "the Queen of Mean," because she was notorious for doing things like abusing employees, firing them at Christmas, even evicting her son's widow a few days after he died. Eventually a dissatisfied employee turned her in for various tax crimes and she was indicted on 235 state and federal counts.

The Helmsleys were charged with using hotel money to buy personal items to evade income taxes. Helmsley famously said of the charges, "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."

We the Little People sentenced Helmsley to 12 years in jail for evading $1.7 million in taxes (eventually resulting in 19 months in jail and 2 years of home arrest.) At her sentencing the judge said:

'There is a community that needs to be served by the enforcement of the law. . . . It is my judgment the motion for sentence reduction should be denied.'

Griesa said that Helmsley's conduct had been 'deliberate, fraudulent, directed against the United States government. It involved evasion of taxes.'

Helmsley was sentenced to jail for evading a pittance of $1.7 million in taxes. Today Apple owes $59 billion. In this age of "mass incarceration" for regular people, imagine a wealthy Wall Street banker or corporate CEO going to jail for something. Actually, you can't even imagine it.

No, instead this is today's reality: Lawmakers Overseeing Wall Street Given Bigger, More Favorable Loans Than Others: Study.

Senator Wyden Says End Deferral Loophole

Some people are trying to restore our democracy, and make We the People the boss of the giant corporations and wealthy CEOs again.

Senator Bernie Sanders has been calling for ending this deferral loophole for a long time. His residential campaign platform called for using the resulting revenue to pay for $1 trillion of infrastructure repair. Senator Elizabeth Warren has also called for ending this loophole.

Last week Oregon Senator Ron Wyden penned an op-ed calling for an end to this corporate tax haven "deferral" loophole, titled "Ending the Biggest Tax Rip-Off -- Tax Deferral." In it Wyden wrote:

...[Tax deferral] is the rule that encourages American multinational corporations to keep their profits overseas instead of investing them here at home, and it does so by granting them $80 billion a year in tax breaks. This policy is as foolish as it is unfair. It simply defies common sense.

Most Americans probably aren't familiar with deferral ...but ... some of the most profitable companies in the world can put off paying taxes indefinitely while hardworking Americans must pay their taxes every year.

Unfortunately, Wyden resorts to offering to bargain with the corporations, offering lower tax rates if they would please invest in the US. Like so many others, Wyden has forgotten that Congress is supposed to be the boss of the corporations.

Sign The Petition

SIGN THE PETITION: Stand with Americans for Tax Fairness and Public Citizen and demand that U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew investigate Gilead's multi-billion-dollar tax dodging scheme and make Gilead pay the taxes it owes U.S. taxpayers.

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This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF. Sign up here for the CAF daily summary and/or for the Progressive Breakfast.

Tesla Just Unveiled The Quickest Car You Can Actually Buy

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Motors Inc <TSLA.O> Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Tuesday the company will offer a larger upgraded battery pack for performance versions of its Model S and X vehicles that will extend range and allow for super fast acceleration.

The new 100 kilowatt hour battery pack means high end versions of the Model S sedan, called the P 100D, will be the world’s fastest accelerating car in production, the Silicon Valley automaker said.

“These are very profound milestones and I think will help convince people around the world that electric is the future,” said Musk on a conference call with journalists.

The new battery extends the range of performance versions of the new Model S beyond 300 miles (482.8 km), Tesla said. Musk said that if the weather is not too hot, a driver could travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles without recharging.
After rising 2.1 percent to $227.71 in afternoon trade, shares dipped from session highs to $224.87, up less than 1 percent.

News of the upgrade comes as the all-electric car maker lays the groundwork for a controversial buyout of SolarCity Corp <SCTY.O>, while it also prepares for next year’s launch of its high profile Model 3 mass-market vehicle.

SolarCity agreed to Tesla’s $2.6 billion offer to buy the solar panel installer earlier this month, clearing one obstacle in the way of Musk’s ambitious goal to create a carbon-free energy and transportation company.

Both companies are still trading below where they were when SolarCity’s approval for the deal was announced.

In May, Tesla said it was stepping up production plans for its upcoming Model 3 mass-market sedan and would build a total of 500,000 all-electric vehicles in 2018, two years ahead of schedule, but it warned that spending will ramp up as well.

Tesla earlier this month reported a steeper than expected quarterly loss on higher spending at its vehicle and battery factories.
 
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown)

 

 

Looks Like Ivanka Trump Doesn't Pay Her Interns

Ivanka Trump, who markets herself as a champion of working women and learned about business by walking her father’s construction sites, apparently does not pay interns at her namesake fashion and jewelry company in New York City, according to a blog post on IvankaTrump.com that also appeared on her official Twitter page on Thursday.

How to make it work as an unpaid intern: https://t.co/pwMIYWh4kw #nomoneynoproblems #interntips #internships pic.twitter.com/BRoWuO6bq7

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 18, 2016

Yes, that actually says #nomoneynoproblems, and comes from the Twitter account of the daughter of self-proclaimed billionaire and Republican nominee for president Donald Trump.

In the post, unpaid intern Quincy Bulin offers tips and includes advice from three of her unpaid colleagues ― all women, two named Mackenzie.  

The advice includes finding a part-time job that actually pays, saving money during the school year, setting a budget and socializing cheaply.

Of course, Bulin leaves out the real key to surviving an unpaid internship: having well-off parents. Kids with families that can support them while they take on jobs for nothing are more likely to take on jobs for nothing. 

Unpaid internships at for-profit companies are not legal in New York City, where Ivanka’s workers are based ― unless the positions are for college credit. And even then, there are a host of restrictions around how the job is structured. Regulations regarding unpaid interns at nonprofit organizations are slightly less strict.

Ivanka Trump is certainly not the only employer to use unpaid interns. In an email, Chief Brand Officer Abigail Klem told The Huffington Post, “We strive to create a fulfilling learning opportunity tailored to the unique interests and career goals of each intern. It is our goal that at the end of the program, our interns leave with experiences that will help guide them into choosing a fulfilling career path.”

The company didn’t respond to requests for comment on whether those interns also leave with school credit or some other kind of reimbursement. And Trump herself likely didn’t even send out the tweet yesterday. She’s vacationing in Croatia while her father’s campaign goes into full meltdown mode. 

The notion that she would employ women without paying them is newsworthy for a couple of reasons, though. 

@IvankaTrump what the hell do you know about being an unpaid intern? Or making it work? Why all your emojis black women?? #TrumpPence16

— bodhizwanya (@malikazwanya) August 18, 2016

Ivanka and her brothers sold themselves as in-touch with working-class people at the Republican National Convention last month, talking up their experience on their father’s construction sites when they were growing up. 

Unpaid internships just aren’t the province of working-class people. An unpaid internship is “a handout that, best intentions aside, accelerates a cycle of privilege and reward,” Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, pointed out in a piece for The New York Times recently. Companies should get rid of unpaid internships, Walker argues, because they reinforce a lack of diversity. Unpaid interns land jobs eventually at these companies, and you wind up with a pretty homogenous workforce, which leads to all kinds of problems.  

.@IvankaTrump is this a joke? Is all of this some sort of Kaufman-esque performance art piece?

— Chris Bea (@CJosephBea) August 18, 2016

Not paying these women for their work also looks off, coming from Ivanka, who is a self-proclaimed supporter of women’s equality in the workplace. Indeed, her website bills itself as the “ultimate destination for women who work.”

Unpaid internships lead to lower-paying jobs, according to research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers. For these unpaid interns, that first lower-paying job would start a cycle of under-earning of the sort that reinforces pay gaps between men and women.

Speaking of supporting women: Ivanka reportedly gives 8 weeks paid parental leave to her employees. That’s not terrible, considering the United States has no paid leave policy. Yet, it falls short of what most proponents of paid leave and maternal health researchers consider optimal. She recently came under fire because her label works with companies that do not offer any paid leave.

In all, not a great look for a fashion company.

This article has been updated to include additional information about regulations surrounding unpaid internships, and with a comment from the company.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

One Of Donald Trump's Quietest Critics Just Called Him Out On Diversity

Marc Benioff doesn’t want to talk about Donald Trump. Rather than give more airtime to the bombastic Republican presidential nominee, the Salesforce chief prefers to plug Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for whom he raised $500,000 earlier this year.

But on Wednesday, Benioff called Trump out for holding a televised campaign meeting about security with about two dozen people, almost all of whom appear to be white men. The move came a day after he delivered a speech aggressively appealing to black voters. 

This table reflects how @realDonaldTrump sees America : homogeneous. pic.twitter.com/odI2AeyWNp

— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) August 17, 2016

Two women do appear to be sitting at the end of the table, according to Reuters footage of the meeting. Still, Trump’s tone-deafness a day after he attempted to woo African-Americans by speaking in a 94.8 percent white Milwaukee suburb underscores the extent to which Trump’s campaign as a whole ― and not just the candidate’s crass rhetoric ― has gone out of its way to alienate minority and female voters. 

Benioff, for his part, isn’t a perfect beacon of inclusivity. The workforce at his cloud computing giant remains 67 percent white. Hispanics make up 4 percent, and African-Americans just 2 percent, of Salesforce employees.

But that’s not a problem that’s unique to Salesforce ― it reflects hiring trends in the tech industry, which began grappling with its lack of diversity a few years ago. In the past year, Benioff spent $3 million to eliminate the gender pay gap at Salesforce and publicly protested against laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. 

Benioff did not respond to a request for comment from The Huffington Post. Neither did Hope Hicks, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman. 

Kevork Djansezian/Reuters

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been a vocal advocate for women and LGBTQ people. 

Until recently, Benioff has stayed fairly quiet about the Republican nominee to amplify his reasons to vote for someone ― in this case, Clinton ― rather than his reasons to vote against someone else.

Benioff’s relative silence seemed to signal a departure from his usual style. He comments on progressive political issues almost daily, mostly to his roughly 244,000 Twitter followers. He has spearheaded almost every corporate charge against state laws that either legalize discrimination against queer people based on “religious freedom” or prevent trans individuals from using bathrooms associated with their gender identities. 

In response to a HuffPost article probing his low-profile opposition to Trump, Benioff said he preferred to advocate against the Republican behind the scenes. When other CEOs and entrepreneurs email him to ask how to deal with Trump, he said he answers, “If you want to defeat Donald Trump and you’re that upset about him, then you should support Hillary Clinton, which is what I’m doing.” 

On Wednesday, in an apparent attempt to get his faltering campaign back on track, Trump named Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon as his new chief executive. This has been widely interpreted as a sign that Trump will intensify his uncivil, scorched-earth campaign tactics. And if that happens, even Trump’s quietest critics may be tempted to weigh in before November’s votes are cast.

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

3 Olympic Business Lessons For Every Business Owner

I don't know about you, but I've been obsessing over the Olympics in Rio. I've had them playing in the background while I do client work all day. I've re-arranged my schedule to watch some events. I've stayed up every single night just to watch swimming!

While watching the events this year, I realized there are some major Olympic business lessons we can learn as freelancers and small business owners. In this post, I'm going to detail the ones I've noticed so far.

You can overcome an upper limit problem.

I've discussed upper limit problems before, but watching Michael Phelps make a comeback after a few rough years in his personal life has made me interested in it again.

An upper limit problem is what Gay Hendricks, author of The Big Leap, describes as the moment we sabotage ourselves when things are going well. We think there's a limit to our success and, as a result, we unconsciously do something to screw it up.

Just look at Michael Phelps a few short years ago. The greatest Olympian of all time was suddenly having one challenge after another in his personal life which was resulting in problems for his professional life. It's textbook upper limit problem.

Michael Phelps overcame it all. Not only did he overcome it to make an appearance in Rio, he's killed it in every single one of his races!

This is one of the most important Olympic business lessons of all: Be mindful of when you're sabotaging your success and immediately start to course correct.

Don't worry about the competition.

One of the greatest Olympic business lessons you can always learn by watching these events is how to handle competition. The Rio Olympics are no exception.

There's an image that has surfaced on the internet of Michael Phelps' rival Chad Le Clos looking right at him in the water as they were racing. While Le Clos was busy wondering where Phelps was, Phelps was keeping his eyes straight in front.

Phelps refused to get distracted by what was going on around him. He simply focused on the race. Phelps took home the gold and Le Clos, who narrowly took the gold from Phelps four years ago in the same event, didn't even medal.

In this world, we're told to worry about our competitors. This creates a lot of distraction and a lot of noise for freelancers who are just trying to make a living doing something creative. The reality is, we need to stay focused on our own lane, not anyone else's.

Give it your best shot.

The U.S. Women's Beach Volleyball team was given a run for their money by the Swiss. It was a thrilling three sets to watch, and you could tell every player was giving it their all. As one of the announcers said, "They have no quit." The U.S. Women's Beach Volleyball team didn't give up, and they beat the Swiss at the end.

This stuck out to me as a freelancer and as a coach who teaches other freelancers. I've seen many freelancers quit when things get uncomfortable. I've seen many bloggers quit when they don't see the rewards coming in right away. I've seen a lot of people just shrug their shoulders and give up.

That's why another one of the Olympic business lessons for business owners is to always give it your best shot.

3 Olympic Business Lessons for Every Business Owner was originally published on Duecom blog by Amanda Abella.

Starbucks: Changing the World One Barista at a Time

"Our role as leaders is to celebrate the human connection that we have been able to create as a company, and to make sure people realize the deep level of respect we have for the work they do and how they act. That is the legacy of the company. It's not to get bigger or to make more money."

--Howard Schultz, CEO Starbucks

I met Ashley Peterson, a barista at my local Starbucks, over six years ago during my morning ritual--stopping in for a grande extra hot soy latte on my way to taking my three kids to school, and myself to work. Ashley's big, totally genuine smile was truly comforting in the midst of my morning wrangle. And she looked like she meant it when she looked us in the eyes and said, "Good morning. How is everyone today?"

It wasn't long before Ashley learned all of our names, our favorite drinks and breakfast items. One Fall, my daughter Caroline developed a taste (read: obsession) for Starbucks' pumpkin scones, and then was crushed when Ashley explained that they disappear after Halloween. On our next visit, Ashley handed Caroline a bag with a gingerbread cookie in it, thinking that since she loves pumpkin, she might like this, too. In other words, Ashley just gets it; customer service is second nature to her. Not surprisingly, she was recently promoted and moved to a different Starbucks further uptown. Manhattanites all up and down Broadway have changed their morning migration patterns to get their morning fix from her.

Which is to say, when I began researching companies that are dedicated to creating a human workplace, I immediately thought of Starbucks, i.e. Ashley.

I recently sat down with her to learn more about how she works her magic. And she shared with me three sage bits of advice: Focus on Interactions, not Transactions; Love it, or Let me Know; and Provide Feedback. It Makes People Feel Human. The ideas are a combination of her own smarts, and Starbucks', but the words are hers.

Focus on Interactions, Not Transactions

One of Starbucks' values is treating our customers like family. They want us to get to know them, interact with them, and to connect with them. While we get training on different customer service scenarios, no one can really teach you how to connect...that has to be something that you want to do. I do it because of the atmosphere, because of the neighborhood. I see the kids grow up. One minute the mom is pregnant, and the next year the kid is walking into the store. As a customer, I wouldn't come into a place where I didn't feel welcome or where the people were not trying to get to know me. I love what I do and everyone that works for Starbucks loves what they do. It's a business that's so -- it's different than any other business. We want to actually connect with our customers, we want to better the experience.

Love It or Let me Know

At Starbucks, we are empowered to make the customer experience the best we can. We can say, "Listen, love it or let me know. What can I do to fix it?" I want to teach the baristas around me that customer service is the most important part of our business. Without the customers, we wouldn't be in business. So I really want them to take that seriously. And if that means going above and beyond for the customers, then that's what I want [them] to do. I want everybody that comes into Starbucks to leave happy. I don't want anyone to leave unsatisfied; I don't want anyone to leave upset. I don't want anyone to leave with the thought in their head that they're not coming back.

Provide Feedback: It Makes People Feel Human

I always want to make sure that the baristas feel appreciated, so I always recognize them. To do that, we have green apron cards, where we just write a little note, and let them know what it is that they're doing well. Starbucks wants everyone -- baristas, shifts, assistants or store managers to feel appreciated. You don't have to be a store manager to write these things; baristas write them to each other. So you don't have to be in a certain position to write these things.

In case I haven't been clear, I think the world of this young woman. And so when I heard that Howard Schultz and his wife Sherry were going to be awarded a Public Leadership Award from the Aspen Institute, where I just happened to be for the summer, I made it my business to attend. After Howard and Sherry's inspiring talk on values-based leadership, I was able to hand-deliver this note from Ashley.

Hi Howard,

My name is Ashley Peterson and I've been a partner for 6 years. I recently got a promotion to become a store manager, which I'm really excited about. When I first started at Starbucks, it was just a job for me. Before my Starbucks career, I was on my way to college, but life happened. I was expecting a child, my daughter Mckenzie, who is now five years old. Within a year of being at 81st & Broadway, I knew that Starbucks was for me. With so much I can write, I just want to thank you. Thank you for sharing such a great company with me. Thank you for allowing me to provide for my child. Thank you for the opportunity to work for Starbucks. I will continue to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup, one neighborhood at a time.

Ashley Peterson

Here I am, giving Howard Schultz Ashley's letter.

Some of us might feel funny expressing such gratitude to the CEO of a multinational corporation as mighty as Starbucks. But not Ashley, whose first job in the food industry was as a manager at White Castle when she was I5. This girl knows how to work. And Howard Schultz does, too. And he knows how to make the workplace a place for humans like Ashley to thrive. In his words, "We are living in a society where there is a need for human connection and a sense of community. And what we do every day is bring people together."

Me at my local Starbucks in Aspen.

I would be lying if I said I don't miss Ashley since her move uptown. Or that I don't feel a little sad each time I walk by her old store and don't see her beaming smile in the window. But I know this an amazing opportunity for Ashley and for the company. She is excited to use her skills and experience to build a strong culture within her new store. And we will all reap the benefits of the work she'll do, spreading the Starbucks gospel, helping other baristas bring their human to work.

Staying True To Our Roots By Making A Change

My father has always been an innovator and an entrepreneur, my mother a powerhouse who knows how to get things done. Together, they have been the driving force behind Badger, a small mission-driven business founded in 1995 that strives to create healing products, run a healthy business, and make a positive difference in the world. Today, Badger has over 100 employees and our products are sold in 20 countries. We are a manufacturer of natural and organic skin care products, but the products we make tell only part of our story. At our core, we are a mission-driven business and our mission in its simplest form is "healing products, healthy business, make a difference". As our company continues to grow, and the world around us changes, our values are the one aspect of our business that we want to remain unchanged.

About 6 years ago, Badger reached a critical point in our business trajectory. We had about 50 employees. We were still operating out of an old, retrofitted garage and farmhouse. And we were on the verge of explosive growth. In fact, we were starting to see consistent double-digit growth. Clearly, it was time to break ground on a new manufacturing facility. And yet, despite all the success, and the obvious need to upgrade our cramped quarters, we felt some trepidation and had a lot of questions. What would happen to our intimate community of co-workers when we hired new employees? What would happen to our mission as we rapidly expanded operations? Until this point, our mission had lived in individuals and in our close-knit family. What we needed was a blueprint to help us transition our values into the DNA of our business. It was at this critical point that we discovered the small but growing movement of certified B Corps and quickly realized that the B Corp certification was a tool that we could use to build our mission into the operations of our business, helping us to stay true to our roots even as we entered a period of rapid transformation.

B Corps are businesses that strive to balance profits with a social or environmental mission. While mission-driven businesses are certainly not new, the certification helps to provide a common language and a set of best practices that businesses can use to benchmark and improve upon their social or environmental initiatives. As a community of businesses, our goal is to create a new sector of the economy in which business strive to be best for the world rather than being simply best in the world.

To qualify as a B Corp, businesses must measure their social and environmental impact using an impact assessment tool created by B Lab, the non-profit organization that certifies B Corporations. This rigorous process ensures that a company's policies and procedures are documented and can be audited. All certified B Corps are also required to post their scores online (called a B Impact Report) with the goal of full transparency in their business practices.

B Corp values, such as being a force for good and an agent of positive change in the world, have always been part of Badger's vision and mission. But becoming a certified B Corp in 2011 meant that we now had a verifiable way of demonstrating our commitment to always doing what's right for people and the planet.

Today, we are proud to be part of a global community of 1700+ certified B Corps using business as a force for good. We are also proud of taking our commitment to do good in the world a step further by helping to pass Benefit Corporation Legislation in NH, and then becoming one of the first NH businesses to register as a Benefit Corporation.

The future is bright for B Corps and the B Corp movement, and we look forward to continuing on this path toward improving our business practices and deepening our mission through all that we do.

The B Corp Life is a new blog series geared towards exploring what it’s like to work at a benefit corporation. Why do b corps matter, and what does the future hold for them? Let us know at PurposePlusProfit@huffingtonpost.com or by tweeting with #TheBCorpLife.

Turbulence On JetBlue Flight From Boston To Sacramento Injures 24

A bumpy flight from Boston to Sacramento sent two dozen people to the hospital on Thursday evening.

According to the Boston Globe, JetBlue Flight 429 encountered some bad weather over the Plains and was forced to make an unexpected landing in Rapid City, South Dakota around 7:30 p.m. central time.

Jet blue scary ride... pic.twitter.com/q9iFTgmKeJ

— Rhonda Renee (@Bistrobaby) August 12, 2016

The turbulence injured 22 passengers and two crew members, who were taken to Rapid City Regional Hospital for evaluation. All were treated for minor injures and released, NBC News reported.

“It was almost like a bang, like we hit a wall and just dropped straight down,” Casey Corcoran, who was traveling with two young children, told Boston ABC affiliate WCVB. “There was stuff in the aisles, you had people crying.”

Flight attendant was in galley during incident. Hit her head on ceiling & completely dislodged the panel. Cuts, neck injury, and concussion

— Derek Lindahl (@oif_vet) August 12, 2016

@mgeheren this picture one of the injured flight attendant. 1 other just left! RCH Regional are the best pic.twitter.com/HFlfYw7H2E

— Rhonda Renee (@Bistrobaby) August 12, 2016

In a statement, JetBlue said the plane’s travelers would be boarded onto another aircraft.

“JetBlue care team members are being sent to assist injured customers, and a replacement aircraft is en route to Rapid City for customers continuing on to Sacramento.”

This Bible-Era Solution For Saving Food Is Making A Comeback

Audrey Berman is no stranger to the farming life.

Over the last three years, Berman has worked on various farms in New York’s Hudson Valley with the intention of one day starting her own farm. But it wasn’t too long before she started to notice disheartening trends.

“We always had to plant more than we could actually harvest ourselves,” Berman told The Huffington Post. “And the demographic we were selling [our food] to was a little more wealthy and well-to-do while, at the same time, good food wasn’t accessible to everyone and a lot of that had to do with affordability. It started to bother me.”

She began to research what she could do about it. And that led to the launch earlier this year of Long Table Harvest, a food recovery group.

Led by Berman and co-founder Laura Engelman, the group works with 16 farms in the Hudson Valley to collect their surplus fruits and vegetables — which would otherwise go to waste — and distribute them to food pantries, community organizations and other charities throughout the region. 

A certain amount of surplus is practically inevitable on farms. Farmers plant more crops than they’ll need for their buyers to protect against losses from pests, weather and other issues. Oftentimes, it’s cheaper for farms to let the surplus rot in the fields rather than pay for the labor to harvest it.

Each Monday, Berman and her small team travel to their donor farms to pick up market leftovers and other extras farms have to offer. They fill up their van and drop off the proceeds at their recipient sites.

In June, the organization was picking up about 940 pounds of produce a week. Two months later, that number has grown to about 1,100 weekly pounds of summer staples like watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and corn. 

“It’s all really high quality, all really beautiful and the people receiving it are all excited to get it,” Berman said.

Groups like this often operate under the radar and struggle to make ends meet. Their work ― known as gleaning ― is an ancient practice, one that dates back at least to the days of the Old Testament.

It is written in the Bible that Ruth would glean the fields of the well-to-do farmer Boaz, collecting any produce left after harvest was completed and redistributing it to the poor. The practice is said to have continued in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, too.

Today, gleaning is experiencing a resurgence of interest as Americans become aware of the estimated 70 billion pounds of food the country wastes each year. Some of this loss is due to surpluses on farms. As a result, recovery groups like Long Table Harvest have popped up across the country ― the National Gleaning Project lists more than 400 food recovery organizations ― and are likely saving many tons of food from being left to rot in farmers’ fields or sent to landfills.

While there is no national estimate for how much food these groups are diverting to people who need it, some organizations reclaim hundreds of thousands of pounds each year. Oregon’s Salem Harvest, for example, gleans 300,000 pounds of fresh produce annually.

It’s safe to assume these organizations, collectively, are preventing millions of pounds of produce from being tossed each year.

Long Table Harvest

Long Table Harvest's van gets filled many times over during the busy summer months when bumper crops and other factors can leave farmers with surpluses.

Funding this work is a challenge, however. Berman and her Long Table Harvest team worked diligently applying for grants and fundraising ahead of their launch; an Indiegogo campaign raised over $11,000. But their operation has been limited in size, with just one van and one paid staff member, because they haven’t been able to secure major funding.

While financial struggles are not unusual for nonprofits of all kids, food recovery organizations appear to be facing unique challenges. Among them is that there is little federal or state-level grant funding available for this work, though the farmers who donate their surplus to food recovery groups can receive tax incentives in many states.

One initiative offered through the U.S. Department of Agriculture is the Community Food Projects competitive grant program, which was funded most recently at the level of $8.6 million. Though gleaners are eligible for this grant, which focuses on meeting the food needs of low-income communities through food distribution and community outreach, it is not specifically catered to food recovery. 

Some states, like New Jersey, do offer grants specifically geared toward gleaners, but these programs are not particularly common. 

Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images

Lovin' Spoonfuls' Meg Kiley loads donated produce onto a truck during a 2013 pickup from Whole Foods. Their group picks up surplus fruits and vegetables from stores and farms.

Most organizations rely overwhelmingly on individual donors, fundraising and corporate support to sustain their operations.

The Ithaca, New York-based Friendship Donations Network, a gleaning group, noted that while it does receive support from local foundations, it has never received state or federal funding and derives about 70 percent of its operating budget from individual donations. 

Another prominent food recovery group, the Boston-based Lovin’ Spoonfuls, said it currently receives no government support and also depends primarily on individual donors, events and grants from local groups.

That funding just isn’t enough. Food recovery is “chronically underfunded at every step,” Dana Gunders, a staff scientist specializing in food waste at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told HuffPost earlier this summer.

The lack of financial support is also reflected in gleaning groups’ heavy reliance on volunteers to gather surplus produce from participating farmers. Though well-meaning, these volunteers typically aren’t particularly accustomed to the task at hand and don’t tend to work all that efficiently. 

“Gleaning is good, but it’s not the most efficient way to get produce off the farm, even for donation, in terms of getting large volumes,” Gunders added. “Volunteers picking stuff are not trained and not nearly as fast” as farmworkers, she said.

In addition, gleaning groups often struggle to gain the attention of media and potential funders when compared to flashier food waste solutions.

“There’s a lot of excitement around people who are making apps or making a big splash in terms of media and promotional campaigns,” Berman said. “I’m really trying to do the work and connect the farmers with our recipients at our distribution sites and I’m not out there proselytizing the work. I’m trying to figure out the balance to that, but it’s a little disheartening.”

Though the practice of gleaning is far from groundbreaking, Jordan Figueiredo, the anti-food waste activist behind the Ugly Fruit and Veg campaign and a petition drive asking Walmart to more widely sell cosmetically imperfect produce, agreed that it’s deserving of more support.

“Overall, I think technology is not the answer [to food waste],” Figueiredo said. “I see those articles all the time — ‘The App That’s Going to End Food Waste.’ No one app is going to do that or make a big dent, even. Overall, it’s about valuing [food] enough so that we’re paying attention to the easy, old solutions like gleaning and putting money into them.”

Despite all the obstacles faced by groups like hers, Berman is optimistic that change is happening as Americans begin to value food more — and are adopting that mindset in their neighborhood grocery stores and kitchens.

“The biggest impact we can have is with ourselves and the decisions we make as individuals. How we live our life, what we buy and [do] not buy, what we cook and don’t cook,” Berman added. “If people say, ‘Hey, I’m a part of what seems like this big problem, but I can start with myself,’ I think that would be really exciting.”

_____

Joseph Erbentraut covers promising innovations and challenges in the areas of food and water. In addition, Erbentraut explores the evolving ways Americans are identifying and defining themselves. Follow Erbentraut on Twitter at @robojojo. Tips? Email joseph.erbentraut@huffingtonpost.com.

More stories like this:

• A Whole New Kind Of Grocery Store Is Coming To The U.S.
• This Guy Spends $2.75 A Year On Food And Eats Like A King
• The Food Your Grocery Store Doesn’t Want You To See
• Meat Eaters Should Have Been Listening To Vegetarians All Along
• Farmer Forced To Dump Insane Amount Of Gorgeous Cherries
• Al Capone’s Brother May Have Invented Date Labels For Milk

Why It Should Matter That Hillary Clinton Was A Breadwinner

Of course, Hillary Clinton is not like you and me, but for a short time beginning in 1980, she felt the primal anxiety most working mothers in the United States experience. 

Bill Clinton had essentially just been fired, having lost his reelection bid for governor of Arkansas. Chelsea Clinton was only 9 months old. They had to leave the governor’s mansion and find a home. Hillary was the one who had to pay for it. She needed work. Bill had other things on this mind, according to a fascinating report earlier this week from Amy Chozick at The New York Times.

“She worried about saving for Chelsea’s college, caring for her aging parents, and even possibly supporting herself should the marriage or their political dreams dissolve,” Chozick writes.

The financial stress of that time period, Chozick says, is a driving factor behind some of Hillary Clinton’s more questionable financial decisions in the ensuing years ― the controversial investments and board seats. Even the Goldman Sachs speeches.

Perhaps even more profoundly though, the experience may have informed how Clinton thinks about policy. Any woman who’s had to work and raise a family knows that the U.S. leaves us hanging. Soon enough we may have a president who understands that better than any man who’s come before her.

As first lady, in the ‘90s, when the culture was still largely hostile to working women and mothers, Clinton didn’t get a real opportunity to put that empathy into action. Indeed, in offering support for her husband’s welfare reform law she may have done real damage to poor working women.

Now she’s pushing for a raft of policies that, in theory, would help poor and middle-class working women a great deal ― including equal pay, a higher minimum wage, paid family leave and subsidized child care. 

DONALD R. BROYLES/AP

Bill and Hillary Clinton with baby Chelsea in 1980.

She’d be following President Obama, who has done a great deal for working parents, as The Huffington Post’s Mollie Reilly points out. That’s partially because we’ve finally arrived at a time when dual-earner parenting is increasingly common ― and not controversial. Obama also has the insights of his wife, who raised two young girls while working as a lawyer.

Back in the ‘80s, Hillary Clinton was in pretty rarefied company. Only a small percentage of women were head of household 36 years ago. The Trumpian way ruled the day for most middle-class white women ― the Republican presidential nominee has said many times that he makes the money, and his wife, whoever that’s been, is the one who does everything else.

Today the Clintons’ situation is pretty common: Women were the primary or sole breadwinner in 40 percent of all households with children under 18 in the U.S., according to Pew data from 2013. A record high number.  

Pew

How do you work full time and raise a child or children in a country that offers almost no support to families outside of 10 months of public school each year?

We’re the only country in the developed world that does not mandate some kind of paid maternity leave. If your workplace doesn’t offer it, you just suck up the lost income during one of the most financially precarious times of your life. Or you go back to work too soon and leave your infant with...

Well, your options for child care are not great. It’s expensive, of varying quality and sometimes difficult to even secure.

Once you get the kid or kids into public school, you still scramble. The school day ends hours before the work day concludes, after all. And in a country that doesn’t require employers to offer paid sick leave, you’re also at the mercy of not only your health but that of your children. For many women, each sick day costs money.

And even if you nail all those pieces, you’re still just hustling to run a household and a career.

Clinton, like millions of mothers today, had to figure some shit out.

“Hillary had a couple years of the taste of what it means to be a working mother, without any help, to have to take care of a small baby and care for your job,” James B. Blair, a close Clinton friend and lawyer, told the Times.

Of course, what happened next for the Democratic presidential nominee is utterly alien to most of us. The Clintons had Ivy League degrees, deep powerful connections and unimaginable privilege. Hillary landed a six-figure job, convinced a former friend/colleague to help with child care and managed to buy a home. With help from Blair she turned a small investment in cattle futures into a sum large enough for a down payment. (That trade would come up for much criticism later.) 

Bill did land work at a law firm, but he was making half as much as his wife and was traveling a lot of the time, according to the NY Times. Soon enough, he was back at it as governor and blah blah blah, you know the rest. 

As president, Bill Clinton didn’t seem to get the issues facing working mothers at all. His infamous Welfare reform forced millions back to work ― many of these people were mothers ― without providing any kind of support. The measure is considered a disaster in most progressive corners. Hillary Clinton supported the legislation at the time and touted it for years. That’s troubling.

Let’s hope she figures something better out this time around.

This story has been updated with additional details.