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Fiscal bureau says health care changes could be costly to taxpayers
The Joint Finance Committee considers insurance changes for public sector workers.
Wanelo 3.0 makes e-commerce less ‘primitive’ by organizing products around …
For many of us, shopping is about desire and the quest for products to fall in love with. Wanelo released the third version of its mobile application today to make online shopping a pleasurable and personal experience for everyone.
Wanelo is a social shopping app that has a community of eight million dedicated users. People collect items that they want, need, or love to save and share on their profile, so its similar to Pinterest. Unlike Pinterest, Wanelo is intended to drive e-commerce. Clicking an image prompts you to save the item or redirects you where you can buy it. You can follow brands, designers, and stores that you love as well as other Wanelo community members (or build up a following of your own).
This makes Wanelo is a potential goldmine for things like kitschy home goods and inexpensive, on-trend apparel.
E-commerce is exploding, yet the market has remained primitive, said founder Deena Varshavskaya in an interview. We make sense of the world through the people around us, and we have a social network for every basic human need except shopping. When we look at a piece of content, we want to know who created it, who likes or hates it, who uses it, and so on.
Thats what Wanelo is building.
Rather than ad-retargeting or recommendation engines, Wanelo uses social networking to find products you may like. Every member has an activity feed, and last year Wanelo introduced a trending feature that reigned in its first wave of success. The latest version puts the personalized feed at the forefront of the user experience, so opening up Wanelo instantly provides a variety of products from sources curated by the user, making it even more dangerous for getting lost.
The system includes products from over 200,000 stores, including major retailers like Urban Outiftters and Nasty Gal as well as small independent shops like Etsy sellers. The more stores and people you follow, the smarter your feed gets. Users are spending an average of 50 minutes per day on Wanelo, and over five million products are saved eight million times a day.
At a recent media dinner that Wanelo hosted, the companys investors spoke about how significant the traction, growth, and levels of engagement are for the startup, but also for the world of e-commerce. Varshavskaya said Wanelos mission is to democratize and transform the worlds commerce by reorganizing shopping around people.
There are millions upon millions of products for sale on the Internet and they are difficult to search through. Wanelo is building a meta-layer on top of e-commerce to improve the process of finding stuff to want, need, and love. Wanelos investors, which include Floodagte, First Round Capital, Naval Ravikant of Angel List, and Forerunner Ventures, see this as the future of shopping.
Wanelo is based in San Francisco and has raised $3 million.
Photo Credit: Wanelo
McIntire School of Commerce Ranked One of Nation’s Best
March 21, 2013
The University of Virginias McIntire School of Commerce earned top ranking among the nations best undergraduate business programs.
The School of Commerce ranked second, according to the Annual Bloomburg Businessweek rankings.
McIntire earned A+ grades for teaching quality, facilities, services, and job placement.
Other Virginia schools ranked in the top 50 were the University of Richmond (17), The College of William Mary (27) and James Madison University (29).
Norte Dames Mendoza College of Business earned the top spot on the list.
Click Here to read the full Bloomburg Businessweek article.
A Chicago Fat Cat for Commerce Secretary?
Will President Obama really nominate billionaire Chicago gal pal Penny Pritzker to head his Commerce Department? Its a done deal, according to a White House source close to theChicago Tribune. As further confirmation, Pritzker resigned abruptly from the Windy Citys school board late last week. The crony fix seems to be in.
Hudson County chambers of commerce market local businesses nationally …
Chambers of commerce in Hudson County are casting their nets across the nation, and even around the world, to market the area to potential businesses and customers.
With Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford less than a year away, the chambers are marshaling resources to ensure that Hudson County is top of mind for the visitors expected for the big game.
We definitely recognize that the Super Bowl is an event like no other, Judith Ross, director of the Meadowlands Liberty Convention Visitors Bureau for the Rutherford-based Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, said. This event has numerous opportunities on all levels. . . . Its our job to make those connections.
On May 22, the chamber - which counts a number of Hudson communities as part of its membership, including Jersey City, Secaucus, North Bergen and Kearny - will host a Big Game Expo that will feature a trade show and conference format to highlight the regions amenities.
The event, slated for the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, will spotlight hotels, attractions, transportation options, eateries and other businesses in the area.
Were marketing this to high-level members of the Super Bowl committee, Ross said, noting that organizers expect the expo to attract a couple thousand visitors. Were also inviting event planners in to see what New Jersey has to offer.
Maria Nieves, president and chief executive officer of the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, said her organization has also reached out to the New Jersey Super Bowl committee and tourism officials to market the countys businesses.
Weve met with members of the Super Bowl committee to raise awareness and the head of the state tourism department is coming in at the end of May, Nieves said.
But officials at both chambers are also focused on efforts to promote the county and its businesses beyond the big game. While the Meadowlands chamber is sponsoring a series of educational workshops and roundtables for members, the Hudson County chamber recently sent a delegation to India to bolster investment and strengthen trade and cultural relationships between Hudson County and the Asian nation.
Co-sponsored by the Jersey City Economic Development Corp. and Friends of India, the trade mission sent a delegation of 12 Hudson business and education leaders to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Kolkata to meet with members of Indian chambers of commerce and discuss technology, real estate development, sustainable urban design, higher education, science, arts and culture, and hospitality/tourism.
Our goal is to begin showcasing Hudson County on an international level as a great place for foreign investment and to build business-to-business relationships with leaders in other countries, Nieves said. India is a highly desirable market and the first step is starting a dialogue regarding the opportunities in our region. We plan to continue the engagement long after we return to Hudson County.
In Bayonne, with the massive Bayonne Bridge-raising project under way, Bayonne Chamber of Commerce President Vincent Virga said that businesses throughout the county have opportunities to provide services and products.
Too often, small business owners have that drive and ambition to start and more often than not thats where it unfortunately stops, he said.
To help local businesses, Virga and the chamber are planning a small business summit that will provide tools and resources to get to the next step.
Farther up the waterfront, Hoboken Chamber of Commerce President Gregory DellAquila said his group plans to continue its usual networking, educational and advocacy events to double its membership and become 500-strong.
It has also launched a new website, hobokenchamber.com, where businesses can promote themselves.
Journal staff writer Ana M. Ferrer contributed to this report.
Tucson Chamber of Commerce to Hold Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at AZ Family …
AZ Family Thrift, a family owned and operated new business, joined the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce shortly after opening its doors in November of 2012. The Chamber offers its new members a ribbon cutting ceremony to announce the business to the community. The event is a popular method of honoring and promoting a new company that has joined the Tucson Metro Chamber and opened for business. The Tucson Metro Chamber has scheduled the ribbon cutting for AZ Family Thrift to take place at 3540 N. Oracle Road, #126, Tucson, AZ, 85705, on Monday, April 1, 2013 at noon and will provide the ribbon and ceremonial scissors for the ribbon cutting and will be taking a photograph. AZ Family Thrift is planning a big celebration after the ceremony, including refreshments and prize drawings, and invites the public to attend.
State Commerce Committee Kills Heating Oil Tax Bill
Earlier this week we heard testimony about a bill that would have levied a tax on home heating and propane users, Rep. Chris Perone of Norwalk, co-chair of the states commerce committee, said in a statement. In these tough economic times we decided that this bill would not be helpful to the citizens of our state and to the overall economy in Connecticut.
The committees other co-chair, Sen. Gary D. LeBeau of East Hartford said, While the goal of this bill is laudable and should be supported, the proposal as submitted is unworkable at this time given the current economic climate, especially for senior citizens on fixed or limited incomes.
LeBeau, in a statement, encouraged the heating oil industry to support a voluntary contribution to create a conservation fund that the tax would have created. Now is the time for them to stand up for the customers and the environment they say they care about.
That voluntary contribution idea was another option the states energy plan put forward to shore up funding for residents that heat with oil or propane. Since those industries arent regulated by the state, users dont already pay into a conservation fund, like electricity and natural gas customers do.
To the extent that [heating oil customers] have received heating improvement measures through the states energy efficiency programs, those measures have been cross-subsidized by electric ratepayers, or have been dependent upon other revenues, said the states energy report.
The decision on Thursday met with a positive response from the states industry group for heating oil dealers, the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association. The bottom line is weve reduced consumption by 35 percent in the last 40 years without taxes or a government program, said Chris Herb, vice president of the industry group.
He signaled that the group would consider Sen. Lebeaus suggestion of contributing to a voluntary fund so their customers would still benefit from the conservation programs. To the extent that the government is not going to raid these funds, I think theres a potential to make a voluntary contribution, Herb said.
Lets see if the state can honor its word, he said, making reference to times when the state pulled money from dedicated funds. Its been hard to have a trusting relationship when they havent upheld their part of the deal.
The shaky funding landscape for heating oil conservation can already be seen in the popular Home Energy Solutions program. Currently, residents that heat with electric or natural gas pay $75 dollars for a home audit and conservation upgrades, like new light bulbs and caulking. Heating oil users, for the same audit, have to pay $99, according to Dennis Schain, spokesman for the states energy department.
I dont know how long thats expected to hold up, certainly not for the long term, he said. Theres not another source of funding.
Twin Falls Chamber Of Commerce Business Day
Twin Falls, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KTWT-TV ) Local businesses attended a Twin falls Chamber of Commerce luncheon to celebrate its annual business day event.
Chamber members presented the lifetime achievement award to Don Olsen and Jim O'Donnell for their years of community service.
The chamber also presented Ken Ashley from Southern Idaho Landscape Center as person of the year.
Its very humbling that people see and recognize what you do, its a very humbling experience" said Ken Ashley, Southern Idaho Landscape Center.
Ashley was recognized for his involvement in the first annual festival of giving.
China Commerce Minister: Seek to Grow Trade Faster Than GDP
By Aaron Back
BEIJING--China seeks to grow foreign trade this year faster than overall gross domestic product growth, the countrys
new commerce minister said.
China faces a difficult environment for exports, with instability and uncertainty in the global economy, Gao Hucheng,
the former trade negotiator who was named Commerce Minister last week, said in an interview with various official state
media published Friday.
To meet its trade goals, China must shift the composition of its exports, relying more on technology, services and
quality to achieve competitive advantage, Mr. Gao said.
Last year, China fell short of its official target to achieve total trade growth of 10%. Exports in 2012 rose 7.9%
from a year earlier, while imports rose just 4.3%.
With respect to the domestic economy, Mr. Gao said the key tasks are to grow domestic consumption and lower logistics
costs. The government seeks to grow retail sales this year by 14.5%, he said.
Write to Aaron Back at aaron.back@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-21-132140ET
Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones amp; Company, Inc.
Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce Coalition Rallies at State House
The Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce Coalition, a coalition of 11 Chambers of Commerce with memberships totalling 7,500 member businesses and 70,000 employees are holding the event at the State Housefrom 4:30 pm to 6:30 pmin the Governors State Room and State House Rotunda.
The Chambers expect dozens of business leaders from throughout the state are expected to attend.
Chamber of Commerce Coalition Chairman David Darlington said This event brings ourChamber members to where the action takes place. It affords a great opportunity for the businesscommunity to speak directly with legislators about issues that concern us; issues like tax and budgetpolicy, regulatory affairs and access to capital. Its a great event for our members and the electedofficials as well.
Northern Rhode Island
Central Rhode Island
Cranston
East Bay
East Greenwich
East Providence Area
Greater Westerly-Pawcatuck Area
Newport County
North Central
North Kingstown amp; Southern Rhode IslandChambers of Commerce