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☆ The US is weighing using the power of the dollar to stop Chinese banks aiding Russia — but its plan could backfire
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chinese banks are helping to aid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US alleges. The US is considering sanctions to cut Chinese banks off from the dollar, according to The Wall Street Journal. AdvertisementThe US is drawing up sanctions that could cause some Chinese banks to lose access to the dollar, according to The Wall Street Journal. In response to previous sanctions, Russia and China intensified efforts to create exchange mechanisms that don't rely on the dollar. Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center think tank, told The Wall Street Journal that regional Chinese banks had emerged that had little involvement in dollar exchanges.

Persons: —, Antony Blinken, Alexandra Prokopenko, Prokopenko, Maria Snegovaya Organizations: Wall Street, Service, Reuters, Financial, Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Center for Strategic, International Studies Locations: Ukraine, China, Russia, Italy, Russian

☆ The new 62-story tower set to transform New York City’s skyline
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

And now, a multi-billion-dollar tower featuring floor-to-ceiling glass will add another dimension to the cityscape, according to new details unveiled by New York City Mayor Eric Adams this week. Stretching up 62 stories, a planned office tower at 350 Park Avenue will provide space for more than 6,000 jobs, plus 1.8 million square feet of commercial office space, according to a press release. White columns will frame a new public concourse at the base of the new building on Park Avenue, complete with green space, seating and art displays, images show. Building this new office space comes at a fraught time for the commercial real estate market as businesses struggle to entice workers back to the office after years of working from home. The project will begin the city’s public review process early next year and the tower is expected to be completed by 2032, according to the release.

Persons: Eric Adams, Kenneth Griffin, Rudin, White, Foster, Partners Adams, “, ”, Adams, Meera Joshi, ” Joshi Organizations: CNN, Chrysler, Trade Center, Empire, New York City, Vornado Realty Trust, Citadel, Citadel Securities, Partners, Midtown, Rockefeller Center, St, Grand Central, Midtown —, Central Park Locations: New York, Midtown Manhattan, Patrick’s, York, Fifth, Central

☆ Interior designers share the 10 things in your kitchen you should get rid of
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Sophia Mitrokostas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

So we spoke to interior designers to figure out which items and design elements you should remove. "Nothing makes a kitchen look messier than countertop clutter," the designer said. Pixel-Shot/ShutterstockRebecca Langman, interior designer and owner of Revision Custom Home Design, told BI that open shelving is rarely the best option for kitchen storage. Advertisement"Go through your dish towels and discard those that are past their prime and no longer complement your kitchen," Jarvis said. AdvertisementToss the cleaning supplies you rarely reach forMake your kitchen neater by ditching the cleaning supplies you infrequently use.

Persons: —, Jill Jarvis, Ehrlich, Jarvis, Rebecca Langman, Langman, Joe Cangelosi, Cangelosi, Shutterstock Langman Organizations: Service, Ehrlich Interiors

☆ Biden's laws are pouring billions into new infrastructure and it could be a rare opportunity to make communities safer and more sustainable
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave it a C-minus in 2021 and said the US needed about $2.6 trillion in infrastructure investment over a decade. These include nonvehicle transportation projects such as pedestrian bridges and urban bike paths and neighborhood-level projects like park improvements. Inflation, worker shortages, and other obstaclesAcross the country, there are some key practical challenges to implementing infrastructure projects. Overcoming barriersLocal governments and employers across the country recognize many of the challenges to building and maintaining major projects. Under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act alone, 72 programs "emphasize or allow some type of workforce development activity," a Brookings report found.

Persons: —, Joe Biden, Joseph Kane, Charles Marohn, Marohn, Kane, Drew Angerer, it's, Biden, It's, Greg Gianforte Organizations: Service, American Society of Civil Engineers, Infrastructure Investment, Jobs, Business, Transportation, Brookings Institution, Rail, Potomac, White House, Texas Department, US Department of Transportation, Michigan's, Grant, they're, Biden, Builders and Contractors, Congress, Jobs Act, Brookings Locations: Washington, Strong, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long, New York, Austin, Austinites, America, Detroit, Brookings, Montana

☆ A.I. Frenzy Complicates Efforts to Keep Power-Hungry Data Sites Green
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Patrick Sisson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Now, those arid ranch lands are offering a new moneymaking opportunity: data centers. Lancium, an energy and data center management firm setting up shop in Fort Stockton and Abilene, is one of many companies around the country betting that building data centers close to generating sites will allow them to tap into underused clean power. In the past, companies built data centers close to internet users, to better meet consumer requests, like streaming a show on Netflix or playing a video game hosted in the cloud. But the growth of artificial intelligence requires huge data centers to train the evolving large-language models, making proximity to users less necessary. But as more of these sites start to pop up across the United States, there are new questions on whether they can meet the demand while still operating sustainably.

Persons: ”, Ali Fenn Organizations: Netflix Locations: West Texas, Fort Stockton and Abilene, United States

☆ Excessive alcohol drinking drove about 488 deaths per day during the pandemic, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The average number of deaths related to excessive alcohol use increased more than 29% from 2016-17 to 2020-21, said the report, published Thursday. Drinking excessively can lead to deaths directly related to alcohol, such as alcoholic liver disease, alcohol poisoning, suicide by excessive alcohol use, crashes and falls, and fetal alcohol syndrome, among others. For the past two decades, deaths from excessive alcohol use have been increasing in the United States, the CDC said. “We know that there’s a lot of evidence about what works to prevent excessive drinking, and to reduce alcohol-related harm. While the new study focused on excessive alcohol use, it isn’t measuring the harms of all levels of alcohol use.

Persons: ”, Marissa B, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, “, ” Esser Organizations: CNN, US Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Canadian Institute for Substance, CDC’s National, CNN Health Locations: TikTok, United States

☆ Kate Winslet is a blast in 'The Regime' — but critics say it's not the next 'Succession'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Palmer Haasch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"The Regime'" is HBO's latest bet on Kate Winslet, who helped carry miniseries like "Mare of Easttown" to critical acclaim. But according to critics, the series doesn't entirely live up to Winslet's excellent performance. But while critics praised Winslet's acting, many noted that if you're looking for more "Succession," this isn't quite it. Matthias Schoenaerts and Kate Winslet in "The Regime." Miya Mizuno/HBOThe show's ensemble cast is underusedIn addition to Winslet and Schoenaerts, "The Regime" has an ensemble cast with several acclaimed actors.

Persons: —, Kate Winslet, Winslet, Elena Vernham, she's, — Vernham, Herbert Zubak, Matthias Schoenaerts, Will Tracy, Winslet's, Daniel Fienberg, Beast's Coleman Spilde, Gregory Lawrence, Miya Mizuno, Judy Berman, Marina Fang, Carly Lane, Lawrence, elucidations, Alexandre Desplat's, Fienberg, Stephen Frears, Jessica Hobbs, Alexandre Desplat, Caryn James, Oscar, Spilde, HuffPost's Fang, Andrea Riseborough, Schoenaerts, Agnes, Hugh Grant, Martha Plimpton, Judith Holt, Guillaume Gallienne, Danny Webb, David Bamber, Henry Goodman, Paste's Elijah Gonzalez, Andrea Riseborough's Organizations: Service, The, French Dispatch, Budapest Hotel, Daily, HBO, State Locations: Austria

☆ Russia's war with Ukraine has its economy facing 'death by a thousand cuts,' economist says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Aruni Soni | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russia's war with Ukraine has its economy facing "death by a thousand cuts," a British economist wrote. Russia's economy seems to be getting along amid its protracted war in Ukraine and harsh sanctions from the West, but that can't go on forever, according to one economist. "Russia's economy faces death by a thousand cuts," British economist Roger Bootle wrote in the Telegraph on Sunday. In spite of heavy sanctions, Russia's economy actually grew 3.6% last year, faster than most countries in Europe, Bootle noted. War spending is booming, and as war production rises, its gains spill into other pockets of the economy.

Persons: Roger Bootle, Bootle Locations: Ukraine, British, Russia, Europe, Bootle

☆ How millennials could give the suburbs a much-needed makeover
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The suburbs are home to the vast majority of Americans, including millennials priced out of cities. AdvertisementThese days, the American suburbs are seeing something of a revival after a few decades of the back-to-the-city movement, in which mostly young people flocked to urban centers. The rise of remote work coupled with the soaring costs of urban housing has pulled, or pushed, lots of millennials and others to the suburbs and even far-flung exurbs. Exclusive, isolating, and inconvenient suburbsThe American suburbs have always been flawed in a host of ways. Kotkin says the American suburbs have “won the battle” with cities, reigning as the more economically and demographically dominant place.

Persons: —, ”, Andrew Justus, ” Justus, “ We’ve, Adie Tomer, Tomer, Joe Sohm, Joel Kotkin, Kotkin, “, ” Tomer, Tayana Panova, ” Panova Organizations: Service, Niskanen, Brookings Institution, MIT, Chapman University, National Review, metros Locations: American, it’s, Paoli , Indiana, America’s, Somerville , Massachusetts, Shaker Heights , Ohio, Orange , California, Bronxville, Westchester County, Woodlands, Texas, Houston, ”, walkable, Suburban

And yet, an antiviral treatment proven to lessen the chances of severe outcomes is going underused. The drug, Paxlovid, is lauded by experts as a powerful tool that can prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19. One Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that Paxlovid can decrease hospitalization risks among adults by 51%. The study by Harvard researchers found that Paxlovid was disproportionately given to Medicare patients with lower risk of severe infection. “There are very few medications and very few patients whose potential medication interaction with Paxlovid is so severe that they’re better off not taking Paxlovid,” he said.

Persons: they’ve, ”, Amesh, Paxlovid, Kurt Proctor, Celise Ballow, Ballow, “ I’m, I’m, … I’m, ” Ballow, ’ ”, Sarah George, Michael Barnett, Robert Wood Johnson Organizations: Johns Hopkins University, Disease Control, Pfizer, National Community Pharmacists Association, St, Louis University, Harvard, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AP Locations: COVID, U.S, Junction , Utah, Paxlovid, Harvard

☆ 'Argylle' is getting panned by critics who are calling it 'exceedingly hollow' and 'unbearably smug'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Olivia Singh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Sam Rockwell is a standout as an unconventional spy, but most of the cast is underused. Sam Rockwell as Aidan and Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway in "Argylle." — Pete Hammond, Deadline"Most of the other supporting players — especially Cena and Samuel L. Jackson as yet another shadowy covert operative — appear in just enough scenes to make you wish their roles were more than glorified bit parts." — Matt Singer, Screen Crush"The overstuffed cast leaves legends like Samuel L. Jackson and Bryan Cranston mostly yelling in empty rooms." — Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair"You may go into 'Argylle' wondering, per the film's curiosity-baiting tagline, who is the real Agent Argylle?

Persons: Sam Rockwell, Aidan, Bryce Dallas Howard, Elly Conway, Peter, MARV, Matthew Vaughn, Pete Hammond, Cena, Samuel L, Jackson, — Matt Singer, Bryan Cranston, — Ben Travis, — Richard Lawson, assuredly, David Fear, Stone Organizations: Universal Pictures, Apple Locations: Ebbing , Missouri, Empire

☆ Banks are being rocked again as real estate losses mount
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The regional lender set aside $552 million in the fourth quarter to absorb loan losses, up from $62 million in the previous quarter. The increase was driven partly by expected losses on a loan used to finance an office building, it said. ET as shares in NYCB, as well as other regional banks, suffered sharp losses. Much bigger players are girding themselves for losses linked to commercial real estate. Europe’s benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Banks index, which tracks 42 big EU and UK banks, is up 23% since a low in late March.

Persons: Thomas Cangemi, Brendan McDermid, Julius Baer, Philipp Rickenbacher, Arnd Wiegmann, Reuters Philip Lawlor, ”, “, ” Lawlor, CNN’s Matt Egan Organizations: London CNN, Credit Suisse, New York Community Bancorp, New York Stock Exchange, Japan’s Aozora Bank, Federal Reserve, ”, CNN, Signa Group, Chrysler, Reuters, Deutsche Bank, Bank, Suisse —, UBS, Wilshire Indexes, KBW Locations: Europe, New York, Tokyo, Zurich, California, Republic, NYCB, Banc, Swiss, Austrian, Switzerland

☆ This underused savings tool could earn you guaranteed 5.5% interest—but you'll want to act quickly
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-16 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

With CDs, you deposit a specific amount of money for a fixed period of time — months or years — at a guaranteed rate of interest. While you can't prematurely withdraw those funds without paying a penalty, the trade-off is that CDs tend to offer higher interest rates than most savings accounts. That's much higher than the average annual percentage yield you'll find for traditional savings accounts, which was 0.57% as of Jan. 16, 2024, per Bankrate. While high-yield savings might offer APRs more comparable to CDs, you can often find CDs with slightly higher rates. Some CDs also offer higher yields than one-year Treasury bonds, which are comparably safe investments.

Persons: Gen Zers, Jay Zigmont Organizations: Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Childfree

☆ Jack Dorsey is getting rid of annual reviews and PIPs at Block. I asked our workplace correspondent if it's a trend.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jack Dorsey says Block will no longer do performance reviews or performance-improvement plans. She told me she thought PIPs — performance improvement plans — were underused because companies don't necessarily want to do the legwork that often goes with them. Jack Dorsey's Block just announced that they're going to stop doing PIPs and just fire people who aren't up to snuff. So, having some ability to correct your things you're doing wrong — that's important. Block is also getting rid of annual performance reviews.

Persons: Jack Dorsey, Block, Tim Paradis, Dorsey, —, BI's, who's, you've, Gen Z, Korn, they're, Jack Dorsey's Block, it's Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Valley

☆ Housing economists have a great idea that could fix just about everything
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"A land value tax would fix that" has become a popular, and sometimes comedic, Twitter response to a range of policy conundrums among urbanists and YIMBYs. It would incentivize landowners to maximize the revenue from their property — building an apartment building instead of, for example, a parking lot. And because rich individuals and corporations own most land in cities and towns, land taxes would disproportionately fall on the wealthiest. Pure Georgists advocate for abolishing all taxes besides land value taxes. Instead, they want to see more regressive levies — like sales taxes — or those that penalize investment — like property taxes — reduced.

Persons: —, Henry George, George, Stephen Hoskins, BZ5X3Lh7mU — Daryl Fairweather ⛅, Mike Duggan, Gregor Schwerhoff, Shane Phillips, Scott Olson, Phillips, Hoskins Organizations: Service, urbanists, Resource Justice, Lawmakers, Detroit, International Monetary Fund, Lewis Center for Regional Policy Locations: America, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh , Harrisburg, Allentown, Detroit, Minnesota, Hamtramck , Michigan, American

[1/3] Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon speak together during Goldman Sachs analyst impact fund competition at Goldman Sachs Headquarters in New York City, U.S., November 14, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Goldman Sachs Group Inc FollowNEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) Chief Executive Officer David Solomon and his predecessor gave career advice to about 4,000 analysts as junior bankers pitched for grants to be given to charity on Tuesday. Solomon interviewed former CEO Lloyd Blankfein, who handed over the reins in 2018, for an audience of junior employees and senior partners that drew laughter and smiles in the auditorium at its New York headquarters. Goldman partners awarded the $250,000 first-place prize to TalkingPoints, an education nonprofit, after a successful pitch from four analysts from its London office. Solomon and Blankfein addressed the junior employees a day after they attended a dinner for retired partners in New York.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, David Solomon, Brendan McDermid, Solomon, Winston, Blankfein, underused, Dan Dees, Goldman, Saeed Azhar, Lananh Nguyen, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Goldman, REUTERS, Goldman Sachs, CNBC, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, New York, London

☆ Developers who want to build apartments near public transit stations are in luck as the Biden administration opens up billions in new loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Construction of new apartment buildings is slowing as interest rates stay high. The Department of Transportation is opening up billions in loans for construction near mass transit. AdvertisementMultifamily housing construction boomed over the last couple years, and more apartments are coming on the market than at any time since the 1980s. But as interest rates have shot up, apartment construction is sharply slowing across the country. In fact, in order to qualify for the loans, developers need to show that their projects would boost ridership.

Persons: Biden, —, Dan Schned, TOD, Schned, Brian Deese Organizations: Department of Transportation, Service, of Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure Finance, Innovation, Railroad Rehabilitation, Improvement, DOT's Build America Bureau Locations: downtowns

☆ E-Flight Challenge pitched a car against a plane -- and the car won
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Miquel Ros | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Members of the E-Flight Challenge team lined up to watch the battery-powered airplane gracefully descend on the island of Norderney, just off the northwest coast of Germany. The long road ahead for electric aviationYou could say that the E-Flight Challenge takes its inspiration from the early days of aviation. The Elektra Trainer used in the E-Flight Challenge, for example, can carry a maximum of two people. Miquel RosIn this context, the E-flight Challenge served as an illustration of the challenges of electric flight – but also of its promise. The progress compared to just three years ago has been astonishing!” explains Morell Westermann, one of the E-Flight Challenge initiators.

Persons: Louis, Charles Lindbergh’s, Heart Aerospace –, –, Miquel Ros Italy’s Tecnam, China’s, Cuberg, ” Robin Riedel, Riedel, Norbert Werle, Tesla, Werle, ”, John Langford, Miquel Ros, Morell Westermann, Westermann Organizations: CNN, Lucid Motors Air, Louis Blériot’s, Channel, Heart Aerospace, United Airlines, Royce, Norwegian, Widerøe, Airbus, Boeing, Aerospace, McKinsey, Alamy, “ Aircraft, Lucid Motors Locations: Norderney, Germany, Gelnhausen, Frankfurt, Norway, Swedish, California, Berlin, The Virginia, “, Swiss

☆ America’s Other Drug Problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( German Lopez | More About German Lopez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When political leaders talk about America’s current drug crisis, they are typically referring to opioids like painkillers, heroin and fentanyl. And when they have passed laws to deal with the problem in the past decade, those policies have centered on opioids. They have, for example, focused on boosting access to medications that treat only opioid addiction or reverse only opioid overdoses. These types of problems are why experts have long urged policymakers to take a comprehensive approach to drug addiction. More support for opioid addiction medications is important, but so is funding underused treatments that address meth and cocaine addiction (such as paying people to stop using drugs).

Persons: Jan Hoffman, Jan, dumpsters

☆ Bitcoin is back (sort of)
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The big storyCrypto comebackSOPA Images / GettyThe ink is barely dry on Sam Bankman-Fried's conviction, and bitcoin is already rising like a fresh divorcee. It marked the highest price for the cryptocurrency since early May 2022, adding to what has quietly been a strong year for bitcoin, writes Insider's Phil Rosen. After a dreadful 2022 culminating in the downfall of FTX and the aforementioned SBF, bitcoin has been on the up. While there was plenty of fallout from FTX's bankruptcy, the price of bitcoin has steadily climbed this year. The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City.

Persons: —, NYU Langone, Sam Bankman, Bitcoin, bitcoin, Phil Rosen, FTX, hasn't, It's, Roubini, Doom, Noah Sheildlower, Gary Gensler, it's, Ken Griffin, Goldman Sachs, Paul Sakuma Andreessen Horowitz, Maryna, Peter Thiel, Trump, couldn't, Thiel, he's, Diplo —, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Service, NYU, BlackRock, Atlas, SEC, JPMorgan, Hudson Global, Today Locations: Delaware, India, Japan, Soho, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ I'm a recruiter at Meta. These are the top perks that win tech workers over — and the one they don't seem to care about.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Ananya Vahal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Glaze Martillano, a tech recruiter at Meta who lives in Toronto, about the benefits Meta employees are offered. VacationsWhen joining a big tech company, most candidates have high expectations when it comes to healthcare, competitive equity packages, vacations, and bonuses. Most importantly, they get to work on different projects with Meta employees based on their personal interests and skills. Companies talk about the importance of mental-health care, but there's still a stigma attached to getting help, so employees often don't take advantage of it. Forty percent of employers say they believe workers leave their jobs to work at companies that offer better benefits and perks.

Persons: Glaze, Martillano, —, It's, Meta, I've, we've, We've, it's, they'd, there's Organizations: Meta, Talent, Service, Facebook, Tech Locations: Toronto, Canada, United States, Menlo Park , California

☆ Climate tech startups Montinutra, Harvest Thermal, Bisly, and Twig recently raised a combined $13.6 million. We got a look at the pitch decks they used to raise the funds.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Climate tech startups Montinutra, Harvest Thermal, Bisly, and Twig have recently raised a collective $13.6 million between them as early-stage deals continue to dominate the venture capital industry. Biochemicals startup Montinutra, founded in 2018, raised 2 million euros, $2.1 million, in October to convert forestry sidestreams into sustainable alternatives to petrochemicals. Check out the 18-slide pitch deck below:MontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraMontinutraHeat pump startup Harvest Thermal raised $4 millionCalifornia-based Harvest Thermal raised a $4 million round for its heat pump and thermal storage combination in October. It is riding political tailwinds amid the US' recent commitment to install 20 million heat pumps by 2030. Check out the redacted pitch deck that it used to raise the funds below:Harvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest Thermal Harvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalHarvest ThermalBuilding energy management startup Bisly secured $3.8 millionEstonian startup Bisly, which wants to make it cheaper to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, just raised 3.6 million euros, $3.8 million, in seed funding in October.

Persons: Twig, Pajunen, Portfolia, Russ Tucker Organizations: Metsä, Earth Foundry, Climate Partners, Starshot, National Science Foundation, California Energy Commission, International Energy Agency, Aconterra, Second Century Ventures, SmartCap, Fund, Pinorena, Innovation, Seed Fund Locations: California, London

☆ Urban golf courses are making housing more expensive and parks harder to access — and taxpayers are footing the bill
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Many states subsidize golf courses with low property taxes, so non-golfers are footing the bill. David Madison/Getty ImagesUrban golf courses also cost taxpayers — even those who don't play — a lot of money. Proponents of retrofitting courses note that reducing the number of golf courses would help boost revenue for courses that do survive. "But then on the flip side, we have these public golf courses that are just these almost vacuous spaces that are quite underutilized." He noted that projects that just involve turning golf courses into parks are often most palatable to neighbors.

Persons: —, they'd, Franciscans who'd, Zach Klein, VDERHLrowD, David Madison, it's, Malcolm Gladwell, Scottie Scheffler, Richard Heathcote, Mitchell Reardon, htpq6Uqx8q — Cork Gaines, Ray Delahanty, Jennifer Keesmaat, Keesmaat, Don, RENE JOHNSTON, Charlie McCabe, he's, Former California Assemblymember Cristina Garcia, McCabe, Reardon Organizations: Urban, Service, Franciscans, Olympic, Getty, Los Angeles Country Club, United, 123rd U.S, YouTube, Center, City, Trust, Public, Denver, Council, Democrat Locations: Presidio, U.S, San Francisco , California, California, San Francisco's, Golden, Beverly Hills, United States, Los Angeles , California, Cities, Florida, Toronto, haven't, Don Valley, Toronto , Ontario, New Orleans, Former California, Los Angeles County

☆ Turning a tiny fraction of America's dead strip malls into housing could create 700,000 new apartments
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Old or vacant strip malls offer a promising opportunity to create much-needed new housing. A new report found that converting 10% of strip malls into housing could create 700,000 new homes. Urban planners and developers across the country are pushing a fix for both: converting strip malls into housing. But when it comes to strip mall conversions, finding the right property to redevelop is the bigger challenge. And older strip malls are often costlier to maintain than to tear down and redevelop.

Persons: —, Ahmad Abu, Khalaf, It's Organizations: Service, Enterprise Community Partners, International Council of Shopping Centers, Sears Locations: Ahmad, Cities, Abu, Santa Ana , California, Irondequoit , New York

☆ Inside the implosion of dark kitchen startup Kbox Global, another pandemic-era boom beginning to bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

In 2019, after years of investing in and setting up food and beverage brands internationally, she founded dark-kitchen startup Kbox from London. But two years after this funding, large for an early-stage European startup, Vellani exited the business suddenly, citing health issues. "You're only judged on food quality, but if the chef is doing 10 times the work for same money, then it's a fundamental problem." Both Uber Eats and Deliveroo, after an initial burst of interest, would eventually go on to cut back on virtual brands. In an email comment, Vellani acknowledged her lack of direct technical experience but said she sought to fix this through other C-suite hires.

Persons: Salima Vellani, Uber, Travis Kalanick, Vellani, Butler, CloudKitchens, Kbox, MrBeast Burger, YouTuber MrBeast, Jimmy Donaldson, Influencer Jimmy Donaldson, Burger, Brexit, Vellani didn't, Karim Vellani, Karim, Ben Schultz, Nick Holloway, I've Organizations: Balderton, Hoxton Ventures, Reef Technologies, Lean, Network, United, Advisory Locations: London, Saudi, Revolut, COVID, Kbox, Sydney

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