Monday’s business headlines
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Here’s a look at Monday’s business headlines with Jane King.
Ranking of clean energy adoption
Indianapolis ranked in the bottom middle of states for clean energy adoption.
The American Council for an Energy Efficient Cconomy says Indianapolis performed best in the energy and water utilities category.
But it says Indianapolis does not yet advocate for more stringent building energy codes.
The group recommends the city increase the deployment of EV charging
Infrastructure and adopt building tune-up and audit requirements for improving the energy performance of existing buildings.
AT&T, Verizon refuse FAA request to delay 5G
AT&T and Verizon rejected a request from the FAA to delay the launch of their new 5G service.
It’s been delayed once from December and is now expected to start Wednesday.
The executives said the U.S. government had said it was “lagging behind China” in 5G services so it spent billions upgrading the technology.
Chicken prices impacting restaurants
Short supplies and escalating costs of chicken breasts and wings are leading restaurants to add thighs and other dark poultry meat to menus and entrees.
Poultry producer Perdue Farms Inc. has seen a 15% increase in boneless thigh sales in 2021 and a 20% increase in ground chicken, which is made of mostly dark meat.
Boneless skinless chicken breast, the poultry industry’s flagship product, was priced at under $1 a pound in late December 2020. Now it is more than $2 a pound, according to market research firm Urner Barry.
Some companies cutting services and reducing hours
The rapid spread of COVID-19’s Omicron variant is keeping more workers home sick and leading some companies to cut services and reduce hours.
The rise in infection has prompted retailers to train available employees on new jobs, and closed some stores altogether.
Other workers are making lots of overtime as businesses need workers.
Annual Consumer Electronics Show shortened
The annual Consumer Electronics Show will be shortened to three days instead of four, as COVID-19 cases continue to spike around the U.S.
Big-name companies like T-Mobile, Lenovo and Meta also canceled plans to attend CES and some news outlets said they would cancel or reduce coverage.
More than 2,200 exhibitors are confirmed to host in-person showcases at the Las Vegas event, and 143 additional companies have signed up to exhibit in person.