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Back to Business

What is the future of America’s small businesses?

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Corporate America has a supplier diversity problem

by David Brancaccio and Daniel Shin
Jun 22, 2021
Programs meant to connect large corporations with more diverse suppliers are not working.
Following the civil rights movement of the 1960s, special programs emerged that were meant to connect large corporations with more diverse suppliers.
kupicoo via Getty Images
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Southern car plants are humming, but worker vaccinations have stalled

by Blake Farmer
Jun 21, 2021
Auto makers are trying to figure out the best way to encourage more workers to get vaccinated.
General Motors’ Spring Hill, Tennessee site, along with most car plants, is continuing to require masks for employees building cars as many plants struggle to reach a level of herd immunity.
Courtesy of GM
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Cleaning and sanitizing as COVID theater

by Kristin Schwab
Jun 18, 2021
COVID spreads mostly by air, but businesses are still zealously cleaning surfaces. It’s about customer perception, one owner says.
Many businesses are still investing time and money in sanitizing for COVID-19 safety, though it may be unnecessary.
Sean Gardner via Getty Images
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Why business owners are stocking up on inventory

by Justin Ho
Jun 15, 2021
Supply chain bottlenecks and a booming economy are pushing business owners to create a buffer — even taking out loans to do so.
Many businesses are stocking up on goods to meet customer demands.
Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
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The economic models of the past didn't figure on a pandemic

by Kimberly Adams
Jun 14, 2021
The Fed is trying to create a way forward in monetary policy — but in nearly uncharted economic conditions.
The Federal Reserve is navigating between rising inflation and the risks caused by the pandemic. Its interest rate policy committee will meet this week.
Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images
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Immigration

Canada's agricultural worker program is under scrutiny amid the pandemic

by Emma Jacobs
Jun 14, 2021
COVID-19 raised questions about the working and living conditions for some of the country's immigrant workers.
Farm workers fill up bins in the back of a truck with zucchini.
Joe Raedle via Getty Images
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Drive-thru exhibits could be more than a pandemic trend

by Cole del Charco
Jun 9, 2021
Converting to a drive-thru meant one company with animatronic dinosaurs didn’t have to hang up the Stegosaurus.
Signs guide drivers through the pandemic-friendly dinosaur exhibit that culminates with a replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
Cole del Charco
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Race and Economy

For many Black employees, working from home can provide relief from inequitable workplaces

by Kimberly Adams
Jun 8, 2021
Working from home can give Black workers a break from microaggressions, but it can also cut them off from their peers.
Remote work gives Black employees more distance from the microaggressions and discrimination they might experience in the workplace.
recep-bg via Getty Images
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Restaurants find tech adopted during the pandemic serves them well

by Susanna Capelouto
Jun 3, 2021
One restaurant says a QR code system for ordering means it can hire fewer people to wait on customers –– and it can pay those people more.
A Bartaco restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, uses a QR code-based ordering system.
Susanna Capelouto
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Meet the business reclaiming the narrative around Native art

by David Brancaccio and Rose Conlon
May 27, 2021
Seattle-based Eighth Generation works with Native artists to create wool blankets and more.
"What we have learned during the pandemic is that we can be confident in consumers' interest in doing the right thing," said Louie Gong, founder and CEO of Eighth Generation.
Courtesy of Ken Yu/Eighth Generation
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