Western North Carolina is not just where the wild things grow, but home to a growing number of businesses using technology to turn those native plants into consumer products.
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Tropical Storm Cristobal churns in the Caribbean - 0 views
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How will this new tropical storm, named Cristobal, affect the lifestyle of those living on the islands around the Caribbean?
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Asheville area natural products industry on the rise - 1 views
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Blue Ridge has added a natural products manufacturing line to help small start-ups venturing into skin care, cosmetics and even dietary supplements. This market relies on rigorous manufacturing standards, quality testing in high-tech labs, and carefully documenting ingredients through the process.
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WNC is now home to this industry that goes all the way from the field from people growing and harvesting plants to manufacturers processing materials at Blue Ridge Food Ventures, to quality testing at A-B Tech and the U.S. Botanical Safety Lab, all the way to the market,”
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A new AdvantageWest report shows the fruits of three years of local efforts to cultivate that industry, resulting in more than 48 full-time jobs, 15 new manufacturers, 1,487 farmers trained and 44 new acres in production of medicinal plants, such as goldenseal, black cohosh and others.
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Meanwhile smaller businesses and start-ups are joining the growing market for natural products.
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As more manufacturers spring up, with a demand for locally sourced plants, more farmers may beginning to see botanicals as a feasible cash crop, Raker said.
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“There’s a consumer demand,”
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Gaia Herbs moved its operations to the region in 1997. Now 140 workers process 300 different lines of herbs and nutritional supplements in the 25,000-square-foot facility on rolling countryside outside Brevard.
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buying healing plant materials from across the mountains to ship through New York brokers to pharmaceutical companies.
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But the modern-day herbal market has gone more high-tech.
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a.) I am surprised that this specific operation and factories in the North Carolina region have existed since 1989, but are now gaining millions of dollars in revenue just from the medicine industry.
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b.) The theme of cultural landscape is found in this article. Cultural landscape is used because the farmers and growers for these industries are changing the landscape so that they are able to produce crops from the land. Nature culture is also fit into this because the farmers could be influenced by nature if there is a poor crop or something from the environment that influences their farming.
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c.) One reference to the industrial sector is how this specific industry is located near the farms in the region. This makes sense to what we learned about industry because most of the product includes the crops harvested in this region so the actual facility locates near these crops.
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e.) http://www.ibtimes.co.in/video/?video_id=NTQwODEzfHwxNDcxfHx8fHx8MTZ8fA==&video_tile=Romanian+bees+still+creating+a+buzz+in+health+industry This article relates to this article here because both are about natural products from the environment being made into medicinal products. Although the medicine from bees in the linked article is then transported and sold in stores, it is not on a scale that is as large as the industries in North Carolina in this article.
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In your article is says "About 80 of those local companies will be featured among the 200 exhibitors at the Mother Earth News Fair, a massive natural products trade show..." It's very exciting to see these small scale, local businesses thriving. In a country dominated by commercial manufacturing, it is good to see these true home grown enterprises succeeding.
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Is 3D Printing the Key to Jumpstarting American Manufacturing? | Fox Small Business Center - 1 views
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This can deal with industry because the manufacturing is changed by creating a 3d models. There will be no need to have models from foreign countries any longer and the US can start to build up more manufacturing and jobs.
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This article shows how movement of goods will be changed if 3d models are created. It will stop the US from needing certain manufactured goods from foreign countries and will change the region of the US by adding in manufacturers. It will cut down on transportation costs.
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Aren't most manufacturers big business so how would this help small business so much?
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http://www.rubbernews.com/article/20140408/NEWS/304079987/rubber-manufacturing-in-america-recession-still-affects-small-firms# this article relates because it says how small businesses are effected by recession. If small business are so impacted by recession what will happen if the 3D model doesn't work overtime? This is like a failure for small business just like recession. Will they be able to bounce back and continue or will small business fail?
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It is very surprising to hear that in the very new future, one little program of 3-D printing made available to consumers could jump-start thousands of new businesses and has the ability to create close to a million new jobs. In what other ways will 3-D printing change manufacturing in the future?
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Boomers Feed Growing Wellness Vacation Industry - 2 views
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Fitness/wellness has become a hugely popular fad in America, so it makes sense that this would spread into tourism and travel.
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This connects to mobility. People are able to travel much easier than they could in the past, so vacations are easier and more popular than ever before.
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A study presented at the first Global Wellness Tourism Congress in October 2013 estimates this type of travel is now a half-trillion dollar market, accounting for 14% of all tourism revenues.
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This connects to the service sector of the economy, because tourism and travel is a major part of the leisure/hospitality category within the consumer services
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Boomers
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When they refer to "boomers" are they talking about the baby boomer generation?
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Boomers Feed Growing Wellness Vacation Industry
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http://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/travel/relaxing-mind-rejuvenating-spirits-wellness-vacations-catch-on-in-india/article1-1190935.aspx This article shows that wellness vacations are becoming popular even in less developed countries
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This article is interesting. Bronte- you said this is a "popular fad" in America. Does this mean it will most likely die off just like other fads? After all, I don't feel like a vacation for wellness is very family-friendly. -
I understand where Jake is coming from with his statement but isn't a vacation that gets you away from the stress of work and neighbours and everything healthy? Wouldn't that constitute a wellness vacation? Also for really busy parents a vacation with their children would be both family-friendly and healthy. Not to mention that the service sector, including the consumer sector, is continuing to grow and in the quote Bronte highlighted it said that wellness vacations make up 14% of all tourism revenues, so wouldn't that imply that this fad will continue to grow? -
I find it very interesting that there are vacations that can help you with your wellness. I am curious about the different ways that they actually intend to do this. I agree with Olivia, with the idea that a vacation away from stress would be a wellness vacation in its own idea.
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Savioke Gets $2M To Build A 'Services Industry' Robot | TechCrunch - 2 views
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A) Both spinoffs were acquired by Google. It's odd that Google owns so many companies.
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B) The Human Geography theme of region is referenced here. Silicon Valley is a functional region with well-defined boundaries.
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D) Will robots be the future of services? If so, when will the majority of services be occupied by robots? Also, will this increase unemployment?
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E) http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/04/08/beth-israel-use-google-glass-throughout-emergency-room/WhIXcVzkpn7MOCAhKuRJZL/story.html This article relates to the article "Google Glass embraced at Beth Israel Deaconess" because both are centered around Google.
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C) The service sector is referenced here. Different types of consumer services are mentioned such as those provided by hospitals and restaurants.
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It is planning to use the money to develop and build its first robot, an as-yet unnamed piece of hardware that will be focused on the services industry.
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Hospitals, elder care facilities, hotels, restaurants, office services
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moving out from behind the fences in factories and out from research labs to provide value around people, where we live and work
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With the development and inclusion of technology such as this in industry, unemployment must rise...Robots could reach a level in which their work is superior to that of a human. I imagine robots would be reserved for high precision/high skill careers.
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Dove's Latest Ad Entails Tricking Women to Wear Fake Beauty Patches - ABC News - 1 views
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I cannot believe that this is real; if I were to have a patch on my arm for a few weeks, I would hide it and wonder how it is possibly helping me...Does it really make them feel confident???!
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This relates to advertisement which relates to consumerism which relates to services. Services depend on and affect societies and culture. Different regions of the world have different types of society and culture. Thus, this article relates to the theme of REGION.
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This article deals with advertisement, which is a huge part of consumerism. Consumerism dictates services- if a service is not desirable by the people, then it will not thrive and will not be in a place. Dove attempts to become more popular by making a commercial in which woman wear fake patches that make them feel confident, and even more so upon the revelation that it is made of nothing and is worthless!
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I don't understand how any woman would feel better by wearing the patch...? What did the patch claim to do exactly- why did they want to "show off" such a thing?
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This is an older article; I'll post another one, but it certainly relates!!!! http://weburbanist.com/2010/11/08/15-cool-crazy-controversial-advertisements/
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http://abcnews.go.com/Business/banana-republic-sued-allegedly-deceptive-discount-signs/story?id=23178043 This current event also involves silly and questionable advertisement tricks to attract customers...
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This relates to advertisement which relates to consumerism which relates to services. Services depend on and affect societies and culture. Different regions of the world have different types of society and culture. Thus, this article relates to the theme of REGION.
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advertising
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Dove may have struck advertising gold last year with its “Real Beauty Sketches” ad, but not everyone is praising its latest attempt at a viral video in which women were given beauty patches for two weeks as part of an experiment and then told the whole thing was fake
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sychologis
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“I’m beautiful. I’m strong. I’m independent. And I can just be whoever I want to.”
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Dove: Patches campaign was designed to evoke conversation about how the right state of mind can unlock a powerful feeling of beauty that lives inside all women.
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This is really interesting. I wonder if any of the women at least suspected that something was going on. The whole idea seems kind of ridiculous, but I don't really see why so many people were extremely offended by it!
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Jes, your article was fascinating. It is baffling how far people will go to "fit in." You made a tremendous point about Dove's advertisement. TV commercials are sources of globalization since they connect different people from around the world.
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Growth Eases in China's Service Sector - NYTimes.com - 2 views
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investors have sold stock and currency investments and moved them to developed markets. Signs of slowing or weak activity in China and other major emerging markets are further hastening this shift.
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I'm not surprised that business' are moving back to developed regions where they can target consumers with more range and money to buy there products.
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Cultural landscape is shown here as business' should expect growth to slow during this time because of cultural traditions in China.
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Shouldn't China's economy be growing since many manufacturing jobs are being outsourced from developed regions for cheap labor?
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The cooling growth in the service sector before the Lunar New Year, China’s biggest holiday, echoed a slowdown in its factories. Over the weekend, a government survey showed growth in Chinese factories slipped to a six-month low in January.
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I would have thought that a major holiday such as this would have caused a rise in the consumer services as people buy more goods to celebrate.
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Padraic, I found your article to be interesting. You made a great point that China's manufacturing jobs should be increasing due to outsourcing. I agree that it is odd that growth is easing in China.
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I am surprised by this, but yet again, I am not. Today we are seeing commercials on TV about "buying American" or even on news channels like ABC; they are pushing the regrowth of U.S. industry by purchasing domestic products. So this has the possibility for being a turning point for America.
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I do agree that it is weird that manufacturing jobs in China are slowly decreasing but also at the same time it makes sense. Outsourcing takes a long time and even though transportation by ship is the cheapest transportation, it is also one of the most inefficient. With advanced technology, developed countries will be able to find ways to produce their own goods quicker and cheaper, causing outsourcing to be pointless. Until countries like China find a more efficient way of producing and transporting than the developed countries today, I believe that the amount of outsourcing will slowly decline.
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Why Acquisitions Make Sense In Consumer And Retail - Forbes - 2 views
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This bodes well for growth companies in the consumer and retail space. It also bodes well for investors, whether they use an online investing platform or invest offline.
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The total value of consumer-retail deals actually exceeded the value of internet and software M&A, combined, in 2013. In 2013, the consumer and retail market was about $91 billion according to PriceWaterhouseCooper. The internet and software industries had a total of $55 billion in M&A for 2013.
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Retail services are so profitable and this relates to cultural landscape, because it says something about a land that spends and earns more money in services that help consumers than in areas that supply food and resources.
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Retail services are one of the largest areas of consumer services and the tertiary sector as a whole.
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I wonder if these services will become more or less profitable in the future?
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http://qz.com/#197172/samsung-just-uncovered-a-market-with-150-million-new-customers/ this link relates to retail services, because it dicusses communications services, which are a part of the tertiary sector as is the retail service.
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I would believe that the consumer sector would out do the tech sector simply for the fact that it is more traditional. People are more used to shopping and buying things in person, so tech services trying to let people buy things online face an uphill battle one getting people to switch over. Also everyone has to buy things at some point at a retail store, but not everyone will need help with their technology. -
I believe that we would expect to see an increase in the profits of tech services because as more and more people grow familiar with these services, it is much more convenient and easier for them, like using online shopping rather than going out and spending the time and effort to shop in person. This can be shown by companies like Blockbusters and Borders who went out of business due to at home conveniences of the internet. However, some retail stores and services cannot, and most likely will not, go away because people need what they sell right away, such as grocery stores.
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FIFA introduces first standardized medical bag for World Cup | Fox News - 1 views
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In November 2013, FIFA passed a rule mandating that at least one AED must be available on the sideline of all FIFA competitions and matches. FIFA also launched the FIFA Sudden Death Registry in 2014 in order to document fatal events in football.
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The bags, created in collaboration Johnson & Johnson, the official health care sponsor of the World Cup,
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It surprised me that a player had died in a FIFA match so recently. It seems like there should have been better medical resources there by now.
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This demonstrates mobility because there are people from Cameroon and other countries in France, experiencing the French culture while playing a sport that did not originate in their home country.
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“[In the past], sideline medical teams, they were using the standard equipment that they had in the arena, in the stadium,” Dr. Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer told FoxNews.com.
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Johnson & Johnson is an extremely well known brand and the people who are working to get these medical bags together and making sure that they have everything that they need in them.
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I'm really not sure how an organization of the magnitude that FIFA is could go so long without realizing that their medical standards at the games were not safe enough. Why did it take somebody dying for them to figure it out?
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Since my article is about health services being improved I believed that the article about guidelines to hepititis B treatments would fit. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/04/09/who-issues-first-ever-hepatitis-c-treatment-guidelines/
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I am surprised a health service hasn't jumped on this opportunity before now. Athletes get hurt, you would think that someone would have moved in as the sole health service in the FIFA cup much early than now.
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It is also interesting that the health services at such a global sport, like soccer, has not increased because we observed that the health care has been increasing.
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It is very surprising that the most globally popular sport in the world (soccer) had a lack of medical support at a major FIFA match. However, it is good to see that the next World Cup in Brazil will have the medical bags. You never know when a player could be put into a life threatening situation. I also agree with Bronte, in that Johnson and Johnson will have a significant gain in product sales after advertising at such a prestige event like the World Cup.
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It is interesting to know that FIFA has just now decided to construct a standardized medical bag for the 2014 world cup. I wonder what precautions were taken for injuries in the past.
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The U.S. should encourage more manufacturing here at home: New Balance CEO | Daily Tick... - 1 views
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The United States today has fewer people working in manufacturing than it had in 1941 before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the rush to produce weapons. But not all U.S. manufacturers are shadows of their former selves
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Rising labor costs in foreign markets
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incentives to make things closer to consumption
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Investment and innovation
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global economy
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U.S. manufacturing is expanding
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It's surprising to me that 25% of New Balance's shoes are made in the U.S. and that 1300 employees are working in the U.S.
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This connects to the theme of Mobility because New Balance has to determine what would be the best way for them to transport their goods to the markets and consumers, at the lowest costs.
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This relates to industry because it shows that the labor costs are increasing in foreign countries, like China that is known for cheap labor, and it will cost less for the company to make their products in the U.S. and have them closer to markets. This is a situation factor because of transportation costs.
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Will domestic product of goods increase and how would this affect countries that are currently "hubs" for cheap labor? How will those countries react?
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http://businesstheory.com/136-increase-chinas-minimum-wage-compete-global-manufacturing/ The article above relates to this article because it talks about how higher wages in China will push factories to other places with cheaper labor, like Vietnam. The gap between U.S. and Chinese labor costs are shrinking, which helps explain why companies like New Balance are able to have industries in the U.S. instead of foreign countries.
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This directly relates to how the tertiary sector is growing, because other sectors, like manufacturing is in, are declining.
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Brazil's Diagnostic Medicine Market - Its Growth and Profits - 2 views
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After nearly three years on the market, Alliar – the diagnostic medicine group – continues with its aggressive expansion strategy with a total of 65 diagnostic imaging units in Brazil and reaching revenues of about R$310 million (US$125 million) and a 40 % average growth
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Alliar’s growth has been in the range of 50% per year.
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Alliar’s president has stated that “It’s a segment that has differentiated growth possibilities, more accelerated than healthcare in general”. “The sector is still very fragmented and therefore opportunities for consolidation still exist.”
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Since the beginning Alliar has been taking advantage of the current Brazilian market forces that have health insurance companies setting up low prices for this particular line of services with significant detriment to its profit margins and a growing middle class expansion that have substantially increased its demand for medical diagnostic services.
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Fleury SA (FLRY3) and Diagnosticos of America SA (DASA), Brazil’s biggest publicly traded diagnostics companies are Alliar strongest competitors, however, these are services in the major centers such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Thus, Alliar has focused in smaller cities having most of its units in São Paulo and Minas Gerais away from their metropolitan areas, areas that are not fully served by FLRY3 and DASA.
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In 2010, a partnership between the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) and Patria Investments – Brazil’s leading private equity fund firm – was established allowing Blackstone to buy a 40% stake in Patria Investments with the goal of building their businesses in Brazil and throughout South America.
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Why would the Blackstone group want to build its reach into Brazil? I am certain there are many other countries with booming markets. For example China.
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This interest the Blackstone Group has in Brazil is showing the theme of globalization as they try to reach out to places around the world for business.
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This article in general connects to our current chapter as it shows the interaction between a business service and a health service as they work together to better their own companies.
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This relates to services in the fact that it is smart of the Alliar Group to locate farther away from competition so that they have more of a pull on the people that live in the rural areas. This opposed to fighting for consumers in an already service filled area.
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This relates to our previous chapter on industry. It does so as it brings up how strong Brazil's economy is getting. This shows it is indeed a BRIC country.
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This article reminds me a lot of horizontal integration in the trust days of the U.S.
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This is stating that since this company's particular service has so much variation it is easy to consolidate and grow.
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http://www.businessoffashion.com/2014/02/brazil-fast-fashion-heats.html This other article describes how fashion businesses are trying to get into Brazil and take advantage of its strong economy.
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This article describes how a health service company is taking advantage of Brazil's booming economy to consolidate business and give itself an edge. This group has an annual growth of about 50% and shows the booming medical services.
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U.S. factories punch above weight with solid job gains | Reuters - 2 views
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Manufacturing accounted for 18.5 percent of the 113,000 jobs created last month, up from a 10.67 percent share in December
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increase last month was triple the sector's average monthly jobs gains of 7,000 in 2013
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output grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the fourth quarter, hiring could cool off a bit.
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The pace of job increase in the secondary sector was very surprising. I suspected the increases to be at lower rates.
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I would involve the theme of globalization to this article. The production of automobiles are a large portion of job increase, and a growing portion of these car companies in the United States are foreign.
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The most prevalent question I thought of during the article would be whether these rates of growth can continue into the next few years?
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There are a few direct correlations between the industrial sector and the article. The article itself focuses on the increasing rates of manufacturing jobs in the United States. The article says: "(Job increase) output grew at its fastest pace in nearly two years in the fourth quarter..."
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Another current event relating to this article would be found at http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/04/22/detroit-sees-11-5-increase-in-manufacturing-jobs-filled-year-over-year/ in which the manufacturing industry has seen a significant growth in employment in Detroit.
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President Barack Obama has set off a goal of 1 million manufacturing jobs to be created during his second term.
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"To ensure that the optimism for this year can be fulfilled, manufacturers want policymakers to adopt pro-growth measures that will allow them to continue to expand," said Moutray
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Wewer I too was surprised that secondary sector jobs grew as much as they did. Like you stated, this sector should not be growing in a developed country like our own.
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