National fuel jobs

A U.S. ban on the world’s most popular social media app would affect far more American businesses and people than just the 150 million using the platform here. C asey Evertsen drove down a suburban Utah street lined with trash bins, speaking into his phone’s camera as he gave a tour of the brightly-colored truck he uses for his garbage can-cleaning business. “If you like seeing dirty stuff get cleaned and watching how cool stuff works, follow along,” he said in the video shared on TikTok. “Let’s clean some bins!” Evertsen’s service, Bin Blasters , had for a whole year struggled to get traction through Facebook and Instagram. So taking a cue from his teenage daughter, he decided to try promoting it on TikTok instead. On his eighth video, just one month in, Evertsen “blew up.” "I went out and just started cleaning bins that day, started on our route, and I look at my phone like an hour later, and there's 17,000 views,” he recalled. “Then it just got in the millions.” … [Read more...] about How A TikTok Ban Would Deal A Blow To Creators, Businesses And The American Economy

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Back in September, President Biden inked a new executive order setting the government on a bold new course for creating a national biostrategy . One of the first tasks assigned to each of the government agencies was to develop goals that outline how they plan to realize the vision of a bio-based economy. Yesterday the White House issued a report highlighting just that. Spearheaded by Georgia Lagoudas, Senior Advisor for Biotechnology and Bioeconomy at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy who is responsible for implementing the Executive Order , the document contains a number of specific strategies developed by agencies like the USDA, NIH, NSF, DOE, and DOD for introducing climate change solutions, food and agriculture innovation, supply chain resilience, human health, as well as cross-cutting advances that can have an impact across all those sectors. Representatives from those agencies spoke at the … [Read more...] about U.S. Government Sets Bold Goals For The U.S. Bioeconomy – Including A Target For 30% Of Bio-Based Chemicals

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline A group of progressive Democrats led by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) are among the first lawmakers in Congress to express their support for TikTok, despite growing bipartisan efforts to ban the popular social media app, amid concerns that an outright ban could lead to a backlash from the app’s most prominent users—Gen Z. Key Facts Bowman was the first major lawmaker in Congress to speak out in support of TikTok earlier this week, criticizing efforts to ban the app as “fear mongering” and suggesting it was fueled by “xenophobia around China.” In a recent video posted to his nearly 160,000 followers on TikTok, Bowman argued that banning the platform won’t solve any problem and said “comprehensive legislation” was instead needed to ensure social media user data is kept safe. The New York Democrat, who is a member of the progressive coalition known as the “Squad,” has since been joined by two other … [Read more...] about TikTok’s Potential Ban Faces Opposition From Some Democrats Amid Concerns It Could Cost Them Gen Z’s Support

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When it comes to issues around sustainability and energy, there are few subjects less controversial than biomass. Often hailed as a lower carbon option for heating or generating electricity, biomass involves the burning of wood pellets, chips or logs. Its proponents argue that biomass has a key role to play in the road to net zero, using wood that is unsuitable for other products and would otherwise go to waste. But critics have pointed out that biomass still involves burning natural materials, which can pollute the atmosphere. The campaigning group Cut Carbon Not Forest recently published a new survey, which shows 73% of respondents are concerned that burning trees in power stations could be making air pollution worse and harming people's health. The survey also found almost two thirds of those surveyed (64%) agree that it is misleading to call biomass green. And only 3.4% believed burning wood from other … [Read more...] about Is Biomass A Friend Or Foe Of The Environment?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Monika Mueller is the EVP Consulting Services and Head of LATAM for Softensity , a U.S.-based IT outsourcing company with a global footprint. For the past several years, organizations across industries have been feeling the tech labor crunch. Demand for skilled labor was on a steady upward trajectory when the pandemic-driven tech boom turbocharged the trend and the talent gap grew even more pronounced. Amid the fierce competition for tech workers, salaries skyrocketed and IT professionals got more selective—while growing accustomed to ample perks and the flexibility of remote work. Cut to 2022, and a reported 140,000 jobs were slashed from public and private tech companies. The trend appears to be continuing into 2023. Barely into the year, more than 94,000 tech jobs have already been eliminated, according to Crunchbase. No corner of the industry appears to be untouched, as big players like Microsoft (down … [Read more...] about How Will Recent Tech Layoffs Affect The IT Labor Market?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Income tax rate reduction and flattening, along with the expansion of school choice, are among the most consequential policy trends of the early 2020s. However, there is another policy trend emerging that, like income tax relief and greater educational choice, is making states more attractive to workers and employers. That trend is the push by policymakers to remove or mitigate the barriers to employment that state occupational licensing requirements have become. On Tuesday, March 21, Florida legislators will hold a hearing on Senate Bill 1364, legislation to recognize out-of-state occupational licenses held by new residents so that they can get to work and begin earning income in their new home state right away. If this reform, known as Universal License Recognition (ULR), is passed by legislators in Tallahassee and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) this spring, Florida would become state number 22 to enact ULR. … [Read more...] about Barriers To Employment Fall With The Rise Of Out-Of-State Occupational License Recognition

Key Takeaways U.S. equities indexes fell on March 22, 2023, as the Fed hiked interest rates even though markets remained concerned about issues in the banking sector. The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all posted losses of approximately 1.6% during Wednesday's session. Bank stocks saw significant declines, with First Republic (FRC) turning in the worst performance among S&P 500 stocks on uneasiness about its risk of failure. U.S. equities sank after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates another 25 basis points (bps) in its effort to bring down inflation. The decision came despite expectations by some that policymakers might pause hikes because of concerns about the banking sector in the aftermath of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that the banking stress will likely cause tighter credit conditions that will impact the economy. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all dropped about 1.6%. Bank stocks tumbled, … [Read more...] about Markets Dip as Fed Raises Rates Despite Banking Concerns

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Foundation Alloy, a vertically integrated metal part production platform, announced it has raised a $10.5 million seed funding round co-led by The Engine and Material Impact, and includes an investment by Safar Partners. The startup, which specializes in manufacturing high performing metal parts, was founded in February of this year by CEO Jake Guglin, Head of Research & Development Jasper Lienhard, and Professors Chris Schuh (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Tim Rupert (University of California Irvine.) “The three main competencies are alloy designs, powder manufacturing and 3-D printing,” says Guglin. The metals created through the company can be tailored to specific applications across critical industries like aerospace and defense, automotive, energy and industrial manufacturing. The company says that through the technologies it has developed , it can make parts using less energy and creating less … [Read more...] about This Startup Raised Over $10 Million To Make Metal Manufacturing More Efficient And Sustainable

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin As she watched the Kansas State men’s basketball team play in the NCAA tournament last weekend, Anne Weese felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement. It wasn’t exactly like her time as a Notre Dame basketball walk-on during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. Still, Weese was just happy to have an intimate connection with sports, albeit with a different perspective than her playing days. Weese, who has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, is the director of mental wellness and sport psychology for Kansas State’s athletics department. She helps athletes address mental health issues, assists coaches on best practices and serves as a liaison to the University’s counseling center and outside clinicians in case athletes need more specialized care in areas such as eating disorders or substance abuse. Weese cannot discuss specific counseling sessions she’s had with athletes. But she said the men’s basketball team and first-year … [Read more...] about How Former Notre Dame Basketball Walk-On Anne Weese Became Kansas State’s Mental Wellness Guru

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Nitepunk, formally known as Lasha Mamulashvili, boasts a genre-bending, free-flowing and expressive sound. At the beginning of his expedition into dance music, the producer was integral to the rave scene in the country of Georgia and he had to work numerous jobs in the United States to support his passion for music. His voyage proves to have been worth it. His entry into the scene started with him dancing as a teenager. Eventually, Hollywood actor and dancer Robert Hoffman, known for his work in the “Step Up 2: The Streets” movie, saw his dancing videos and bought one of his songs that he grooved to. Mamulashvili capitalized on this as it was a massive deal in his country, and he used this opportunity to support the dance music scene in Georgia. His events were “nasty, sweaty raves” in lounges and abandoned places, such as an empty pool hall. Mamulashvili began dancing when he was three years old, specializing in the … [Read more...] about Meet Nitepunk: A Georgian Music Producer Whose Career Started With Making Dance Videos