Business

The funding is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in 2021.
The funds will go to U.S. companies working to build new EV battery factories or overhaul existing plants to make the batteries and related components.
An additional $60 million will aid in battery recycling.

U.S. President Joe Biden gestures after driving a Hummer EV during a tour at the General Motors ‘Factory ZERO’ electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, November 17, 2021.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The Biden administration announced on Monday that it will provide $3.1 billion in funding to support efforts to make electric vehicle batteries and components in the United States.
The funding, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted last year, will aid plans by U.S. companies to build new factories and retrofit existing ones to make EV batteries and related parts.

Separately, the Department of Energy said an additional $60 million will be available to support the reuse and recycling of used EV batteries.  

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the new investments “will give our domestic supply chain the jolt it needs to become more secure and less reliant on other nations,” a key priority for the administration in the wake of the global supply chain disruptions that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The White House has said that it wants fully electric vehicles to make up over half of U.S. new-vehicle sales by 2030.

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Stellantis will retool two Ontario assembly plants to build vehicles on new platforms that will allow it to offer fully electric versions of its upcoming models.
The company also plans to add a battery lab to its Ontario-based research and development center.
The retooled factories are to be up and running by 2025.

Flag with the Stellantis logo on the front entrance to FCA’s Mirafiori plant on January 18, 2021 in Turin, Italy.
Stefano Guidi | Getty Images

Auto giant Stellantis will invest about $2.8 billion to overhaul two Canadian factories to build fully electric and hybrid vehicles, the company said on Monday, as part of its $35 billion global commitment to electrification and related initiatives.
The revamp will allow the automaker to build such versions of several of its upcoming models using new “multi-energy” architectures. The company also will add a battery lab to its existing research and development facility in Windsor, Ontario, creating 650 new jobs.

Retooling of the company’s Windsor assembly plant is expected to begin in 2023, with a revamp and modernization of a second plant in Brampton, Ontario, to follow the next year. Both revamped factories are to be up and running by 2025, Stellantis said.
The investments announced on Monday are part of a broader electrification overhaul revealed earlier this year. Stellantis aims to sell 5 million EVs annually by 2030, a total that will include all of the vehicles it sells in Europe and half of the passenger cars and light-duty trucks it sells in North America.
Most global automakers have announced similar investment plans as they move to compete in the EV market currently dominated by Tesla.
Stellantis didn’t say which models the revamped factories will be building, though it did say it expects both plants to add a third shift after the overhauls, meaning they will be working nearly around the clock.
Currently, the Windsor plant builds the Chrysler Pacifica, Pacifica Hybrid and Voyager minivans, while the Brampton factory makes the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans and the Dodge Challenger coupe.
Stellantis and Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution announced in March that they will together spend $4.1 billion to build a major EV battery factory in Windsor. That investment is expected to create 2,500 new jobs, the companies said at the time.

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The union representing Starbucks baristas is taking aim at the coffee giant’s interim chief executive, Howard Schultz.
The union alleges in a letter obtained by CNBC that Schultz’s recent comments about an improved benefits plan amounted to illegal threats and had a “chilling effect” on impending union votes.
Starbucks defended the comments, saying it would need to respect the bargaining process to extend new benefits to unionized workers.

The union representing Starbucks baristas is taking aim at the coffee giant’s interim chief executive, Howard Schultz, alleging his recent comments about an improved benefits plan amounted to illegal threats and had a “chilling effect” on impending union votes.
The union, Starbucks Workers United, claims in an April 22 filing with the National Labor Relations Board that Starbucks, via Schultz’s comments, violated the National Labor Relations Act and asks the agency to issue a complaint in the union’s favor.

Schultz last month told U.S. store leaders that the company was reviewing the coffee chain’s benefits program, but that the new benefits legally couldn’t be extended to stores that have voted to unionize without separately negotiated contracts for unionized workers. One of Schultz’s first moves as returning CEO was to suspend the company’s share buyback program to invest in benefits for workers.

Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz speaks at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in Seattle, Washington on March 22, 2017.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images

In a letter from Starbucks Workers United’s counsel to the NLRB, obtained by CNBC, the union claims that Schultz’s comments “threatening to withhold” the benefits had an “immediate and profound chilling effect on organizing campaigns nationwide.”
It offers workers to testify that Starbucks baristas read about the comments in media reports shortly before voting and some pulled support “last minute” as a result, costing a union win at one location in Virginia.
The letter also claims the comments have been “parroted” by store managers and district managers, which has interfered with efforts to organize, or had a coercive effect.
Starbucks defended the comments made by Schultz, saying it would need to respect the bargaining process to extend new benefits to unionized workers.

“This is not a matter of Howard’s choice or opinion; this is the law. Any new benefit cannot be unilaterally given to stores that voted to unionize during collective bargaining. Howard remains focused on moving quickly to build the future of Starbucks with partners together, side-by-side,” Starbucks spokesman Reggie Borges said in a statement to CNBC.
Starbucks Workers United has filed more than 80 claims against the company for allegedly violating federal labor law, most recently notching a win with the NLRB petitioning for injunctive relief and immediate reinstatement of three Starbucks workers who were dismissed after seeking to organize.
Starbucks also last month filed its first charges against the union, claiming it intimidated partners and broke federal labor law.
Starbucks Workers United statement to CNBC that Schultz’s comments around the benefits review are “just another desperate attempt to prevent Starbucks partners from exercising our right to have a union and the right to collective bargaining.”
“This is an extension of other threats that Howard Schultz and their management team have been making. Hopefully at some point Howard recognizes you cannot have a ‘progressive company’ and be the poster child for union busting,” the union said.
So far more than 200 cafes nationwide have petitioned the NLRB to vote on unionizing with Starbucks Workers United, and over 40 have voted in favor of organizing.
Starbucks has maintained its position that its relationship with partners is best served without a union.

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FA Playbook

I bonds, an inflation-protected and nearly risk-free investment, will pay 9.62% through October 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday.
“It’s a milestone for I bonds,” said Ken Tumin, founder and editor of DepositAccounts.com.
However, there are purchase limits, you can’t tap the money for one year and there’s a penalty for selling within five years.

Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images

If you’re eyeing ways to fight swelling prices, I bonds, an inflation-protected and nearly risk-free asset, may now be even more appealing.
I bonds are paying a 9.62% annual rate through October 2022, the highest yield since being introduced in 1998, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Monday.

The hike is based on the March consumer price index data, with annual inflation growing by 8.5%, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.

More from FA Playbook:

Here’s a look at other stories impacting the financial advisor business.

“It’s a milestone for I bonds,” said Ken Tumin, founder and editor of DepositAccounts.com, who tracks these assets closely.
I bonds, backed by the U.S. government, don’t lose value and earn monthly interest based on two parts, a fixed rate and a variable rate, changing every six months.
While the variable rate is 9.62% through October 2022, the fixed rate remains at 0%, according to the Treasury.

The I bond is a wonderful place for people to put the money they don’t need right now.

Christopher Flis
founder of Resilient Asset Management

The fixed rate stays the same for the 30-year life of the bond, meaning someone who purchased I bonds with a higher fixed rate may beat inflation for at least six months, Tumin said.

Although the fixed rate has been 0% since May 2020, it peaked at 3.6% for six months starting in May 2000. You can see a history of both rates here.

How to buy I bonds

There are only two ways to purchase these assets: online through TreasuryDirect, limited to $10,000 per calendar year for individuals or using your federal tax refund to buy an extra $5,000 in paper I bonds. There are redemption details for each one here.
You may also buy more I bonds through businesses, trusts or estates. For example, a married couple with separate businesses may each purchase $10,000 per company, plus $10,000 each as individuals, totaling $40,000.

Drawbacks of I bonds

One of the downsides of I bonds is you can’t redeem them for at least one year, said certified financial planner George Gagliardi, founder of Coromandel Wealth Management in Lexington, Massachusetts. And if you cash them in within five years, you’ll lose the previous three months of interest directly before your sale.
“I think it’s decent, but just like anything else, nothing is free,” he said. 
Another possible drawback is lower future returns. The variable portion of I bond rates may adjust downward every six months, and you may prefer higher-paying assets elsewhere, Gagliardi said. But there’s only a one-year commitment with a three-month interest penalty if you decide to cash out early.

Still, I bonds may be worth considering for assets beyond your emergency fund, said Christopher Flis, a CFP and founder of Resilient Asset Management in Memphis, Tennessee.
“I think that the I bond is a wonderful place for people to put the money they don’t need right now,” he said, such as an alternative to a one-year certificate of deposit.
As of May 2, the average savings account yield is under 1%, and most one-year CDs are paying less than 1.5%, according to DepositAccounts.
“But I bonds aren’t a replacement for long-term funds,” Flis added. More

Elon Musk’s SpaceX continues to expand its Starlink satellite internet network in Ukraine.
Ukraine digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote in a tweet that “rough data” about Starlink shows that about 150,000 people in the country use the service each day.
Starlink’s network of about 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit is designed to deliver high-speed internet anywhere.

A shipment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite antennas, also known as terminals, arriving in Ukraine.
Fedorov Mykhailo on Twitter

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is continuing to expand its Starlink satellite internet network in besieged Ukraine, with a government official saying about 150,000 people in the country use the service each day.
Digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote in a tweet Monday that “rough data” about Starlink shows there are “around 150K” daily active users.

“This is crucial support for Ukraine’s infrastructure and restoring the destroyed territories,” Fedorov said.
Starlink’s network of about 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit is designed to deliver high-speed internet anywhere. SpaceX said in March that there are about 250,000 total Starlink subscribers, which includes both consumers and enterprise customers.
Notably, the daily active user count is different than the number of subscribers or Starlink terminals in Ukraine, as multiple users would be able to connect to each terminal.
There are more than 10,000 Starlink terminals — also known as dishes or antenna — providing service to Ukraine, NBC News reported last week. They have come from a variety of sources. In April, the United States Agency for International Development told CNBC that “a range of stakeholders” contributed over $15 million worth in hardware and transportation services to deliver 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine, with USAID directly procuring 1,333 terminals from SpaceX.
Fedorov caught Musk’s attention via a tweet shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, with the government official sending a plea for assistance after a suspected cyberattack disrupted previous satellite internet service while the Russian military targeted the country’s communications infrastructure.

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The Biden administration on Monday announced it will begin a $3.1 billion plan to boost domestic manufacturing of batteries, in a broader effort to shift the country away from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.
The funding will support grants aimed at building, retooling or expanding manufacturing of batteries and battery components, as well as establishing battery recycling facilities.
The grants will be funded through President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, which includes more than $7 billion to bolster the country’s battery supply chain.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks about climate change and protecting national forests on Earth Day at Seward Park in Seattle, Washington, April 22, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The Biden administration on Monday announced it will begin a $3.1 billion plan to boost domestic manufacturing of batteries, in a broader effort to shift the country away from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles.
The electrification of the transportation sector will be critical to mitigating human-caused climate change. The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, representing roughly one-third of emissions each year.

The funding will support grants aimed at building, retooling or expanding manufacturing of batteries and battery components, as well as establishing battery recycling facilities, according to the Department of Energy. The grants will be funded through President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, which includes more than $7 billion to bolster the country’s battery supply chain.
The move comes after the president in April invoked the Defense Production Act to encourage domestic production of minerals required to make batteries for EVs and long-term energy storage. That order could help companies receive federal funding for feasibility studies on projects that extract materials for EV production, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese.
“These made-in-America batteries are going to help reduce emissions and create opportunities across the country,” White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said during a call with reporters on Monday.
The White House, which has set a goal of 50% electric vehicle sales by 2030, is also working to construct a national network of EV charging stations and to create tax incentives for consumers who buy EVs. The administration has also pledged to replace its federal fleet of 600,000 cars and trucks to electric power by 2035.
The U.S. is the world’s third-largest market for EVs, behind China and Europe. Just 4% of new cars sold in the U.S. last year were electric, according to market research company Canalys.
“Positioning the United States front and center in meeting the growing demand for advanced batteries is how we boost our competitiveness and electrify our transportation system,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said in a statement on Monday.

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When Kristen Heaton launched her own business in 2013, she never dreamed she’d sell it for seven figures. So, when she sold it to Amazon aggregator Perch in July 2021, she hired a financial advisor to make sure her family could get the most out of the new wealth.
“They sat us down, and they just really wanted to know where we were interested in putting the money,” Heaton said. “It was really important for us to make sure that we took our kids into consideration and set things up for them years down the road in a trust.”

Crave Naturals has sold more than a million of its signature product, a detangling hairbrush, with a total revenue of nearly $15 million. The brush has nearly 60,000 reviews on Amazon.com.
But it was a new experience — even an overwhelming one — to sell the business, as was walking into wealth that she had never had before.
“The first thing I would do if you ever do come into money that you’re not accustomed to is talk to people that come from money, talk to people that have had new wealth in their life, different entrepreneurs. See where they focus their time and efforts growing their money and keeping it safe,” Heaton said.
Based on what she learned from others, Heaton decided a professional financial advisor was a safer bet than just going it alone.
“I tend to be a risk taker, and it wouldn’t be unheard of for me to invest in some risky stocks. So working with a financial advisor, he will work with me to buy those risky stocks, but then also offset it with safe stocks and stocks that provide dividends over time and whatnot, so that we can aim to grow the portfolio in a more moderate-risk approach,” he said.

Then, Heaton recommends that you take some of the money to reinvest in areas you’re passionate about.
“My husband and I have always had an interest in real estate investing. And right now, the market where we live, it’s just continuing to go up. So it just made sense to us to purchase properties that we can give down to our kids one day,” Heaton said.
“One of my biggest concerns right now is that the next generation, they’re probably not going to be able to afford a lot of housing. So it was just really important that we bought some properties that we knew we could pass on to them later on in life so that they were going to be OK.”
More from Invest in You:Here’s what your credit score means and how it impacts youHere’s a simple way to make a monthly budget and start saving money81% of U.S. adults are worried about a recession hitting this year, survey finds
When Heaton sold her brand, she knew she wasn’t ready to stop being an entrepreneur. That also helped to inform her next decision about what to do with some of the new wealth.
“It spurred a creative side of me that I didn’t really know existed, so when we sold the brand, I knew for sure I just wanted to start up another one immediately. So we had the money at this point to be able to hire like a branding agency brand voice and just have a cohesive brand to launch. Whereas with Crave Naturals, it took us years to be able to afford that sort of thing.
“So in the summer, after we sold, we started working night and day trying to build this new brand. And now we have the new brand that we’re launching, it’s called Bare August; it’s a foot-care line, and it’s available on Amazon. And for me, I think that I’m just going to continue to do what I love as long as I can,” Heaton said.
The entrepreneur says it’s important to remember that success doesn’t happen without help from others, and it’s important to use some money to pay that forward.
“When I started Crave Naturals, I was super in debt. I had a lot of student loans. I was living paycheck to paycheck. And one of my good friends, her husband that was helping me with this program to sell products online, he actually paid for our first round of inventory,” Heaton said. 
“I think it’s important that as I continue to do what I love, I help others do the same. So if there’s an entrepreneur that needs help along the way, or they need somebody to invest in them financially or through mentorship, that’s something that I have an interest in doing along the way. I feel like it could pay off for both myself and the entrepreneur.”
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Countries are beginning to offer a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to vulnerable groups, but medical professionals are undecided on whether it would benefit the wider population.
Questions are being raised over the need for more booster shots as the emergence of more Covid variants may require more targeted vaccines.
The World Health Organization hasn’t given an official recommendation on a fourth dose, and “there isn’t any good evidence at this point of time,” said WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan.

There hasn’t been enough research on how much protection a fourth dose can offer, medical professionals told CNBC.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Countries are beginning to offer a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to vulnerable groups, but medical professionals are undecided on whether it would benefit the wider population.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has so far authorized a fourth shot only for those aged 50 and above, as well as those who are immunocompromised. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was skeptical of the need for a fourth dose for healthy adults in the absence of a clearer public health strategy.

Those decisions came as a study from Israel found that although a fourth dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offers protection against serious illness for at least six weeks after the shot, it provides only short-lived protection against infection, which wanes after just four weeks.

No ‘good evidence’ yet

The medical consensus so far is that there hasn’t been enough research on how much protection a fourth dose can offer.
The World Health Organization hasn’t given an official recommendation on a fourth dose, and “there isn’t any good evidence at this point of time” that it will be beneficial, said WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan.
“What we know from immunology is that if you give another booster, you will see a temporary increase in the neutralizing antibodies. But what we’ve also seen is that these neutralizing antibodies will wane quite rapidly,” Swaminathan told CNBC in an interview.

A fourth dose doesn’t really do much of anything … I’m not sure we need to get out and just jump up and down screaming that everybody needs to get aboard.

Paul Goepfert
professor at the University of Alabama

“This happened after the third dose. And it’s happened again after the fourth dose,” she added.

Paul Goepfert, professor of medicine at the University of Alabama, shared that view, saying that “a fourth dose doesn’t really do much of anything … I’m not sure we need to get out and just jump up and down screaming that everybody needs to get aboard.”
Since the study from Israel shows the fourth dose can provide protection against serious disease, countries such as Israel, Denmark and Singapore have made a second booster shot available to high-risk groups.

“Rather than saying that the protection wanes, I would say that this boost effect is strongest shortly after the vaccine was administered, but that it remains protective overall,” said Ashley St. John, an associate professor at Duke-NUS Medical School.
“Importantly there was no waning of protection against severe disease, which is the most key effect of vaccination we aim to achieve,” she added.

Annual booster shots?

Questions are being raised over the need for more booster shots as the emergence of more Covid variants may require more targeted vaccines.
Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, told NBC News in January that people may need to get booster shots every year or two.
However, blanket vaccine approaches may not continue to work.
It is possible that high-risk groups — such as the elderly — may need an annual vaccine, said Swaminathan. But “it’s not clear whether a healthy adult is going to need a regular annual shot.”
It’s also important to note that the current vaccines being administered may not work for future variants of Covid-19, she said.
If the virus “changes so much that you need to change your vaccine composition, then you won’t need another shot,” Swaminathan added. “The challenge of changing the vaccine composition is that you’re always playing catch-up.”
Goepfert said “only time will tell” how long more the population has to take booster shots, but the safest approach would be to “plan on a booster every year, and maybe combine it with the flu vaccine.”

Omicron subvariant

The WHO announced on Tuesday that weekly new Covid deaths had fallen to the lowest level since March 2020.
But the more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant remains the dominant strain in the United States, making up 68.1% of all cases in the country during the week that ended on April 23, according to data from the CDC.
Although experts predict that the BA.2 subvariant is unlikely to be more severe than the original omicron strain, it should remain a concern.

“I do think infections are going to continue … it’s taken over most parts of the country, said Goepfert. “But in terms of severe infections, I think that’s going to continue to be less and less.”
Patients from locations with adequate vaccination coverage would experience only “mild or manageable disease” and this would reduce “burden on the healthcare system compared to waves of Covid pre-vaccines,” St. John said.
“Just like studying for an exam, a vaccine booster can trigger immune system memories and increase performance during the real test,” she added.

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