March 2010

A recent news report revealed quite a secret of a 100- year old woman who just died. Tucked away in Chicago, she lived in a small one-bedroom home previously inhabited by servants that was initially given to her. Some people’s closets have more space than its single bedroom. She purchased clothes at rummage sales, never owned a car, used mismatched dishes and watched television on an old set. Her parents died when she was 12 and along with her twin sister, was raised by another family that paid for their college education.  She never married and had no children.

For 43 years Grace Groner was a secretary at Abbott Laboratories (pharmaceutical company) and in 1935 she bought three shares of their company stock at $60 apiece and over time, she reinvested the dividends.  Forget about purchases of luxury cars, designer outfits, or fancy shoes. That wasn’t her desire. When Grace died, her will showed the wisdom of keeping stocks rather than selling them. Her three shares of Abbott stock for which she paid $180 now has value of $7 million!!!!!  Recognizing the importance of Lake Forest College where she attended, she donated that money to them along with her ‘fancy’ house that is now named Grace’s College, a place foundation students.

March 2010

The Federal Communications Commission may be causing some problems for Sirius Satellite Radio in the next few years. The FCC plans to allow other companies to make broadcasts in the air space next to the blocks of space where Sirius makes its broadcasts. Although the spaces do not overlap, Sirius’s broadcasts would face interference. When the FCC originally sold the spectrum bordering Sirius, they said that no one else could make broadcasts that would interfere with Sirius Satellite Radio.

The other wireless carriers want to use more space now, and the FCC may allow them to do so, meaning that they would get in the way of Sirius’s transmissions. Sirius is afraid that if the wireless carriers are allowed to broadcast more, and they do end up interfering with satellite radio, Sirius’s 35 million listeners that are affected might simply drop satellite service. Of course, listeners could always bring up complaints when interference does happen, but Sirius wants to prevent the problem before it starts.

March 2010

This week the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation named their Class Scholars for the year. This Foundation provides corporate-sponsored scholarships to high school seniors so they can pursue a college education. Those who receive the scholarship are chosen for their academics, leadership, and contribution to their school community. This month, finalists will tour the Coca-Cola company headquarters in Atlanta and compete for scholarships of up to $20,000. The Foundation was established to commemorate Coca-Cola’s 100^th anniversary and is now in its 22^nd year. With the 2010 class, the Foundation will have provided $42 million in scholarships to 4,529 deserving students.

February 2010

Time Warner is offering free services to its digital phone customers in Haiti until the end of this month. All direct-dial calls to landlines and cell phones will be free, to help in the relief efforts. Also, any charges that have been made on these services after January 12 will automatically be repaid back to customers. Customers do not need to make any changes; refunds for their bills will simply be credited to their accounts. Time Warner believes that this program will save their customers about $200,000.

February 2010

Thomas Staggs used to be Walt Disney Company’s chief financial officer, but now he is Disney’s new theme park chairman. Mr. Staggs has traded in a life of business at Wall Street and work with numbers for a pair of Mickey Mouse Ears. He began Disney’s promotion for “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” by presenting a crowd of people at Disney’s Epcot with sculptures of beloved Disney characters – made out of 115,000 cans of food! Those cans were donated to food banks. Disney hoped to inspire people to complete a day of community service with the Points of Light Foundation. For a limited time, Disney is offering park tickets to those who volunteer their time. So far about 600,000 people have done so.