Starbucks pushes job growth program

By SARAH SKIDMORE, AP
9 hours ago
Must Read?Yes     7

PORTLAND, Ore. — Starbucks hopes customers will be willing to pay at least $5 more when they stop in for their morning cup of Joe.

Starting Nov. 1, Starbucks will begin collecting donations of $5 or more from customers to stimulate U.S. job growth through its "Jobs for USA" program. The Seattle-based coffee chain is collaborating with the Opportunity Finance Network, a nonprofit that works with nearly 200 community development financial institutions to provide loans to small businesses and community groups. Starbucks says 100 percent of the donations will go toward loans for firms and organizations that can add jobs or stem job losses.

Starbucks, which pioneered how Americans drink coffee, declined to estimate how much money it plans to raise, but millions of people visit its nearly 7,000 company-owned U.S. stores each day. Customers who give will get a red, white and blue wristband that says "Indivisible."

"This is about using Starbuck's scale for good," said Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corp.'s CEO.

The program is the latest effort by Schultz to address the nation's economic woes. In August, he sent more than 200,000 Starbucks employees a memo urging them to do what they can to help business thrive. Then, he asked fellow CEOs to stop contributing to political campaigns until the nation's leaders reached a long-term economic solution. After that, he hosted a national telephone forum, bought full-page ads in two major newspapers and started a website, Upwardspiral2011.org.

Schultz said he feels personal responsibility to do something to stimulate the U.S. economy. Starbucks is hiring about 200 people a day in the U.S. as part of its efforts to remodel thousands of stores and add about 200 more locations in the next year. But Schultz said he wanted to do more.

Starbucks is covering the operational costs to get loans out through the program, which will run indefinitely. Its charitable arm, The Starbucks Foundation, is giving $5 million to get the program started, with the hope that funds will be invested in communities within a month of a donation being made.

Opportunity Finance Network works with 180 financial institutions — banks, credit, unions, loan funds and venture capital funds — that give loans in low-income communities that don't have easy access to credit. The organization, created 27 years ago, has invested $23.2 billion and generated nearly 300,000 jobs through 2009.

Loans through the network have supported everything from charter schools to grocery stores nationwide. The organization found that, even during the recession, more than 98 percent of the money loaned out has been repaid, which is in line with traditional lenders.

Through the program, businesses will apply to financial institutions, which along with the Opportunity Finance Network will assess their potential for adding jobs. Preference will be given to applicants who can add jobs within six months. An outside organization will audit the program within a year.

"We want to match up every person who has $5 to share with every person who can't spare $5," said Mark Pinsky, CEO of Opportunity Finance Network.

The effort has the potential to be successful, say some experts. Community institutions succeed, they say, because they understand the needs in the areas they serve.

"I think it's a really worthy effort," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "In theory, this is a great idea and should have impact."

____

Online: For more information, visit createjobsforusa.org or for information on Opportunity Finance Network and how to find a community development funding institution, visit opportunityfinance.net

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

700 arrested after protest on NY's Brooklyn Bridge

By COLLEEN LONG, AP
46 minutes ago
Must Read?Yes     145

NEW YORK — Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and other grievances were maintaining a presence in Manhattan's Financial District even after more than 700 of them were arrested during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge in a tense confrontation with police.

The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan's Financial District for nearly two weeks staging various marches, and had orchestrated an impromptu trek to Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. They walked in thick rows on the sidewalk up to the bridge, where some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway, police said.

The march shut down a lane of traffic for several hours on Saturday. The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said.

The group had meetings and forums planned for Sunday at Zuccotti Park, the private plaza off Broadway the protesters have occupied.

During Saturday's march on the Brooklyn Bridge, some protesters sat on the roadway, chanting "Let us go," while others chanted and yelled at police from the pedestrian walkaway above. Police used orange netting to stop the group from going farther down the bridge, which is under construction.

Some of the protesters said they were lured onto the roadway by police, or they didn't hear the calls from authorities to head to the pedestrian walkway. Police said no one was tricked into being arrested, and those in the back of the group who couldn't hear were allowed to leave.

"Multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway and that if they took roadway they would be arrested," said Paul Browne, the chief spokesman of the New York Police Department.

The NYPD on Sunday released video footage to back up its stance. In one of the videos, an official uses a bullhorn to warn the crowd. Marchers can be seen chanting, "Take the bridge."

Erin Larkins, a Columbia University graduate student at who says she and her boyfriend have significant student loan debt, was among the thousands of protesters on the bridge. She said a friend persuaded her to join the march and she's glad she did.

"I don't think we're asking for much, just to wake up every morning not worrying whether we can pay the rent, or whether our next meal will be rice and beans again," Larkins wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "No one is expecting immediate change. I think everyone is just hopeful that people will wake up a bit and realize that the more we speak up, the more the people that do have the authority to make changes in this world listen."

Several videos taken of the event show a confusing, chaotic scene. Some show protesters screaming obscenities at police and taking a hat from one of the officers. Others show police struggling with people who refuse to get up. Nearby, a couple posed for wedding pictures on the bridge.

"We were supposed to go up the pedestrian roadway," said Robert Cammiso, a 48-year-old student from Brooklyn told the Daily News. "There was a huge funnel, a bottleneck, and we couldn't fit. People jumped from the walkway onto the roadway. We thought the roadway was open to us."

Earlier Saturday, thousands who joined two other marches crossed the Brooklyn Bridge without problems. One was from Brooklyn to Manhattan by a group opposed to genetically modified food. Another in the opposite direction marched against poverty organized by United Way.

Elsewhere in the U.S. on Saturday, protesters assembled in Albuquerque, N.M., Boston and Los Angeles to express their solidarity with the movement in New York, though their demands remain unclear. Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have been camped in Zuccotti Park and have clashed with police on earlier occasions. Mostly, the protests have been peaceful, and the movement has shown no signs of losing steam. Celebrities including Michael Moore and Susan Sarandon made recent stops to encourage the group.

During the length of the protest, turnout has varied, but the numbers have reached as high as about a few thousand. A core group of about two hundred people remain camped throughout the week. They sleep on air mattresses, use Mac laptops and play drums. They go to the bathroom at the local McDonald's. A few times a day, they march down to Wall Street, yelling, "This is what democracy looks like!"

There has been a growing swell of coverage in mainstream media, but there has been loud complaining the cause hasn't been championed fast enough — or in the way protesters want.

Misinformation has added to the confusion. For instance, a rumor sprang up on Twitter that the New York Police Department wanted to use tear gas on protesters — a crowd-control tactic the department doesn't use. The claim was eventually retracted, one of several such retractions over the past several days. On Friday, a message said Radiohead would be performing in solidarity for the cause, but the band's management said it wasn't playing.

Earlier clashes with police have resulted in about 100 arrests. Most were for disorderly conduct. Many were the subject of homemade videos posted online.

One video surfaced of a group of girls shot with pepper spray by NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna. The woman claimed they were abused and demanded the officer resign, and the video has been the subject of several news articles and commentary. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said internal affairs would look into whether Bologna acted improperly and has also said the video doesn't show "tumultuous" behavior by the protesters.

A real estate firm that owns Zuccotti Park has expressed concerns about conditions there, saying in a statement that it hopes to work with the city to restore the park "to its intended purpose." But it's not clear whether legal action will be taken, and police say there are no plans to try to remove anyone.

Seasoned activists said the ad-hoc protest could prove to be a training ground for future organizers of larger and more cohesive demonstrations, or motivate those on the sidelines to speak out against injustices.

"You may not get much, or any of these things on the first go-around," said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, a longtime civil rights activist who has participated in protests for decades. "But it's the long haul that matters."

Join the movement - Occupy Wallstreet

Mission

On the 17th of September, we want to see 20,000 people to flood into lower Manhattan, set up beds, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months.

Like our brothers and sisters in Egypt, Greece, Spain, and Iceland, we plan to use the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic of mass occupation to restore democracy in America. We also encourage the use of nonviolence to achieve our ends and maximize the safety of all participants.

Who is Occupy Wall Street?

Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.

The original call for this occupation was published byAdbusters in July; since then, many individuals across the country have stepped up to organize this event, such as the people of the NYC General Assembly and US Day of Rage. 

There'll also be similar occupations in the near future such as October2011 in Freedom Plaza, Washington D.C.

To participate in your area check this site:

http://occupytogether.org/

Each participating area has a facebook page as well. Here are a few but you can just search on facebook by putting occupy and the name of the city in the search box:

Memphis-  http://occupytogether.org/events/southeast/occupy-memphis/

or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Memphis/128627820572100

Nashville- http://occupytogether.org/events/southeast/occupy-nashville/ or https://www.facebook.com/OWSNashville or https://www.facebook.com/OccupyNashville

Clarksville- http://occupytogether.org/events/southeast/occupy-clarksville-tn/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Clarksville/265900563432725

Knoxville- http://occupytogether.org/events/southeast/occupy-knoxville/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Wall-Street-Knoxville/218196918241973

Lexington, KY-  http://occupytogether.org/events/southeast/occupy-lexington/ or 

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=288315967862062

 

ACTIONS

Below are a list of currently occupied and organizing actions within cities and states across the country, broken into regions.

MIDWEST

·         Occupy Chicago

·         Occupy Cincinnati

·         Occupy Cleveland

·         Occupy Columbus

·         Occupy Indiana

·         Occupy Indianapolis

·         Occupy Kansas City

·         Occupy Michigan

·         Occupy Minnesota

·         Occupy OKC

·         Occupy Omaha

·         Occupy OSU (Stillwater)

·         Occupy St. Louis

·         Occupy Tulsa

·         Occupy Wisconsin

·         Occupy Yougstown

NORTHEAST

·         Occupy Binghamton

·         Occupy Boston

·         Occupy D.C.

·         Occupy Hartford, CT

·         Occupy Maine

·         Occupy New Jersey

·         Occupy Philadelphia

·         Occupy Pittsburgh

·         Occupy Providence, RI

·         Occupy Rochester

·         Occupy Vermont

SOUTHEAST

·         Occupy Arkansas

·         Occupy Birmingham, AL

·         Occupy Charlotte

·         Occupy Clarksville, TN

·         Occupy Columbus, GA

·         Occupy Daytona Beach

·         Occupy Durham

·         Occupy Jacksonville, FL

·         Occupy Knoxville

·         Occupy Lexington, KY

·         Occupy Louisville

·         Occupy Memphis

·         Occupy Miami

·         Occupy Mississippi

·         Occupy Nashville

·         Occupy New Orleans

·         Occupy Orlando

·         Occupy Richmond, VA

·         Occupy Tallahassee

·         Occupy Tampa

·         Occupy Winston Salem

SOUTHWEST

·         Occupy Albuquerque

·         Occupy Austin

·         Occupy Dallas

·         Occupy Houston

·         Occupy Phoenix

·         Occupy Tucson

WEST

·         Occupy Boise

·         Occupy Colorado Springs

·         Occupy Denver

·         Occupy Eugene

·         Occupy Las Vegas

·         Occupy Los Angeles

·         Occupy Olympia

·         Occupy Portland

·         Occupy Sacramento

·         Occupy Salt Lake City

·         Occupy San Diego

·         Occupy San Francisco

·         Occupy San Jose

·         Occupy Santa Cruz

·         Occupy Seattle

·         Occupy Spokane

INTERNATIONAL

·         Occupy Brisbane

·         Occupy Frankfurt Germany

·         Occupy Hamburg Germany

·         Occupy Manchester | March on the Tory Party Conference

·         Occupy Melbourne Australia

·         Occupy Perth

·         Occupy the London Stock Exchange

·         Occupy Toronto Market Exchange

·         Occupy Vancouver

Starbucks CEO takes political crusade to public

Robert Sorbo  /  Reuters

Howard Schultz has already asked fellow chief executives to stop making campaign contributions to incumbents.

By Steve Gorman

updated 9/2/2011 3:15:09 PM ET 2011-09-02T19:15:09

LOS ANGELES — Starbucks Corp chief executive Howard Schultz urged members of the public on Friday to join a novel campaign he launched last month seeking to break partisan gridlock in Washington and spur economic growth.

In an open letter circulated via email, the head of the world's biggest coffee chain invited "concerned Americans" to take part in a national call-in conversation next Tuesday hosted by the nonpartisan group No Labels, dedicated to fostering cooperative and more effective government.

The group, based in Washington, hopes to draw "a couple hundred-thousand" citizens to join in the 90-minute "tele-townhall" with co-founders of the organization and Schultz, to be streamed live over the Internet, No Labels spokesman Dustin Carnevale said.

The teleconference comes ahead of a nationally televised Republican presidential debate on Wednesday, and President Barack Obama's Thursday address to a joint session of Congress on his plan for creating more jobs.

"Like so many of you, I am deeply disappointed by the pervasive failure of leadership in Washington," Schultz wrote in the letter addressed: "Dear Starbucks Friend and Fellow Citizen."

"And also like you, I am frustrated by our political leaders' steadfast refusal to recognize that, for every day they perpetuate partisan conflict and put ideology over country, America and Americans suffer from the combined effects of paralysis and uncertainty," he said.

The letter concludes: "Yours is the voice that can help ignite the contagious upward spiral of confidence that our country desperately needs."

The message, sent first to customers on Starbucks' email distribution list under the subject: "A special letter from Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz," directed readers to a website with more information about the "No Labels" forum, at http://www.upwardspiral2011.org/.

Last month, Schultz made headlines when he called on business leaders to pledge to withhold campaign contributions to the president and members of Congress until they reached a "fair, bipartisan deal" on the national debt, revenues and spending.

Story: Starbucks' CEO: Halt the political donations

He also challenged those executives to do their part to invest in new projects or new products that would help spur employment and give the national economy a much-needed jolt.

New York Times columnist Joe Nocera wrote a piece about Schultz's call to boycott campaign contributions. The newspaper also carried an editorial in which billionaire investor Warren Buffett called for an increase in taxes for mega-rich individuals, including himself.

Schultz said in Friday's letter that more than 100 U.S. business executives from companies large and small have since signed on to his pledge.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.