Business news in brief

This product image provided by the Coca-Cola Co. shows a 20-pack of Vitaminwater drinks. Fans of Vitaminwater are demanding that parent company Coca-Cola drop a new formula that uses stevia, a low-calorie sweetener known for its metallic aftertaste. Coca-Cola Co. changed the formula for its full-calorie Vitaminwater in May, and the new bottles have been hitting shelves nationwide ever since.

This product image provided by the Coca-Cola Co. shows a 20-pack of Vitaminwater drinks. Fans of Vitaminwater are demanding that parent company Coca-Cola drop a new formula that uses stevia, a low-calorie sweetener known for its metallic aftertaste. Coca-Cola Co. changed the formula for its full-calorie Vitaminwater in May, and the new bottles have been hitting shelves nationwide ever since.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

State truckers group taps Newton to lead

Shannon Newton has been named president of the Arkansas Trucking Association. Newton has spent the past 11 years with the organization, serving as vice president since 2008. Newton has overseen day-to-day operations for the Arkansas Trucking Association since Lane Kidd resigned as president in February. “I’m excited and honored to be able to have the opportunity to lead the organization I’ve worked for the past 11 years,” Newton said. “I’m really looking forward to reengaging with our membership and providing a vision to move the association into the next generation.” Members of the Arkansas Trucking Association board of directors unanimously voted in favor of Newton during a conference call on Tuesday. Craig Harper, the association’s chairman and chief operating officer of J.B. Hunt Transport Inc., described Newton as a “dynamic leader.” “She became the clear choice to lead the Arkansas Trucking Association forward,” Harper said in a news release announcing the move. Newton said the association’s legislative priorities for 2015 will include driver training and driver shortages.

— Chris Bahn

TeleTech looks at opening 2nd state site

TeleTech Holdings Inc. of Englewood, Colo., which announced this week that it will open a customer service office in Sherwood next month and hire 250 workers, is considering opening another location in the state, a spokesman for the firm said Wednesday.

"TeleTech is continuing to evaluate additional locations in Arkansas," said Megan Dunn, who represents the company. "[TeleTech] is actively searching for sites to open [across the country]."

Publicly traded TeleTech has 41,000 employees nationally, Dunn said.

Dunn did not disclose the salary range for new employees at TeleTech's office at the Wildwood Centre & Medical Tower in Sherwood. The jobs include customer service representatives, trainers, recruiters, operations managers, facilities staff and technical assistance and information technology specialists.

In Sherwood, TeleTech said it will represent a health insurance client, so it also is hiring those with life and healthcare insurance licenses or those who would undergo a program to become licensed agents.

-- David Smith

No stevia, Vitaminwater fans tell Coke

NEW YORK -- Fans of Vitaminwater are demanding that parent company Coca-Cola drop a new formula that uses stevia, a low-calorie sweetener.

Coca-Cola Co. changed the formula for its full-calorie Vitaminwater in May, and the new bottles have been hitting shelves nationwide ever since.

Previously, the drinks were sweetened with a mix of crystalline fructose and sugar. Now they are sweetened with a mix of sugar and stevia, a natural sweetener companies use to reduce the sugar content in drinks. The new Vitaminwater still has the same 120 calories per bottle, however.

The change has prompted fans of the drink to inundate Vitaminwater's Facebook page with complaints about the flavor, and demands that the company bring back the old formula.

A spokesman for Coca-Cola, Danielle Dubois, said the company loves hearing from its consumers and has been listening to the feedback via social media and its call line.

-- The Associated Press

American offers DFW flights to Orient

FORT WORTH -- American Airlines is expanding its reach in Asia with flights between Dallas and both Hong Kong and Shanghai.

The airline views the Chinese cities as important business-travel destinations in a region with fast-growing economies. It also hopes to attract Asian leisure travelers to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where they can catch flights to other cities in North and South America.

The airline will fly both routes daily with Boeing 777 jets. American is chasing United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, both of which have more routes to Asia.

American merged with US Airways in December and formed American Airlines Group Inc.

-- The Associated Press

Expedia to accept bitcoins for hotels

Expedia Inc. will start accepting bitcoins for hotel room bookings, becoming the largest online travel service to adopt the virtual currency.

Expedia said it partnered with San Francisco-based startup Coinbase Inc. to let travelers pay for bookings by converting bitcoins into money in response to customer requests, especially from international travelers. Expedia may start accepting bitcoins for airline tickets and trips if there's demand, Michael Gulmann, a vice president at Expedia, said in an interview.

Web retailers such as Tiger Direct Inc. and Overstock.com Inc. already accept bitcoins to appeal to tech-savvy consumers using the virtual currency. CheapAir.com, another online travel agency, began accepting bitcoins in November.

"We think there's growth potential for bitcoin as a currency," Gulmann said. "We see it now as something that's growing that we want to be a part of. If you look back 14 to 15 years, PayPal was a strange thing that was out there in e-commerce, and now it's fairly mainstream."

-- Bloomberg News

Emirates cancels 70-plane Airbus order

BERLIN -- Airbus said Emirates Airline canceled its entire order for A350 aircraft valued at $16 billion, hurting its efforts to break Boeing's dominance for wide-body aircraft that are the backbone of Emirates' fleet.

Emirates, the biggest buyer of Airbus A380 superjumbos, will drop 50 A350-900 airliners and 20 of the larger A350-1000, Airbus said Wednesday. Emirates announced the deal in 2007, and the airliners were set for delivery from 2019, shortly before Boeing's new 777X, of which the Emirates is the biggest buyer.

The surprise decision comes as the A350 program remains just months away from commercial entry. Emirates, the world's largest airline by international traffic, reviewed its fleet requirements after it topped up its order book for the larger A380 just last year, adding 50 more superjumbos to become by far the aircraft's largest operator. The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based carrier also bought the new 777X, which competes with the A350.

"The A350 is a good aircraft, its' a clean ship, it's cutting edge, but I don't think the delivery schedule of the A350 fits in line with Emirates' growth capabilities at this moment," said Mark Martin, chief executive officer of Dubai-based Martin Consulting.

The A350-900 typically seats 315 passengers, while the -1000 version can fit about 369 travelers.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 06/12/2014