Opportunity 1: Energy Security
· “Oil company president comes out of his Shell”
· The article said that the president of Shell Oil Company. John Hofmeister is touring the country to discuss the future of the nation’s energy supply. He sat down with Jacksonville’s Time Union reporter Timothy J. Gibbons to answer some questions. Hofmeister said the nation definitely has an energy security issue for a few reasons. One of those reasons is because governmental restrictions limit the amount of oil that can be drilled here in the U.S., we rely heavily on imports which means we are at the mercy of other countries when it comes to oil. He also discussed that major disasters, like hurricane Katrina, can be huge blows to oil supplies because of the lack of staff, destroyed facilities, and product coming in.
· The problem in this story is the U.S.’s oil supply is incredibly unstable.
· Not only do oil companies have to deal with this issue, all consumers who buy gas, as well as the government, have to deal with this issue since it affects everyone in the nation.
Opportunity 2: Retail Stores having to compete with National Chains
· “Retailers Compete for Business with National Chains”
· This article is talking about how small businesses in Jacksonville are having to compete with large chains even more so now that before because of the recent expansion to the Avenues Mall. Many small business owners were interviewed for the article and the thoughts of most of them followed the same pattern: it is up to the residents of Jacksonville to know where their roots lie and support their local small busi9nesses rather than corporate chains when they can.
· Small local businesses are having to compete with large national chain stores.
· Small business owners are mostly dealing with this issue.
Opportunity 3: Insurance Company not Delivering
· “Company's Insurance Problems Put Area Businesses in a Bind”
· A local insurance company that was being used by many other local businesses to handle their payroll and worker’s compensation was not doing their job. For two months, over 1,000 Jacksonville businesses were paying Miralink Group Inc. but were not receiving the services they were paying for.
· An insurance company failing to provide services that their consumers were paying for.
· The businesses that were paying Miralink but didn’t receive service.
Opportunity 4: Restaurant Closes Unexpectedly
· “Restaurant Shuts Doors on Workers”
· A restaurant in Jacksonville called Hurricane Hatties unexpectedly closed its doors without informing anyone including their employees. The employees scheduled to work showed up to find the restaurant locked and the owners nowhere to be found. They didn’t even give their employees their last round of paychecks.
· The restaurant closing without warning its customers or staff.
· The employees who are now out of work and are missing a cycle of pay.
Opportunity 5: Shrimpers Restrictions
· “Florida Seeks Tighter Rules on Shrimpers”
· Sea turtle deaths are skyrocketing because of illegal shrimping activity. Commercial shrimpers who go out at nights do not have sea turtle escape devices in their nets so many sea turtles are drowning from being stuck in the nets. Turtles are currently in migration which means there is a very high number of them moving through the waters. This is one reason it is so important to have sea turtle escape devices in nets. This article interviews people calling for stricter regulations to be placed on shrimpers to stop the increase in sea turtle deaths.
· The large number of sea turtles that are dying because of shrimpers.
· Ecologists are mainly worried about this issue but also government officials and anyone who cares about sea turtles.
Leah I really enjoyed reading your outlook on certain problems which may exist throughout society and how they relate to such problems we see within news! I think it is valuable to notice opportunities within our community and our direct lives because this makes us susceptible to any changes we wish to make within those said communities!
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