The U.S. tax reform pushed by the Trump Administration has prompted many corporations to announce bonuses and wage hikes for their employees. Starbucks is one of the latest to boost its compensation and benefits package in light of the recent changes in U.S. tax law. Ron Crawford, VP of Benefits at Starbucks, was with us to discuss the company's investment in benefits.
Starbucks said the U.S. tax reform accelerated its latest investment in paid leave and wages. Had there not been tax reform, Crawford said Starbucks still would have made investments in compensation, but the timing and the extent of it may have been different. The offerings will total more than $250 million for more than 150,000 workers.
Digital apps and emerging technologies are driving more coffee runs to Starbucks, says Crawford. He believes digitization has brought more customers to its stores and boosted interactions between customers and employees. Starbucks is pumping in $7 billion of capital to build and renovate stores, manufacturing plants and technology platforms in the U.S. over the next five years.
With just under a month left to file taxes, Cheddar News is keying in on freelance workers and wants to provide some tips so those Americans maximize either their refunds or what they have to pay back to the IRS.
Meal-delivery startup Entrée raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed round. Jon Bell, co-founder and co-CEO of Entrée, joined Cheddar News to discuss the company's offerings that are prepared by Michelin-trained culinary teams.
Laxman Narasimhan took over as CEO of Starbucks about two weeks earlier than expected and will speak at the company's annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.
Stocks rose on Wall Street Monday after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend and made other moves to build confidence in the struggling industry.
