*By Conor White*
The Coca-Cola Company has a market cap of nearly $190 billion, but the beverage behemoth still considers itself a small business. The largest small business in America, in fact.
At least that's how Caren Pasquale Seckler, vice president of social commitment at Coca-Cola sees it. "Part of who we are, is that we are extremely local," she explained. "We have 90,000 employees across the country, in every community in the country, through ourselves, our company, as well as our family of independent bottlers. So, we are literally a part of the community."
Among its social initiatives, Coca-Cola is launching the "Dear Future Community Challenge," encouraging 18-24 year olds to submit proposals on how to tackle community-specific problems. Seventeen winners will be chosen, and rewarded with a $30,000 grant to fund their visions.
Coca-Cola's involvement at the local level is just one detail that most consumers, and even some associates, aren't familiar with, Seckler said. In an interview Tuesday on Cheddar, she explained why it's so important for the company to share its story with the world.
"Consumers are demanding to know more," said Seckler. "So when we spoke to our consumers, they just didn't really know what we stood for, they didn't know what the company stood for, and they expected to know more."
It's no surprise that The Coca-Cola Company's decision to open its proverbial doors comes in the same era as the rise of social media.
"Young people appreciate authenticity and transparency and humility, and frankly that's who we are," explained Seckler. "We've been doing good things for 132 years, and we're just now starting to talk about it."
For the full segment, [click here.]( https://cheddar.com/videos/the-coca-cola-company-goes-local)
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
