They’d tried their hand at owning a couple sandwich shops in the Twin Cities, but Heidi and Josh Boxx wanted to return to their hometown of Eau Claire to raise their children. They wanted to get out of the restaurant field, which they cut their losses from after four years, and into something else. “We knew we needed a business opportunity,” Heidi Boxx said. They researched potential ventures and discovered the owner of Olson Disposal — a two-person, one-truck garbage
County Bancorp posts record quarterly profit to start 2018 MANITOWOC — Loan growth and corporate tax cuts led to County Bancorp posting a record quarter for the start of 2018. The holding company of Investors Community Bank, which has a loan office in Eau Claire, reported last week that it had $4.1 million in net income for the three months that ended March 31. That compares to $2.6 million for the first quarter of 2017. Another factor that helped the company’s earnings was the
NEW YORK — Roughly seven out of every 10 adults worldwide now have some form of bank account, the World Bank said Thursday, largely due to the proliferation of cell phone-based bank accounts and other simple bank account programs in places like India and Sub-Saharan Africa. The finding is a sign of the improved financial wellbeing of those living in developing countries and particularly women, who increasingly have a safe place to store their savings and are able to participate in the
SEATTLE — Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said the company has more than 100 million paid subscribers worldwide to its Prime Membership service, disclosing for the first time a figure that the company long held as a trade secret. Prime, which costs $99 a year in the U.S., offers free two-day shipping on many items, as well as access to Amazon’s trove of on-demand video and music streaming. Members are thought to spend more on Amazon purchases than nonmembers, making the
The following area business registrations, such as limited liability companies and corporations, were filed in December. Eau Claire: Airbound! LLC, Justin R. Vajko, 3353 Runway Ave.; Big T’s Midway LLC, Terry A. Luer, 1253 McGregor Drive; Blackstone Asphalt of Wisconsin LLC, Keith E. Kubala, 3236 Third St. Blend N Bubble LLC, Adeyinka E. Igandan, 6138 Aspen Ridge Drive; Blue Collar Farms LLC, Curtis Larson, 7691 Hickory Road; Blue Eye Studio LLC, Singying Sayaxang, 314 N. Barstow St.
NEW YORK — An audit of Facebook’s privacy practices for the Federal Trade Commission found no problems even though the company knew at the time that a data-mining firm improperly obtained private data from millions of users — raising questions about the usefulness of such audits. Facebook agreed to outside audits every two years as part of a 2011 settlement with the FTC over its privacy practices. It is not clear from the report whether the company informed
NEW YORK — Wells Fargo will pay $1 billion to federal regulators to settle charges tied to its mortgage and auto lending business, the latest chapter in years-long, wide-ranging scandal at the banking giant. However, it appears that none of the $1 billion will go directly to the victims of Wells Fargo’s abuses. In a settlement announced Friday, Wells will pay $500 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, its main national bank regulator, as well as a net $500
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Tesla may get an “A” grade for the look of its cars, and the experience of driving one of its vehicles. And when it comes to drumming up publicity, CEO Elon Musk’s grades have to be at the top of the class: But Tesla gets an “F” from the Better Business Bureau, which says Tesla responds poorly to customer complaints. “They’re a fine company, they make fine products,” said Steve McFarland, CEO of the Better Business
NEW YORK — Even the suddenly shaky stock market hasn’t scared people away from investments that are supposed to be some of the world’s riskiest. In a surprising twist, investors have continued to pump money into funds that own Chinese technology giants, Thai energy companies and other stocks from developing countries. At the same time, investors have become more hesitant about U.S. stock funds, even though both have turned in losses since the market started struggling in
MILWAUKEE — Going-out-of-business sales start today at 212 stores run by Bon-Ton Stores, including the Younkers at Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire. The bankrupt department store chain announced Thursday that the liquidation sales are expected to run 10 to 12 weeks. The sales are at all Younkers, Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman and Herberger’s locations, plus the company’s websites and mobile platforms. The chain has 250 stores, but 38