GM AND FORD ARE ALL-IN ON EVS Spotlight on Innovation Head lines A fter years of speculation that battery-powered sedans, pickups and SUVs would replace gas-guz- zling, emissions-spewing models, the shift to
ELECTRIC TRUCK MAKER LORDSTOWN MOTORS SHARES SLIDE L ordstown Motors’s CEO, Steve Burns and CFO, Julio Rodriguez have both resigned, days after the electric truck maker warned that it had “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern in the next year. Lordstown said its lead independent director, Angela Strand, has been appointed executive chairwoman and would oversee the firm’s transition until a permanent CEO is identified. The company named Becky Roof as interim CFO effective immediately. The resignations are the latest blows to Ohio-based Lordstown. Shares of the aspiring automaker are down more than 40% this year. Its market cap is about $2 billion. AMAZON DETAILS NEW WAREHOUSE ROBOTS Amazon warehouse workers could soon be joined by a couple new co-workers: Ernie and Bert. Those are the names of the new robots Amazon is testing with the goal of reducing strenuous movements for workers. While the introduction of robots to the workplace often raises questions about whether human jobs will be replaced, Amazon argues they simply allow workers to focus on tasks that most need their attention while min- imizing their potential for injury. Amazon said it’s added over a million jobs around the world since it began using robotics in its facilities in 2012.
BANK OF AMERICA SPENDS OVER $1 BILLION PER YEAR ON CYBERSECURITY B ank of America CEO, Brian Moynihan said the company has ramped up its cybersecurity spending to over $1 billion a year. This comes after a series of sweeping cyberattacks have struck private companies and federal government networks over the past year, including most recently on Colonial Pipeline, the operator of the country’s largest fuel pipeline, and JBS, the world’s largest meatpacking company. These cyberattacks have led firms and governments to reassess and modernize their cybersecurity defenses, as these attacks have become a source of economic damage. electric vehicles is revving up. Beyond EV pioneer and market leader Tesla, virtually every major auto manufac- turer is lining up to flip the e-switch and it is not just a big deal for consumers, but the thousands of auto deal- erships across the country that will need to embrace the electric future. General Motors ismaking a $27-billion investment focused to produce only EVs by 2035, with 30 new plug-in models arriving by 2025. Ford, which previously committed $22 billion to EV development just announced that 40% of its vehicles will be electrified by 2030. In preparation for this new EV models, dealerships in the U.S. — many of them long-time small businesses located in suburban and rural communities — are gearing up. Salespeople are getting ready to put you in an EV today. And because EVs have fewer moving parts, service tech- nicians are being trained to maintain them.
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JUNE 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2021
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