NEW YORK — Shoppers traded bricks for clicks on Monday, flocking online to snap up “Cyber Monday” deals on everything from cashmere sweaters to Star Wars toys.

Now that shoppers are online all the time anyway, the 10-year-old shopping holiday has lost some of its luster as online sales on Thanksgiving and Black Friday pick up. But enough shoppers have been trained to look for “Cyber Monday” specific sales to ensure the holiday will still mean big bucks for retailers.

It’s too early for sales figures, but Monday is still expected to be the biggest online shopping day ever, likely racing up more than $3 billion in sales, according to comScore. Adobe, which tracks 200 million visitors to 4,500 retail websites, said $490 million had been spent online as of 10 a.m. E.T. on Monday, the latest data available. That’s 14 percent higher than a year ago.

“A lot of people wait to see if deals are better on Cyber Monday,” said Forrester Research analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.

New Yorker Anna Osgoodby was one of the many online shoppers who spread her purchases throughout the holiday shopping weekend. On Black Friday, she took advantage of a 35 percent sale at online accessories retailer ashandwillow.com, buying earrings, a necklace and bracelet. Then she bought earrings and clutches on Monday during its 40 percent off sale.

“That extra 5 percent convinced me to buy a few more,” she said.

Some hot sellers were in scarce supply by early afternoon on Monday. At Target, a Swagway hoverboard was sold out by early afternoon. The electronic transportation gadget had been $100 off at $399. Drones and some Star Wars toys were hard to find as well.

“There are certain hot products, hover boards seem to be a phenomenon, they’re selling out everywhere,” said Scot Wingo, chairman of ChannelAdvisor, which provides e-commerce services to retailers.

Adobe found 15 out of 100 product views returned an out-of-stock message as of 10 a.m., two-and-a-half times the normal rate.

And there were a few brief outages at sites like Neiman Marcus and Target and online payments company PayPal reported a brief interruption in service.

Retailers have been touting online deals since the beginning of November. And they no longer wait for Monday to roll out Cyber Monday deals, either. Amazon started “Lighting Deals” on Saturday and Wal-Mart beginning all of its Cyber offers on 8 p.m. on Sunday.

“It’s no longer about one day, but a season of digital deals,” said Matthew Shay, president of retail trade group The National Retail Federation.

That seems to have taken a toll on brick-and-mortar shopping. Frenzied crowds seemed to be a thing of the past on Black Friday — the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving — and sales fell to $10.4 billion this year, down from $11.6 billion in 2014, according to preliminary figures from research firm ShopperTrak.

“Consumers are recognizing the Internet is the place to go for a deal any time, any day,” said Gene Alvarez, managing vice president of research firm Gartner.

“I personally skip Black Friday just to shop Cyber Monday,” said Mark Flores, a parks and recreation director from Lynwood, California. But this year, he started online shopping on Black Friday, buying five pairs of Sorel and Uggs shoes for gifts and eight Chromecasts that were two for $50 instead of $35 off. He planned to shop on Cyber Monday too, but did not find compelling deals. “Nothing standing out so far,” he said midmorning on Monday.

Research firm comScore expects online sales to rise 14 percent to $70.06 billion During the November and December shopping period, slowing slightly from last year’s 15 percent rise. Online sales make up 10 percent of overall retail sales, but that increases to 15 percent during the holidays as online shoppers snap up Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, according to research firm Forrester.

The name “Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation’s online arm, called Shop.org, to encourage people to shop online. The name was also a nod to online shopping being done at work where faster connections made it easier to browse. Now, even with broadband access, Cyber Monday continues to be a day when retailers pull out big promotions.

PITTSBURGH — Lords a-leaping is the U.S. economy slow to recover!

The cost of 10 lords a-leaping increased 3 percent over last year, but nine of the other 12 gifts listed in the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” stayed the same price as last year, according to the 32nd annual PNC Wealth Management Christmas Price Index released Monday.

The index is a whimsical way the Pittsburgh-based bank tracks inflation.

The set of gifts spelled out in the final verse of the song would cost $34,131 this year, or 0.6 percent more than the adjusted 2014 price of $33,933. PNC decided to adjust the historic prices of turtle doves and swans after realizing the prices quoted by vendors didn’t reflect the birds’ overall value on the open market over the years.

“The headline, I think, is that inflation in this economy, with the sort of tepid recovery we’ve seen, is almost nonexistent,” said Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer of PNC’s asset management group.

While the good news is that the price of consumer goods isn’t rising very much, it also means demand for those goods is down, at least partly due to wage stagnation.

The government’s Consumer Price Index has pegged inflation at about 0.2 percent, Dunigan said.

The only other items to increase in price since last year were a partridge in a pear tree and two turtle doves.

The bird in the bush rose 3.5 percent overall, mostly because partridges now cost $25 each, up from $20, because partridges are increasingly popular as gourmet food. Pear trees inched up from $188 to just under $190.

Turtle doves increased 11.5 percent, from $260 to $290, mostly due to increased grain prices that pushed up feed costs.

The lords a-leaping are more expensive because labor costs increased their price from $5,348 to $5,509.

PNC calculates the prices from sources including retailers, bird hatcheries and two Philadelphia dance groups, the Pennsylvania Ballet and Philadanco.

A buyer who purchased all the items each time they are mentioned in the song would spend $155,407.18.

THE FULL PRICE

• Partridge, $25; last year: $20

• Pear tree, $190; last year: $188

• Two turtle doves, $290; last year: $260

• Three French hens, $182; last year: same

• Four calling birds (canaries), $600; last year: same

• Five gold rings, $750; last year: same

• Six geese-a-laying, $360; last year: same

• Seven swans a-swimming, $13,125; last year: same

• Eight maids a-milking, $58; last year: same

• Nine ladies dancing (per performance), $7,553; last year: same

• 10 lords a-leaping (per performance), $5,508; last year: $5,348

• 11 pipers piping (per performance), $2,635; last year: same

• 12 drummers drumming (per performance), $2,855; last year: same

Suzanne Shank’s father is Roger Shank. He was incorrectly identified in a story on Page 1A in Sunday’s Savannah Morning News.

Gulfstream is set to lay off 1,100 workers across all its domestic locations.

Of those, 600 are contract workers and 500 are regular Gulfstream employees, according to Gulfstream spokeswoman Heidi Fedak.

The actual impact on Gulfstream’s Savannah and Brunswick locations is not known as the company did not break the layoffs down by location; however, at 11,450, the Savannah/Brunswick workforce represents the majority of the company’s domestic employees.

Gulfstream currently has more than 16,500 employees and contractors based around the world, Fedak said, adding that workforce adjustments are normal for the company.

“It is part of Gulfstream’s normal, disciplined business practices to routinely evaluate our costs and workforce requirements,” she said. “As a result of these evaluations, we are streamlining our business to position Gulfstream for continued success.”

Gulfstream typically manages fluctuating workforce requirements with contract labor in order to maintain maximum flexibility, Fedak said.

“Additionally, we recently informed the Gulfstream workforce that there would be modest layoffs of our indirect support staff - employees who do not work directly on an aircraft and do not support those employees who work directly on an aircraft - throughout the business,” she said. “These adjustments represent approximately 3 percent of our employees.”

“We regret the impact these decisions will have on our employees and have arranged a variety of programs to assist these workers with their transition from Gulfstream,” Fedak said. “Depending on individual eligibility criteria, employees may receive benefits that include severance and benefits extensions.”

In addition to Savannah and Brunswick, Gulfstream has domestic locations in Dallas, Las Vegas, Appleton, Wis.; Westfield, Mass.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Lincoln and Long Beach, Calif.

Businesses of the year for 2015

As 2015 comes to a close, the Savannah Morning News, Business in Savannah and businessinsavannah.com will continue what has become an annual rite of profiling companies, individuals and organizations that have made major contributions to the local business environment during the previous year.

And we need your help.

We’re looking for the firms and executives, big or small, who have experienced significant growth and success or who have a track record of philanthropy and community involvement.

Honorees will be chosen from nominations made by readers and local business and community members.

The categories are Newcomer of the Year; Manufacturer of the Year; Business Advocate of the Year; Entrepreneurial Business of the Year; Retail Business of the Year and Small Business of the Year.

Please send your nominees with appropriate background information to:

Gale Baldwin at gale.baldwin@savannahnow.com; Mary Carr Mayle at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com or Katie Martin at katie.martin@savannahnow.com.

For more information, call 912-652-0300 or email gale.baldwin@savannahnow.com.

Dillard’s offers discount days to ‘heroes’

The Dillard’s store in the Savannah Mall will have Hero Appreciation Days during store hours from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and Thursday.

All active military members, full-time active guardsmen, activated guardsmen, reservists, police officers, firefighters and their immediate families will receive 20 percent off their purchases.

“In sincere appreciation of the sacrifices these individuals make daily for our country, we are happy to hold these Hero’s Appreciation Days,“ said assistant store manager Tim Gammack-Clark.

Guests are asked to save their sales receipts, and when they finish shopping, take them to the customer service area to show a valid active ID. Dillard’s will deduct the discount from participants’ total purchases in the same form of payment they used for those purchases and at the same store location.

200 Club receives donation from Tunnel to Towers

The nonprofit Tunnel to Towers Run Savannah has donated $5,000 to the 200 Club of the Coastal Empire, which provides benefits to injured or disabled first responders or their families to help ease their financial burden.

“We really wanted to support this organization because it directly supports the families of first responders who are disabled or lost while helping others, and that fits perfectly into our mission,” said Jane Grismer, race director for Tunnel to Towers Run Savannah.

The Tunnel to Towers Run was created to honor firefighters who died on 9/11.

For more information, go to http://twohundredclub.org.

This Thanksgiving, Facebook taught me a great deal about the role optimism plays in life success as well as entrepreneurial success. HubSpot recently made a similar observation, reporting that gratitude is the key to success in sales.

I submit that gratitude is the key ingredient to successful entrepreneurship.

First, gratitude makes the right people want to be around you.

Second, gratitude opens up opportunities and energizes creative thinking.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a grateful spirit won’t give up, so gratitude fuels the persistent attitude needed to drive entrepreneurial success.

On Facebook, I saw great photos of happy and grateful people. At first glance, the photos didn’t tell much of a story. However, for many of the photos I know the “back story,” and it wasn’t always easy or happy. So, what was revealed was a choice for optimism and gratitude.

For example, the photos of “Dad with my kids” wasn’t the typical annual event. It was of a grandfather meeting his grandchildren for the first time after having abandoned his family when the photographer of said photos was less than two years old.

In another photo, “Terrific Time Turkey Trotting with Kids” was a post filled with joy, but the unannounced void was around the missing husband who ditched his family years earlier.

I am not trying to bring you down after a glorious holiday, and I am certainly not trying to say these individuals are less than genuine. What I am saying is that they made an important choice. They chose to embrace what is incredible about their life and not harp on what could have been.

I see the same choice being made daily in the successful entrepreneurs at The Creative Coast. Some entrepreneurs choose to see the amazing resources Savannah offers for budding businesses, like access to newly educated talent from many of our fine institutions including Savannah College of Art and Design, Armstrong State, Savannah State, South University, Savannah Tech, Georgia Southern and USC at Beaufort.

These positive entrepreneurs also know Savannah offers a low cost of living that extends the startup “runway,” making it possible to withstand those unavoidable bumps along the way.

For those who choose to see the positives, Savannah offers a desirable living environment, an incredible climate, a rich pool of business mentors and great “ins’” for connections to powerful industries such as tourism, aerospace, logistics and health care.

Focusing positive energy on these unending possibilities puts the “can-do” spirit into entrepreneurs such that one more sales call is made, one more product iteration is perfected and one more great talent or investor is brought on board.

Optimism attracts success.

For example, Steve Ross of Oak.Works boasts about the incredible reservation system his full stack development company has created for happy customer Kelly Tours. Steve and Oak.Works co-founder Rob Lingle built on that success rather than gripe that some corporate prospects don’t understand what technology can do for them, don’t want to pay for needed services or whatever other sales challenge might present a bump in the road.

Similarly, Tommy Linstroth will share how his GreenBadger LEED construction management web and mobile application system is currently in use by CBRE, DPR and Skanska without getting discouraged by the dozens of sales meetings it takes to convince companies to try something new and different.

On the other hand, I have met dozens of fledgling Savannah entrepreneurs who seem to complain just to complain. They’ll moan about the lack of talent or that there isn’t enough local funding to support their venture.

I have watched these same complaining entrepreneurs scare away top visiting seed investors like John Burke and Sig Mosley. Their negative energy alone limits their possibilities. Attitudes, both positive and negative, are contagious.

So, as we enter the last month of 2016, I’m not only thankful for the things I might mention on my Facebook page, but I’m also thankful for the many important facets of Savannah that are helping to fill our city with growing and positive-minded entrepreneurial companies.

I am filled with gratitude that more and more entrepreneurs are choosing to see this powerful side of Savannah and to make the most of what the area has to offer all of us.

Bea Wray is the executive director of The Creative Coast, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the creative and entrepreneurial community within the region. Bea can be reached at 912-447-8457 or bea@thecreativecoast.org

By Bea Wray

ATLANTA — People who rent their homes or bedrooms to vacationers should be collecting state taxes, including a new $5 nightly tax, but properties rented fewer than 15 nights a year should be exempt, a House committee decided Monday.

The 15-night exemption is designed to protect residents in Athens and Augusta who rent bedrooms or their homes only during the six University of Georgia home football games or during the weeklong Masters Tournament. Saint Simons Island residents who offer property during the Georgia-Florida football weekend would be in the clear, too.

The popularity of online marketing services like TripAdvisor, Airbnb and HomeAway prompted lawmakers to form a committee to study whether more regulation is needed. Lobbyists from hotel trade groups pushed for greater regulation, arguing that the newcomers shouldn’t be allowed to undercut established businesses by avoiding taxes and required health and safety measures.

“I know there’s been a lot of interest in this,” said the chairman, Rep. Terry Rogers, R-Clarksville.

During testimony, Robert Trim of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association said parity was needed.

“Our position on this is real simple. We just want a fair playing field,” he said.

After three day-long hearings, the committee concluded no new laws were needed, nor did it seek to give the state revenue commissioner more authority to collect the taxes. It noted cities could be like Savannah which had drafted its own ordinance to regulate the vacation rentals there.

While the committee isn’t proposing legislation, it did offer recommendations to the Department of Revenue and local governments that it said it wanted to see work before considering new laws. For one, they should strike agreements with Airbnb and other companies that process vacation-rental reservations so that state and local taxes will be collected, according to the committee’s report.

“We will file this with the clerk and during the legislative session see what happens,” Rogers said, acknowledging that hotel lobbyists could still convince any individual legislator to introduce a regulation bill.

Among the recommendations are that the associations of cities and of counties draft statewide safety and insurance requirements for the short-term rentals.

And taxing agencies should provide training to property owners about collecting what is due from vacationers.

The Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association issued a statement late Monday saying vacation rentals should indeed be subject to the $5-per-night transportation tax imposed on overnight guests to pay for road maintenance.

“Since the state decided it is appropriate to tax the lodging industry to fund transportation improvements, we feel that tax should be applied fairly across the board,” said Jim Sprouse, the association’s executive director. “We believe in a level-playing field for Georgia’s hotel industry, whether we’re talking about a large brand, an independent family-owned business, or a new market participant.”

ATLANTA — Georgia Power customers will pay 14 percent less for the fuel portion of their electricity bills starting next month thanks to an agreement announced Monday by the company and regulators.

The company had notified the Public Service Commission in September that declining natural-gas prices justified an 11 percent reduction in the fuel portion. It was revised in Monday’s announcement because forecasts showed further price decreases.

Altogether, customers will save $424 million. State law doesn’t allow Georgia Power to make a profit on the fuel it uses. The law also requires that the commission ensure customers cover the full cost, reimbursing the utility what it pays for coal, natural gas and nuclear fuel.

During a hearing before the commission, none of the representatives from consumer or industrial groups raised any objections. So, when the commission votes later this month, it is almost certain to approve the new reduction.

The savings will subtract $5 from the average residential bill.

However, it’s coming along with two scheduled increases in other aspects of the bill. One increases the base rate, designed to cover the costs of equipment and wires as well as pollution controls. The other is part of the phase in of the financing costs for constructing two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.

After the additions and subtractions, the average residential bill is still expected to be $2 lower every month, according to Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft.

While no one objected at the hearing to lower fuel bills, there was a disagreement on whether the company should be allowed to use some sophisticated financial instruments called “swaps” as a way to hedge against fluctuating fuel prices on the global market.

Commission staffer Tom Newsome recommended continuing the restrictions on the techniques the company uses.

“The problem is if the gas price drops below a fixed price, you’re sending the counterparty a payment, and you don’t know what that payment is going to be,” he said.

Commissioner Stan Wise argued that other electricity utilities and other corporations often use hedging techniques to keep costs predictable.

“Almost any company in this world that uses a significant amount of a commodity is doing the things that are being proposed,” he said. “Why should a regulated entity be precluded from using procedures that the business community considers sound?”

Georgia Power Comptroller Jeffrey Weathers told the commissioners swaps would save electricity customers from the volatility of natural gas with no upfront costs, compared to the other hedging techniques that Newsome has no objection to.

“Because of the increased reliance on natural gas, changes in the price of natural gas will have an even larger impact on customers,” he said.

Natural gas was just 14 percent of the fuel used to generate electricity in 2007. Now that Georgia Power has shuttered 15 coal-fired generators, gas will be 46 percent of what it burns next year.

A $1 increase in natural gas would have cost customers $100 million in 2007 but would equal $300 million today, he said.

Strength of Nature, a Savannah-based firm that manufactures and delivers hair-care products to African-Americans and women and men of African ancestry worldwide, announced Wednesday it has bought five hair-care brands from Unilever.

The brands are Motions, Just for Me, Consort and Groom & Clean along with the TCB brand, which is sold in a limited number of countries in Africa.

“The Motions, Just for Me, Consort, Groom & Clean and TCB brands are beloved and trusted with a strong legacy, high awareness and great potential,” said Mario de la Guardia, CEO of Strength of Nature. “Each provides an excellent foundation for renewed growth and expanded innovation. We look forward to building these brands.” Kees Kruythoff, president of Unilever North America, said his firm will retain other products in the ethnic hair care and men’s grooming categories.

Unilever markets more than 400 brands of food, home and personal care products in more than 190 countries.

“We believe that the Motions, Just for Me, Consort and Groom & Clean brands, and the TCB brand in Africa will be able to realize their full potential with Strength of Nature,” Kruythoff said. “We will continue to focus on the specific needs of both multicultural and male consumers with our global brands.”

Strength of Nature’s global marketing director, Charlene Dance, said Strength of Nature is committed to serving the hair-care needs of people with textured hair from curly to coily.

“We want to ensure that this consumer has unlimited hair maintenance and styling options for their particular hair type, and are very excited to add these brands to our portfolio,” Dance said.

Strength of Nature, which was founded in 2000 and employs about 250 people in its Savannah manufacturing plant and warehouse, markets a number of leading brands of hair-care products, including Profectiv MegaGrowth, African Pride, Dream Kids, Beautiful Textures, Elasta QP, Soft & Beautiful, Soft & Beautiful Botanicals, Proline and TCB.

For more information, go to www.strengthofnature.com.

Sometimes we look at planning efforts in Savannah such as the I-16 flyover removal, the Victory Drive Corridor Study or the Canal District and think, “This will take years to implement and complete — why does this matter to me now?”

And it’s true, really. Twenty or 30 years isn’t much in the life of a city, but it’s a fair amount of time in one human’s life. These types of plans are everything we don’t like as citizens: difficult, time-consuming and complex.

Most are worthwhile and need our persistence, but there’s no sense of instant gratification.

In the meantime, life continues each and every day, and real people live and work in our neighborhoods and corridors. Are we to simply sit and wait around for years for nothing to happen?

The Savannah Development and Renewal Authority (SDRA) thinks the answer to that question is no. We’ve begun an effort over the past year to tackle projects that are meaningful to the community and can be started now.

From hosting “block parties” to presenting Golden Broom Awards to our Summer Street Fair, we are finding ways to make a difference. These may be small steps today, but how else does one complete a long journey?

Think of a sidewalk littered with cigarette butts, candy wrappers and weeds breaking through the cracked pavement. Larger pieces of litter begin to accumulate. Soon, car break-ins are a regular occurrence or even worse — violent crime. Businesses close, windows are smashed and walls are littered with graffiti as buildings are left vacant.

A once vibrant community has deteriorated into despair. How can we remedy this? And why should we bother?

Every block of our city may not be able to have the architectural charm and history of the Landmark District. But each block can still be clean, shaded and safe to walk along. Each block can speak to our unique local culture, our diversity and the best we have to offer one another. We have so much local ability to add art, color, greenery and even whimsy to many more of our streets.

Through SDRA’s Block Party initiatives, we’ve taken on projects that include planting trees, clearing debris and litter from tree lawn beds, building benches, adding mulch, covering graffiti and identifying places to install bicycle racks.

These enhancements may seem small, but I assure you they make an impact to each block and its people. The events we are building bring the community together and encourage the people who live in the neighboring areas to continue to make improvements. Sometimes a little jump-start is all it takes.

Think of the large-scale transformation in our community if you and your group were taking on these tasks, too. It doesn’t have to be a big plan to make a difference or to make an impact. The list of improvements that are inexpensive and easy to accomplish is as long as our imaginations.

Come join with us. We need each of us to step up to achieve our community dreams and ambitions.

Kevin Klinkenberg is the executive director of the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority (SDRA). You can reach him at KevinK@sdra.net.

By Kevin Klinkenberg

BREAKOUT

The Savannah Development and Renewal Authority invites the community to a free movie night in Wells Park (38th Street Park) on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 6:30 p.m. The holiday classic “The Polar Express” will be shown and free popcorn will be available. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit SDRA’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/SavannahDevelopment.

Ben Redmond and Matt Christiansen are breathing a little easier now that the most dangerous part of their job is over.

According to the Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they — along with a small group of engineers and technicians — have spent the last two months disarming some 170 projectiles Navy divers recovered from the CSS Georgia this summer.

Despite the fact the munitions had been submerged for more than 150 years, the explosive threat was still real, said Christiansen, a former Navy explosives ordnance disposal technician who functioned as the safety officer for the project.

“If there was a big fire, they would definitely ignite,” he said, adding that the munitions could explode if they were dropped or struck by a heavy object.

To neutralize the threat, the group used a multistep “inerting” process, said Jeremy S. Buddemeier, public affairs specialist for the Corps.

“First, each projectile was lightly cleaned to determine the best area for drilling, then placed in a specially designed drilling tank filled with water. Christiansen and Redmond positioned themselves 20 feet from the tank behind a half-inch thick, 4- by 8-foot steel plate,” Buddemeier said in a Corps release.

While looking through a 5.5-inch thick bulletproof window atop the plate, the pair used an iPad and GoPro camera to monitor and remotely drill a small hole in each projectile to expose the black powder.

“This is the only job like this I’ve seen,” Redmond, a retired Marine Corps master explosives ordinance disposal technician and senior technical consultant for the project, told Buddemeier. “Most inerting is done in an industrial setting, not in the field like this.”

The pair did find dry black powder in a majority of the projectiles.

Next, Stephen Pilcher and Spencer Nzengung — project manager and engineer, respectively — ran each projectile through a series of steps that repeatedly soaked and flushed the black powder using high-pressure hot water and a special solution that chemically neutralizes explosives.

After the bulk explosive was thoroughly soaked and flushed, Redmond and Christiansen removed the fuse and its charge.

After the inerting process, the projectiles were sent to Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory for further conservation.

FAST Act lauded

With the announcement Tuesday that a House-Senate conference committee has agreed on a $305 billion, five-year plan for surface transportation reauthorization, U.S. ports and the entire freight-handling industry are poised to claim some important victories, with close to $11 billion in funding slated for freight programs.

Dubbed the FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) Act, the compromise bill is earning accolades from the American Association of Port Authorities, the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas.

“AAPA is pleased by the broad eligibility of seaports for infrastructure grants and other financing in this bill,” said AAPA president Kurt Nagle. “For the first time we have dedicated funding for multimodal freight projects.”

Georgia Ports boss Curtis Curtis Foltz agreed.

“This bill should provide more responsive and timely investments in infrastructure needs here in the U.S.,” said Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authoriy.

“We will work closely with our delegation to target specific projects beneficial to Georgia’s transportation needs.”

Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.

Following are the ships expected to call on Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City and Ocean terminals this week. Schedules are supplied by GPA and are subject to change.

TERMINAL VESSEL ETA

GCT MAERSK KINLOSS Today

GCT MAERSK KARLSKRONA Today

GCT MAERSK WEYMOUTH Today

GCT ZIM SHANGHAI Today

GCT ALM CRYSTAL Today

GCT CHEM ANTARES Today

GCT OOCL SOUTHAMPTON Today

GCT MSC BUSAN Today

GCT RHL AGILITAS Today

GCT TOKYO EXPRESS Today

OT BBC HUDSON Today

GCT HH EMILIA Saturday

GCT CPO MIAMI Saturday

GCT OOCL UTAH Saturday

GCT COSCO ADEN Saturday

GCT CMA CGM DON PASCUALE Saturday

GCT MSC ILONA Saturday

GCT CHICAGO EXPRESS Sunday

GCT WASHINGTON EXPRESS Sunday

GCT AXEL MAERSK Sunday

GCT MSC MICHAELA Sunday

GCT ANL KURANGO Sunday

GCT NYK FURANO Sunday

GCT CLIPPER NEWHAVEN Monday

GCT SEALAND NEW YORK Monday

GCT SEA-LAND INTREPID Monday

GCT OOCL ITALY Monday

GCT HYUNDAI DYNASTY Monday

OT GRANDE GUINEA Monday

OT STAR KINN Monday

GCT AMALTHEA Tuesday

GCT CMA CGM AZURE Tuesday

GCT ZIM TARRAGONA Tuesday

GCT MAERSK KOTKA Tuesday

GCT NYK DELPHINUS Tuesday

GCT YM UPSURGENCE Tuesday

GCT HANJIN GDYNIA Tuesday

GCT MUKADDES KALKAVAN Wednesday

GCT MOL EMPIRE Wednesday

GCT ANTHEA Y Wednesday

GCT AL SAFAT Wednesday

GCT CSCL SYDNEY Wednesday

GCT ALEXANDRIA BRIDGE Wednesday

GCT ARIAN Wednesday

OT LIPICA Wednesday

GCT HYUNDAI INTEGRAL Thursday

GCT MOL MATRIX Thursday

GCT POMERENIA SKY Thursday

GCT ZIM NEW YORK Thursday

GCT MSC ROBERTA Thursday

OT TULANE Thursday

NEW YORK —

Chipotle warned Friday that an outbreak of E. coli linked to its restaurants is hurting its sales and warned that if recent trends continue, it expects earnings for the current quarter to come in way below analysts’ prediction. Shares slid more than 7 percent in after-market trading.

The outbreak has expanded to nine states, with a total of 52 reported illnesses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had said Friday that seven additional people were sickened, including in three more states — Illinois, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The most recent illness started on Nov. 13, it said.

The majority of the illnesses have been in Oregon and Washington, where cases were initially reported at the end of October. Additional cases were later reported in California, Minnesota, New York and Ohio.

Of the 52 people infected, the CDC says 47 reported eating at a Chipotle restaurant the week before the illness started. The agency has not yet determined the ingredient that made people sick.

The CDC also said illnesses that started after Nov. 11 may not be reported yet.

People usually get sick from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, the bacteria commonly associated with foodborne outbreaks, for two to eight days after swallowing the germ, according to the CDC. Most infected people get diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

Chipotle said Friday that store closures and bad publicity linked to the outbreak have slammed its sales. It said that if “recent sales trends continue,” it expects a decline in sales at established locations of 8 percent to 11 percent during the fourth quarter, and for fourth-quarter earnings per share to fall to between $2.45 and $2.85, from last year’s $3.84 per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected Chipotle to earn $4.12 per share for the December quarter.

The company said it was also pulling its comparable sales outlook for 2016 because of the recent sales trends and uncertainty related to the outbreak.

Shares of the company’s stock have dropped 25 percent since mid-October.

Earlier Friday, Chipotle had said it was tightening its food standards.

The Denver-based chain known for touting the quality of its ingredients said it hired IEH Laboratories in Seattle to help improve its procedures. It said it will implement testing of all produce before it is shipped to restaurants and enhance employee training for food safety and handling.

Chipotle said it tested ingredients before, but that it is moving to testing smaller batches and a larger number of samples.

“In testing for pathogens, in many ways you’re looking for needles in haystacks. Through this high resolution testing program, we are making the haystacks smaller by working with smaller lots,” the company said.

It said that no ingredients that are likely to have been connected to the incident remain in its restaurants or supply system.

Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., said the company’s local produce suppliers may not all be able to meet the new standards. The company noted that its local produce program accounts for a “relatively small percentage” of the produce it uses, and only runs from around June through October in most parts of the country.

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Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

OSHA awards recertification to EnviroVac

EnviroVac, a Savannah-based firm that provides industrial cleaning, environmental services and on-site maintenance support programs, was recently recertified for five years as a Star site under the Voluntary Protection Program of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“When I started EnviroVac in 1999, it was my goal to make this the safest company possible with a focus on continuous improvement,” said Kevin Jackson, president and CEO. “Keeping and renewing the OSHA Star five-year renewal certification puts us in an elite group.”

The OSHA Star designation is designed for worksites with successful safety and health management systems. Companies in the Star program have achieved injury and illness rates below the national average of their respective industries.

EnviroVac, which employs nearly 750 employees across 15 locations, was the first industrial cleaning company to receive the Star designation in April of 2012.

Firm holds donation drive for Ronald McDonald House

Low Country Dermatology is having a holiday donation drive through Monday, Dec. 21, to collect supplies for the Ronald McDonald House of the Coastal Empire.

Items can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon Fridays at the Low Country Dermatology office, 310 Eisenhower Drive.

“Since the holiday season is right around the corner, I am asking my patients and our community to help us spread some cheer to these deserving families,” said dermatologist Corinne Howington.

Wish list items include: disinfectant wipes; individually wrapped snacks; paper plates and bowls; plastic utensils; sugar; toilet bowl cleaner; windex; new release family DVDs; white washcloths; food service gloves; Dreft laundry detergent; the Free and Clear Laundry HE detergents; hand soap; 60 watt light bulbs; measuring cups, Xbox 360 games; and gifts for adults.

For more information, go to www.rmhccoastalempire.org/about-our-house.html.

Richmond Hill event to discuss QR codes

A coffee and conversation event set for Dec. 10 at the Richmond Hill-Bryan County Chamber of Commerce office will tackle QR Codes and how they can help local businesses.

The discussion, led by Benjamin Mois, founder of Mois Family Tech, will include how to create QR Codes, the best apps to use on smartphones and how proper QR Codes can help drive sales.

The session will be from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the chamber office, 2591 U.S. Highway 17, suite 100.

The event is free to chamber members and $15 for non-members. Reservations are required. Call 912-0756-3444 or email info@RHBCchamber.org.

ATLANTA — Georgia drivers will soon see evidence of the benefits of a higher gasoline tax, Gov. Nathan Deal told a group of real-estate developers Friday, asking them to defend any legislators facing a political challenge for supporting the increase.

“I think you’re going to be very, very pleased in the not-too-distant future, in the first week of the General Assembly session in January, when you see all of the projects that we are not only going to start but we’re going to be able to finish in record time,” he said. “Much of that is because we have the revenue generated by House Bill 170.”

After his luncheon speech, reporters asked for more details, but he offered few. He did say the money would not all go to roads around Atlanta.

“When we have that press conference, I anticipate having a map of the entire state of Georgia to show all of the projects, both metro and those outside of the metro region that are going to be able to be done with the extra money,” he said.

Projects can be completed faster, according to the governor, without Washington funds because then they aren’t subject to federal regulations.

He didn’t say which regulations, but most transportation industry officials have pointed to environmental protections and minority-contractor requirements as the most cumbersome. However, Democrats got inserted into HB 170 similar minority-contracting provisions to apply to projects funded solely with state money.

The list of projects will convince voters that the gas-tax boost was worthwhile, Deal said, adding that he was personally impressed with its scope when Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry showed him recently.

“I think it’s going to probably be the biggest visible evidence of tax reform and the results of it that we have seen in this state in a very long time,” Deal said.

In his speech to the Council for Quality Growth, the governor praised the organization for its support of the transportation bill. Most of the developers in the 30-year-old council are from the northern suburbs of Atlanta where traffic congestion has become both a political issue and one that experts warn will hamper economic growth.

Deal told the group its job wasn’t finished because next year is an election year.

“For those individuals who are running for reelection and who voted for that bill and face opposition, I hope you will step up and support them for the same kind of tenacity and courage that they displayed as they voted for that piece of legislation,” he said.

As we approach the end of the initial small-business exemptions, becoming compliant or facing a fine in 2016 can be a scary and confusing time. A growing concern for many small-business owners here in Georgia is how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) penalties will affect them in 2016 and beyond.

The good news for small-business owners with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees is you are not penalized for not offering healthcare coverage. Still, there may be competitive reasons for a small business to offer coverage.

As small-business employers consider whether to offer healthcare coverage, we offer the following tips.

Employer reimbursements

• A previous and well established method of employers was to offer healthcare reimbursement payments to employees. The payment was deducted by the employer as expense and not taxed to the employee as wages. This method is no longer allowed under the ACA.

• Employer healthcare reimbursements will now incur a $100 per day per employee violation.

• An exception to the penalty of reimbursement is for the employer to increase an employee’s taxable wages for the “reimbursement,” but the employer cannot require the employee to use the funds to purchase health insurance.

• The only option for business owners to directly provide healthcare coverage is to offer a group plan to their employees.

• Among all the choices available, an easy and incentivized option is to use the SHOP marketplace.

The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplace

• SHOP is open to all employers with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees. The easy to navigate website: https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/employers allows users to make payments, choose plans and manage employee participation.

• SHOP plans are in their Special Enrollment period (Nov. 15- Dec. 15) when minimum participation requirements do not apply.

• For employers in our area, minimum participation requires 70 percent of eligible employees to sign up for the offered coverage (eligible employees do not include those with coverage through another job, a family member, Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran’s Affairs, Indian Health Service or TRICARE).

• There is no restricted enrollment period for employers who meet the minimum participation requirement.

• Employers have the ability to control how long the employees’ initial enrollment period is, the waiting period before new hires can enroll and how much of the premium cost the employer will pay.

• A local insurance agent or broker can help you enroll. Or an employer can use the marketplace to find a local agent who is registered to sell SHOP plans.

If the ease of use and the ability to get help finding the right plan for you and your employees were not enough incentive, tax credits are available to qualifying small businesses purchasing plans in the marketplace.

The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

• A tax credit is available to small businesses meeting the minimum criteria and can be up to 50 percent of the employer’s premium costs. To qualify for the credit, a business must employ fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees; incur an average employee salary of $50,000 per year or less, which does not include most owner/employees; pay at least 50 percent of full-time employees’ premium costs; and offer coverage to full-time employees through the SHOP Marketplace.

• For employers meeting the requirements and already offering coverage, the credit can be claimed for past years by filing an amended return.

• An employer can claim the credit for only two consecutive years; however, the credit can be a great way to ease the initial costs of adding coverage.

We encourage you to contact your local insurance agent and tax advisor to determine the best course of action. Health coverage may not be a requirement for your business, but with the tax incentives available it is becoming an attractive option.

Jimmy Stafford is a staff accountant at Hancock Askew & Co. He can be reached at 912-527-2796 or jstafford@hancockaskew.com.

By Jimmy Stafford

Rives Worrell moves to downtown office

Rives E. Worrell Co. is moving its Savannah office location to 24 Drayton Street on Dec. 14. The firm has been located at 708 Christopher Drive since 1976.

“Our Savannah team has outgrown its existing office space. We are currently up to 40 employees and continuing to expand,” said Ryan Price, vice president.

The new office space includes an open office plan, daylight views throughout and work stations with adjustable desks to accommodate both sitting and standing during the work day.

Rives E. Worrell Co. was founded and incorporated as a commercial general contracting business in 1956. In 2011, it merged with JE Dunn Construction.

Insignia Senior Living to manage Savannah facility

Savannah Cottage of Chatham, 11310 White Bluff Road, will be managed by Insignia Senior Living and will be renamed Insignia of Savannah, according to Milton L. Cruz, president of Insignia Senior Living.

Insignia of Savannah is a senior living community licensed for 32 beds. It formerly was leased and managed by an unrelated third party.

Insignia Senior Living, founded in 2002, owns and operates senior living communities in Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico. For more information visit www.insigniaseniorliving.com.

Tourism council wants scholarship applications

The Tourism Leadership Council is seeking qualified applicants for the TLC scholarship, which benefits students studying for careers in tourism, hospitality and related fields. The scholarships will be awarded at the 18th Annual Tourism Awards & Scholarship Dinner on Feb. 18. Typically, scholarships range from $500 to $3,000.

“It’s a highlight of every year to give back and help students achieve their goals,” said Michael Owens, president/CEO of the TLC.

The TLC will accept scholarship applications until Dec. 18. For details on how to apply and for an application form, visit www.SavannahTourismAwards.com.

Applicants must be available for face-to-face interviews in January and must be enrolled in a technical school, college or university for the 2015-2016 school year.

‘Best cuisine’ picked on Hilton Head

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — The people’s Choice for “best cuisine” during the 26th annual Taste of the Season was Michael Anthony’s Cucina Italiana for executive chef Chris Johnson’s “veal agnolotti with butter sage sauce.”

The event presented by the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 20 at the Country Club of Hilton Head included 27 chamber member restaurants.

Runner-up for best cuisine went to Red Fish for executive chef Sean Bescos’ “seared Chilean sea bass with wild mushroom & piedmontese ox tail ragout.” Best decor was awarded to ELA’s Blu Water Grille.

If you’ve ever viewed the original artwork on display at the Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art or grabbed a bite at The Public Kitchen and Bar, you owe a bit of thanks to architect Neil Dawson and his team at Dawson Architects.

Dawson began the firm in 1999 as Dawson and Whissmach Architects but reorganized around 2008. Dawson’s partner at the time, Richard Wissmach, began his own firm and focused more on residential architecture while Dawson continued to focus on commercial and historic preservation.

“It was really a bad time to split a firm right before the recession, but it worked out fine and we’ve continued to grow even thought we’ve had some tough times,” Dawson said.

Now the company employs about 20 people including five registered architects and a registered interior designer.

“We’ve got lots of smart people from all over the world, which is the cool thing about Savannah. With SCAD here we’ve got a really diverse group of people,” he said.

Dawson’s firm, in fact, has developed a long-term relationship with SCAD in Savannah and Atlanta.

“Complex renovation work (has been our speciality), and with SCAD it’s been a great relationship, about 15 years. It’s a real collaboration because they have incredibly talented designers and interior designers, so we really work together and create a palate for them to work with and do their art,” he said of numerous SCAD projects such as Morris Hall on Jones Street, digital media center in Atlanta and the SCAD Museum of Art.

“It’s been a great relationship, but it’s definitely been a team effort.”

For their work reviving the SCAD Museum of Art, which was the nation’s only surviving antebellum railroad complex, Dawson and the other firms — Sottile & Sottile and Lord Aeck Sargent — involved in the project received an Institute Honor Award for Architecture from the American Institute of Architects in 2014. It was the first national award for the firm, and Dawson chalks the success up to teamwork.

“It required an extreme attention to detail, and there were three architects on the project. So it took a lot of collaboration,” he said of the expansive building that sits at Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Turner Street.

“To win an AIA award, which they only give out about 10 or 12 a year, is really a monument for your career. I’m very proud of how it turned out It’s so well done that it seems simple and that’s really the goal when you take something so complex.”

The firm has also been honored with preservation awards from The Georgia Trust and dozens of preservation awards from the Savannah Historic Foundation, most recently in 2013 for The Public Kitchen and Bar and in 2015 for their work on the new Cotton Sail Hotel and Collins Quarter restaurant.

Another big step for the company has been the recent move downtown from Whitemarsh Island. Dawson said the previous location was close to home but not to their projects, so the decision to move downtown was an easy one.

“Most of our projects are within five miles of here, so it just made more sense to be down here where we can have better interactions with our clients and a better presence downtown,” he said.

Picking location for the new office was easy for Dawson, who said the space at 321 West Congress St. had always been of interest to him. The building had been vacant since it was built in the 1850s and used only for warehouse space. It had no electricity or plumbing.

Renovations took about three months and resulted in exposed wood ceiling beams and a simple design with the feel of an open and airy studio, an idea taken from historic photographs and other similar buildings.

The firm shares the 5,400-square-foot space with Tharpe Structural Engineering Group and Maupin Civil Engineering. Having those companies steps away is a big draw for Dawson’s team since they often work together on projects.

“I really love doing design and sketching and just working with creative people and creative clients,” he said

“It’s more like a hobby than a job. It’s problem solving, it’s the weirdest profession because it’s a combination of art, science, math and so you have to bee good at a lot of different things. It’s a unique group of people that do that. It’s usually a fun group of people to work with.”

Dawson said the space creates synergy between the companies and employees, something you usually don’t get with a traditional office, resulting in a sense of camaraderie, teamwork and problem solving.

“It’s more about the firm’s personality. Any firm has to have great designers. That’s the nuts and bolts of what we do... When you have a humble approach to things and you know you’re going to work with these people long term and you have a vested interest in seeing middle ground and trying to resolve problems peacefully, that to me sets a good firm apart,” he said.

“Obviously we don’t compromise on issues like safety, but you try to find ways to continue to work together and have a lasting relationship.”

Average retail gasoline prices in Savannah have risen 1.9 cents a gallon in the past week to $2.04 a gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 262 gas outlets in Savannah.

The national average has not moved in the last week at $2.03 a gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Elsewhere in the region:

• Jacksonville — $2 a gallon, down 1.7 cents from last week’s $2.02 a gallon.

• Augusta — $1.94 a gallon, up 6.2 cents from last week’s $1.87 a gallon.

• South Carolina — $1.80 a gallon, down 1.4 cents from last week’s $1.81 a gallon.

Prices Sunday in Savannah were 56.2 cents a gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 11.2 cents a gallon lower than a month ago.

The national average has decreased 18.5 cents a gallon during the last month and stands 63.2 cents lower than this day one year ago.

“The next 24 hours will likely see the national average drop to a new six-plus year low. The U.S. average needs to fall just seven-tenths of a penny from its current $2.032 per gallon to $2.025 to be the lowest since March 25, 2009,” said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst.

“As for the outcome of OPEC’s meeting late last week: OPEC is going to wait for production to resume from Iran before looking at oil production quotas again next year. While we wait and see what that next meeting might bring, high oil production will likely continue to boost already record high oil inventories, keeping gasoline prices somewhat subdued.”

The national average is falling again after Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet caused a brief hiatus, and the U.S. may have a $1.99 national average, DeHaan said.

For a complete listing of current averages and other fuel price data, visit http://media.gasbuddy.com. For fuel news and alerts, follow @GasBuddyNews on Twitter.

After reading last week about the federal indictment of the Chatham Area Transit executive director and maintenance director for mail fraud and extortion, I went to http://www.catchacat.org to look at recent financial information.

Under the ironically named menu item “Transparency,” you can find budgets, audited financial statements and legislative agendas for the last seven fiscal years.

Or, rather, in theory you could find those things, if they were all there.

There are no posted budgets for fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015. There are no audited financial statements for fiscal years 2012 and 2015.

The Web page warns that some files are so large they might take some time to open, but the FY 2016 proposed operating budget is just one page.

Under revenues, the current year operating budget lists passenger fares of $3.175 million, but the numbers aren’t broken down by passes, individual fares or other categories that would be useful for the public to examine.

CAT’s bike-share program is expected to raise a mere $30,000 in revenue in the current fiscal year — less than $100 a day — but there’s no breakdown of the revenue from memberships vs. hourly rentals.

The proposed 2016 capital fund budget on the CAT website provides even less detail, if that’s possible. There is $2.9 million budgeted for “fleet rehabilitation” but no breakdown of how those dollars will be spent.

There is an oddly specific $43,762 budgeted in the current fiscal year for expansion of the bike-share program, but I can’t find any information on the website indicating precisely how the program will be expanded.

None of these omissions are necessarily signs of criminal conduct, but it obviously should have raised red flags with the CAT board, CAT’s government partners, the public and the press that a page devoted to transparency should be so shoddily maintained.

We have set a low bar for public officials around here, and our expectations are even lower when it comes to use of technology.

After this latest embarrassment involving suspected corruption, the CAT board members will surely insist that detailed financial information be posted to the website, but let’s hope expectations are raised higher than that.

The recent city election demonstrated the value for campaigns of having robust Web and social media presences, and in the coming years we are certain to have leaders with a better grasp of technology.

Older public officials who rose through the ranks in the 20th century might be intimidated by the demands of the WorldWide Web, but they are obligated to keep up with the times.

Basic transparency is just a starting point.

City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.

NEW YORK — The battle over the world’s coffee drinkers is getting hotter.

Keurig, the maker of single-cup coffee machines that sit on millions of kitchen counters, agreed to sell itself Monday for almost $14 billion. The buyers are an investment group led by JAB Holding Co., a private company with a growing java business.

Fans of Keurig may not see much of a difference in their caffeine fix. JAB Holding said Keurig will operate independently and remain in its headquarters in Waterbury, Vermont.

The Keurig deal will help boost JAB Holding’s already robust coffee empire. The Luxembourg-based company has a controlling stake in Jacobs Douwe Egberts, the company behind Gevalia, Tassimo and many other brands. It also has stakes in Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Caribou Coffee, two companies that already have deals in place to make coffee pods for Keurig machines. JAB Holding said it is buying Keurig with minority investors that are also shareholders of Jacobs Douwe Egberts.

Buying Keurig will get JAB Holding closer to coffee market leader Nestle, said Stifel analyst Mark Astrachan, in a note to clients. He also said that JAB Holding may try to sell more Keurig brewing machines internationally.

Outside of coffee, JAB Holding has stakes in beauty products maker Coty and high-end shoe seller Jimmy Choo.

The deal comes as Keurig has reported slowing sales of its machines and K-cups, the coffee-filled pods that are used in Keurig’s machines. Sales of K-cups, which accounted for more than 80 percent of Keurig’s revenue, rose 1 percent to $3.6 billion in the year ending Sept. 26. Sales of its machines fell 23 percent to $632.6 million in the same period.

Its stock has suffered too, falling nearly 61 percent since the beginning of the year.

But JAB Holding sees value in Keurig: It offered $92 for each share of Keurig, a 78 percent premium from the stock’s closing price of $51.70 on Friday. The deal jolted shares of Keurig Green Mountain Inc. up nearly 72 percent to close at $88.89 Monday.

In September, Keurig moved beyond coffee. It launched Keurig Kold, a $300 machine that makes single-glasses of Coca-Cola and other sodas. Coca-Cola Co. is Keurig’s largest shareholder with a 17.4 percent stake, according to FactSet. The deal value’s Coca-Cola’s stake at about $2.4 billion. The world’s largest soda maker said Monday that it supports the sale to JAB Holding.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.