Latest news with #Kline
Business of Fashion
3 hours ago
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Exclusive: Violet Grey Names Former Bluemercury Executive as Group President
Tracy Kline, a former executive from the American beauty retailer Bluemercury, will join Violet Grey as group president on June 9. Her role will include overseeing the company's team, supply chain, stores, merchandising and marketing. Cassandra Grey, the company's founder, said it had taken a long time to find an executive with the right profile for the role, saying that her and CEO Sherif Guirgis, had been engaged in conversations with Kline since the end of 2024, and that Kline was picked for her expertise but also her people management skills. '[Kline] is sort of a unicorn — she's an operator, a merchandiser, a brand builder, and a team builder, too,' said Guirgis. Kline's appointment is the latest in a series of steps the boutique beauty retailer has taken to regrow and reestablish its presence following Farfetch's divestiture in September 2024. Grey and Guirgis, who previously worked in private equity, re-acquired the business and focused on expansion. The brand was originally founded in Los Angeles with a single store and e-commerce presence. Since Grey and Guirgis assumed control of the company, it has opened a new boutique in the well-heeled Upper East Side of Manhattan and launched a number of new exclusive luxury brands such as Poiret Beauté and Habelo. Its new incubation arm, Violet Lab, released a $1,100 fragrance under the Madame Grey brand in May. Against a cooling beauty market, the company, which is known for its glossy editorials and its 'Violet Code' rubric for admitting new brands to its selection, is hoping that its tight focus on premium beauty and stringent brand criteria will help it stand out. 'Our customers like that we're vetting [brands] and only accepting those we think could add value to our customers' lives,' said Grey. Kline said the company's curated approach will be a key differentiator going forward. Originally founded in 2013, Violet Grey was known for taking lesser-known brands like premium skincare makers Augustinus Bader and Dr. Barbara Sturm and launching them into the US market. 'This is where the trust comes in with the clients… [we're] not just launching every new brand that they hear of, and that's out there,' said Kline. Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day's most important beauty and wellness news and analysis. Learn more: Cassandra Grey Launches Perfume Label With $1,100 Fragrance The month before its new Madison Avenue outpost opens to the public, the luxury beauty retailer Violet Grey's incubator Violet Lab has quietly launched Madame Grey, with a hair mist and a perfume.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill rewards employers for child care aid. Providers say it won't fix crisis.
Children at Mariposa Learning Center in Fitchburg. (2023 file photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner) While providers, their supporters and Democratic lawmakers are pressing for a substantial continuing direct state investment in Wisconsin's child care sector, Republicans in the Legislature are pursuing another route: expanding a child care tax credit for employers. So far, child care providers and some small business owners aren't interested. The legislation circulated in draft form in early May. On Friday, May 30, it was formally introduced in the Assembly (AB 283) and the state Senate (SB 291). 'We really think it's an important opportunity to reward employers for getting involved in child care,' Neil Kline, who says he encouraged GOP lawmakers to draft the tax credit legislation, told the Examiner. Kline is executive director of Family Friendly Workplaces, a nonprofit based in Woodville that works with businesses in Burnett, Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties. The organization certifies employers as family-friendly 'to support their recruitment and retention efforts,' Kline said. To that end, one of its missions is focusing on workforce-related problems such as housing and child care access. In early May Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Karen Hurd (R-Withee) circulated the proposed bill seeking cosponsors. The legislation was written 'to encourage more businesses to invest in child care in their communities,' Marklein and Hurd wrote in their May 12 cosponsor memo. 'These changes will increase the number of available child care slots and provide more options for families.' The legislation has been introduced while child care providers and Democrats are continuing their campaigns to revive direct support for the child care sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic the Evers administration used federal pandemic relief funds to pay child care providers monthly stipends through the Child Care Counts program. The $20 million a month that the state doled out helped providers stabilize child care, increasing workers' pay while keeping care more affordable for families. When Evers tried to use $360 million from the 2023-25 budget to continue Child Care Counts with state money, none of the Legislature's Republican majority got behind the measure. The governor was later able to reallocate other federal dollars to fund Child Care Counts through June 2025, but at half the original amount: $10 million a month. With lawmakers now writing the 2025-27 budget, Evers, child care providers and their advocates have been campaigning for $480 million to continue the program for the next two years. A survey commissioned by the state and conducted by the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty forecast closures and tuition hikes if the state payments end. At their very first budget vote, however, Republicans on the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee removed the proposal along with more than 600 other items Evers had included in his budget draft. The GOP outnumbers the Democrats 3 to 1 on the committee. Democratic lawmakers responded by circulating a draft stand-alone bill to reinstate the Evers proposal. 'Child care providers are facing increasing cost to operate while still making poverty-level wages,' said Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi) at a May 22 press conference to announce the Democrats' bill. 'This has made it extremely difficult to hire and retain quality staff. [Meanwhile] providers desperately want to avoid rising costs and rates on families already struggling to afford child care.' As yet no Republican lawmakers have gotten behind the Child Care Counts proposal. Instead, the bills that Marklein and Hurd have introduced would make changes to the Business Development Tax Credit, which is provided through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). That tax credit is granted to reward a variety of business investments and reduces the state income tax that a business pays by the amount of the credit. Currently, a business that spends money on starting a child care program for its employees can get up to 15% of that cost taken off its tax bill. The credit applies only to capital investments, however — building or remodeling the child care facility. 'Unfortunately, we have heard that the current program parameters limit the incentive for businesses to invest in child care programs,' Marklein and Hurd wrote in their co-sponsor memo. 'While many businesses may want to provide child care as a benefit to employees, the current credit limitations reduce the incentive for this investment.' In addition to capital expenditures, the draft bill would extend the tax credit to cover 15% of several other costs: An employer's spending on child care program operations; Spending to reimburse employees for their child care expenses; Spending to buy or reserve openings for its employees at a child care center; Contributions an employer makes to an employee's flexible spending account for dependent care. The draft bill also allows the tax credit for 'any other cost or expense incurred due to a benefit provided by an employer to facilitate the provision or utilization by employees of child care services.' The tax credit would be refundable: Even if the credit totals more than the employer pays in taxes, the company would get its full value back from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. It also would give a refund to nonprofit employers, which don't pay taxes. 'While not a silver bullet, these changes are another step in the right direction to address the child care issue in Wisconsin,' Marklein and Hurd wrote in their memo. Kline, the Family Friendly Workplaces director, said the proposal would help engage employers more directly in addressing child care shortages. 'We really think it lays the groundwork for ongoing, self-sustaining support of child care in Wisconsin,' he said. 'The primary goal is to help introduce new money into the child care — really, the child care ecosystem — by rewarding employers to support the ongoing expenses of child care, because the reality is that the sector needs additional money in it.' Kline said he understands that 'the ongoing operational economics' is a central problem for the child care sector. 'That's why we are so focused on helping employers find avenues and be rewarded for helping defray the expenses that are related to child care and helping support that ongoing operational side of child care.' To date the existing child care employer tax credit hasn't had any takers, according to the WEDC. In January, as part of an overall evaluation of the state's business development tax credit, an outside consultant told WEDC that 'due to the high operational costs of childcare centers, affordability would likely be better achieved through subsidy as opposed to a tax incentive.' The proposal to expand the tax credit isn't gaining traction with providers or small business owners. Main Street Alliance, which organizes small business owners to advocate for state and national legislation, has already announced objections to the bill. 'These kinds of programs and tax credits are often advantageous for employers who can afford compliance and the procedural costs and have economies of scale,' said Shawn Phetteplace, MSA's national campaign director. That leaves out the typical small business, said Phetteplace, who sent lawmakers a memo calling the proposal 'deeply unserious.' Evan Dannells, a chef and owner of two Madison restaurants, questioned how a relatively small business like his would benefit from the tax credit. Of his eight full-time employees, one has two children. Most of the others are graduate students. Directly paying for the one employee's child care, even if receiving a tax credit, doesn't feel fair to the others who don't have that expense, Dannells said. 'If you put the onus of taking care of child care on the employer, the employer won't hire people with children,' he said. Dannells considers the cost of child care a legitimate use of his tax dollars. 'This is why government should be doing this,' he said. He observed that children are required to go to school when they reach the age of first grade. 'Why can't we take care of them from age 1 to 5?' While the tax credit may make it easier for a particular company's employees to afford child care thanks to the employer's support, skeptics of the proposal say that assistance only helps some people — not the system as a whole. 'That doesn't help keep the doors open,' said Heather Murray, who operates a child care center in Waunakee. 'We're hitting crisis mode and centers are shutting down now, and a quarter of them will be gone if [Child Care Counts] isn't renewed. We need the investment to go directly to providers to make sure that the doors stay open.' National child care analyst Eliot Haspel is also skeptical. Haspel is a fellow at Capita, a think tank that works in the area of family policy. In February 2024, the think tank New America published his report raising questions about the impact of various employer-sponsored child care benefits. Haspel views child care as a public good that benefits society broadly. For that reason, he contends, it should serve families regardless of whether they work for an employer able to fund a child care benefit. 'Small business will never be able to offer a really robust child care workplace benefit,' Haspel says. That puts small businesses and small business employees at a disadvantage if supporting child care is primarily an employer's responsibility, he argues. The large number of low-wage workers and 'gig workers' 'also raises the specter of increasing inequalities,' he writes in the New America report. Haspel says that tying child care to a job also locks people into a job — or strands them from needed care if they lose their job. It also disrupts children's early education at a time when they need consistent and reliable connections with their caregivers, advocates say. 'It's really bad for workers and it's really bad for kids for your child care to be tied to your employment,' Sen. Kelda Roys said at the Democrats' May 22 press conference. Tying health insurance to employment has been 'a disaster,' Roys said. Health care is 'rationed based on the job that you have or the wealth that you have,' she added, 'and we do not want to exacerbate the current problems in our child care system by tying it to people's employment.' In his New America report and in an interview, Haspel says the problem isn't providing child care at the workplace. 'I'm not against the idea of onsite child care — that can make all the sense in the world,' he says. 'You can have an onsite center as part of a publicly funded system' — one to which employers contribute as taxpayers. Focusing on the employer, however, carries with it 'an opportunity cost,' Haspel says. 'The more we say child care should be solved primarily through employers, the harder it is to say we need a fully public system that is universal and reaches everyone.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Want to drive on Delaware beaches? Here's what you need to know
Cars frequently get stuck trying to drive on the Delaware beaches, especially in the warm months. Low-sitting vehicles' wheels often spin before they can even get over the dune crossing, though it seems like most people get stuck right at the end of the dune crossing, blocking others from getting on the beach. Worst of all is when someone gets stuck or parks too close to the water and the ocean reaches their vehicle. If your vehicle gets stuck on the beach, Delaware Natural Resources Police will not assist you. To avoid paying for a tow and becoming the laughingstock of the "Bad Drivers of Delaware" Facebook group, follow the advice below: Before you even consider driving on the beach, know that you can only do it on designated state park drive-on beaches after getting a surf-fishing permit and, if it's a summer weekend or holiday, making a reservation. Driving on the beaches is for surf fishing only. To avoid a fine, you have to be actively engaged in fishing (read: pole in the water, bait on the hook). Surf fishing vehicles must be equipped with a shovel (or two), a jack, a board or similar support for the jack, a low-pressure tire gauge and a tow rope or chain. The speed limit on the beach is 15 m.p.h. Violations of these rules can result in fines of $50 to $250 for first offenses and $100 to $500 for second offenses. You can learn all about Delaware's surf-fishing regulations here. And in case it's not obvious: The closer the frame of your vehicle is to the sand, the more likely it is to get stuck. Lower vehicles, like sedans, are not recommended for driving on the beach. Air pressure is the most important factor when it comes to operating a vehicle in the sand, according to Delaware Natural Resources Police Chief Wayne Kline. (Watch the video he narrated on this subject.) The air pressure in your vehicle's tires must be reduced before going on the beach. Reduced air pressure makes your tires longer and wider, allowing them to gain traction on sand. A good starting pressure for the beach is 20 pounds, Kline said. When it's hot and dry and the sand is softer, you may need to go as low as 15 pounds. Any lower than that is not recommended. A few rules of thumb: If you're driving on the beach and take your foot off the accelerator, your vehicle should coast to a stop, Kline said. If it stops suddenly, you need to let more air out. When driving on the beach, follow the tracks of other vehicles. That sand will be packed down and easier to drive on, Kline said. If you must crest a crown, or a small hill created by waves, drive parallel to the beach and turn into the crest very gradually. A sharp turn into a hill will likely result in your vehicle getting stuck. Dune crossings can be difficult because the sand is usually soft, and drivers sometimes have to stop for pedestrians and other cars, Kline said. Do your best to stay in the ruts of other vehicles and maintain speed. Give vehicles traveling uphill the right-of-way. When leaving the beach, don't forget to fill your tires at the air pumps, which typically are located where the sand and blacktop meet. At the beach: Another Delaware beach town just adopted a youth curfew If your tires are spinning and your vehicle isn't moving, you're stuck. Stop pressing the gas pedal. First, get out of the vehicle and air your tires down a few more pounds, Kline said. If that doesn't work, it's time to start digging. Dig out under the frame of your vehicle until you can see daylight from all directions and dig wheel paths behind all four wheels. Be careful not to puncture your tires. You can use your jack to raise the wheels and place sand under them. Since the sand behind your vehicle is already packed, it's easiest to back out when you're ready to try again. Marine life: When is the best time to see horseshoe crabs on Delaware Bay beaches? What we know If you have to use a tow rope, don't use it to tow your vehicle but to snatch or jerk it, Kline said. The vehicle assisting you should accelerate quickly to jerk your car out of the sand. What vehicle is assisting you? Well, you can phone a friend or ask someone nearby. If you're polite, most people are happy to help. If all else fails, call a tow company and stay with your vehicle. If you don't arrange for it to be towed, police will. Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@ or on Facebook. This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How to drive on the Delaware beaches
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
50% of California homeowners are under insured
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The California Board of Equalization, the state's tax collector, held a hearing over concerns about lower revenues to finance state operations stemming from wildfires. Long recoveries deny the state many forms of revenue as people struggle to rebuild. The Board heard some big surprises. It turns out that what your homeowners insurance company told you was enough to replace your home is based on a big lie. The California Board of Equalization called in experts and learned that 50%, fully a half of California homeowners, are underinsured. Why? Insurance companies set your premium by computer algorithms telling you what coverage you need to buy to rebuild your home. "Everything we know is that people do want to buy enough. They think they have bought enough. And they only learn that they're wrong after they've lost everything," said law professor Kevin Kline with the California School of Law. Kline is one of the nation's most respected insurance analysts who recently reviewed 62,000 claims. "The data allows me to isolate what the algorithm is producing as an estimate of adequate coverage to reconstruct a home. That estimate was low about 95% of the time and by, on average, by half. And, big shocker, it comes in far lower than reality," said Kline. "These software programs, their defaults are, you know, building a tract home development in a flat area, when a lot of these areas don't have those characteristics," said Amy Bach, director of consumer advocacy group United Policyholders. "They're wrong and they're not just wrong. They're misleading. That's why I believe we don't need any new legislation. There's a Business Code, 17.200, that prevents fraud from being engaged in business," said Matt Everson, Co-Founder of BW Builders in Santa Rosa. Despite this, insurers want to expand use of algorithms to price people down to their specific home. "Underinsurance is the silent thief of irreparable financial harm," said multi-line, multi- company insurance agent David Shaffer. He says the way to fix this is for California to create an accurate universal rate calculator that all insurance sellers must use. Market competition will change when we're all competing with the same building limit to begin with,"said the agent. An insurance executive was scheduled to testify but did not show, preferring to send the Board a letter. Rates keep climbing and you're paying for it.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Yahoo
Travel expert weighs in as Newark airport caps flights
(WBRE/WYOU) — A new announcement from the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday afternoon: The FAA says it is reducing the number of flights arriving and departing from Newark Airport. It's all because of air traffic control issues and ongoing construction. The new maximum number of takeoffs and landings will be capped at 56 per hour. That's 28 arrivals and 28 departures. It could be adjusted depending on conditions. This follows a string of incidents at the airport that have caused serious concerns. Including one where controllers lost radio and radar contact with planes for 90 seconds. The decision comes after weeks of cancellations and delays due to air traffic controller shortages and runway construction. 28/22 News Reporter Amelia Sack spoke with travel experts in northeastern Pennsylvania to see what you can expect while traveling. This announcement comes just before the start of summer, when many people will be flying and passengers will feel the effects. Cuts to flights are coming to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey just before Memorial Day weekend. State police announce holiday DUI checkpoints A spokesperson from the FAA says the goal is to make traveling easier for people after flight delays due to construction, staffing challenges, and recent equipment issues. One local travel agency says they are already seeing the effects. 'We had a group in San Antonio, Texas, for the last couple days. They came in yesterday, and little snafu with their flight, but what we did is we redirected them. Instead of a direct flight to Newark, we actually just had a little bit of a layover in another city for about an hour and half,' Allen Kline with Travelworld stated. Kline says the good news is these cancellations are mainly impacting flights within the US. 'We are getting a ton of calls, almost a half a dozen calls a day, and really, it's really just affecting domestic travel. So, everything we're doing internationally, we really haven't seen any effects at all,' Kline continued. Experts say if you're planning to fly out of Newark or any airport, you should download the app of whichever airline you are using because it will have the most up-to-date flight information. 'That actually has the most up-to-date information, more before Google gets it, or sometimes faster than some of the teleprompters or the screens in the airport,' Kline added. Another good tip to keep in mind: have a backup plan, and give yourself enough time to get where you need to be. 'If you have a layover, you wanna maybe sometimes have more than an hour or two between the layover, just in case your first flight is running a little late, if that flight lands late, you wanna make sure you have enough time to get on your next flight,' Kline said. These changes will impact many airlines at Newark and are expected to last well into October. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
