Awarded: The LSU Business & Technology Center has been awarded a federal grant of up to $125,000 to support innovative and technology-driven small businesses. The U.S. Small Business Administration today announced the award, which was given to the 16 recipients for the 2017 fiscal year. FAST is designed to stimulate economic development with outreach and assistance to science and technology-driven small businesses.
Speaking out: Under relentless pressure, President Donald Trump today named and condemned “repugnant” hate groups and declared that “racism is evil” in a far more forceful statement than he’d made earlier after deadly, race-fueled weekend clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump’s initial failure on Saturday to denounce the groups by name prompted criticism. This time, the president described members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as “criminals and thugs” in a prepared statement he read at the White House. The Associated Press has the full story.
Pay out: Google is reportedly paying Apple billions of dollars to remain the default search engine on iPhones and iPads, CNBC reports. According to a note to investors, brokerage firm Bernstein says it believes Google will pay Apple about $3 billion this year, up from $1 billion just three years ago in licensing fees. The fees make up a large bulk of Apple’s services business. Apple has been touting its services business as a quickly growing segment of the company, noting that it expects that branch alone will soon be as large as a Fortune 500 company. Read more.
