Food sales: The LSU AgCenter is hosting a seminar Feb. 4 for business owners and specialty food producers looking to expand their sales of food products. Ron Tanner of the Specialty Food Association and Shawn McBride of Foah International will teach about selling to supermarkets, mass merchants, and food service as well as how to build a distribution system to reach those channels. E-commerce, the fastest-growing segment for specialty food sales, will also be discussed. See the AgCenter website for more information.Â
Cash: Construction spending rose 4.1% from November 2018 to November 2019, according to a new analysis of federal data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America and the U.S. Census Bureau. Construction spending totaled $1.324 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in November, up 0.6% from October. There were year-over-year increases in all major segments—public, private residential and private nonresidential.Â
Historic: American manufacturing activity contracted last month more than it had in a decade, data released today showed, according to The New York Times. An index published by the Institute for Supply Management dropped to 47.2 in December, the lowest reading since June 2009, and the fifth straight month of contraction. Read the full story.Â
