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Industry Buzz

• Caterpillar to close plant in Minn. city in March
  Caterpillar will end operations at its plant in Owatonna, Minn., on March 1 to streamline its business, company spokeswoman Rachel Potts said. The move will affect 100 employees at the facility, but the company will try to find them jobs at other Cat plants or with other employers. The firm plans to sell the facility, and transfer production to its plants in Prentice, Wis., and LaGrange, Ga. Owatonna People's Press (Minn.) (11/8)     

• New York City sees massive loss of trees from Hurricane Sandy
  More than 8,000 trees along New York City streets were lost because of Hurricane Sandy, and thousands more were devastated in nearby wooded areas and parks. The damage left by the storm created more than 20,000 tree-service requests as trees blocked highways and fell on buildings. The city's Department of Parks and Recreation will turn the fallen trees into wood chips and use them as mulch in the spring. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/11)     

• Other News

• Vegetable gardens take root at residential development projects
  Poughkeepsie Journal (N.Y.) (11/10)     

• Care of pollinators encouraged through gardens at Ariz. park
  Arizona Daily Star (Tucson) (11/11)     

Economic Indicators

• Businesses could lose billions from corporate-tax rate cut
  Some of the biggest U.S. corporations stand to take big write-downs if Congress cuts the 35% corporate-tax rate. That would require companies including American International Group, Citigroup and Ford Motor to trim the value of their "deferred tax assets." Citigroup could take a $4 billion to $5 billion charge against earnings because its DTAs would be worth less. The Wall Street Journal (11/8)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by OPEI SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Honda's self-charging batteries make it easy to start mower (ConsumerReports.org)

• Husqvarna plans to lay off 600 workers to reduce costs (Bloomberg)

• 9 uncertainties that are less so after Obama's re-election (The Wall Street Journal)

• Briggs & Stratton to buy Brazil equipment maker for $60 million (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• 10 tools to help you track your work (U.S. News & World Report)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Inside & Out

• How businesses can boost their commitment to innovation
  Technology can provide significant opportunities for innovation, but one study found company leadership can sometimes create a culture that stands in the way of pursuing new ideas. It's important for companies that want to spur innovation to recognize the value of their IT departments, work with their customers and create organizational structures that support new ideas, according to the study. Forbes (11/6)     

• What not to do with company credit cards
  Small-business owners can make the most of credit cards by steering clear of common mistakes such as neglecting to hunt for the best deals on rewards and interest rates before deciding which card to get, Deanne Katz writes. Many cardholders also fail to read the fine print on penalties or max out cards constantly and create a bad credit-to-debt ratio that might deter lenders, she warns. FindLaw/Free Enterprise blog (11/8)     

Policy Update

• CEOs press Congress to deal with "fiscal cliff"
  Corporate executives are launching media-based campaigns urging action on the "fiscal cliff." The Campaign to Fix the Debt says it expects to spend more than $1 million on advertisements with slogans such as "Just Fix It." The Business Roundtable says it's ready to spend about $500,000 on similar messages focused on media in the Washington, D.C., area. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/11)     

• Business leaders hope election ends gridlock
  Leaders in many industries were rooting for the other side, but now that President Barack Obama has won a second term, executives from industries from manufacturing and telecom to restaurants and auto sales hope the politics that drove recent gridlock in Washington will give way to bipartisan efforts to solve the country's problems. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/7), The Wall Street Journal (11/7)     

OPEI News

• Outdoor Power Report: A quarterly update for OPEI members
  OPEI's quarterly summary of issues and activities is now available. Read the report.     

SmartQuote

I observe the physician with the same diligence as the disease." --John Donne, British poet, satirist, lawyer and cleric