6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

Assignment 6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic and Regulatory Trends

1.     ECONOMIC TRENDS

a)    Textile sector ‘rife’ with exploitation and underpayment

·      Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46992499

·      I believe it exists an opportunity here because there are investigations that prove this information is real. Many UK’s textile industries pay less than the minimum wage to their employees in order to keep a “reasonable price” of the product for their customers. In the article, the author expresses that there is underpayment in one in every four inspections. This must come to an end, but that kind of industries always find a different to go back to their market, by either changing the name of the company or founding different ways to evade detection of their illegal practices

·      The prototypical customer would be the persons who work with underpayment and with excessive hours of work, mostly in the textile industry as the article explains. It is hard to exploit this opportunity as the companies know how to come back and do what they did again, but it is possible to stop with this problem, the UK government should pay more attention to this issue

·      I think I saw this opportunity because I can see the difference within a fair practice and an unfair practice. I come from a country where many laws are not respected and industries do not respect the rights of workers, and that's what I see happening in UK with the textile workers, since those companies just worry about their profit and selling more

b)    Changing nature of ownership: “generation rent”

·      Source: https://www.marketingweek.com/2018/12/19/changing-nature-ownership-brands-generation-rent/

·      I believe it exists an opportunity here as the article explains, there are statistics to prove it and show how much home ownership (by young people) continues to drop and how there is an increase on renting everything you can; and companies are adapting to this trend. The article says that on average college students in the US moves around 12 times (during their college town), even I have moved more than 4 times since I moved to Gainesville.

·      The prototypical customer would be the young people, who have not settled in a place, haven’t formed their family, or do not have their desired job yet.

·      I think is an opportunity that is there, so it is easy to exploit in young people

·      I saw this opportunity because as I said before I have moved many times since I am in college, and I think it will be like that until I am in a place where I am happy at to stay for a long time

2.     REGULATORY CHANGES

a)    Gainesville looking to change immigration policy to prevent crime victims from being deported

·      Source: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-gainesville-immigration-policy-20180405-story.html

·      I think this opportunity exists because as the author say in the article many victims (in this case of abuse) are silent and do not report for fear of being deported to their country. That is, they prefer to suffer than to be returned to their country.

·      The prototypical customer would be any immigrant who has had to suffer from any type of abuse and they do not report it because of the fear of being deported from the country (The U.S)

·      I think it will be easy to exploit, the government should make an exception for those women, men or children who have suffered from abuse

·      I think it's interesting because not many people take into consideration this, we could never know how many people have had keep silence for fear of being expelled from the United States. I think it is great that Gainesville takes that initiative

b)    Gainesville just voted to ban plastic bags

·      Source: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190120/seidman-gainesville-just-voted-to-ban-plastic-bags-will-sarasota-be-next

·      I think the opportunity exists because it is important to help reduce waste and by reading some articles about this, by 2040 Gainesville will be a “zero waste city”

·      The prototypical customer would be every citizen and business in Gainesville, so that each person in the city helps reduce waste

·      I think this is easy to exploit, we just need to change our habits; like using paper bags instead of plastic

·      I found this important because plastic is one of the most notable pollutants of the earth, and helping with small actions like this one is a big step for us as a society

5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

Assignment 5A - Identifying Local Opportunities

1.     Opportunity 1

·      Lane Ranger: What is happening at Archers Road at 78^th Street?

·      https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190120/lane-ranger-whats-happening-at-archer-road-at-78th-street

·      In this article, which was written on January 20, 2019; the author, Cindy Swirko, explains there is a new subdivision on Archer Road that is being built, there are new projects and plans happening in Archer Road. I believe it is really good they want to improve things since Archer Road can get really crowded during rush hours

·      The problem: All these new projects are happening at Archer Road, but this does not mean everything is “good”, instead, it can be quite dangerous. As Cindy states in the article it is really hard to make a left on the west side of the road since there isn’t enough space. 

·      Who does it affect? It affects every person driving on the Archer Road because it can cause an accident

2.     Opportunity 2

·      Spinach and Mesclun recalled after testing in two states flag possible salmonella

·      https://www.miamiherald.com/living/food-drink/article225003080.html

·      In this article, which was written on January 24, 2019. The author, David Neal informs that “Satur farms” had to remove one lot of Mesclun and two of spinach, because they may be infected with salmonella, he explains that salmonella can cause millions of illnesses and even death. Consumers should return what they have and they will get a refund, and wholesales should not sell those lots of Spinach or Mesclun

·      Problem: Lot # 18494 and Lot #18513 may be infected with Salmonella, which is really dangerous since it can cause diseases and death

·      Who does it affect? Every consumer exposed to the bacteria

3.     Opportunity 3

·      Walking? You are risking your life in Brandenton, the 4^th deadliest city for pedestrians

·      https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article224947190.html

·      In this article, which was written by Linda Robertson and published on January 23, 2019, the author wrote about how dangerous is Florida to walk, she showed some statistics to inform that 9 of the 20 most dangerous cities for pedestrians are in Florida, she even says that every year the pedestrian deaths increase. She tries to find the “why this happens” and her conclusion was that Florida streets are dangerous, they are made mostly for vehicles.

·      Problem: The problem here will be that Florida has a high mortality rate of pedestrians, this happens due to the lack of intersections and sidewalks, which makes more likely that this type of accidents will happen

·      Who does this affect? Mostly pedestrians, but this also affect drivers because they are involved in the accident as well and they may be responsible for the accident

4.     Opportunity 4

·      Aggressive Salt Marsh Mosquitoes Emerge in Brevard County

·      http://www.brevardtimes.com/2019/01/aggressive-salt-marsh-mosquitoes-emerge-in-brevard-county/

·      This article published on January 10, 2019, informs that Brevard County is suffering from the appearance of “Salt marsh mosquito” (Aedes taeniorhynchus). This mosquito is not causing a disease, however, it can transmit pathogens. The emergence of Salt Marsh Mosquitoes is due to rain and especially to any space that holds water for too long.

·      Problem: One problem is the emergence of the mosquitos and the second one is that “Mosquito Control” was having a hard time trying to fumigate every area due to the high demand of this control. They were fist attending the cases with more mosquitoes.

·      Who does it affect? Most of Brevard County population.

5.     Opportunity 5

·      North Port High School student brings gun to class, is apprehended by police

·      https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190123/north-port-high-school-student-brings-gun-to-class-is-apprehended-by-police

·      The article posted on January 23, 2019 by Elizabeth Djinis, tells that North Port High was closed for about 10 minutes after a student carried a gun at the high school. Three students reported the student, the gun was confiscated and nothing of this matter happened to major. However, the student has three charges.

·      Problem: The problem in this article was that a student, who I assume is a minor, carried a gun and he took to the school.

·      Who does it affect? Every student and every person who was inside the school, because an accident could have occurred due to this action of taking a gun to campus.