MILA Inc. of Mountlake Terrace won the Better Business Bureau’s award for innovative business practices at the consumer organization’s annual luncheon on Friday. Eight Western Washington businesses were recognized, though MILA was the only one in Snohomish County. Business of the Year awards went to Seattle-based Dunn Lumber and to Brookside Dental in Bellevue.
Bank of America withdraws cards
Bank of America Corp. has withdrawn an undetermined number of Visa cards because of concerns about a security breach with a merchant, a company spokeswoman said Friday. The nation’s second-largest bank is in the process of notifying customers, spokeswoman Betty Riess said. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank declined to reveal the number of cards that were withdrawn or where the customers lived. Riess also declined to name the merchant. She said it was “standard procedure to do this if we see misuse or potential misuse of a customer’s card.”
USDA predicting farm income drop
Farmers will see their incomes plunge in 2006 coming off two years of unusually high prices and record crops, the Agriculture Department said Friday. Rising energy costs and interest rates are gobbling up the bottom line for farmers, analysts said. On average, net income for a farmer is expected to be $48,600 this year, down from $68,300 last year, according to forecasts from the department. The average was $52,500 from 2000-2005.
Report says cable revenues are rising
Cable company revenues rose faster than inflation last year, but cable’s share of the TV-viewing market declined as satellite services gained ground, the Federal Communications Commission said in a report released Friday. The FCC’s annual report on competition among video providers found that cable’s revenues rose about 10.8 percent over the year through June. It also found that the number of cable households fell by nearly 1 million, and cable’s share of households with something more than an antenna fell to 69.4 percent from 71.6 percent a year earlier. The FCC didn’t indicate how much cable rates rose, but Commissioner Michael Copps said they were too high.
AT&T boss takes home $12 million
The chairman and chief executive of AT&T Inc. saw his annual compensation rise to nearly $12 million in 2005, according to a statement the company filed Friday. Edward Whitacre Jr.’s salary remained the same as a year earlier at $2.1 million, but his 2005 bonus climbed to $7.1 million from $6.2 million, and the value of his other compensation was about $2.7 million, up from $1.6 million.
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