Meeker stays on Midas list

Jay County’s Mary Meeker is no longer the highest-ranked woman on Forbes magazine’s Midas List.

The list ranks venture capital investors based on a variety of factors.

Meeker, a Portland native and graduate of Jay County High School, had been the highest-ranked female on the list for the past three years.

This year, that spot went to Kathy Xu, founder and partner of Capital Today of Shanghai, who came in at sixth on the list. Meeker is ranked eighth on the list.

Meeker, who received her undergraduate degree from DePauw University, left the venture capital fund of Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers in 2018 after eight years. She is now launching her own fund, Bond Capital, which focuses on high-growth internet companies. She is known internationally for her annual Internet Trends Report.

Only 12 women made the Midas List this year.

This week it was announced that Meeker is leaving the board of directors of LendingClub.



Another recall

Reuters reported this week that Tyson Foods Inc., parent of Tyson Mexican Original of Portland, is recalling about 20,000 pounds of ready-to-eat beef patties due to plastic contamination, marking its third major product recall this year.

A Tyson unit, AdvancePierre Foods, is recalling “fully cooked flame broiled beef patties” after two consumers complained about soft purple plastic in the product, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service told Reuters this week.

“Tyson acquired AdvancePierre Foods in 2017, and the unit is one of the major providers of fully cooked protein and assembled sandwiches to schools in the United States,” the news service said.



Good score

Ardagh’s efforts to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have earned it a B-level rating from a global environmental impact non-profit.

The Carbon Disclosure Project works with companies and governments to reduce emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests.

Ardagh, parent of glass container plants in Dunkirk and Winchester, has worked with CDP since 2011.

The B-level rating is the second-highest on an A to F scale.



Speak up

Walmart is partnering with Google to allow shoppers to call out orders in their homes using Echo devices. The two companies announced the voice-shopping partnership this week.

Amazon customers can shop groceries from Whole Foods by calling out orders in their homes to their Echo devices, but Walmart customers have lacked that option, CNN pointed out.



Expanding

Parlor City Warehouse in Bluffton is planning an $8 million expansion, doubling the size of its warehouse space. Its current 200,000-square-food facility is fully occupied. Work on a new building is expected this spring.