USA Today - 03.03.2020

The quest for affordable, quality kitchenware led

two women to cook up a Great idea. Page 3B

Dishing up advice from

co-founders of Great Jones

From Alabama to Wyoming, we track the latest

events from across the USA. Page 4B

Don’t miss out on the news

from all 50 states and D.C.

MONEY

USA TODAY | TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2020 | SECTION B

INDEX CLOSE CHG
Dow Jones Industrial Avg. 26,703.32 x 1,293.
S&P 500 3,090.23 x 136.
Nasdaq composite 8,952.16 x 384.
T-note, 10-year yield 1.167 x 0.
SOURCES USA TODAY RESEARCH, BLOOMBERG

Dow Jones Industrial Avg.

25,

27,

28,

29,

SEPT. MARCH

AP

26,

1,293.

26,

MONDAY MARKETS

CONSTRUCTION SPENDING
RISES 1.8% IN JANUARY

Spending on U.S. construction pro-
jects rose to an all-time high in Janu-
ary, helped by strong gains for home
construction and government building
projects. The Commerce Department
said Monday that construction spend-
ing increased 1.8% in January, the
strongest monthly rise in nearly two
years, pushing total spending to a
record seasonally adjusted annual rate
of $1.37 trillion.

VIRUS STUNTS GROWTH OF
MANUFACTURING IN CHINA

China’s manufacturing plunged in
February as anti-virus controls shut
down the world’s second-largest
economy, according to two surveys.
Chinese factory activity fell at its fast-
est rate and to its lowest level on rec-
ord as anti-disease efforts closed
factories and disrupted supplies, ac-
cording to surveys by a business mag-
azine, China’s statistics agency and an
industry group.

AMERICAN FACTORIES
EXPAND IN FEBRUARY

American factories expanded in Feb-
ruary for the second straight month,
despite disruptions caused by the
coronavirus outbreak. The Institute for
Supply Management, an association of
purchasing managers, said Monday
that its manufacturing index regis-
tered 50.1 last month. That is down
from 50.9 in January. But anything
above 50 signals growth.

MONEYLINE

Rates as of Monday market close.

Rate Week ago

1 mo. T-bill 1.38% 1.60%

3 mo. T-bill 1.17% 1.54%

5-yr. T-note 0.86% 1.21%

10-yr T-note 1.08% 1.37%

30-yr T-bond 1.65% 1.83%

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Treasury rates

USA TODAY SNAPSHOTS ©

March 5-8, 2020

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Building 104 at General Motors’

Milford Proving Grounds is rather

unremarkable, except for one thing.

Deep inside, behind the cubicle-

lined offices and down several corri-

dors, there’s a room that never exist-

ed at GM until last year.

It’s GM’s Sound Design Studio

and its lone occupant is Jigar Kapa-

dia, known as Jay. He’s a 36-year-

old classically trained musician

with an engineering degree. He has

worked with rock stars, and royalty

runs in his blood. But more on that

later.

In the studio, Kapadia taps out a

few chords on an electric keyboard

and records them. A yoga guru, Ka-

padia briefly closes his eyes, inhales

deeply, exhales and listens to the re-

corded tones. He awaits an internal

sentient response.

“I like to take a pause, artistic

freedom, and consider how some-

thing is being translated from a re-

cording to a feeling,” said Kapadia.

“Sound is very close to the divine

energy within us. It has to resonate

with the creator first.”

In this case, Kapadia is the cre-

ator. He is GM’s senior performance

engineer and sound director. GM

has tasked him with designing the

distinct sounds Cadillac vehicles

will emit to warn of a front-end colli-

sion, a door ajar, low tire pressure,

turn signal, an unfastened seat belt

and 15 other notifications.

He also is creating the external

pedestrian-friendly alert sounds for

GM’s future electric vehicles, which

without an internal combustion en-

Jigar Kapadia is a GM sound engineer. KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/USA TODAY NETWORK

Being of sound

mind and body

GM engineer taps into inner power

Jamie L. LaReau

Detroit Free Press

USA TODAY NETWORK

See SOUND, Page 2B

Jack Welch, who built General Elec-

tric into an industrial and financial

powerhouse and became known for an

aggressive management style, has

died. He was 84.

The cause of death was renal fail-

ure, his wife, Suzy Welch, told The New

York Times.

Welch, who was chairman and CEO

of GE from 1981 to 2001, presided over a

huge increase in the company’s stock

and operations.

Named “Manager of the Century” by

Fortune in 1999, Welch became known

for his willingness to make big bets,

slash jobs and sell businesses. He also

published best-selling business books

including “Winning” and “Jack: Straight

From the Gut” and began a second ca-

reer as a corporate leadership guru.

“If you grew up in business in the

’90s, early 2000s, Jack Welch had a

huge impact on the way you approach

business,” said Timothy Hubbard, as-

sistant professor of management at the

University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza

College of Business, who studies CEOs.

Welch left an imprint on business

strategy and corporate governance that

JACK WELCH NOV. 19, 1935 - MARCH 1, 2020

Ex-CEO expanded GE’s scope, reach

Jack Welch was known for his

aggressive, hands-on management

style. 2001 PHOTO BY TODD PLITT/USA TODAY

His aggressive style

made money, headlines

Nathan Bomey

USA TODAY

See WELCH, Page 2B

Keep calm and stop hoarding. The

spread of coronavirus in the U.S. won’t

wipe out our toilet paper supply. Or

supplies of hand sanitizer, bottled wa-

ter and ramen.

That is, unless the frenzied stam-

pedes for hand sanitizer and bottled

water continue.

Anticipating a potential quaran-

tine, some shoppers ran out this week-

end to buy food, water and other sta-

ples so they could avoid exposing

themselves and their families. But oth-

ers, alarmed by the rising death count

and number of confirmed cases in the

U.S., went on unnecessary buying

binges, stripping store shelves.

“Panic buying is a self-fulfilling

prophecy,” says Karan Girotra, profes-

sor of operations at Cornell University.

“If everyone thinks things are going to

run out, they go and buy out things and

they do run out.”

No question the pandemic, which

continues to spread rapidly in Korea,

Japan and Europe is testing complex

global supply chains that tend to run

lean.

Medical devices and equipment

and pharmaceutical products – and

the raw materials to make them – are

at greatest risk as demand for face

masks and drugs to combat the virus

Virus

sparks

run on

supplies

Keep calm, officials say;

Toilet paper is plentiful

Jessica Guynn, Mike Snider

and Kelly Tyko

USA TODAY

See SUPPLIES, Page 2B

“If everyone thinks things

are going to run out, they

go and buy out things and

they do run out.”

Karan Girotra, Cornell University professor