LBMC expands office for wealthy customers

LBMC, one of the largest accounting and business consulting firms in the Southeast, is expanding its Chattanooga office with the addition and promotion of experts in its high-net-worth tax practice.

The team is led by shareholder Nicole Jeppesen and includes senior managers Jackie Lee and Becky Shoemake and managers Sarah Johnson and Rachel Ragghianti.

“With the growth of the Chattanooga market, we are seeing an increased demand in the high net worth space. These clients have complex tax, estate planning and charitable giving needs, and with our expanded, robust team — comprised of a deeper bench with more than 50 years of collective experience — we can provide unparalleled expertise from our own backyard,” said Dennis Blanton, shareholder and practice leader for the Chattanooga office.

Gap cutting staff to reshape retailer

The Gap is laying off 1,800 corporate workers, roughly three times the number of headquarters jobs it cut last fall, as the struggling chain cuts costs in a bid to become more nimble.

More layoffs at the struggling chain follow similar cuts at large U.S. corporations this year, such as Amazon and McDonald’s, with white collar workers taking the brunt of the head count reductions as the economy slows.

In a regulatory filing Thursday, the San Francisco-based chain, which also owns Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta, said employees in its San Francisco and New York offices, as well as upper field positions such as regional store managers, will be impacted. Last September, Gap slashed 500 corporate jobs.

Executive chairman Bob Martin, who is also interim CEO, said the layoffs will lead to $300 million in annualized savings. The layoffs should be completed by the end of July, according to the regulatory filing.

“We are taking the necessary actions to reshape Gap Inc. for the future — simplifying and optimizing our operating model, elevating creativity, and driving better delivery in every dimension of the customer experience, ” said Martin in a prepared statement.

Martin is presiding over the helm as the company is still looking to fill the vacancy left when Gap CEO Sonia Syngal stepped down last July.

Delta Sky Club tests grab & go food option

Delta Sky Clubs have been plagued with long lines and crowding, frustrating the frequent fliers who pay hundreds of dollars for access.

Some members stop by the Sky Club to grab a complimentary coffee or bite to eat before their flight — but might find the wait to be so long that it’s not an option.

Starting in early May, Atlanta-based Delta plans to start a pilot program offering grab & go food and drinks in the lobby of its Sky Club on Concourse B at Hartsfield-Jackson — one of its most popular lounges at the Atlanta airport.

The airline also plans to pilot grab & go food and beverages at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 4, starting in early May.

“Pending a successful pilot, we’ll look at bringing the Grab & Go experience out into the concourse,” Delta said in a written statement.

A Sky Club membership costs $695 annually for Delta Medallion-level frequent fliers.

Amazon stock up as sales rise 9%

Amazon on Thursday reported a continuing slowdown in its cloud computing unit AWS, but stronger-than-expected revenue and profits for the first quarter sent its stocks higher in after-hours trading.

The Seattle-based company said it pulled in $127.4 billion in revenue for the January-March quarter, a 9% growth compared to the $116.4 billion it reported during the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected $124.6 billion.

Profits came out to $3.2 billion, or 31 cents per share, higher than the $2.24 billion industry analysts had expected. It’s also a strong improvement from the same period last year, when the e-commerce giant reported its first quarterly loss in years mainly driven by a loss in value of its investment in the electric vehicle company Rivian Automotive.

Amazon’s stock rose 3% in after-hours trading.

“Amazon did what it needed to do in Q1 by reversing—or at least stalling—its most troublesome declining growth trends,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Andrew Lipsman said in a statement. “For the first time in several quarters, Amazon may finally have a bit of wind at its back.”

Fed’s Powell tricked by pranksters’ call

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked into an extended phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Powell appeared to discuss the impact of interest rate hikes. Videos of the phone call have been posted on social media.

In one clip, Powell says a “recession is almost as likely as very slow growth” this year. Powell has said before that the Fed’s rapid series of rate hikes would slow the economy and even potentially cause a recession.

A Fed spokesperson would not say whether the phone call demonstrated that the Fed faces security lapses or what steps would be taken to try to prevent it from occurring again.