By STEPHANIE STROM - New York Times - Chobani, the yogurt company that grew from nothing five years ago to a roughly $1 billion powerhouse today, on Monday will formally open one of the world’s largest yogurt-processing plants in Twin Falls, Idaho. “I’m so excited,” said Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and chief executive of Chobani. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.” The $450 million, 1 million square-foot plant is the company’s second. It will employ 300 people, and Mr. Ulukaya said for every 10 jobs it creates directly, it is expected to create roughly 66 additional jobs in ancillary businesses. “The state expects the total economic impact of our business there to be $1.3 billion,” he said.
SPARKS, Nev. (KRNV & MyNews4.com) -- Sparks-based Sierra Nevada Corporation has just been awarded a $10 million dollar NASA contract. The money will be used to develop commercial safety spacecrafts for travel to the International Space Station. Many experts are calling them "space taxis." Other companies winning contracts include aerospace giant Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies.
By Carl Glassman - Tribecatrib.com - Not so long ago, Adem Arici was on top of the gourmet grocery world in Lower Manhattan. The co-founder and former co-owner of the chain of Amish and Zaytuna Markets, with as many as four Downtown locations, Arici was hailed as a Financial District pioneer when he opened his Amish Market on Cedar Street in 1999. And he became a sympathetic symbol of post-Sept. 11 business distress after his store was ruined in the attacks. Today, with all but two of his stores closed or sold and his Tribeca market at 53 Park Place in bankruptcy, Arici’s world is the Westchester County Jail, where he has been held without bail for seven months. 
Muhtar Kent, the chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Co., says it's unfair to blame soda manufacturers for the alarming epidemic of obesity and diabetes, but says the company is working on a healthy-lifestyle program that could be rolled out globally within the next three years. 
Chobani Founder, President and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya was honored at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Awards for the New York area as the winner in the Retail and Consumer Products category. Ulukaya was selected as a leading entrepreneur by an independent judging panel made up of previous winners of the award, leadingCEOs, private capital investors and other regional business leaders. The winners were revealed at a gala honoring all finalistson June 19, 2012 at the Marriott Marquis in New York, NY. 
By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN - (WSJ) Hamdi Ulukaya was managing his small cheese company in Johnstown, N.Y., in 2005 when he stumbled upon an advertisement that would change everything. For sale: yogurt-making plant in Columbus, N.Y. A native of Turkey, Mr. Ulukaya decided the next day that he wanted to buy the former Kraft Foods Inc. facility. Five months later, he made that happen using loans of less than $1 million, including one backed by the Small Business Administration.
CHENANGO COUNTY, N.Y. -- Greek yogurts are lining the shelves at grocery stores around the country. Now the product could be making its way to your child's school. "Our product has been enjoyed everywhere, every corner of the country, but we have more to do. The behavior of eating yogurt starts when you are little and this nutritious product needs to be in every kitchen or every hands of everybody in this country," said Chobani President and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya. 
Crowned Heads is a company formed by former key players from CAO. When CAO was acquired by Scandinavian Tobacco Group in 2010 many of the old guard left the company to find their fortunes elsewhere, amongst that exodus were Jon Huber, Mike Conder, Michael Trebing, and Nancy Heathman, who went on to start Crowned Heads. Since then the folks at Crowned Heads have been busy and hard at work to get their company operational and their first line out to the market. They wanted to do it right so they took their time and found the perfect partner for their first release, Ernesto Carrillo. The rest as they say is history, Crowned Heads and Ernesto Carrillo came out with Four Kicks and it has been gaining steady popularity and high praise from the public and the new media outlets ever since. So without further introduction our interview with rising star Jon Huber of Crowned Heads:
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced that it has opened its 500,000th Agent location and its 100,000th location in India, underscoring the country’s growing importance as a global money transfer market. “Serving international diasporas including overseas Indians is an important reason Western Union’s network has expanded rapidly around the world,” Kiran Shetty, Regional Vice President and Managing Director, India, said: “We are grateful to our 11 million Indian customers and their families for their trust and custom over the past decade.” 
By Renee Bonorchis - Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK) sold 53 percent of its Turkish broker and investment bank as Africa’s largest lender focuses on markets closer to home. That cut its stake in Standard Unlu to 25 percent, the Johannesburg-based bank said today in a statement translated from Turkish. The shares were bought by Turkish businessman Mahmut Unlu, who raised his shareholding to 75 percent. The statement didn’t say how much he paid. 
