Category: 3. Business

Firm News  |  January 8, 2026

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Gibson Dunn is advising Veritas Capital, a leading investor at the intersection of technology and government, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Global Healthcare Exchange, a leading supply chain software platform powering mission-critical connectivity between healthcare providers and suppliers.

Our corporate team includes partners John Pollack and Christopher Harding; of counsel Jared Snyder and John Kim; and associates Percy Gao, Mona Kalantar, Juliana Stone, Kriti Hannon, and Stephen Huie.

Partner Doug Horowitz is advising on debt financing; partner Matt Donnelly and associate Bree Gong on tax aspects; partner Michael Collins and of counsel John Curran on benefits; partner Meghan Hungate and associate Jacqueline Malzone on IP aspects; partner Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter and associate Sarah Scharf on data privacy; and partner Michael Farhang and associate Zach Lloyd on litigation aspects.

The Municipality of Clarington plans to designate the property at 4-10 King Avenue East, Newcastle, for its architectural and historical value under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Heritage designation is the formal recognition of a property’s heritage value and its significance to the community. It helps to conserve important places for the enjoyment of present and future generations. Learn more about Clarington’s heritage properties at www.clarington.net/Heritage.

Reasons for Proposed Designation

Description of Property

4-10 King Avenue East is located in the commercial core of the historic Village of Newcastle, at the historic four-corners. It consists of a two-storey Italianate building constructed circa 1859.

Statement of Significance and List of Character-Defining Features

Physical/Design Value

4-10 King Avenue East is a representative example of a building constructed in the Italianate architectural style, specifically the commercial Italianate form. The two-storey red brick building is composed of two distinct sections divided by a firewall, which creates a rectangular plan fronting towards King Avenue East. The heavily ornamented side gable roof and one-storey rear wing located on Mill Street carry through the Italianate aesthetic and emphasize the building’s location on the corner. The building has predominantly segmentally arched window openings with brick voussoirs and tin-clad sills, which is typical of Italianate architecture. The building showcases eave returns and an ornate bracketed cornice along the façade and west elevation, composed of individual projecting brackets of varying sizes and a moulded frieze board, which is a key characteristic associated with Italianate design. The building has a balanced façade, with each section showcasing balanced composition and rhythmic elements. The west portion of the building, known as 4 King Avenue East, includes a three-bay façade with two entryway openings topped with rectangular transoms, whereas the east section’s centrally placed entrance includes a decorative transom and sidelights flanked by one-story canted bay windows. The bay windows are topped by truncated hip roofs with bracketed cornices and include decorative brickwork features which are representative of the Italianate architectural style.

Contextual Value

4-10 King Avenue East is important in defining, supporting, and maintaining the four corners of the commercial core within the historic village of Newcastle. The development of the commercial core in the mid-to-late 19th century played a significant role in the social and economic development and growth of the community of Newcastle, which resulted in its incorporation as a village in 1856. The lot lines, layout, and built form of the historic core are consistent with the typical 19th-century commercial streetscape found throughout Ontario. The King Avenue streetscape is comprised of predominantly one-to-two-storey commercial and institutional buildings of primarily brick construction with narrow, uniform setbacks along the street. Furthermore, the stylistic similarities between several properties, including red brick construction, ornamented rooflines, decorative brickwork and balanced façades with formal entrances, strengthen their contribution to the historic character of the commercial area. 4-10 King Avenue East helps support the historic core through its setback, massing, and decorative details, which are consistent with the surrounding area. Due to its prominent location at the north-east corner of King Avenue East and Mill Street, the importance of 4-10 King Avenue East at the historic four corners is reinforced by the detailed ornamentation on both the façade and west elevation. The four corners anchor the commercial core in the historic village of Newcastle and define the east and west sides of King Avenue.

Description of Heritage Attributes

4-10 King Avenue East is a representative example of a building constructed in the Italianate architectural style, specifically the commercial Italianate form. The property contains the following heritage attributes that reflect this value:

4 King Avenue East

• Two-storey building constructed in the Italianate commercial architectural style
• Red brick construction
• Balanced three-bay façade
• One-storey rear wing with gable roof and segmentally arched window with brick voussoirs
• Side gable roof with return eaves
• Decorative bracketed cornice with moulded frieze board along façade roofline and side gable roof
• Segmentally arched window openings with tin-clad sills
• Two entryway openings topped with segmentally arched transoms

10 King Avenue East

• Symmetrical three-bay façade
• Decorative bracketed cornice with moulded frieze board along façade roofline
• Segmentally arched window openings with tin-clad sills
• Centrally placed formal entrance opening with transom and sidelights
• Canted bay windows with truncated hip roofs, bracketed cornices, and decorative brickwork

4-10 King Avenue East is important in defining, supporting, and maintaining the four corners of the commercial core within the historic village of Newcastle. The property contains the following heritage attributes that reflect this value:

• Two-storey building constructed in the Italianate commercial architectural style
• One-storey attached wing located along Mill Street
• Red brick construction
• Location at the intersection of King Avenue and Mill Street
• Overall massing, setback, and decorative details

The following heritage attributes were provided by the Clarington Heritage Committee at their meeting on October 21, 2025:

• The building at 4-10 King Avenue East, Newcastle was Newcastle Village’s post office from 1880 to 1923; and
• 4-10 King Avenue East, along with the two addresses 57 Mill Street South and 15 King Avenue West, were part of the Newcastle Village four corners, as discussed in the Feb 22, 2010, Staff report (PSD-031-10).

Any person who objects to a proposed designation may, within thirty days after the date of publication of the notice of intention, give the Clerk of the Municipality a notice of objection setting out the reason for the objection and all relevant facts.

If a notice of objection has been given, the Council of the Municipality of Clarington shall consider the objection and make a decision whether or not to withdraw the notice of intention to designate the property within 90 days after the end of the 30-day period.

Dated at the Municipality of Clarington, this 7th day of January 2026.

June Gallagher, B.A., Dipl. M.A.
Municipal Clerk
40 Temperance Street
Bowmanville, ON L1C 3A6

JACKSON, Miss. – xAI, the American artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, is locating a data center in Southaven. The project will represent a corporate investment exceeding $20 billion and will create hundreds of permanent jobs throughout DeSoto County.

xAI has purchased and is retrofitting a building to house the new data center operations. The data center, which will be known as MACROHARDRR, is in proximity to xAI’s newly acquired power plant site in Southaven and one of the company’s existing data centers in Tennessee. Upon completion, the Southaven data center will increase the company’s computing power to nearly 2 gigawatts.

In addition to building rehabilitation, xAI’s substantial investment will also provide tax revenue to support public safety, health and human services, education, fire fighters, police, parks and other initiatives that benefit the City of Southaven.

The Mississippi Development Authority has approved xAI for its Data Center Incentive, which provides a sales and use tax exemption for all computing and equipment software used by companies certified as data centers by the agency. The City of Southaven and DeSoto County are also supporting xAI’s projects through fee-in-lieu agreements.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, xAI was founded in 2023 to develop advanced AI technologies to accomplish its mission to understand the universe. The company operates in the AI, social media and technology sectors. Its flagship product is Grok, a generative AI chatbot integrated with the social media platform X. The company also offers application programming interface tools such as image generation, voice and agent tools, along with the xAI For Government suite of products for American federal, state and local government uses.

The company expects to begin data center operations in Southaven in February 2026.

A fact sheet with additional details on xAI’s Southaven data center project can be found here.

QUOTES

“This record-shattering $20 billion investment is an amazing start to what is sure to be another incredible year for economic development in Mississippi. Today, Elon Musk is bringing xAI to DeSoto County, a project that will transform the region and bring amazing opportunities to its residents for generations. This is the largest economic development project in Mississippi’s history. It sets the pace for continued high-tech investments across our state and strengthens Mississippi’s position as a leader in this exciting tech revolution. There is truly no better time to invest in Mississippi.” – Gov. Tate Reeves

“xAI is scaling at an immeasurable pace — we are building our third massive data center in the greater Memphis area. MACROHARDRR pushes our Colossus training compute to ~2GW – by far the most powerful AI system on Earth. This is insane execution speed by xAI and the state of Mississippi. We are grateful to Governor Reeves for his support of building xAI at warp speed.” – xAI CEO Elon Musk

“Starting off 2026 with a $20 billion investment by xAI is a clear sign Mississippi is not letting up on the economic momentum we have built over the last few years. Our focus on speed, certainty and readiness allows companies to move quickly and with confidence, while also enabling Mississippi to compete for capital-intensive, advanced technology projects like xAI. These investments bring new, high-quality jobs to the people of Mississippi and place our state at the center of the ‘Digital Delta.’ We are proud to partner with the xAI team as we continue building the future of tech innovation right here in Mississippi.”– Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Bill Cork

Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) and the KHSC Research Institute (KHSC-RI), have once again been named one of Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals, according to the annual rankings released by Research InfoSource.

KHSC placed 25th nationally in 2025, supported by more than $39 million in research spending—a five-per cent increase over the previous year. This continued growth reflects KHSC’s expanding role as southeastern Ontario’s hub for patient-oriented research, innovation, and partnership.

“Our increase in research funding highlights the momentum building across KHSC,” says Dr. David Pichora, President and CEO. “Research strengthens everything we do—from improving care at the bedside to shaping the future of specialized care for the more than 650,000 people we serve across the region.”

KHSC-RI, the research arm of KHSC, supports more than 237 active researchers and over 322 clinical studies in areas such as cancer, cardiology, critical care, psychiatry, allergy, bleeding disorders and gastroenterology. Many projects involve national and international partners, including Queen’s University—KHSC’s primary academic and research partner.

“This recognition speaks to the dedication of our research teams who are driving innovation and discoveries that directly impact patient health,” says Dr. Steven Smith, President and CEO of KHSC-RI and Deputy Vice-Principal Research at Queen’s. “By leveraging the unique strengthens of KHSC and Queen’s we are improving Kingston’s ability to attract top talent, secure new research funding, impact patient care, and ultimately be recognized as a national hub of health research and innovation.”

This is KHSC’s 14th consecutive year in the Top 40 and underscores the importance of strong funding partnerships with federal and provincial agencies, industry partners, and community donors through the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation.

“We remain committed to turning scientific discovery into real-world improvements in care for people in southeastern Ontario and beyond,” adds Dr. Pichora.

KHSC is the regional lead for complex, specialty and trauma care and serves as the region’s premier teaching and research hospital.

New electric cranes improve efficiency and support greener operations at TraPac terminal

Oakland, Calif. – Jan. 8, 2026: The Port of Oakland this week welcomed two new container cranes at its TraPac terminal, marking the first time European-built ship-to-shore cranes have been deployed on the U.S. West Coast.

Ship-to-shore cranes are the large cranes that move containers between ships and the dock. The new Liebherr cranes, manufactured in Ireland, will make that work faster and more energy-efficient, helping the Port operate more smoothly while reducing environmental impacts.

The cranes arrived in sections and are currently being unloaded. They will be assembled on site by skilled U.S. labor and are expected to be in service by May 2026.

Once operational, the cranes will stand more than 440 feet tall—about the height of a 40- to 45-story building—allowing TraPac to handle today’s largest container ships more efficiently by improving reach and enabling containers to be moved more smoothly and consistently, helping reduce time at berth.

The cranes are fully electric, which helps reduce reliance on fossil fuels and supports the Port of Oakland’s ongoing efforts to cut emissions while modernizing its infrastructure.

“These new cranes represent an important investment in the future of the terminal,” said Cameron Thorpe, CEO of TraPac. “They improve efficiency today while helping move he Port toward a greener future.”

“We are very excited, and this is part of the Port’s broader modernization efforts,” said Bryan Brandes, Maritime Director at the Port of Oakland. “We’re focused on making improvements that support reliable operations and long-term environmental goals.”

The two cranes are the first of four new cranes planned for the TraPac terminal. Two additional cranes are scheduled to arrive later this year.

About the Port of Oakland
The Port of Oakland generates vital economic activity, community benefits, and environmental innovation as it decarbonizes its operations for a cleaner and greener future. Along with its partners, the Port supports more than 98,000 regional jobs and $174 billion in annual economic activity. The Port oversees the Oakland Airport (OAK), the Oakland Seaport, and nearly 20 miles of waterfront, including Jack London Square, and a publicly owned utility. The Port of Oakland is Everyone’s Port! Connect with the Port of Oakland and Oakland Airport through Facebook and Twitter or with the Port on LinkedIn, YouTube, and at www.portofoakland.com.

Media Contacts
Matt Davis
Port of Oakland
Chief Public Engagement Officer
(510) 627-1430
[email protected]

David DeWitt
Port of Oakland
Media/PR Specialist
(510) 627-1169
[email protected]

January 08, 2026

The Eastern Florida State College (EFSC) Foundation invites the community to its 10th
Annual Backyard BBQ & Family Fest on Saturday, February 21, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
at the EFSC Melbourne Campus, 3865 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL 32935.

 

Tickets are $15 per person or $50 for four, available at the gate. Children ages 5
and under attend FREE.

 

Guests will enjoy mouthwatering BBQ prepared by more than 20 local teams, competing
for the $1,500 Grand Champion prize and the coveted People’s Choice Award. Attendees
can sample and vote for their favorites!

 

Admission also includes:

 

• Red, White & Wheels Car Show presented by the EFSC Collegiate Veterans Society

• Food trucks

• Kid Zone

• Vendor market

• Live music by HOT PINK!

 

Proceeds benefit student scholarships and other college initiatives.

 

Recent News

Introduction

Thank you. To begin, I’d like to express my appreciation to Minneapolis Federal Reserve President and CEO Neel Kashkari and members of the Economic Club for hosting us today. 

It’s good to be in Minnesota again. They call it the North Star State for a reason. For decades, Minnesota led the Midwest as a hub for culture, business, and innovation. But in recent years, the leadership in Minnesota has knocked this great state and its people off course. 

Failed experiments with big government, overregulation, and the second-highest corporate tax rate in the country have hurt job creators like you, leading to net outbound migration. But it doesn’t have to be this way. President Trump’s hope, and ultimately his invitation, is that Minnesota becomes the North Star State again. That’s why I am here today. 

The same challenges that have beleaguered you have beleaguered many of your fellow Americans. These challenges include a glaring absence of political leadership from the previous administration, the damaging impacts of illegal immigration, rampant fraud, and the unchecked growth of government power.   

President Trump inherited these very problems when he took office last January—and he has since fixed them one by one. In just one short year, President Trump has delivered a historic economic turnaround to put our country back on the path to prosperity. 

In 2025, the President laid the foundation for powerful economic growth with: the historic passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which is actually the Working Families Tax Cut Act; trade deals that rewrote decades of global misalignment; and an ambitious deregulation agenda that empowered American entrepreneurs and businesses. Now, in 2026, we will reap the rewards of President Trump’s America First agenda. 

Looking Back: The Biden Economy 

President Trump’s economic turnaround is especially impressive given the severity of the situation he inherited from his predecessor. Minnesotans are acutely aware that the Biden Administration made life impossibly expensive through a toxic mix of what I call the three I’s: immigration, interest rates, and inflation. Hardworking families in this great state and across the country experienced the burden of Biden’s America Last economic policies, suffering from higher rents, higher prices, higher borrowing costs, suppressed wages, and elevated crime.

President Trump led a 12-month transformation of our economy, which delivered roughly 4% GDP growth in his first two full quarters in office and nearly 3% GDP growth in the fourth quarter, even amid a Democrat-led government shutdown. This growth is just a harbinger of what’s to come. 

Looking Ahead: The Trump Economy

Through the three I’s of immigration, interest rates, and inflation, President Biden inflicted tremendous harm on our economy. But President Trump is creating prosperity and long-term opportunity for all Americans through three I’s of his own: investment, innovation, and income. 

Investment

First, investment. 

Biden damaged our country’s investment environment through weak trade policies, heavy taxes, and burdensome regulations that made it more attractive for companies to do business offshore. Thankfully, President Trump has fixed that. 

When President Trump took office last January, he promised to rebalance global trade to the benefit of American workers and companies, including the many manufacturers and companies based here in Minnesota. And he has delivered on that promise in every way. 

The President’s strategic use of tariffs has encouraged corporations, both at home and abroad, to invest directly in the United States. His message is simple: Hire your workers here. Build your factories here. Make your products here. And business leaders are answering the call. 

The upshot of President Trump’s trade agenda is trillions of dollars in new investment across a broad cross-section of industries—from automotive manufacturing and semiconductors to tech and pharmaceuticals. This includes multibillion-dollar investment agreements from companies with large footprints right here in Minnesota. 

Amazon, for example, invested $120 billion in the last fiscal year. And Minnesota-based companies like Medtronic, 3M, and General Mills have collectively invested over $3.4 billion in the last fiscal year. Investments like these translate to more jobs and more opportunity for workers in Minnesota and across the country. 

Keeping US agriculture on top is critical to the state’s farmers and great Minnesota companies like Cargill, which is the largest private employer in the nation. That’s why the President has also leveraged trade to improve the position of American producers in the global commercial landscape. In every negotiation, the President without fail drives home two messages to our trade partners: first, open your markets to US agriculture; second, increase your agricultural purchases. That’s how he scored a victory for Minnesota soybean farmers when China agreed to reopen its markets to US agricultural exports. 

Under this framework, China will purchase at least 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually from the United States for the next three years. To add to the good news, the high probability of an emerging La Niña weather pattern in the Southern Hemisphere next year will likely result in higher prices and volumes for American crops. 

In addition to trade, President Trump has incentivized historic investments in both American individuals and industries through the Working Families Tax Cut, which is stimulating long-term investment in the productive capacity of the American economy. 

By allowing full expensing for factories, equipment, and farm structures, the bill lowers the cost of capital and makes it cheaper to build in America. This has spurred a CapEx Comeback, with a 12% surge in business investment through the first three quarters of 2025—the largest non-pandemic increase in over a decade. More investment means more supply, and more supply means lower prices for the consumer goods families rely on.

Beyond the many benefits for workers and industries in the President’s tax bill, one of its most innovative provisions for families is Trump Accounts. Here, I need to emphasize just how significant Trump Accounts will be in revolutionizing the US investing landscape.

Through Trump Accounts, the President is creating an ownership economy where all citizens become shareholders in America’s wealth. Today, 38% of American adults do not own stocks. But with Trump accounts, over time, we can get that number down to zero.

Trump Accounts aim to achieve this by offering every newborn citizen a $1,000 Treasury contribution to be invested in an index fund. A single $1,000 deposit into a Trump Account at birth should grow to at least half a million dollars by the age of retirement. 

The President has called on business leaders all over the country to match the $1,000 Treasury donation to Trump Accounts for the children of all their employees. And I am calling on the men and women in this room to do the same. You all can allocate directly to the children of Minnesota, Minneapolis, or any zip code of your choice. With your patronage, we can ensure a strong financial future for America’s children. 

President Trump has left no stone unturned in his effort to spur investment in the American economy—from reordering the global trade landscape to creating an entirely new investment vehicle for newborn Americans. But the White House can only do so much; at a certain point, the Federal Reserve must also do its part to spur investment. 

The Fed needs to have merely an open mind. The open-mind maestro, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, resisted premature rate hikes during the technology boom of the 1990s—and history proved him right.

Innovation

Innovation is the second I designed to boost businesses and improve quality of life for American families under President Trump. 

The Biden administration displayed outright hostility to America’s innovators and entrepreneurs. An endless string of regulations increased compliance costs, and heavy taxes made it more expensive than ever to do business. But President Trump has fixed that. 

On the tax front, the Working Families Tax Cut encourages heavy investments in innovation by restoring immediate expensing of R&D costs. Businesses can now fully deduct domestic research and developmental outlays in the year incurred, instead of having to spread these costs over several years. This new tax provision empowers companies to secure larger tax benefits sooner, allowing them to invest more of their capital into R&D. It also encourages the buildout of high-precision manufacturing here at home, which will lead to high-paying construction jobs and factory jobs. 

Beyond creating an R&D-friendly tax environment, President Trump has reduced the regulatory burden on American companies to let them innovate again. Thanks to his efforts on deregulation, community banks can now lend more readily to working families, small businesses, and farmers. This is in stark contrast to the regulatory regime that crushed small banks under previous administrations. 

Since 2010, nearly half of all community banks disappeared. The unintended consequence of “Too big to fail” was “Too small to succeed.” And so, President Trump has taken executive action to empower small banks to compete on a more even playing field with larger competitors. 

Our President is also reducing regulatory burdens on entrepreneurs to keep our nation at the bleeding edge of global tech. With new innovations in technology, some economists worry about the labor market decoupling from GDP growth. But they are missing the forest for the trees. 

As my friend and former NEC Director Dr. Lawrence Lindsey recently observed, there is a simple word to describe the difference between output growth and the growth of labor inputs: productivity. And while corporations may capture higher profits from higher productivity at first, higher real wages for America’s workers won’t be far behind. 

Income

The third I concerns what your employees care about the most: real take-home incomes. 

Incomes shrunk sharply under President Biden. Real weekly wages decreased by 2% during his presidency. All the while, embedded inflation made it almost impossible for Americans to catch up. But President Trump is fixing that too. 

Thanks to the President’s pro-worker, pro-growth policies, real wages have climbed more than 1% since he took office, with blue-collar wages increasing at one of the fastest rates in decades. This is just step one in the President’s plan to raise incomes for all Americans. 

The President’s bill prevented a $4.5 trillion tax hike, allowing the average American to keep up to $7,200 more in annual real wages and the average family of four to keep up to $10,900 more in take-home pay. For millions of families, such savings are the difference between making a mortgage payment, buying a car, or sending a child to college. 

The President’s bill raised and made permanent the Working Families Child Tax Credit. It delivers for seniors by giving 88% of retired Americans a new deduction that eliminates tax on Social Security benefits. And it codifies no tax on tips and no tax on overtime pay so Main Street workers can keep more of their hard-earned income—something the Grinch who stole prosperity in the Governor’s Mansion has not done in the Minnesota tax code. 

Thanks to the President’s forward-thinking reforms, millions of Minnesotans and Americans may see the largest tax refunds of their lives. And as withholdings are adjusted, millions will take home bigger paychecks every month this year. 

The President wants to get this money into the hands of the American people as soon as possible. That’s why I am proud to break the news here today that this year’s tax season will begin on January 26—one of its earliest starts in a decade. After this date, most of the benefits of the President’s bill will begin to materialize, presenting a major tailwind for our economy in 2026.

Tax cuts are an obvious way to increase incomes. But just as necessary is reducing the tax burden on American families by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. No one is more committed to this cause than President Trump. 

Minnesota is ground zero for what may be the most egregious welfare scam in our nation’s history to date. Under Governor Tim Walz, billions of dollars intended for families in need, housing for disabled seniors, and services for children were diverted to benefit fraudsters. I am here this week to signal the US Treasury’s unwavering commitment to recovering stolen funds, prosecuting fraudulent criminals, preventing scandals like this from ever happening again, and investigating similar schemes state by state. 

Conclusion

Taken together, President Trump’s policies have delivered a historic economic comeback in record time. Where the previous administration created stagnation and privation, this President has unleashed investment, innovation, and rising incomes. The result is an American economy that is stronger, more resilient, and more affordable for working families. 

With capital flowing, productivity surging, and prices easing, the stage is set for robust, non-inflationary growth in 2026. The Trump economy is back—and its best days are still ahead. 

President Trump has charted the course for economic renewal; now it’s up to individual states to follow it. Minnesota should lead the way. 

For four years under Biden, Minnesotans had a President who prioritized punishment over partnerships in his dealings with the business community. But this is no longer the case under the new administration. President Trump is the best partner an American job creator could ever have. That’s why he has prioritized low taxes, as well as a safe and sound, light-touch approach to regulation. 

Our President has restored tax and trade certainty, making this the best decade in a generation to build a business. So come build with us. Join us in investing directly in America’s workforce, infrastructure, and industrial base. Together we can make Minnesota and this country great again. 

Thank you.

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