Is all politics local? Rob Branca thinks so. The longtime multi-unit Dunkin’ operator and IFA board member says effective advocacy in Washington boils down to putting a familiar face on franchise issues.

In a profile featured in Multi-Unit Franchising.com, Branca reflected on the 2025 IFA Advocacy Summit, where franchisees pushed for the American Franchise Act. The bipartisan bill would codify a permanent joint-employer standard after the rule changed four times in ten years. “Make the rule permanent, and we’ll follow it,” Branca said.

His most effective strategy: inviting lawmakers to visit locations and meet employees. With frequent Congressional turnover, new members and staff must continually learn franchising fundamentals. “They want to hear from the person in their district, the local taxpayer, the local employer,” Branca said. “It’s not Dunkin’; it’s Rob and his family business.”

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Your Thanksgiving Feast Will Cost Less This Year

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Here’s something to be thankful for. Turkey prices are down 16% from last year, thanks to a record corn and soybean harvest that made feeding birds cheaper.

The American Farm Bureau Federation found the average cost of a Thanksgiving feast dropped about 5% this year, with turkey — typically the most expensive item on the table — leading the decline. Falling wheat prices also pushed down costs for stuffing, dinner rolls and pie crust.

But not every item on the table is coming in at a discount. Sweet potatoes are more expensive due to hurricane damage in North Carolina, and beef prices jumped nearly 15% this year.

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This Sneaker Company Keeps Hiking Up Prices, But Consumers Keep Buying

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U.S. consumers can’t get enough of On sneakers. The Swiss company hiked prices $10 amid tariffs, and they’re still a hot item this season, proving that some premium brands can weather economic storms.

On raised prices on several sneakers in July, including its popular Cloudtilt, now priced at $170, and didn’t stockpile inventory or negotiate with factory partners to absorb tariff costs of up to 20%. The strategy is working. The company raised its annual forecast for the third time this year, expecting sales to hit nearly $3.7 billion, up 34% from 2024, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.

But not all the news is good for On. Its stock is down 30% from a year earlier despite torrid growth, with analysts questioning whether it can maintain momentum if Nike’s turnaround gains traction. Still, the company is opening more than 20 stores annually in wealthy markets like Palo Alto and Chengdu.

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Amazon to Pour $50 Billion Into AI Infrastructure for U.S. Government

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Amazon will invest as much as $50 billion to expand AI and high-performance computing capabilities for U.S. federal agencies. Construction will begin in 2026.

The project will add nearly 1.3 gigawatts of capacity through new data centers designed for government customers, Amazon said Monday. Federal agencies will gain access to Amazon Web Services’ AI tools, Anthropic’s Claude family of models, Nvidia chips and Amazon’s custom Trainium AI chips. AWS serves more than 11,000 government agencies and says the investment will enable them to develop custom AI solutions and enhance workforce productivity.

The announcement follows similar moves from tech giants racing to build out AI capacity. Anthropic and Meta recently announced plans to expand AI data centers in the U.S., while Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank launched their Stargate joint venture in January, aiming to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure over four years.

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Want AI to Do Your Shopping For You? Not So Fast.

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Retailers and tech companies rolled out AI chatbots that can serve as your shopping assistants this holiday season, but early adopters say the technology isn’t quite there yet.

Target, Walmart and Ralph Lauren released chatbots this year that help find gifts and sort through options, while OpenAI added instant checkout to ChatGPT for stores like Etsy and Shopify. Google announced an AI assistant that calls local stores to check inventory, and Amazon rolled out a feature that tracks price drops and automatically buys items within your budget.

Despite these efforts, some consumers say the chatbots don’t offer enough variety. The same items appear over and over again, so they end up having to go back and do a Google or TikTok search, like they would in the first place.

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Campbell’s Soup Exec In Hot Water After Allegedly Calling Company Products ‘S— for Poor People’

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Martin Bally, Campbell’s VP and chief information security officer, was placed on temporary leave after a former employee’s lawsuit revealed a recording of disparaging comments about customers and coworkers.

Robert Garza, a former cybersecurity analyst who began working for Campbell’s in September 2024, secretly recorded a November 2024 meeting at the company’s Camden, New Jersey headquarters. In the recording, a voice alleged to be Bally’s says, “We have s— for f—ing poor people. Who buys our s—? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore.” The voice also allegedly mocked the soup’s ingredients, made derogatory comments about Indian coworkers and claimed to sometimes come to work high.

Garza initially kept the recording private but later reported the comments to his supervisor. He was terminated approximately 20 days later and is now suing Campbell’s for maintaining a racially hostile work environment, with his attorney calling the termination retaliatory. A Campbell’s spokesperson told The New York Post that if the comments were made, “they are unacceptable.”

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