Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Walter Robb during last year’s groundbreaking for the new store, opening next month. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Walter Robb, co-CEO of upscale grocer Whole Foods,  recently made some bold statements during a panel called “Value and Values: Building a High-Performance Company” at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference 2013 in Los Angeles.

Robb declared that he is opening the chain’s first store in Detroit for reasons other than just making money — specifically, to take down elitism and racism, reports the Huffington Post.

The first Whole Foods storefront in the city of Detroit is opening on June 5th.

“What we’re trying to do in Detroit stretch the culture, stretch the mission a little bit,” Robb said during the discussion. “Culture is a living, breathing thing. It’s happening all the time. For us, in Detroit, I see thousands of communities across the United States don’t have fresh healthy food.”

Robb said he hoped Whole Foods could make a difference by bringing  healthy food to an area that he said is void of healthy food options. The city, however, supports more than 100 grocers. This includes the historic food district Eastern Market, which offers farm-fresh produce and meats. And, Lafayette Foods and Ye Olde Butcher Shoppe both recently opened stores within not far from the Whole Foods’ upcoming location. Even upscale Michigan grocery chain Papa Joe’s will be opening a full-service gourmet emporium in downtown Detroit.

Still Whole Foods feels there is a need for their products. “In Detroit, within the 138 square miles, the life expectancy is 12 years less than outside the city limits,” Robb said. “That just happened to be, the story is too long for today, why we started there. We have a particular set of skills. We’re going there to participate in the community.”

According to Robb, the chain will be very involved in the community. “We’ve tried to put the community first in this effort,” said Robb. “I know that we’re learning as much as we’re giving. Not only are we going after the affordability and the accessibility… we’re going after these hard issues. Because we’re going after elitism, we’re going after racism. Detroit’s 90 percent African-American.” Actually,  according to the most recent Census data  Detroit’s African-American population is 82.7 percent.

The community also wanted Whole Foods to open. Local leaders, reports HuffPo, persuaded the company by offering $4.2 million in community funds and tax credits and incentives from the city and state.

Although the Whole Foods will be opening, will the community be able to afford the healthy food products, which tend to cost more? Eating healthier food can add almost 10 percent to the average American’s food bill, found a 2011 study published in Health Affairs, reports Reuters.

By Charlotte Young

For those avid job hunters on the prowl, this is the list for you. CNNMoney compiles a list of 25 companies that each have at least 700 openings–that’s more than 56,000 jobs and one of them could be just right for you.

Number one on the list is the company most of us use in some format on a daily basis–Google. Also ranked the best companies of the year, Google currently has about 700 jobs available. Although Google is looking for employees to with various skillsets to fill its positions, this year they are especially looking for sales team members and hundreds of software engineers.

“Cultural fit and diversity are very important to us,” Yolanda Mangolini tells CNN Money. “We aim to reflect the globally diverse audience of our products and believe that we can serve our users better when we foster a diversity of perspectives, ideas and cultures within the company.”

Mangolini also discloses that Google looks for candidates that are well-rounded and accomplished in several areas.

The Boston Consulting Group is next on the list. It may not be as well-known as Google, but with about 2,000 position openings, it currently has more opportunities for applicants to consider. There are multiple consultant positions available within the company. According to Mel Wolfgang, a recruiting partner at Boston Consulting Group, this company looks for applicants that “demonstrate a natural curiosity to explore other, related issues and opportunities.”

Third on the list is Wegmans Food Market. Wegmans has about 884 current openings, mostly in retail customer service. Above all they look for candidates that value what they value. Kevin Stickles in Human Resources discloses that the company doesn’t mind teaching anything else its employees need to know.

Those in the financial sector may be excited to learn that Edward Jones has about 1,515 job openings. Edward Jones has openings for financial advisors, branch office administrators and several positions in its home offices in St. Louis, Missouri and Tempe, Arizona.

Further down the list, Whole Foods Market has about 1000 job openings in positions at every level. Adobe at number eight is looking for engineers, salespersons and marketers.

Job seekers will certainly want to check with Marriott International. The large hotel corporation has about 4,500 job openings, including 340 housekeeper positions and 221 guest service representatives’ availabilities.

“As a company, we offer the resources and encouragement employees need to develop to their full potential, so we look for candidates that have a passion for learning and growth,” Francisca Martinez, the Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition and Mobility, said to CNN Money.

For the retail enthusiasts, Nordstrom is number 13 on the list with 3,022 job openings. The company is looking for people to fill sales and support positions, online, IT, HR, finance and several other roles.

Those in the medical field may want to look to Mayo Clinic. This company is searching for scientists, physicians, registered nurses, physician assistants and much more. Mayo has the largest amount of job openings for registered nurses. Brent Bultema, the director of recruitment strategies at Mayo reveals this company looks for “people who want to make a difference in the lives of those who come here for care.”

If none of these companies have peeked your interest, try looking at the complete list. There are many more companies and job opportunities to fit just about every career and skillset.

By Brittany Hutson

U.S. companies are loosing out by neglecting a rather attractive and overlooked consumer: American Muslims.

There is an estimate number of six to eight million Muslims in this country that possess an annual spending power between $170 and $200 billion. It is believed that two-thirds of Muslim households make more than $50,000 a year and a quarter earn over $100,000. Miles Young, chief executive officer of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency, said in a speech at this past December’s second annual American Muslim Consumer Conference that Muslims are the best-educated religious group in America and over 40% have bachelors’ degrees. Clearly, this is a consumer that companies cannot afford to not attract.

According to the Associated Press, corporations in Europe have long been catering to Muslim communities there. Nestle has about 20 factories with halal-certified production lines and advertises to Western Muslims through its marketing campaign called “Taste of Home.”

So why is it that companies in Europe have been able to successfully attract and retain the interest of their Muslim consumers?

Part of it has to do with Muslims in Europe having lived there for multiple generations, said Ponn Sabra, founder and owner of the online blog community for American Muslim Moms, AmericanMuslimMom.com.  Also, “European Muslims are extremely strong in faith, very vocal, [and] much more confident in their practice of our faith than the majority of Muslims living in America.”

It also helps that Muslims in Europe are not stereotyped like Muslims in America, added Sabra. It’s only been recent that businesses in the U.S. have started to tap into the Muslim consumer market. McDonald’s and Wal-Mart have entered the halal arena and last August, Whole Foods began selling its first nationally distributed halal food product—frozen Indian entrees called Saffron Road. But because there is still intensified anti-Muslim feeling throughout the country, this is causing companies to worry that they will be attacked for going after this consumer.

But Muslims do not necessarily want companies to be their advocates against opposition, more so as they would appreciate that companies get to understand their values. Mohammed Abdullah, director of the 2009 Conference, said in a press release, “Muslims want to be acknowledged in mainstream media. You don’t need to change your product of show Muslims in your ads. Instead, consider advertising in a Muslim media outlet. Say Eid Mubarak or Ramadan Kareem during the holidays. The Muslim community will respond. When we see an ad we like we send it to our friends and share it with each other,” he said.

Of course, the worldwide market for Islamically permitted goods, also known as halal, is the best option for companies interested in attracting the American Muslim. The industry includes foods and seasoning that omit alcohol, pork products, cosmetics, finance and clothing. According to Young, the global halal market is worth $2.1 trillion dollars and it is growing at $500 billion dollars a year.

Muslims as entrepreneurs shouldn’t be underestimated either. For example, Tariq Farid developed and launched one of today’s successful and international companies in the floral industry that many know and love as Edible Arrangements.

“The American Muslim Consumer is extremely loyal, wealthy, educated and well-connected on and offline,” said Sabra. “Companies who jump at the opportunity have the potential for life-long happy customers who willfully recommend their products and services.”

(CBSNews.com) – “All blacks leave the store.”

The words had an all-too-familiar ring to them, this time heard over the public address system of a Whole Foods Market in northern New Jersey, where police say a 14-year-old girl grabbed a courtesy desk microphone Saturday to make the racially charged remark.

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