Starbucks Coffee Co.

New York -- Starbucks Corp. is launching an innovative program in partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) whereby the coffee giant will help pay for the cost of an online degree for its part-time and full-time associates who work at least 20 hours a week. In a twist from the standard tuition reimbursement program, Starbucks employees who participate in the program will not be obligated to stay on with the company after graduation.

Seattle — Customers at Starbucks will soon be able to charge their smartphones while getting their afternoon pick-me-up. The coffee giant announced Thursday that it would begin a nationwide rollout of Duracell Powermat wireless charging stations after the success of a pilot program. The rollout will begin in the Bay Area, with plans to nationwide in 2015. Initial pilots in Europe and Asia are expected within the year.

San Francisco — La Boulange, the bakery-café chain owned by Starbucks, has opened its first restaurant outside its base of San Francisco, in Los Angeles. The new all-day menu offers breakfast, lunch and dinner, using local California-sourced ingredients wherever possible, as well as tap wine and beer and specialty cocktails.

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson has voted against the re-election of Michael Casey and RoAnn Costin to the company’s board of directors.

Wilson founded the company in 1998, and has seen it evolve through many business cycles, expanding it from a small storefront in Vancouver to an international brand with more than 250 stores.

Brussels, Belgium — The European Union (E.U.) is investigating lucrative tax breaks individual member countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg have been giving major global companies including Starbucks and Apple. Media reports indicate the E.U. is focusing on whether certain tax loopholes these countries have provided some corporations qualify as “state aid,” which is prohibited under E.U. bylaws.

Chine-based e-commerce company DHgate allows consumers and business to purchase goods directly from Chinese manufacturers and has big growth plans after hiring veterans of Amazon, Google, eBay and Alibaba.

Vancouver, Canada — Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder Chip Wilson announced that he voted against the re-election of Michael Casey and RoAnn Costin to the board of Lululemon Athletica. Wilson, who founded the company in 1998, had been living in Australia and was asked by the company to return and deal with a quality control issue that resulted in a product recall during 2013.

Seattle -- In collaboration with Disney, Starbucks Corp. has opened its first company-operated store at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, a nearly 4,000-sq.-ft. location at Downtown Disney West Side. This past March, Disney opened its first company-operated café at Downtown Disney, Anaheim, California.