The newspaper reported last week that Bennington Enterprises earned $$18\mathrm{.}5$ million this year. The report also stated that the firm's

ROE is $17$ percent. Bennington retains $85$ percent of its earnings.

a$.$ What is the firm's earnings growth rate? $($Round the answer to $2$ decimal places.$)$

Earnings growth rate

b$.$ What will next year's earnings be$?($Enter the answer in dollars, not millions of dollars. Omit $ sign in your response.$)$

Next year's earnings