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Roberts & Ryan welcomes our latest new hires to our growing Equity Trading Team

Roberts & Ryan Investments, Inc.

Roberts & Ryan welcomes our latest new hires to our growing Equity Trading Team: Brian Scala, Mario Lagana and Andrew Darcy. BRIAN SCALA Mr. Brian Scala brings more than 25 years of experience to Roberts & Ryan, focusing primarily on Equity and Options trading and compliance. Prior to joining Roberts & Ryan, Mr. Scala was a Senior Vice President & Head of Equity Trading at Drexel Hamilton, LLC, a Veteran-owned investment bank. Prior to that, Mr. Scala was Executive Director of Institutional Sales Trading at O’Neil Securities, Inc., where he was an Equity trader for institutional clients, Chief Options Compliance Officer and Head of the Equity Technology Department. Mr. Scala was also the CEO and Chief Equity and Options Compliance Officer for the Equity Trading Division of Clancy Financial Services. Prior to Clancy Financial Services, Mr. Scala was a NYSE Floor Broker for Troy Securities, the Head NASDAQ Sales Trader at KV Execution and a NYSE Floor Clerk for PSK Securities. Mr. Scala holds SIE and FINRA Series 4, 7, 24, 25, 55 & 63 licenses. MARIO LAGANA Mr. Mario Lagana brings over 30 years of Wall Street and management experience to Roberts & Ryan. He has traded all forms of Equities, trading investments and risk management. Mr. Lagana will oversee new business development and day to day operations. "As Senior Director at Roberts & Ryan, my ultimate goal is to offer Roberts & Ryan’s clients the best service available on Wall Street,” says Mr. Lagana. Having built trading desks at firms such as Drexel Hamilton, William O’ Neil and Robbins & Henderson, Mr. Lagana understands the commitment it takes to deliver added value. Modeled as an extension of a buy-side desk, Roberts & Ryan presents a trading desk dedicated to best execution. At the inception of his career at William O’Neil, Mr. Lagana gained technical expertise working with some of the best trading technicians in the industry. Closely mentored by William O’ Neil himself, Mr. Lagana learned fundamental and technical analysis by continuously reviewing markets, industry groups and stocks. His critical insights specialize in market direction and stock trends. Mr. Lagana holds SIE and FINRA Series 7, 55, 57, & 63 licenses. ANDREW DARCY Mr. Andrew Darcy joins Roberts & Ryan following over 25 years of Wall Street experience, focused primarily on Equity trading. Prior to joining Roberts & Ryan, Mr. Darcy was Managing Director & Head of Equity Trading at Drexel Hamilton, LLC, a Veteran-owned investment bank, where he led the secondary Equity trading department in all facets of the business, including trading, corporate buybacks, TCA, client relationships, technology, operations, compliance and business development. Prior to that, Mr. Darcy served as a Managing Director of Equity Sales Trading at BTIG and Executive Director at Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Mr. Darcy was Director of Institutional Equity Sales Trading at Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse AG, and Merril Lynch & Co. Mr. Darcy was a Commissioned Officer in the United States Navy, serving as a member of SEAL Team Eight and SEAL Team Four. He participated in Operation Desert Storm in the Red Sea and Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq. Mr. Darcy holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 55 & 63 licenses. Mr. Scala, Mr. Lagana and Mr. Darcy are all committed to our nation’s military and, in particular, Roberts & Ryan’s service to numerous world-class Veteran causes. Roberts & Ryan’s Head of Equities, James McDevitt comments, “I’m very excited to be adding this team of equity professionals. The combined teams represent Roberts & Ryan’s commitment to equity trading and providing best in class service and execution.” About Roberts and Ryan Investments, Inc. Roberts & Ryan Investments, Inc. is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVO) broker-dealer with execution capabilities in the capital markets, equities and fixed-income trading. The firm was founded in 1987 by a United States Marine Corps Vietnam combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient. With over one and a half million dollars in committed donations, Roberts & Ryan is active in donating to charitable foundations that make significant positive impacts in the lives of Veterans and their families, primarily focusing on general wellness, mental health and career transition. Contact Details Joe Pecoraro +1 917-658-8945 jpecoraro@roberts-ryan.com Company Website https://www.roberts-ryan.com

February 02, 2023 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Bridgepoint's Expertise in Display, Signage and Print Instrumental in Media One's Sale to American Pacific Group

Bridgepoint Investment Banking

Bridgepoint Investment Banking’s (“ Bridgepoint ”) industry-leading Display, Signage and Print team (“DS&P”) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Media One Digital Imaging Solutions (the “Company” or “Media One”) on their sale to American Pacific Group (“APG”). Media One will become APG’s second platform investment in the display, signage and print space and will continue to offer unique and customized solutions for the digital textile printing and large format digital printing markets in the U.S. and Canada. Jason Bartusick, CEO, and Ed Prieto, COO, will remain with Media One and continue to drive the day-to-day operations. “We are very excited to partner with American Pacific Group—they know the industry and together we have a fantastic plan to grow Media One and expand our services and the capabilities we provide to customers,” commented Jason Bartusick, CEO. “Ultimately, this deal does not get done without the team at Bridgepoint—they were true advisors throughout the process and guided us from start to finish. Bridgepoint’s expertise in the display, signage and print market is real and that expertise was instrumental to our success—they understood what buyers were looking for and how to communicate our value add to the marketplace,” added Bartusick. This marks the second transaction Bridgepoint has worked on with APG. The first was completed in 2021 when APG acquired Fellers, Inc.—one of the largest distributors of vinyl vehicle wraps and vinyl signage materials in the world. Bridgepoint Managing Director Bryan Wallace added, “We are very excited for Jason and Ed as they embark on this next stage of growth with APG. We very much enjoy adding and creating value for our founder and family-owned clients and were thrilled to leverage our expertise in the display, signage, and print vertical to create the optimal outcome for Media One.” About Bridgepoint Investment Banking Bridgepoint Investment Banking, a division of Bridgepoint Holdings NE, LLC, is a market-leading boutique investment bank. The Bridgepoint team, through their broker dealer relationship with M&A Securities Group, Inc., an unaffiliated entity, serves clients over their corporate lifecycles by providing capital raising and M&A advisory solutions. Bridgepoint serves clients globally across a range of focus sectors including transportation, industrials, healthcare, business and IT services, technology and consumer and retail. Learn more about Bridgepoint at bridgepointib.com. About Media One Media One has five warehouse locations across the county and is a full-service technology integration company focused on textile printing with solutions for every aspect of large format printing, from paper, fabric, to workflow, color management, digital printing equipment, sewing, precision laser cutting and finishing. Media One has a full-range of printable fabrics that form a matched-component system integrating software, equipment, ink, and profiles for optimal performance. Learn more at http://www.mediaoneusa.com. Contact Details Dee Collins Director of Marketing +1 402-817-7900 dcollins@bridgepointib.com Company Website https://bridgepointib.com/

February 02, 2023 07:24 AM Eastern Standard Time

News Release

Best Essay Writing Service Reviews

R.P. Writingsmart Technologies

This article will break down the best essay writing service reviews to make sure your student days run smoothly. Here's why you need to read this. Being a student is a challenge, and often a very difficult one. Professors give students a ton of different academic assignments to handle while trying to have a normal social life and an active relationship with their families. Not to mention the lack of time to rest, practice some self-care, or enjoy a hobby. For so many students, this is close to impossible. It's because they still haven't found the right tools to help them overcome those academic difficulties. One of the most common academic tasks is writing an essay or a paper. This is a hugely time-consuming and dreadful task for students who need more writing skills. Luckily, there are essay writing services that students can turn to for writing help. Since dozens of websites write essays for you, finding an affordable but professional one is yet another obstacle you must pass. That’s where we step in. Our objective and well-researched reviews of the best essay writing services are all the information you need. Just keep reading! Best Paper Writing Services It’s time for you to learn about our top choices for writing services aimed primarily at American college students, high schoolers, and other English-speaking students. Let’s take a closer look at each one. 1. WritingUniverse We’ll kick it off with an affordable and solid website that writes essays for you which is WritingUniverse. The service was designed to help students with their writing in different ways. Company Overview The first thing we always look for with the best essay websites is when they were founded. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in finding this data. Since we couldn’t learn about their history, we looked at their reviews and found these: Sitejabber: 4.7 Trustpilot: 4.6 Let’s Grade It 4.8 These reviews show they’re truly well-rated and their customers are fairly satisfied with the services they provide. They offer the following services: Free essay examples Academic writing, rewriting, and research Editing and Proofreading This best essay service offers essay examples in more than a dozen subjects which students can use to learn about different writing styles and rules of essay creation. They cover virtually any type of essay, from analytical and argumentative, to reflective and rhetorical. This professional service also has an educational resource for students called Essay Guide, which helps students learn about essay writing, revision, drafting, length, and more. Finally, we were thrilled to learn that they accept a deadline as short as 3 hours. Writers We also learned that WritingUniverse has a huge base of great available writers, who are experts in a certain subject, have college degrees, and are skilled writers, even though they offer cheap writing services. This allows the company to choose the writer that is the best fit for your paper and connect you with them. They only write unique and plagiarism-free papers, so you don’t have to fear being tricked in any way. Quality Based on the USA customer reviews we've read, we can say that the quality of the paper this service offers is satisfactory. Their papers are well-researched and written by highly professional writers. They pass all the plagiarism tests and are completely original. Plus, they cover the given topic in-depth, respecting all academic writing rules. Prices and Discounts As for the prices, WritingUniverse is truly affordable and the best among the best essay writer companies. The price of one academic paper page, with a 14-day deadline, is $10.99. They even provide a 10% discount on the first order. Guarantees When you need help with an essay, the guarantees are immensely important. As for WritingUniverse, they have quite satisfactory guarantees. Those include: confidentiality a money-back guarantee no hidden charges on-time delivery high-quality Plus, all of their writers are native speakers, so your essay will be written accurately. In case you’re not happy with your essay, you can file it for revision and have them take another look at it to correct the mistakes. Customer Support Another reason why WritingUniverse is a top essay writer service is that they offer 24/7 customer support. You can reach them day and night via phone call, WhatsApp chat, or by sending an email. They'll promptly answer to solve any dilemma or help you understand their services better. Pros and Cons 2. ProEssayService Let’s proceed with the next best online essay writing service called ProEssayService. Company Overview This company is based in Manchester but we couldn’t find data about when they were founded. The company may be British, but it provides essay writing services for all English-speaking students from the UK to Canada and USA. We were first a bit put off by the interface and design of their website since it’s fairly simple and somewhat boring. However, this doesn’t change the fact that they’re among the best when it comes to finding a website that writes papers for you. They lack public reviews and ratings, so we can only share their 4.4 grade at LetsGradeIt. We went through the process of placing an order and checking if this truly is the best college essay writing service. We were happy to receive a well-written essay without any grammar or spelling mistakes. The content was fairly good as well, which made us take a closer look at this company. The services they offer are primarily academic writing. They also have editing and proofreading services, as well as rewriting and solving math problems. Their Samples section is a bit under-organized since all their samples are listed randomly. Finally, we wanted to see how fast they can deliver an order and were happy to learn there’s a 6-hours minimum deadline. Writers To make it to the team of this trustworthy writing service, writers first need to prove they're college graduates and hold an academic degree from an English-speaking country. They also have to be native English speakers and pass a research and writing test. Quality The quality of the essays we received from this service was more than satisfactory. There were no errors, stylistic, or in the content. It was punctual, grammatically correct, and well-organized. We can say for sure that they offer great high school and university-level essays. Prices and Discounts The prices of their services are fair. They start with $12.99 per page for a high school paper with the longest deadline of 14 days. If you choose 6 hours, you’ll have to pay$35.99 per page. Also, you become eligible for a lifetime discount if you’ve purchase(d) an essay before. This is great if you plan on becoming a loyal customer. Guarantees This best essay writing website does everything it can to secure its customers feel safe. They provide secure payment and sale options and guarantee confidentiality. They allow revisions and have a money-back policy. Customer Support You can reach customer support at this service via a chat form that you fill out on their main page, so it's easy to find it. You can also send them an email to get the answers you need. Finally, there's a phone you can dial as well. Pros and Cons 3. TopEssayWriting TopEssayWriting is listed next as the best website for essays so let’s take a look at their story. Company Overview This company was founded in 2023. They have a good reputation, and their rating on Trustpilot is 4.6 and 4.7 on Let’sGradeIt. This shows their credibility and the fact they’re trusted by so many customers from all over. We also loved that they have a wide plethora of services, with essay writing being the most important. The list of the type of essay you can choose seems to be going forever and includes custom essays, research papers, term papers, book reports, dissertations, thesis, scholarship essays, and more. They also offer to rewrite and edit services for students who just need someone to check their work. There are free essay samples you can find on the website of this best essay writing service in us. They have an astonishing base of more than 100,000 free essay samples that helped me write my essay more than once. They can meet a minimum deadline of 6 hours. Writers TopEssayWriting has a four-stage selection process after the application to make sure they only hire the best writers. Researchers of talented writers first look at their CVs. Then they take a grammar test, an essay writing test, and finally, their education documentation is checked. They only hire native speakers. Quality The quality of the papers this service writes is great. Dissertation, high school essay, Master’s thesis - you name it, they hold a strong level of quality for each one. We found close to no negative comments about the quality of their work. Prices and Discounts This service starts with the price of $12.99 per page for a regular high-school essay and a 14-days deadline. If you choose the minimum 6-hour deadline, the price will be $39.99. However, they are unique in offering regular discounts to customers. The more you order, the better discounts you'll receive. The discount can go up to 15% per order. Guarantees This company cares about your privacy and your satisfaction. They base their guarantees on these three principles: you’ll get your money back if you’re not happy with the order or want to cancel your identity is 100% protected your paper will be 100% original You can check for plagiarism using Turnitin if you’re suspicious at first. These guarantees are crucial for the best essay writing service online and a must for all customers looking for professionalism. Customer Support Does 24/7 help sound good to you? Whether you’re looking for essay writing assistance or help with your order, this service will provide help whenever you need it. They have a live chat at your disposal at any time, with the answer from an operator coming almost immediately. If you prefer, you can call them or send an email. Pros and Cons 4. GrabMyEssay Finally, we list GrabMyEssay next, here's what we learned about them. Company Overview This company was founded in 2013 and is considered one of the top essay writing services for students. After checking their public reviews on credible websites, we found that their Sitejabber rating is 4.6 and their Let’sGradeIt rating is 4.7 which is all great. There are many reviews and mostly positive ratings on their website as well. They seem to be credible, and we took those into account as well. They offer the three most important services for students: Essay writing Free samples Blog As for essay writing, they cover all types of essays including research papers, research proposal, dissertations, term papers, case studies, lab reports, and more. In addition, they offer editing, proofreading, and rewriting services, as well as the services of writing annotated bibliographies. It's an all-encompassing student website that provides all the necessary services in one place. Their blog is full of useful information for students regarding essay writing and written assignments. As for the deadlines they handle, their minimum deadline is 3 hours. They can complete even the most complex student assignments quickly and remain completely professional in what they deliver. Writers GrabMyEssay proudly announces that all of its writers are: native English speakers degree holders academically qualified to write your essay They allow you to inquire more about the good essay writer you choose and learn about their skills and expertise. You are also in direct communication with your writer the whole time to make sure everything runs smoothly. Quality This service is not listed as the best website for essay writing by accident. The quality of the paper they offer is undeniable, and they offer the best quality out of the four services on our list. This is due to their highly experienced and well-trained writers. Prices and Discounts The prices start at $14.99 per page for a high school-level academic paper due in 14 days. The price is fair considering the quality they offer, and you can rest assured they'll make it worth your money. However, they are a bit more expensive when you buy urgent orders. For a 3 hours deadline, the price per page jumps to $54.99 which is way more expensive than the previous service. But, if you're in luck, you might be offered a discount for a first-time order or as a returning customer. Discounts go up to 15%. Guarantees This service offers all the guarantees a customer can wish for. They guarantee that the paper will be 100% unique and plagiarism free, plus proofread to perfection. If you still find a flaw, they’ll offer a revision to make it better. They also guarantee full confidentiality and data protection. Finally, they have a money-back guarantee in case you want to cancel your order somewhere along the process. Customer Support Customer support is brilliant on this website. They have a 24/7 customer support system, and you can reach them via live chat on their website, phone, or via email. As soon as you open the website, they'll offer assistance through their live chat. Pros and Cons How do we decide what is the best paper writing service? We want to make sure that our reviews are objective and well-researched. We also want to make sure there are only trustworthy websites on our list. This is why we base our decision about what company is the best on a certain set of criteria that we always apply. Below, we’ll explain these criteria to you to help you understand the depth of our research for every website and company. Interface We find that the interface of a website plays a seriously important role. Therefore, we analyze each service's interface in terms of design, sections, ease of placing an order, CTA buttons, and more. The 4 services on our list all satisfy these criteria and offer a seamless UX to their users. Support Team Students who need to order an essay online usually have some questions along the way. This is especially the case if there’s an urgent matter to be solved. We analyze the support team for each company based on their availability, channels through which you can reach them, and their response time. We believe the support team is one of the most important factors for students hiring such services. Best Essay Writers We only wanted to choose the services that offer the top writers. When we say the best, we mean: native English speakers educated and holding a college degree experienced in writing versatile in writing possibilities We found that our top writing services all satisfy these criteria and even help you choose the best essays writers for your needs. Some offer premium and top 10 writers for a higher price, making sure you only receive the best. Quality Paper quality depends on the professional writers that are working for the company and the company's readiness to help you find the perfect match. We carefully selected those companies that assign you to the writer who is the most experienced in the subject matter you need to be covered in the essay. We also made sure there were no negative reviews about the paper's quality and that all the papers passed the plagiarism check. Prices The next criterion we use to make a solid recommendation is the price of the services. We know that students’ budgets are fairly limited, and most of them don’t have any money to waste. This is why we checked if the prices are fair. We choose affordable but quality services. Guarantees When you want to buy a research paper, you also want to ensure you are protected as a client. We looked into the guarantees these services offer and made sure that confidentiality about your identity is a priority. We also looked for Money-Back Guarantees, Revisions, Plagiarism-Free guarantees, and On-Time Delivery. Benefits of Hiring a top essay writing service You may be having doubts about hiring an essay writing service and having them handle your assignment for you. Maybe you don’t trust them enough or fear they’ll trick you. Below, we listed the top benefits that will help you change your mind. Expertise Instead of struggling to write the assignment yourself or hiring some shady freelance essay writer, you can have a writing expert do it instead. The services we’ve listed offer nothing but highly experienced and trained writers who can take care of any type of task you give them. Time-Saving High school and college students both lack the same thing - time. There’s so much to do in so little time, and they often find themselves swamped with academic tasks and private matters. Luckily, a huge benefit of hiring the best essay writer to write instead of you is that it’ll save you a ton of time. You'll be able to use this time to study, prepare for an exam, or simply rest. Healthy Nervous System Stress is extremely dangerous for our health, and students experience high levels of stress almost daily. This only proves that they need help wherever they can find it, especially with homework and studying. This is why writing services help students stress less and maintain a healthy nervous system. Quality and Uniqueness If you’re not a skilled or talented writer, it’ll be very hard for you to write a paper that is both unique and properly written. You’d need a ton of exercise and some poor attempts to reach this level of writing. But, the professional writers at these services already have the necessary experience. This guarantees your essay will be a success. Free Checks Finally, we know you want to make sure your essay is ready to be submitted to avoid any unfortunate situations. These essay writing sites will offer you a free essay check, free of charge. This helps you turn in the essay confidently and without any doubt. FAQ about the websites to write essays Now, let’s take a look at the FAQs that are probably roaming your mind as well. We'll answer them to help you understand how these quality essay services work and benefit you. Is buying papers legal? Buying a paper is completely legal, and there’s no law stopping you from doing it. These websites provide you with a service, and you are fully entitled to spend your money as you like. These companies aren’t responsible for how you’ll use this paper, so that is all on you. Can anyone find out that I buy essays online? All of the companies we’ve listed full offer confidentiality to clients. This way, you can be certain that no one will ever know that you bought college papers online unless you tell them. Also, your private data is safe and not available to any third parties to use, which increases confidentiality. Why am I anonymous? None of the websites for essays want to be responsible for your data or identity in buying essays. They also want to make sure that you feel completely safe and protected while using their services. This way, both parties are much more at ease and have fewer worries to think about. With your identity being hidden, you can freely buy essays and not fear they will somehow become public. How to distinguish a reliable site from scammers? As we've already mentioned, there is a ton of custom essay writing companies offering writing services. But not all of them are credible. Some are just scammers who are looking to get you to pay and then leave you hanging with a poorly written essay. To distinguish a reliable site, you should read the best essay writing service reviews and pay attention to the criteria we’ve mentioned in the sections above. What if I need essay help urgently? Urgency is not a problem for the best essay writing websites. Their writers are trained to write exceptional papers with deadlines as tight as 3 hours. You will have to pay a higher price for such an urgent order, but they'll deliver a quality essay as per agreement. So, even if you forgot about a paper due and need one urgently, they'll be able to handle it. What are the cheapest writing companies? If you're all looking for cheap essay services, you can find them online with just a bit of research. But if you’re looking for a combination of affordable and professional, those are the services from our list above. We sorted them starting from the cheapest one listed first. What is a good website to write essays? Not all essay writing services are good. You’ll get low-quality papers on so many of these services. But, if you read trusted review websites and gather enough information, you’ll be able to choose the services that are highly professional and offer quality papers. What essay writing services are legit? Not all essay writing services are legitimate. Many companies hire unreliable authors, overcharge, have hidden fees, or don't respect the confidentiality agreement. The best essay writing services online are those that have clear company policies they respect and guarantees that make sure their customers are protected. This is exactly what all four websites from our list above offer their customers. How do I find the best essay writing service? You need to do some thorough online research and cross-compare several most popular websites. You need to check what services they offer, what their customers are saying, and how professional they write. Your second option is to read the best custom essay writing service review and trust their research and facts. What problems might I encounter when hiring writers? Hiring a writer as your writing helper can be tricky. You don’t know these people and might have a hard time choosing the best match for your needs. Also, it might be hard to communicate with a writer who’s not from the United States due to the time zone difference. Finally, a writer may not be as experienced in your subject matter and could lack the knowledge to write your paper. Luckily, none of this is the case with our top 4 sites that write essays for you. Conclusion The question of what are the best essay writing services is difficult to answer if you don't have time to do research and dig up information on your own. This reviews list is the ultimate helper that will guide you to find the perfect service for you. The top four services on our list all offer the highest quality essays at affordable prices. They hire the best paper writers to make sure their customers are happy with the result. They're easy to navigate, and it takes a couple of minutes to place an order. They offer confidentiality and professionalism in communication so that you can freely use their services and not feel stressed about it. Hopefully, this ultimate best essay writing services review will help you find the service that is a perfect match for your academic needs and what you need to be written. Use our recommendations to find your writer and a website that you’ll be loyal to in your future orders. Contact Details Mark Blackwood markuskblackwood@gmail.com

February 02, 2023 05:25 AM Eastern Standard Time

NAVEX Recognized Among 2023 USA Top Workplaces

NAVEX Global

NAVEX, the leader in integrated risk and compliance management software, today announced the company has been honored as a USA Top Workplace 2023. This recognition follows NAVEX being named a 2022 Oregon Top Workplace by the Portland Oregonian and a 2022 Charlotte Metro Area Top Workplace by the Charlotte Observer. Top Workplace designation is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a survey administered by Energage LLC., an employee engagement technology and analytics company. The anonymous survey measures 15 unique culture drivers that are critical to the success of any organization -- including alignment, execution, and employee connection. In addition to the Top Workplaces honor, Energage also recognized NAVEX for cultural excellence in Employee Well-Being and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. “At NAVEX, we strive to be the one place that people want to grow their careers and thrive in life," said Cindy Raz, chief people officer at NAVEX. “Our workplace culture focuses beyond what people do professionally; we invest in them as a person through meaningful development programs and celebrate their success across the many roles they hold in life. And while this Top Workplace designation is not a goal in itself, we are deeply honored to be recognized for building and maintaining a meaningful work environment. Life is simply too short to not help people thrive.” NAVEX recognizes that people across their team have goals deeply important to them to achieve. By building a workplace culture that is focused on the total experience of a person – beyond the limited boundaries of the employee experience – NAVEX is leaning into its core value to Do the Right Things Right. Under Raz’s leadership, and with support at every level of the company, NAVEX also brings people together through community groups including groups for Women in Sales, LGBTQ+, Blacks at NAVEX, Parents at NAVEX, and more to come. “During this very challenging time, Top Workplaces has proven to be a beacon of light for organizations, as well as a sign of resiliency and strong business performance," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward. Top Workplaces draw on real-time insights into what works best for their organization, so they can make informed decisions that have a positive impact on their people and their business.” Learn more about Life at NAVEX: www.navex.com/en-us/company/careers-at-navex/ About Energage Making the world a better place to work together. TM Energage is a purpose-driven company that helps organizations turn employee feedback into useful business intelligence and credible employer recognition through Top Workplaces. Built on 16 years of culture research and the results from 27 million employees surveyed across more than 70,000 organizations, Energage delivers the most accurate competitive benchmark available. With access to a unique combination of patented analytic tools and expert guidance, Energage customers lead the competition with an engaged workforce and an opportunity to gain recognition for their people-first approach to culture. For more information or to nominate your organization, visit energage.com or topworkplaces.com. NAVEX is trusted by thousands of customers worldwide to help them achieve the business outcomes that matter most. As the global leader in integrated risk and compliance management software and services, we deliver solutions through the NAVEX One platform, the industry’s most comprehensive governance, risk and compliance (GRC) information system. For more information, visit NAVEX.com and our blog. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Contact Details NAVEX Scott Levesque +1 617-388-5773 scott.levesque@navex.com Company Website https://www.navex.com

February 01, 2023 04:40 PM Eastern Standard Time

Programmatic Consultancy AI Digital Launches ELEVATE Optimization and Outcomes Platform with New Accountability Score

AI Digital

AI Digital, a full-service, global programmatic consultancy helping advertisers enhance digital consumer experiences with an audience-first approach, has launched its proprietary platform ELEVATE. Designed for the programmatic marketplace, ELEVATE is an optimization and measurement solution that empowers brands to make the most of their digital advertising dollars by helping marketers to make clear correlations between digital campaigns and brand and business outcomes. It’s an optimization and measurement platform built for programmatic trading by programmatic traders. ELEVATE offers a distinct metric called the Accountability Score, which is specifically designed to help brands identify growth areas within media plans that drive unique and unduplicated audiences, minimize ad fraud, and improve brand outcomes. ELEVATE includes metrics to ensure brand safety and address invalid traffic. The platform will also provide brands with total access across data, inventory, scale, and devices to their own target audience and can reach consumers at all touch points across their bespoke consumer journeys. With ELEVATE, marketers will on average see a 3% reduction in invalid traffic and fraud, a 9% improvement in unique audience delivery, and a 6% increase in brand lift. The platform is designed for all types of media buys across all channels. However, it’s especially unique for CTV and streaming, as CTV currently lacks accountability to performance metrics. “AI Digital sets out to reimagine how brands and the industry can capitalize on programmatic’s future with ELEVATE. Our experience with the platform has been very positive. We have had better campaign outcomes and are able to more easily demonstrate how campaigns are driving towards brand goals, which is top of mind for marketers,'' said Marina Miller, EVP, Marketing & Media Strategy, Media Brokers International (MBI), one of the nation's leading independent agencies. “We believe ELEVATE will push the industry forward and make media more accountable.” Following the ethos of helping marketers realize the full potential of programmatic, AI Digital’s ELEVATE shifts the programmatic definition of success away from traditional metrics of impressions, reach, and clicks to more meaningful outcomes such as brand equity and lower funnel actions. ELEVATE improves programmatic optimization, brand and business outcome measurement by providing comprehensive and accountable insights into the audiences, channels, creatives, geographies, and publishers that are driving results. “Programmatic was promised to be a marketing utopia for CFOs and corporate C-suite; greater accountability to sales/business metrics, precision audience targeting, and real-time optimization. Unfortunately, for some, the practice has been mired in brand safety challenges, invalid traffic, and performance tied to vanity metrics versus long-term returns,” said Stephen Magli, Founder and CEO at AI Digital. “ELEVATE is a solution that aims to establish a higher standard in programmatically traded marketplaces and enable marketers to realize the potential of programmatic.” About AI Digital AI Digital is a full-service, global programmatic consultancy that empowers agencies & advertisers with digital expertise and instant data enabled programmatic infrastructure across all media types and access to all leading premium publishers and inventory. Leading with an audience-first approach, the company helps agencies and advertisers navigate the digital ecosystem by delivering hands-on, unrivaled data and technology access, outcome-based audience strategy, advanced analytics driven campaign optimization and advanced measurement including detailed, real-time transparent campaign reporting. AI Digital is a priority Amazon Partner with access to over 150+ people-based data sources and in platform optimization expertise to maximize value of all walled gardens including Google and Amazon’s data and tech stack, along with 10+ DSPs. AI Digital leverages technology through its proprietary platform ELEVATE and the expertise of its world-class, global team to drive a more ELEVATED consumer experience, measurable action, and brand and sales lift for more accountable results. Learn more about AI Digital at www.aidigital.io. Contact Details Geanna Diaz +1 561-289-3229 aidigital@kitehillpr.com Company Website https://www.aidigital.io

February 01, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

IQST – iQSTEL Announces Board Election and CPA Ratification Following Annual Shareholder Meeting

iQSTEL Inc.

McapMediaWire -- iQSTEL, Inc. (OTC: IQST) today released a transcript and a recorded link of the annual shareholder meeting conducted yesterday, January 31, 2023. The meeting included the election of the company’s board of directors and the ratification of the company’s independent registered public accounting firm to audit iQSTEL’s 2022 financial performance. The meeting also included a management discussion and analysis of the company’s business operations and strategy as well as response to shareholder questions. The transcript can be viewed in its entirety below. To listen to a recording of the shareholder annual meeting follow this link: iQSTEL Annual Shareholder Meeting Recording 2022 Annual Shareholder Meeting Transcript From Tuesday, January 31 st, 2023: PRESENTER Good day, everyone, and welcome to the first iQSTEL’s Shareholder Meeting Conference Call. Participants are in a listen-only mode. This conference call is being recorded. A replay of today’s call will be available on the Investor Relations section of iQSTEL’s website and will remain posted there for the next 30 days. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that today’s call contains certain forward-looking statements from our management made within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Words such as “may”, “should”, “projects,” “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “hopes”, “estimates” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of the Company's annual report on Form 10-Q, filed with the SEC. Copies of these documents are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this call, except as required by law. Thank you for joining the annual shareholder meeting. I will now hand the call over to Mr. Iglesias for introductions and to start with the meeting. Please go ahead. CEO - Introduction Hello and welcome to our first iQSTEL shareholder´s meeting. Today, is January 31 st, 2023. My name is Leandro Iglesias, and I am the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iQSTEL. I am joined today by Alvaro Quintana our Chief Financial Officer and member of our Independent Board of Directors Raul Perez member of our Independent Board of Directors, and the Head of the Audit Committee. Jose Antonio Barreto member of our Independent Board of Directors, and the Head of the Code of Ethics Office. Italo Segnini member of our Independent Board of Directors, and the Head of the Executive Compensation Committee Tony Abdo our CEO of our Internet of Things Business Line and our Fintech Division, and Business Development Vice President And our Presenter is Brad Listermann our Investor Relations Vice President and Head of our Ambassadors Group. This event today is a substantial milestone for iQSTEL. It is our first livestream shareholder´s meeting and in and of itself a major step forward in the advance of our management practices and procedures taking us one step closer toward our Nasdaq up-listing goal. In advance of the meeting today, we have published a number of press releases with a review of our 2022 performance and achievements, and our 2023 objectives. We have also included details on the agenda for today. We also emailed all shareholders of record with an agenda for today’s meeting and provided a link to facilitate voting prior to today’s meeting. I am very proud of everyone working here at iQSTEL and I am equally grateful for all the shareholder feedback and support that we have received over the last year that has led us to achieving or surpassing every goal and objective we set. I want to recognize and thank everyone working at iQSTEL, and our subsidiaries in addition to recognizing and thanking all our shareholders. Since we have put out three press releases in the last ten days reviewing our 2022 performance, I will recall just few things about iQSTEL’s achievements this past year. iQSTEL is expanding a core telecommunications operation both organically and through merger and acquisitions. We are focused on the international services market, and building a foundation in the domestic services market too, while continuing to prioritize the growing global migrant population. At this point is important to remark that the acquisitions of Whisl and Smartbiz injected business competitive energy as did SwissLink, QGlobal and itsBchain in the past, and specifically our partners in each of our subsidiaries have enriched our commercial, technical and negotiation skills in a determinant way. Thanks to all our partners. Our Flagship, the telecommunication division is only the beginning of our strategy to expand. We expect exponential growth to come from our diversification strategy. We are leveraging our telecommunication foundation to enter new markets with less competition and higher margins. 2022 was an important year for our diversification strategy. We have established notable and, in some instances, even award-winning traction from our efforts to enter the smart Internet of Things market, the Fintech market, the Blockchain platforms market as well as the huge electric vehicles market too. After beating our $90 million revenue forecast for 2022 and reaching profitability a full quarter ahead of expectations, I hope you can see that our $105 million 2023 revenue forecast is a base upon which we can build. You will likely see an increase to our base forecast in the event we close on another acquisition that results from our ongoing acquisition campaign. At the same time, we are going to generate revenues from all our new business lines: Internet of Things, Fintech, BlockChain Platforms and Electric Vehicles. Talking about Net Income, our Telecommunication Division generates enough profit to support all our new business lines, and the Pubco expenses. In this way we plan to show more than $1 Million of Net Income at the end of this year. We expect to achieve profitability this year from three of our expansion operations, Internet of Things, Fintech and Electric Vehicles business lines. We decided to be very conservative in our objectives for this 2023, but it´s easy to see we have several initiatives in the works. If we achieve just one of them, we will be surpassing our objectives and increasing the size of the company. In summary, we are working diligently to optimize our existing business and at the same time working on our future business by identifying the most promising technology trends to adopt which can best evolve our services to maintain a leadership position serving the growing immigrant market. We completed a revamp of our IQSTEL web site ( www.iqstel.com ), with a new section for our investors ( www.iqstel.com/investors ), I invite to visit it and share your thoughts. So, I will now hand the call over to Mr. Alvaro Quintana our CFO to start with the votes addressed in the iQSTEL definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC. CFO – Proxy Vote The first matter up for a vote is the election of the iQSTEL board members. Our bylaws provide that our business shall be managed by or under the direction of a board of directors. The Board currently consists of five directors. There are five nominees for election to the Board at the annual meeting. Each of the five nominees, if elected, will hold office for a term that expires at the next annual stockholders’ meeting. Each director shall hold office for the term for which he or she was elected and until his or her successor is elected and qualified or until his or her earlier death, resignation, or removal. The Board has nominated each of the following individuals for election as a director at today’s annual meeting: Leandro Iglesias, myself Alvaro Quintana Cardona, Italo Segnini, Raul Perez and Jose Antonio Barreto. Each nomination for director was based upon the recommendation of our board of directors and each nominee for director is a current member of the board. All nominees have consented to be named and have indicated their intent to serve if elected. In the event any of the nominees shall be unable or unwilling to serve as a director, the persons named in the proxy intend to vote “FOR” the election of any person as may be nominated by the board in substitution. The Company has no reason to believe that any of the nominees will be unable to serve as a director if elected. The definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC set forth detailed information about each candidate, to include compensation and stock ownership, as well as roles and responsibilities. In advance of today’s meeting, the company has received votes amounting to over 51% of the shareholders and sufficient to elect the board members as nominated. In fact, the nominated board members were elected with more than 80% of the shares being voted in their favor. Once again, I want to issue my thanks to the iQSTEL shareholders for your participation and support. The second matter for vote is the ratification of iQSTEL’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 2022 fiscal year, Urish Popeck & Co., LLC. In advance of today’s meeting, the company has received votes amounting to over 51% of the shareholders and sufficient to ratify Urish Popeck & Co., LLC as iQSTEL’s independent registered public accounting firm for the 2022 fiscal year. Again, more than 80% of the shares were voted in favor of ratifying Urish Popeck & Co., LLC as independent registered public accounting firm. Thanks again to the iQSTEL shareholders for your participation and support. PRESENTER – Questions received The definitive proxy statement sent out in advance of today’s meeting also invited shareholders to introduce any other business matter for discussion and consideration at the annual shareholder meeting. If any matter not described in the proxy statement is properly presented for a vote at the meeting, the persons receiving proxy cards can vote in accordance with their best judgment and discretion. We did not receive any other matters for a proposed vote at the annual shareholder meeting in response to the emailed proxy cards. However, we did receive some questions. Based on the fact that the company just issued a Shareholder´s Letter indicating all the Company Objectives for 2023, I would like to know if the Company plans to work in other business area in addition with Telecommunications & Internet of Things, Fintech, Blockchain Platforms, and Electric Vehicles?, This question will be addressed by our CEO Leandro Iglesias CEO – Answer Question 1 The company endeavors to maintain consistency in its business plan and avoid opportunity of chance distractions. Since iQSTEL’s inception we have focused on large technology arenas, specifically Telecommunications, Internet of Things, Fintech, BlockChain Platforms and Electric Vehicles. We don’t plan to enter in any new business line at this moment. We will focus our efforts on advancing our existing lines of business with our progress measured in terms of expanding revenues and delivering profits by the end of this year. This 2023 will be a successful year, growing revenues, generating positive net income, reaching thousands of users for our Fintech platform, deploying in several industrial facilities our proprietary internet of things solutions, completing the manufacture of the Second and Third batch of our electric motorcycles for the US and EU, and introducing our Mid Speed Car to the market. We consider our management’s consistent focus on our business plan to be one of our key characteristics and instrumental to our ongoing success. PRESENTER – Questions received Thanks Mr. Iglesias for your answer. Next question received is: You have been talking about Nasdaq Up-Listing for more than a year, what is the current status and when will finally happen? Our CFO – Alvaro Quintana will address this question. CFO– Answer Question 2 We have been working on the Nasdaq Up-listing for more than 2 years. The up-listing is an important milestone in the overall path to our objective of achieving a market capitalization for IQSTEL in excess of $1 Billion. Since the beginning of 2021 we have been ticking off one corporate governance requirement after another in order to qualify for a Nasdaq up listing. This shareholder meeting today marks yet another corporate governance milestone moving us that much closer to being prepared for an up-listing. The critical path to an up listing is iQSTEL’s share price. iQSTEL must sustain a minimum bid of at least $2.00 to qualify for a Nasdaq listing. Our management team and our independent board of directors believe iQSTEL has the potential to organically achieve a minimum share price to support an up-listing. In other words, we believe iQSTEL’s share price, global economy and market conditions permitting, can increase to over $2.00 without necessitating any recapitulation of the company’s share structure. We don’t believe it is the company’s operational performance that is holding us back from reaching a minimum listing price. We believe the overall prevailing market uncertainty accounts more for the current iQSTEL share price than does iQSTEL’s operational performance. We anticipate that either the overall market will turn positive and lift the burden of market uncertainty that is currently holding back iQSTEL’s share price, or iQSTEL will finally be recognized as the undervalued asset that it is, and the share price will perform in line with the company’s operational performance and counter to prevailing market trends. The final key to our Nasdaq up-listing is our share price and the key to our share price is patience. The company is performing better than ever and sooner or later the share price will respond accordingly. PRESENTER – Final Words While iQSTEL is meeting or surpassing its forecasts, goals and objectives, and we expect to continue meeting or surpassing forecasts, goals and objectives, the global economy as a whole is not enjoying iQSTEL’s success. It is the opinion of management and the board that general economic trends are casting a shadow on iQSTEL’s otherwise stellar performance. That shadow is causing an unfavorable disconnect between the company’s operation performance and share price performance. In light of what management and the board believes to be an unfavorable disconnect, and given that we anticipate economic difficulties and challenges to continue for the foreseeable future, we especially encourage shareholder participation and welcome from shareholders any suggestions for consideration that might contribute to iQSTEL reconnecting operational performance and share price performance ahead of a global upward economic shift. Please email us at any time with your comments, suggestions and even your criticisms at investors@iqestel.com. I would like to thank all in attendance here for making the time available to participate in iQSTEL’s first livestream annual shareholder meeting. Management and the Board of Directors are committed to continuing to deliver on the performance expectations we have set through our past and present successes. We continue in our belief that the “best is yet to come,” and we are committed to the effort required of us to realize that belief. Thank you About iQSTEL Inc.: iQSTEL Inc. (OTCQX: IQST) ( www.iQSTEL.com ) is a US-based publicly listed company holding an Independent Board of Directors and Audit Committee with a presence in 19 countries and 70 employees offering leading-edge services through its four business lines. The Telecom Division (www.iqstelecom.com), which represents the majority of current operations, offers VoIP, SMS, proprietary Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, and international fiber-optic connectivity through its subsidiaries: Etelix, SwissLink, Smartbiz, Whisl, IoT Labs, and QGlobal SMS. The Fintech business line ( www.globalmoneyone.com ) ( www.maxmo.vip ) offers a complete Fintech ecosystem MasterCard Debit Card, US Bank Account (No SSN Needed), Mobile App/Wallet (Remittances, Mobile Top Up). Our Fintech subsidiary, Global Money One, is to provide immigrants access to reliable financial services that make it easier to manage their money and stay connected with their families back home. The BlockChain Platform Business Line ( www.itsbchain.com ) offers our proprietary Mobile Number Portability Application (MNPA) to serve the in-country portability needs through its subsidiary, itsBchain. The Electric Vehicle (EV) Business Line ( www.evoss.net ) offers electric motorcycles to work and have fun in the USA, Spain, Portugal, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela. EVOSS is also working on the development of an EV Mid Speed Car to serve the niche of the 2nd car in the family. Safe Harbor Statement: Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions, or any other information relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, and projections about our business based partly on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may and are likely to differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release, and iQSTEL Inc. undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release. This press release does not constitute a public offer of any securities for sale. Any securities offered privately will not be or have not been registered under the Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements. iQSTEL Inc. IR US Phone: 646-740-0907 IR Email: investors@iqstel.com Contact Details Leandro Iglesias +1 646-740-0907 investors@iqstel.com Company Website https://www.iqstel.com/

February 01, 2023 09:24 AM Eastern Standard Time

Valant Retains Trust Relations as its Agency of Record

Trust Relations

Trust Relations, the fast-growing, strategic communications and integrated marketing agency, announced that it has been retained by Valant, the electronic health records (EHR) software provider for behavioral health practices, to further refine and amplify the company’s brand story and market position. Valant has engaged Trust Relations to promote its EHR and practice management software designed specifically for behavioral health practices, as well as generate thought leadership opportunities for its company executives. Valant’s solutions help behavioral health providers measure outcomes of clinical care and simplify practice management by freeing up clinicians' time with streamlined documentation and billing automation features, as well as creating positive patient experiences with improved scheduling processes. “Unlike other EHRs designed for a broad range of medical specialties, our solutions are geared specifically to the behavioral health industry,” said Valant CEO Ram Krishnan. “We needed a PR partner to better inform the market that a behavioral-focused EHR does exist that can help practices of all sizes and understands their patients, their practices, and providers. We’re grateful to have the Trust Relations team develop a campaign surrounding this message and build a solid brand strategy going forward.” Valant’s comprehensive solutions allow clinicians to shift to a more data-driven approach to care, resulting in more positive patient outcomes. With a large built-in library of rating scales and measures, combined with smart automation to carry the data across workflows, Valant makes it easier to provide measurement-based care. “We are excited to partner with Valant, whose core solutions and services focus on improving the quality of care for behavioral health providers and patients,” said Trust Relations CEO and Founder April White. “Having already completed our Trust Analysis branding exercise with their team, we have identified new messaging opportunities for their core product that helps behavioral health practices more easily scale. We look forward to implementing our findings as part of Valant’s ongoing brand-building campaign.” For more information about Valant, go to www.valant.io/. ### Trust Relations, founded in 2019, is a virtual strategic communications firm that creates nimble and proactive “dream teams” for clients through a national network of the industry’s best and brightest practitioners. "Trust Relations" is a term coined by President and Founder April White to describe a new approach to strategic communications focused on communicating clients' authentic actions, value and goodwill. In technology, trust relationships are an administration and communication link between two domains. In communications, they are a bond of mutual respect between a brand and the people it serves. The firm excels at identifying inspiring ways for clients to show their brand value by identifying supportive proof points and ideating creative activations that demonstrate their unique story and value proposition. For more information, visit https://www.trustrelations.agency/. About Valant Founded in 2005, Valant is a cloud-based integrated EHR software suite that supports administrative operations of behavioral healthcare practitioners, agencies, and clinicians. The software offers individual and group appointment scheduling, treatment planning, medication management, patient engagement, billing, and reporting. Valant collects and organizes data from patients and providers, documents them using guided protocols, and stores them securely. Actionable insights and reports are also generated based on the data collected. Valant is built to scale, from practices just getting started to large multi-state & specialty organizations, including psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, psychologists, therapists, and counselors. To date, thousands of behavioral health practices across all 50 states utilize Valant to run their business efficiently and help them keep up with the ever-changing mental health needs and requirements. Learn more at valant.io. Contact Details April White +1 323-216-8589 april@trustrelations.agency

February 01, 2023 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Digital Addiction is Affecting Adolescent Brain Development, Mental Health Experts Warn

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

Is your child addicted to social media? New research shows that social media could be reprogramming children’s brains—and psychologists warn parents that they need to pay closer attention. “Once a habit like constantly checking social media is formed, it’s difficult for adolescents to self-regulate, so parents may need to step in,” said Dr. Michele Nealon, Psy.D., President of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. The new research focuses on overuse of screen time by adolescents in a three-year neurological study by the University of North Carolina. Results published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, show significant changes in the brains of 12 and 13-year-olds who reported habitually checking Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. An earlier neurobiological study reported in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, showed another troubling effect: compulsive adolescent tweeters had widespread and significant decreases of functional connectivity in their brain’s cortico-striatal circuits. According to these studies, social media may alter neurodevelopment, significantly changing the ways in which the adolescent brain responds to its environment. Dr. Nealon said that since the brain undergoes significant structural and functional reorganization during adolescence, habitual checking of social media may further increase the already enhanced activity in the amygdala and insula, creating hyperactive neural responses to the anticipation of more “likes” and social media feedback. “The result is an ever-increasing need for digital social rewards and a reduction of ability to resist urges to check for feedback on social media platforms,” she explained. “This never-ending loop could interfere with school, athletics, friendships and other real world social interactions that are important for normal psychosocial development.” To counter addiction to digital media, Dr. Nealon has recommendations for parents: Limit screen time to under three hours a day, depending on your child’s age and activity level. Set parental controls on social media sites and monitor the content your child is viewing. Facilitate play dates and extracurricular activities to help develop other social skills About The Chicago School of Professional Psychology: Integrating theory with hands-on experience, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology provides education rooted in a commitment to innovation, service, and community for thousands of diverse students across the United States and globally. Founded in 1979, the nonprofit, regionally accredited university now features campuses in iconic locations across the country (Chicago, Southern California, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Dallas) and online. To spark positive change in the world where it matters most, The Chicago School has continued to expand its educational offerings beyond the field of psychology to offer more than 30 degrees and certificates in the professional fields of health services, education, counseling, business, and more. Through its engaged professional model of education, commitment to diversity and inclusion, and an extensive network of domestic and international professional partnerships, The Chicago School’s students receive real-world training opportunities that reflect their future careers. The Chicago School is proud to be a part of TCS Education System, a nonprofit, integrated system of colleges and universities that works collaboratively to advance student success and community impact. To learn more, visit www.thechicagoschool.edu. Contact Details Vivien Hao +1 323-893-4743 vhao@thechicagoschool.edu

January 31, 2023 11:11 AM Pacific Standard Time

Asure Software (NASDAQ: ASUR) and H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) Partner to Streamline Tax Preparation for Small Businesses, Analysts Raise Price Target on ASUR

Benzinga

By Spotlight Growth Each year, millions of Americans file their taxes, a process that can be both time-consuming and complicated. The tax code is complex, and the burden of understanding and completing tax forms accurately falls on the individual taxpayer. One way small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can help compete with larger companies for top talent is through leveraging human capital management (HCM) technologies to help offer their employees the ability to streamline their filing process. Asure Software (NASDAQ: ASUR), a global provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions, just recently took big steps to help employees of SMBs to streamline their tax prep and filing headaches after announcing an integration with H&R Block (NYSE: HRB). Asure and H&R Block Integration Aims to Help SMBs Streamline Tax Season In January 2023, Asure Software announced it has entered into collaboration with H&R Block, in which Asure’s tax platform will be integrated with the tax prep company’s systems. The integration will specifically allow employees to electronically access their W-2 forms directly from Asure into the H&R Block tax software. This eliminates the need for manually entering tax information, which not only saves time and productivity but also helps prevent potential errors. Aside from saving time and money, the integration is seen as a meaningful development in giving SMBs the ability to compete against larger competitors for top talent. By integrating with a household-name brand like H&R Block, SMBs can demonstrate to their employees that their time and convenience is valued. "We are excited to partner with H&R Block to provide employees of our customers with a seamless and efficient way to prepare their taxes. This integration is a great example of how technology can make life easier for employees and allows small businesses to offer services previously only available at large companies," stated Pat Goepel, Chairman, and CEO of Asure. H&R Block is among the largest tax preparation companies across the United States. As of December 2022, H&R Block maintained a footprint of 8,940 locations across 4,080 cities in 51 U.S. states and territories. In 2021, the tax prep company prepared over 21.6 million tax returns. ASUR: 4 Analysts Reiterate “Buy” and Update Price Targets in January 2023 Unlike the overall stock market in 2022, Asure had a very successful year. As once-tried-and-true blue chip technology stocks saw performance collapse, Asure posted a positive 8.5% gain during the calendar year 2022. The stock's performance was backed by very strong and meaningful fundamental developments made by the company. As a result of the continued underlying growth in its HCM solutions and SMBs looking to streamline operations and cut costs during an economically unstable period, analysts covering the stock have recently taken the opportunity to reiterate their bullish view of the company. In January 2023 alone, Asure has already received several analyst reiterations on its stock: Jeff Van Rhee of Craig-Hallum was the first to reiterate his bullish stance on the HCM provider. Mr. Van Rhee reiterated his “buy” rating for Asure and increased his price target to $14 from $10. Joshua Reilly of Needham reiterated his “buy” rating on Asure in mid-January and set a twelve-month price target of $14. Eric Martinuzzi of Lake Street is the latest analyst covering Asure to reiterate a “buy” rating and increase their price target to $12 from $11. Equity research analysts covering the HCM industry for Cowen reiterated an “outperform” rating and raised their price target to $13 from $8. “We anticipate a clean beat supported by healthy demand, stable US SMB employment trends, increasing retention & attach rates, and ASUR's more consistent & strengthened execution on various strategic initiatives,” stated the Cowen analysts. Raymond James Highlights Asure’s Outperformance in HCM Report The notable investment bank, Raymond James (NYSE: RJF), highlighted Asure’s 2022 outperformance in its end-of-year report for the HCM industry. The bank highlighted Asure as the top-performing software & internet subsector of the HCM industry over the last month, last three months, and the last twelve months. In fact, the report shows that Asure greatly outperformed during all three surveyed periods in 2022 compared to its competitors. Over the last month, Raymond James list Asure Software’s stock performance at 19%. The runners-up, Docebo, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCBO) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) (OTC: XROLF), returned 3.8% and 0.8%, respectively. During the prior three-month period, Asure’s 63.3% performance was nearly double of the second best performing company, New Work SE's 34.6%, and Oracle Corporation's (NYSE: ORCL) 33.8% returns. The last twelve months have not been kind to the stock market overall. The HR tech and HCM sector was not completely immune from the overall economic slowdown. Despite these headwinds, Asure Software's 19.3% return is not only the best, but it is also the only company in the software & internet subsector to post a positive gain. HealthStream (NASDAQ: HSTM) was the next best-performing stock with a return of -5.8% and Oracle took third with a -6.3% return. Despite Asure’s outperformance, Raymond James continues to see strong potential in the company in 2023. The investment bank estimates the HCM software provider’s estimated total enterprise value-to-revenue (TEV/Revenue) for 2023 to reach a multiple of 2.2x. The total enterprise value-to-EBITDA (TEV/EBITDA) estimates for 2023 come in at a multiple of 15.2x. These valuation estimates become only more impressive when compared to the software & internet subsector's average metrics. For 2023, Raymond James estimates the subsector will see a TEV/Revenue multiple of 5.0x and a TEV/EBITDA multiple of 17.7x. This data suggests that Raymond James may believe Asure Software is still undervalued compared to its competitors, despite its impressive rally in 2022. Overall, Asure is off to a hot start in 2023 after announcing a tax prep integration with H&R Block. Asure continues to strengthen its HCM solutions through key partnerships with brands like Equifax (NYSE: EFX), PrisimHR, Jackson Lewis Law Firm, and now H&R Block. Analysts continue to see a strong outlook for the company, as strong partnerships, meaningful growth, and an ideal economic backdrop all work in Asure’s favor. The Post “ Asure Software (NASDAQ: ASUR) and H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) Partner to Streamline Tax Preparation for Small Businesses, Analysts Raise Price Target on ASUR,” First Appeared on Spotlight Growth. Disclaimer: Spotlight Growth is compensated, either directly or via a third party, to provide investor relations services for its clients. Spotlight Growth creates exposure for companies through a customized marketing strategy, including design of promotional material, the drafting and editing of press releases and media placement. All information on featured companies is provided by the companies profiled, or is available from public sources. Spotlight Growth and its employees are not a Registered Investment Advisor, Broker Dealer or a member of any association for other research providers in any jurisdiction whatsoever and we are not qualified to give financial advice. The information contained herein is based on external sources that Spotlight Growth believes to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. Spotlight Growth may create reports and content that has been compensated by a company or third-parties, or for purposes of self-marketing. Spotlight Growth was compensated five thousand dollars cash by Asure Software for the creation and dissemination of this content by the company. This material does not represent a solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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January 31, 2023 10:45 AM Eastern Standard Time

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