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ZestyAI Announces 180-day Playbook to Navigate First-of-its-kind Wildfire Regulatory Requirements in California

ZestyAI

Zesty AI, the leading provider of property risk analytics solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI), has developed a 180-day playbook to support insurance carriers as they work to meet the Mitigation in Rating Plans and Wildfire Risk Models regulation expected to be adopted by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) before year-end. The playbook reflects the company’s unique ability as the only comprehensive solution in the marketplace to help insurers meet or exceed every single requirement in the new regulation — meeting 100 percent compliance inside the tight 180-day window. On September 7, 2022, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced he had submitted the department’s insurance rating regulation recognizing wildfire and safety mitigation efforts made by homeowners and businesses, to the California Office of Administrative Law for final approval. This first-of-its-kind regulation will require all insurers in California to refile their existing rating plans on an aggressive 180-day timeline. “Eight of the ten most destructive wildfires in California’s history have occurred in the last five years,” said Attila Toth, Founder and CEO of Zesty AI. “While the new wildfire regulations will have a significant impact on California’s insurance industry, adapting to this peril is key to having a sustainable insurance ecosystem in California. As the leader in property-specific wildfire risk assessment, we have offered input at each step of this process. We are here to support admitted carriers with a turnkey solution complying with every single requirement as they navigate this process and work to meet the new regulations.” The new wildfire safety regulation requires insurance companies to consider the structure of a home, its surroundings, and community-level mitigation. Insurers with concerns about the regulation can reach out to Zesty AI to get a complete explanation of how the regulations will impact them. This includes access to the 180-day playbook, which breaks down the regulatory compliance process into an orderly roadmap that addresses all three major challenges that insurers will face: Operational — The process of rapidly integrating new data sources, educating the public on how wildfire mitigation affects insurance policies, and a framework for a compliant appeals process. Rating — How to weight property-specific characteristics, including those with and without historical loss data, in rating plans as well as guidance on mitigation credits. Filing — Carriers who use a rating plan reliant on traditional wildfire models without property-specific information will need to overhaul their rating framework. Relying on multiple approved rate filings, Zesty AI has developed a comprehensive filing toolkit that can support carriers at every facet of the filing process. Zesty AI ’s Z-FIRE TM model has quickly become the leader in property-specific wildfire risk assessment. Using AI algorithms trained on more than 1,500 wildfire events across 20 years of historical loss data, Z-FIRE TM provides a level of detail that is of essential value to both the insurer and the homeowner. The model was the first AI model ever approved as part of a rate filing by the CDI and the second wildfire risk model. It has been widely adopted across the Western U.S., where its use has been approved for both underwriting and rating. During 2021's APCIA Western Region Conference, CDI representatives expressed that the agency’s familiarity with Z-FIRE TM means in future filings the focus will be limited to the carrier's specific use of the model, not the details of the model itself, potentially greatly expediting the reviews of carriers using the Z-FIRE TM model. Zesty AI ’s Z-FIRE TM considers features such as topography and historical climate data in combination with factors extracted from high-resolution imagery of the property itself and its surroundings, including homeowner and community mitigation efforts, to provide both neighborhood and property-specific risk scores. A significant advantage to insurance carriers is that they can use these data elements to communicate with homeowners on what specific actions can be taken to lower their property’s risk, such as upgrading building materials and cutting down surrounding dry brush or overhanging vegetation. The impact of mitigation efforts can be significant. A joint study by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) and Zesty AI, which studied over 71,100 wildfire-exposed properties, found that property owners who clear vegetation from the perimeter of their home or building can nearly double their structure's likelihood of surviving a wildfire. About Zesty AI Zesty AI offers insurers and real estate companies access to precise intelligence about every property in the United States. The company uses AI, including computer vision, to build a digital twin for every building across the country, encompassing 200 billion property insights accounting for all details that could impact a property’s value and associated risks, including the potential impact of natural disasters. Visit zesty.ai for more information. Contact Details ZestyAI Linsey Flannery +1 416-939-9773 linsey@zesty.ai Company Website https://www.zesty.ai/

September 20, 2022 09:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

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XPOINT VERIFY IS LIVE IN THE USA WITH SPORTTRADE

Xpoint Technology

Xpoint, the leading geolocation and compliance technology company specializing in North American sports betting and iGaming markets, has announced that Xpoint Verify – Xpoint's real-money gaming geolocation product - is now live in-market in the USA with Sporttrade, the first dynamic sports betting and trading exchange where you can trade sports bets like you trade stocks. The news that Xpoint Verify is now live with Sporttrade, initially in New Jersey ahead of a rollout in further U.S. states, reinforces the rapid growth that Xpoint is seeing as it brings its game-changing geolocation real-money sports betting and iGaming technology to market across North America. “Sporttrade is a revolutionary brand, bringing real innovation and customer-focused sports betting technology to the U.S. market, and we are proud to be part of their team,” commented Marvin Sanderson, Xpoint CEO and Co-Founder. “This announcement marks another milestone for Xpoint, and will serve as a further accelerant for new customer acquisition, supporting our growth targets and helping us continue to transform our marketplace.” Xpoint Verify is Xpoint’s real money gaming geolocation product, and is offered alongside Xpoint Lite, the go-to option for Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operators. Embedded within partner platforms (web and apps), Xpoint Verify provides operators with state-of-the-art geolocation technology which helps ensure they meet North American regulatory and compliance standards, and uses location data to help them unlock the true potential of their geolocation investment. "We were attracted to work with Xpoint because they bring real innovation, rich experience of our industry, and most of all a true sense of partnership by going deeper than just simply verifying customers' location,” commented Alex Kane, Founder and CEO of Sporttrade. “Our companies share many attributes, and we are both focused on transforming our markets. We are delighted to have Xpoint as a core partner of ours.” For more details, please go to xpoint.tech and follow Xpoint on social media via LinkedIn. ABOUT XPOINT Xpoint provides essential geolocation security solutions and intelligent marketing insights to the global sports betting and iGaming industries. The innovative platform ensures partners meet their regulatory geo-compliance obligations, and delivers enhanced value to its partners through the generation of data that can drive marketing programs. Founded in 2019, with U.S. offices in Miami and Florida, and led by the company's CEO and Co-Founder Marvin Sanderson - a global sports betting and iGaming industry leader - Xpoint is changing the global geolocation market, bringing innovation to an industry that has, to date, viewed geo-compliance as utility, not a new business opportunity. For more information, visit xpoint.tech and follow LinkedIn and Twitter for regular updates. ABOUT SPORTTRADE Sporttrade launched its groundbreaking sports betting platform in September, 2022, the first regulated sports betting exchange in the history of the USA. Sporttrade is led by an accomplished team from sports betting and capital markets backgrounds. The company is based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. For more information visit getsporttrade.com Contact Details Xpoint Tom Webb +1 512-952-9369 tom.webb@xpoint.tech Company Website https://xpoint.tech/

September 20, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Agora Data Secures $100M Credit Facility from Credit Suisse

Agora

Agora Data, Inc., the FinTech company transforming automotive financing by providing U.S. independent auto dealers and finance companies precision loan performance analytics and access to ample, affordable capital, closed a $100 million revolving credit facility with Credit Suisse Group AG. This latest transaction facility allows Agora Data to accelerate and expand its ability to deliver efficient capital to loan originators who offer in-house financing solutions for non-prime auto buyers. “This $100 million credit facility adds to Agora’s other capital strategies and is the latest of many strategic steps that support the expansion of our core mission to provide highly accurate loan performance data and low-cost capital to auto dealers who serve the non-prime buyer,” said Steve Burke, CEO, Agora Data. The new $100 million credit facility marks another milestone in Agora Data’s growth trajectory. The company closed the first-ever crowdsourced auto securitization in late 2020, ushering in a new way to provide independent auto dealers access to capital markets financing. Since then, Agora Data has closed multiple crowdsourced securitization s using its proprietary AI and machine learning algorithms. With patent pending modeling, Agora Data aggregates independent dealers and finance companies with auto loan portfolios ranging from $100 thousand to more than $60 million into a single securitization. Access to fair, competitively priced capital has been a challenge for auto dealers that offer in-house financing across the U.S. Before Agora, dealers were highly reliant on financing with high-interest rates, restrictions, and personal guarantees. Agora Data provides auto dealers with competitive and abundant financing and resources, such as advanced AI/ML modeling, that helps them construct their loan portfolios with high predictability and improved performance. This transformative fintech approach enables auto dealers to safely grow their business and offer improved lending terms to non-prime customers. Agora Data, Inc. Agora Data, Inc., an automotive industry fintech, is the nation’s leading resource for independent auto dealers and finance companies. Auto loan originators can secure affordable capital to build their own non-prime captive finance solution, obtain actionable loan performance data to optimize their lending portfolios, and leverage other products to grow their business safely. Powered by patent pending technology, originators can access real-time data analytics and planning resources to help optimize the performance of their portfolios. Agora Data made history by closing the first-ever crowdsourced non-prime auto securitization in 2020 and continually bringing groundbreaking products to an underserved market. For more information, visit www.agoradata.com or contact us at 1-877-592-4672. # # # Contact Details Shelly Vandeven +1 682-282-4130 media@agoradata.com Company Website https://agoradata.com/

September 20, 2022 09:06 AM Eastern Daylight Time

TULU Topping Up Series A Funding Round with Strategic Investments from Leonardo DiCaprio-Backed VC

Tulu

TULU, a smart tech platform that provides building tenants with on-demand access to hundreds of brand name appliances, grocery staples, micro-mobility solutions, and entertainment devices, is rapidly expanding across real estate markets, while more and more global brands feature their products on the platform to get unique access to millennial and Gen-Z consumers. The new funds will fuel rapidly-growing partnerships with leading property owners and consumer brands, to enhance geographic expansion and data capabilities and unleash environmental and circular consumption initiatives across its global areas of operation. Companies such as Bosch, Kärcher, Hoover, and Dremel are partnering with TULU to gain genuine customer insights, expand their physical and digital exposure with new consumers, and collect valuable data about their products and user behaviors, while leading landlords like Greystar Real Estate Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Invesco, RXR Realty, Silverstein Properties, and CA Ventures integrate the TULU platform in their buildings to elevate the living experiences they offer. Since launching in 2019, TULU has served more than 70,000 people across 19 cities in the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Israel. “In the last year, we’ve seen a tremendous demand for our service and have exponentially expanded our portfolio globally. TULU has becomeS a standard for hundreds of communities world-wide and an industry benchmark, making it the leading global vehicle in powering the Usage Economy.” says Yishai Lehavi, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of TULU. “We are excited to see that, even in these days of change in the markets, there is still a high demand to support ambitious transformative ideas like the ones we execute in TULU. Beyond the impact of reshaping consumption habits on the demand side, we believe that the long-term impact will come from the supply side. Manufacturers and brands need to adjust to the Usage Economy, which incentivizes them to build long-lasting products instead of the shorter product lifetimes of today’s Buying Economy.” TULU provides on-demand rentals of high-quality home products, household items and perishables to reduce the cost of living and waste in big cities. Using nothing more than a wall in a building’s lobby, tenant lounge, laundry room, or bike room, TULU’s IoT-based units provide 24/7 access to a variety of brand-name products including vacuums, VR headsets, e-scooters, bikes, and necessary household supplies. Units are customized to each building’s needs and core tenant base, where users rent or purchase products through the TULU app. TULU was recently listed by Retail Insider as a “Top Digital Retail Global Innovation” alongside products of companies such as Google, Meta, and Nike, and is quickly expanding to keep up with strong demand for its service. Four months after closing its series A round, TULU is now announcing additional funding led by Regeneration.VC, a consumer-powered climate innovation fund backed by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, with the participation of Proptech VC Trifare, UMTB, and existing investors New Era Capital Partners, Bosch VC arm, Round Hill Ventures, Tal Ventures, AGP Partners, and Good Company. This additional funding will allow TULU to pursue new partnerships with landlords and brands, with a goal to reach hundreds of new buildings in existing and additional markets over the next year. Additionally, the company will execute its environmental strategy that considers property and product level emissions data, product life extension, sharing of consumer products, and much more. “Nearly half of Greenhouse Gas Emissions derive from producing and consuming consumer goods and much of our individual consumption occurs from the things we use within our homes - from manufacturing and packaging to shipping and returns,” says Yael Shemer, Chief Customer Officer and co-founder of TULU. “We aim to provide an infrastructure to create an alternative mode of consumption that will replace the owner mindset. We’re transforming our homes from individual buying units to a collective sharing unit.” “Next-generation consumers are driving a transition towards circular consumption and shared usage economies with more than half of consumers indicating a willingness to rent rather than buy,”says Michael Smith, General Partner of Regeneration.VC. “With TULU, we see a massive opportunity to improve resource efficiency within buildings by increasing the utilization of products over their lifecycle and decreasing the quantity of goods needed to service a building. TULU has the potential to significantly reduce embodied emissions as well as materials, energy, and water consumption associated with product manufacturing.” About TULU TULU is the usage economy platform and amenity services provider to over 50,000 people in 19 cities across the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Israel. Founded in 2019, TULU provides building tenants with on-demand access to hundreds of brand name appliances, grocery staples, micro-mobility and entertainment devices, and more. Using IOT, data analysis and smart design, TULU maximizes building space and product usage, encourages a shared economy system and overall sustainable quality of life. To date, TULU has raised $30 million in seed and series A funding. About Regeneration.VC Founded in Los Angeles, Regeneration.VC is an early-stage venture fund supercharging consumer-powered climate innovation driven by circular and regenerative principles. Our investment strategy encompasses design (materials & packaging), use (consumer brands & products), and reuse technologies (reverse logistics & marketplaces) that generate measurable environmental impact alongside outsized return potential. For More information, visit https://www.regeneration.vc/ Contact Details TuluPR Tulu@LoBellocomms.com

September 20, 2022 09:05 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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DealMaker Named as the Exclusive Referral Partner for FundAmerica by Prime Trust’s Equity Raises

DealMaker

DealMaker Inc, a leading digital capital raise platform, has been named the exclusive referral partner to Prime Trust, a leading provider of financial infrastructure for fintech and digital asset innovators. Prime Trust will transition all of their clients out of the FundAmerica portal by December 31, 2022 and ensure the opportunity for a smooth transfer to DealMaker. FundAmerica is reducing its portfolio exposure and will no longer be supporting new equity raise activities on its Capital Raise Platform. It will support existing or past customers to transition their crowdfunding and escrow services to DealMaker. “DealMaker was chosen because they have proven technology and a team that can handle all raise types - they are best suited to address our customers’ needs now and for the long-term,” said Erin Holloway, President of Prime Trust. Since 2018, DealMaker’s platform has powered the largest and most sophisticated capital raises, processing over 689,000 investments, totaling over $1.6Bn globally. The DealMaker platform can handle all deal types, has innovative payment processing capabilities in the space, and has proven, pressure-tested secure technology. Prime Trust considered several different crowdfunding platforms to partner with, and ultimately chose to exclusively work with DealMaker to ensure their customers get superior service and a seamless transition. “This is a great opportunity for customers of FundAmerica to continue their capital raise journey with DealMaker and seamlessly transition from one platform to another. Since we offer end-to-end additional services that include Transfer Agent as well as API connectivity, we are poised to help those customers exceed their goals,” says Rebecca Kacaba, CEO and Co-Founder of DealMaker. Prime Trust will continue to focus on its core offerings, such as fiat rails, compliance solutions, wallet technology, and other API-enabled products. Prime Trust streamlines all backend financial architecture quickly and at a competitive price, thus enabling clients to focus on their success, build their core businesses and serve their customers. About DealMaker DealMaker is on a mission to create the most sophisticated capital markets tools on the planet, empowering capital to flow faster. It offers a suite of primary issuance, shareholder management, and capital raising solutions that includes equity crowdfunding, investor ranking algorithms, and data/analytical tools to support all capital raise types and all securities. Its innovative technology was designed to enable organizations to own and control exempt market raises to get the money they need, faster. DealMaker works for their issuers: putting brands and founders back in control to run streamlined, successful capital raises. Its mission is to turn the process of raising capital into simple eCommerce. The company’s offices are located in Toronto, Canada, Austin, Texas and Tampa, Florida. Visit DealMaker.tech for more information. About Prime Trust Prime Trust powers innovation in the digital economy by providing fintech and digital asset innovators with financial infrastructure. Through a full suite of APIs, we help clients build seamlessly, launch quickly, and scale securely. Regulated by the State of Nevada, Prime Trust processes hundreds of millions of API calls per month. Prime Trust’s team has extensive regulatory and financial services backgrounds from the OCC, SEC, Federal Reserve, US Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security/Secret Service, JPMorgan Chase, American Express, PNC, Bank of America, and Visa. The company is recognized by Forbes as America’s Best Startup Employer 2022 and is also Great Place to Work-Certified™ 2022. Prime Trust has also been named to CB Insights Blockchain 50 for 2022. Visit us at www.primetrust.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Contact Details DealMaker - Press Contact Leigh Nolan leigh.nolan@dealmaker.tech DealMaker - Sales Contact Mike Werry mike@dealmaker.tech Prime Trust Press Contact press@primetrust.com

September 20, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Data analytics start up aiSight.ai launches in Africa with FMCG giants

aiSight

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-backed data startup aiSight (formerly SurveyAuto) is poised to launch across Africa helping FMCG companies reach all parts of Africa. Emerging markets like Africa often lack even basic data essential for running a profitable FMCG business. Most parts of Africa lack reliable data about market size, consumer profiles, number and location of retail outlets, changes in market share etc. Therefore, most FMCGs struggle to capture the full potential of the market. aiSight commericializes years of research in satellite imagery analysis for population and socio-economic class (SEC) mapping, combined with state-of-the-art AI predictive analytics to replace decades old methodologies of retail analytics (by the likes of Nielsen). aiSight’s technology eliminates the cost and delay of manual data collection, enabling large companies like Reckitt, Pepsi and Unilever to run optimised business operations within a few weeks of using the platform. Emerging markets account for 55% of the global consumer spending of consumer-packaged goods, and in the next five years, consumer spending in these markets is expected to grow three times as quickly as that in the developed economies, with total spending expected to exceed $6 trillion. aiSight.ai might hold the key to unlocking this potential, where it is already used by some of the largest FMCGs in Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya and KSA. Instead of relying on expensive, and error prone, manual stock counts in retail outlets, aiSight’s SaaS platform uses predictive analytics to track millions of products in every shop in a country, and generates real-time actions as soon as it identifies an opportunity to increase revenue by expanding distribution, improving sales targets, optimising trade promotions, minimising out-of-stock shops, or refining assortment. “Think of aiSight.ai as an entirely automated command & control center which generates population and socio-economic profiles using satellite imagery for every neighbourhood in a country, and continuously monitors every shop, product, channel, distributor, brand, shopper profile and trade promotion, and generates actionable alerts as soon as it discovers an opportunity to optimise sales, trade or marketing functions to maximise revenue”, says Dr. Umar Saif, an award-winning MIT Computer Scientist who is the founder and CEO of aiSight.ai. “Such a platform has been the Holy Grail of the FMCG industry, which is still stuck in monthly retail-audit slide decks, excel sheets and basic PowerBI charts made by armies of sales analysts”, said Jason Elliot, a veteran of retail analytics. “aiSight’s platform delivers a perfect solution.” Globally, the Data Analytics industry for FMCGs is expected to exceed $30 Billion by 2023. aiSight.ai already counts some of the world’s largest FMCGs as its clients, including Unilever, PepsiCo, Redbull, Reckitt, British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris International among others. It is rapidly expanding to countries in South Asia, Africa and the middle-east with several of its existing clients. “We saw phenomenal growth using aiSight.ai in Asia and Africa, and Reckitt is planning to rollout this platform to several more countries this year,” said Akbar Shah, Reckitt’s GM for West & East Africa. About aiSight.ai aiSight.ai (formerly SurveyAuto) provide real-time, granular actionable insights using an AI-based big data & machine learning platform. aiSight can be conveniently integrated with key distribution and sales management systems along with business intelligence tools to provide a seamless interface for data visualization, advanced analytics and reporting. For more information please visit https://www.aisight.ai Contact Details aiSight Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website http://aisight.ai/

September 20, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Patient Experience Is Rapidly Becoming a Strategic Priority for Healthcare Providers, According to Dash Research

Dash Network

Patient engagement and patient experience (PX) are areas of significant interest, focus, and concern in the US healthcare system and globally. Healthcare consumers’ expectations today require providers to be more customer centric. According to a new report from Dash Research, healthcare consumers expect to be treated as whole persons with individualized needs, not as problems to be solved, and they demand greater convenience, better access to care, and more seamless experiences. Dash Research forecasts that global CX software and services revenue in the healthcare industry will increase from $8.8 billion in 2021 to $13.5 billion annually by 2026. During that forecast period, the functional areas with the highest levels of investment will include customer relationship management (CRM), customer data & analytics, and contact center solutions. Other notable areas of investment, according to the CX market intelligence firm, will include personalization & optimization, customer data platforms (CDPs), customer feedback, and employee experience (EX). “As the experience economy becomes the new currency among healthcare consumers, improving the healthcare customer experience has become a strategic priority for healthcare providers in their efforts to build brand loyalty, retain customers, and drive profitability,” says senior analyst Andrew Broderick. “Although the market environment is driving organizations to act, the healthcare industry’s capacity to use technology and data to operationalize a consumer-centric patient experience models currently lags that in other industries. However, it is only a matter of time before their capacity will advance to transform the industry.” Broderick adds that as consumer loyalty and retention become key drivers of profitability for healthcare providers, patients increasingly have more choices as to where and when they access and receive care. In a market where brand loyalty and customer retention are increasingly important competitive differentiators, patients want: Access and convenience (e.g., affordable care, ease of navigation, and frictionless continuity) To be seen as an individual and treated with respect To be engaged, consulted, and involved in decisions To trust, feel safe, and cared for by their healthcare providers Dash Research’s analysis indicates that there are reasons for optimism when it comes to the market opportunities for improving patient experience. Healthcare organizations that prioritize PX understand that it signals their commitment to the patient, and also has the potential to establish the foundations for building deeper relationships that will contribute to improving care outcomes. From an operational perspective, healthcare organizations also recognize that provider behaviors play a role in PX management through the impact that their interactions with patients can have. Underscoring this recognition is their dual commitment to better support and address workforce experience as critical for delivering superior patient experience. The net result is that PX improvement efforts play a critical role in helping organizations establish competitive advantage in the battle for customer and workforce loyalty and retention. Dash Research’s report, “CX in the Healthcare Industry”, forecasts the global market for CX/CE software and services to monitor a patient’s overall healthcare experience or their experiences with specific provider staff and service facilities. Dash Research calculated the current and future market potential for software and services, taking 2019 as the base year, and forecasting revenue growth through 2026. The primary product or service is broken into platforms, applications, and services. Vendor offerings are classified further into functional categories on the basis of whether the application focus is on employee experiences, customer experiences, or relationship management from a customer-facing or back-office perspective. Finally, market segmentation provides localized insights into the same industry segments across five world regions. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website. Dash Research, the market intelligence arm of Dash Network, provides in-depth research and insights on the worldwide CX market including a comprehensive assessment of technology solutions, business issues, market drivers, and end-user dynamics across industry sectors. Dash Research’s global market coverage combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a complete view of emerging business opportunities surrounding contact center technologies, customer data & analytics, customer data platforms, customer insights & feedback, customer relationship management, personalization & optimization, and employee experience. For more information, visit www.dashresearch.com or call +1.720.603.1700. Contact Details Clint Wheelock +1 720-603-1700 press@dashnetwork.com Company Website http://www.dashnetwork.com

September 20, 2022 05:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Minuteman Press Franchise in Cherry Hill, NJ Celebrates 30 Years in Business

Minuteman Press International Inc

When Frank Bittner, Jr. first worked alongside his dad Frank, Sr., it was March of 1990. “I was 17, still in high school, and it was the summer before senior year,” reflects Frank, Jr. “I was working on bindery and making deliveries for our Trenton shop, which we owned for two years before opening our Minuteman Press franchise in Cherry Hill. It’s amazing to think that was 32 years ago.” In October 1992, Frank, Sr. opened Minuteman Press in Cherry Hill, and 30 years later, Frank, Jr. and his wife Kelly are still owning and operating the family business. Frank, Jr. says, “The chance to work side by side with my dad for all those years was incredibly special. I started managing the shop in 1997, and Kelly and I bought the shop from my dad 5 or 6 years ago. My Uncle Joe also came on board early on and runs our Hainesport shop today, so this truly is a family business all the way around.” Keys to Success Frank doesn’t hesitate when sharing the biggest key to success for Minuteman Press in Cherry Hill. He says, “We build relationships with our clients, and we simply do not give them a reason to leave us.” He continues, “We’ve had many clients for over 20 years, and some since Day 1. For example, we’ve been working with some of the local car dealerships since we opened. Once customers find you and know they can rely on you, cost is not a factor because there is real trust in that relationship.” “What it really comes down to is being personable, developing that trust, and forming a tight bond that leads to residual / repeat customers. Providing that personal service along with the products they need is how we’ve been successful.” -Frank Bittner, Jr., Owner, Minuteman Press, Cherry Hill, NJ Expanding Products & Services During the pandemic, Minuteman Press in Cherry Hill remained open and operating as an essential business. As a result, Frank saw a trend that continues to help his business today. He shares, “One thing we noticed during the pandemic was that a lot of local municipalities were spending, buying additional products from us we hadn’t done for them previously. We had a rise in sales from those municipal groups, townships, and county offices. As a result, we are now taking more orders from them today, such as plastic ID cards and plaques for their employees. We already had done some of their printing for retractable banners, carbonless forms, and envelopes, and now we are getting to do more.” Just by contacting other local businesses during the pandemic to see how they were doing has helped increase business today. Frank shares, “We wanted to simply show that we care and still available to help our clients. At that time, we put a strong focus on in-house Every Door Direct Mail, and our EDDM business really took off.” He adds, “In addition to mailings, clients are now coming back to us with orders for trade show supplies, wide format printing, promo products, apparel, items for community events and job fairs, raffles and tickets for local events, and more.” “I think people still want something in their hands. They might be used to their phones but having a tangible printed marketing piece that shows bullet-points is special. Print will always be a vital tool of information.” -Frank Bittner, Jr. Marketing the Business Cherry Hill, NJ is the largest suburb in New Jersey outside of Philadelphia. It is home to mostly small to mid-sized businesses, as well as local schools and organizations. To market his business in Cherry Hill, Frank has followed the Minuteman Press system for over 30 years. Frank says, “I am in the same two networking groups that my dad first joined, the Voorhees Business Association (VBA) and the Marlton Business Association (MBA). We are also members of the Burlington County Chamber of Commerce. It is important to get involved and have that personal relationship with members of your community. No matter what you are selling, it’s you that they buy into. I am not a faceless entity, I am Frank the owner, and that makes a huge difference.” In addition, Frank also participates in the Minuteman Press Internet Marketing Program. “It’s great to have that program in place to generate online leads as it’s another we to secure orders and then develop relationships with clients.” Support from Minuteman Press When it comes to being part of Minuteman Press, support comes in many ways. Frank says, “The support from Minuteman Press is always there when I need it, and this has always been the case. They have helped with employee training and staffing, provided great advice, and our Regional VP Rich Hornberger is a tremendous asset to us. Rich truly cares about the owners in his region, and I always appreciate his input.” Frank also appreciates the FLEX software as he has seen its evolution and enhancements over the years. “FLEX is so valuable and robust for pricing, marketing, and management. It’s great to see that some popular suggestions from owners are implemented. I love the integration with our vendors and the idea of getting deposits ahead of time is fantastic. Anything to make quotes easier and receiving payments easier is a huge benefit to our business.” During the first days and weeks of the pandemic, Frank credits the daily emails and communications he received from Minuteman Press World Headquarters and Nick Titus for reassuring him at a crucial time. “The emails we received from Nick were fantastic and I looked forward to them every day. They also helped us quickly pivot by implementing new marketing strategies and sell essential products. When everything first shut down, I couldn’t help but think about my family and my business. That lasted 3 days, and then we came back into the shop, the phones kept ringing, and we did not miss a beat.” He continues, “Without assistance from corporate, and without that morale boost at such a critical time, I don’t know if we would have been able to bounce back so quickly. It was also a huge asset to have the other franchise owners in our system to exchange ideas and share advice. All of that was extremely valuable.” “We were encouraged to keep plugging away, and that’s what we did. We printed masks using heat transfer. We printed new menus for restaurants, and we filled our community with graduation signs for the local schools we had relationships with. By remaining open, we helped one of our energy customers ramp up their mailings with EDDM and personalized mailings, and their sales have doubled since the pandemic. They are now one of our biggest clients.” -Frank Bittner, Jr. Rewards & Advice for Others As he reflects on 32 years, Frank shares, “Flexibility and quality of life are the two biggest rewards to being your own boss. I have been able to set my own schedule and be there for my kids. I’ve allowed my employees to have that same flexibility so we can all share that same mindset of caring about the business but being there for our families” When asked what advice he would give to others, Frank says, “I am a big believer in cross-training my employees. My advice is to have one or two key people who can do everything from front to back. Also, don’t expect to come in and not be present. You need to be present, and you need to be proactive.” Frank concludes, “Minuteman Press International is always moving forward. They fine-tune what is the next step and are on top of industry trends. Take advantage of their knowledge and experience and follow the system. That’s what we’ve done now for over 30 years and counting.” Minuteman Press in Cherry Hill is located at 2060 Springdale Rd., Suite 700, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003. For more information, call 856-817-8400 or visit their website: https://minuteman.com/us/locations/nj/cherry-hill/ Learn more about #1 rated Minuteman Press franchise opportunities and see Minuteman Press franchise reviews at https://minutemanpressfranchise.com Contact Details Chris Biscuiti +1 631-249-1370 cbiscuiti@mpihq.com Company Website https://minutemanpressfranchise.com

September 19, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Fortune and Great Place to Work® Name VTS One of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Real Estate™

VTS

VTS, the commercial real estate industry’s leading technology platform that transforms how strategic decisions are made as well as executed across the asset lifecycle, today announced that Great Place to Work® and Fortune have honored the company as one of the 2022 Best Workplaces in Real Estate™. It’s VTS’ first time being named to the prestigious list, landing at number 25. Earning a spot means that VTS’ one of the best real estate companies to work for in the country. The Best Workplaces in Real Estate award is highly competitive. Great Place to Work, the global authority on workplace culture, selected this year’s list using rigorous analytics and confidential employee feedback. The analysis consisted of survey responses from over 23,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the real estate industry. In that survey, 92% of VTS’ employees said VTS is a great place to work, 35% higher than the average U.S. company. Companies were only considered if they had been a Great Place to Work-Certified™ organization. “We are honored to be recognized by Fortune as one of the Best Workplaces in Real Estate,” said Nick Romito, CEO of VTS. “Since inception, our mission has been to provide innovative tech-enabled solutions that increase efficiency within the industry, powered by an incredible workplace culture that we are extremely proud of — a true testament to each and every remarkable team member.” Great Place to Work is the only company culture award in America that selects winners based on how fairly employees are treated. Companies are assessed on how well they create a great employee experience that cuts across race, gender, age, disability status, or any aspect of who employees are or what their role is. “These companies have adapted to the challenges of an ever-changing workplace by their commitment to inclusive, high-trust cultures where employees are treated as human beings first and foremost,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. “Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Real Estate.” In addition to being honored as a Best Workplace in Real Estate, VTS has also been recognized by Fortune’s Best Workplaces in New York in 2022 and Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Millennials in 2021, and was named to Built In’s Best Places to Work 2021, Forbes Cloud 100 2021, as well as Glassdoor’s Highest Rated Cloud Companies List 2022. VTS continues to experience strategic rapid growth, and is actively hiring throughout the firm. Visit vts.com/careers to learn more. About VTS VTS is the commercial real estate industry’s leading technology platform that transforms how strategic decisions are made and executed across the asset lifecycle. In 2013, VTS revolutionized the commercial real estate industry’s leasing operations with what is now VTS Lease. Today, the VTS Platform is the largest first-party data source in the industry and delivers data insights and solutions for everyone in commercial real estate to fuel their investment and asset strategy, leasing and marketing automation, property operations, and tenant experience. With the VTS Platform, consisting of VTS Data, VTS Market, VTS Rise, and VTS Lease, every business stakeholder in commercial real estate is given the real-time market information and executional capabilities to do their job with unparalleled speed and intelligence. VTS is the global leader with more than 60% of Class A office space in the U.S., and 12 billion square feet of office, retail, and industrial space is managed through our platform globally. VTS’ user base includes over 45,000 CRE professionals and industry-leading customers such as Blackstone, Brookfield Properties, LaSalle Investment Management, Hines, Boston Properties, Oxford Properties, JLL, and CBRE. To learn more about VTS, and see our open roles, visit www.vts.com. About the Best Workplaces in Real Estate™ Great Place to Work selected the Best Workplaces in Real Estate by gathering and analyzing confidential survey responses from over 23,000 employees from Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies in the real estate industry. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place to Work® Trust Index™ survey. Great Place to Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All™ methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America’s largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 6.1 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology. To get on this list next year, start here. About Great Place to Work® Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™. Learn more at greatplacetowork.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact Details Marino PR Elise Szwajkowski +1 212-402-3495 eszwajkowski@marinopr.com Company Website https://www.vts.com/

September 19, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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