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Earning a spot on the Baker’s Dozen again is a rewarding confirmation of our continuous dedication to providing exceptional service and high-quality products.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (PRWEB)
December 10, 2019

Backgrounds Online – http://www.backgroundsonline.com/ – a prominent provider of background checks, drug tests and custom screening solutions, was named one of the top 13 background screening agencies in the nation.

To be included on the prestigious Baker’s Dozen list, background screening companies must be reviewed and ranked by their clients. HRO Today produces a proprietary survey that features 40 questions about background check providers and requests feedback about their products, customer service and other key topics.

When determining which companies will be included on the Baker’s Dozen list, HRO Today meticulously reviews every survey and considers three primary categories:

•     Breadth of service
•     Size of deal
•     Quality of service

To make it on the list, background screening companies must receive high scores in each category.

The 2019 List

When producing their annual list, HRO Today takes various steps to ensure the results are accurate and based exclusively on customer feedback. They only accept responses that come from a valid corporate email and check IP addresses as part of their multi-step verification process. This is done to verify the lists they produce are a true representation of the top screening companies based on customer satisfaction.

“We pride ourselves on being a service-first company,” said Chris Ballas CEO of Backgrounds Online. “Earning a spot on the Baker’s Dozen again is a rewarding confirmation of our continuous dedication to providing exceptional service and high-quality products. Our entire team strives to consistently build and strengthen relationships with every client. Backgrounds Online is only successful when we help the organizations we serve make informed decisions, demonstrate due diligence and create safe workplaces.”

The Baker’s Dozen is the largest background screening customer satisfaction survey in the nation. Backgrounds Online has been represented on previous lists and is proud to be once again named a top background screening provider in 2019.

About The Baker’s Dozen

The Baker’s Dozen is run by HRO Today, a human resources publication owned by SharedXpertise Media. Their magazines, web portals, research, e-newsletters, events and social networks reach over 180,000 senior-level HR decision-makers. HRO Today has produced the Baker’s Dozen Customer Satisfaction Ratings since 2010.

About Backgrounds Online

Backgrounds Online has more than 20 years of experience as a leader in the background screening industry. We produce comprehensive background checks and screening solutions for job applicants, contractors, volunteers and employees. Our highly trained team is adept at offering unsurpassable customer service and helping our clients to develop a fair and transparent screening process. We are accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA – previously the NAPBS) and committed to providing FCRA compliant background checks our clients can use to make informed decisions and build strong teams. For more information, visit http://www.backgroundsonline.com.

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Jim Gaffigan

“We want Connex2020 and the 25th anniversary celebration to very special and Jim’s unique humor and storytelling will be the perfect way to celebrate our success as an association,” Bill Yanek, Connex CEO

DALLAS (PRWEB)
December 10, 2019

Connex, formerly PRSM, the authority on Retail and Multisite Facilities Management, is excited to announce that Jim Gaffigan — comedian, actor, producer, best-selling author and performer known worldwide for his unique humor and observations on life — will headline the CONNEX2020 National Conference, 25th Anniversary, Gala Dinner in Orlando, Fla., April 21.

Connex/PRSM will celebrate its 25th Anniversary during the conference and the Gala Dinner is the marquee, kick-off celebration.

Gaffigan is a four-time Grammy nominated comedian and five-time Emmy winning touring performer, as well as a platinum-selling recording artist. His many movie credits include “Three Kings,” “Super Troopers” 1 & 2 and “Chappaquiddick.” Gaffigan has had his biggest year to date on screen in 2019, as he has been featured in eight films, including two in which he was the lead, “Being Frank” and “American Dreamer.”

Gaffigan recently released his seventh stand-up comedy special and has continued his regular humorous commentaries on CBS Sunday Morning. His background includes being a two-time New York Times best-selling author.

“Jim is a fantastic storyteller, and we’re thrilled to bring this rare opportunity to our attendees at CONNEX2020,” said Bill Yanek, CEO of Connex. “We wanted Connex2020 and the anniversary celebration to very special and Jim’s unique humor and storytelling will be the perfect way to celebrate our success as an association.”

In addition to two seasons of the critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” which he wrote and produced with his wife, Jeannie, Gaffigan has guest starred in many TV comedies and has had dramatic roles on “Law & Order.” Last year he served as Master of Ceremony at The Al Smith Memorial Dinner, an annual event in New York City to raise funds for Catholic charities supporting children. In 2015, Gaffigan performed for Pope Francis and 1 million attendees at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia.

With approximately 950 member companies, Connex is the leading membership organization for FMs and supplier professionals. Established in 1995, Connex empowers facilities management professionals with best practices, benchmarking, education, discussion forums and trusted partnerships. Members depend upon Connex to help them achieve greater success and a competitive advantage through quality programs and resources.

Formerly known as the PRSM National Conference, CONNEX2020 is the largest multisite retail, banking, entertainment, dental, medical and restaurants facilities management conference, with best-in-class education sessions, networking events and more than 300 qualified exhibitors under one roof.

For more information about CONNEX2020 National Conference, visit http://www.national.connexfm.com.

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Lifetime Achievement Award

No one ever achieves an award like this without the support and help of many people…my team members at Mack and all our wonderful clients and friends in the industry.

CHICAGO (PRWEB)
December 10, 2019

Linda Mack received the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award during The Family Wealth Alliance Fall Forum held in Chicago on October 17th. Tom Livergood, Founder and CEO of FWA described Linda as “…a true pioneer who helped develop industry-first standards for family office (C-suite) staff configurations and compensation models that many of us use today. For all that Linda has done for families and the family wealth industry, we’re honored to have presented her with this award.”

The Family Wealth Alliance is an independent and objective resource to private families and the firms that serve them. The Alliance is known for adherence to its core value, “We Place Families First.” Led by research and consulting, they act as an independent advocate and objective resource for private families and the organizations that serve them. The firm helps private families find best-in-class multifamily offices throughout North America, as well as consulting with single-family office firms on their strategic alternatives. The Alliance also formulates standards, conducts, publishes and distributes its research, and serves as an advocate to further the body of knowledge in this field.

Jamie McLaughlin, founder of J.H. McLaughlin & Co., wrote and read the Citation and presented Linda Mack with her award. He noted Linda’s roots as part of an entrepreneurial family, her early career in commercial banking managing relationships with family-held enterprises for Northern Trust and Harris Bank, and eventual call of talent management and consulting where she rose to senior positions at Harris. Eventually joining Johnson, Smith & Knisely and later becoming a partner in TMP’s global financial services practice where she “…began to concentrate on private banking and wealth management well before the term “family office” entered the lexicon.” Upon starting Mack International in 2002, Mr. McLaughlin said, “Linda focused on branding herself to this emerging industry and her firm and brand grew; and globally.” He described her as “determined and intensely competitive, possessing an uncommon combination of energy and derring-do…always striving to do better and improve.” He offered that those who have worked alongside Linda call her “brilliant and “intuitive”—”prodigious in her output, demanding in her attention to detail.” The citation concluded with highlighting Linda’s many contributions:

“She’s been a selfless giver to our inchoate family office industry and a champion for its cause. She’s among the most visible people in the family office ecosystem—at the leading global conferences, she’s built deep networks and gleaned valuable market intelligence. She’s been a direct part of the institutionalization of the family office “industry” not only leading major searches and consulting assignments for families, but in the absence of any data or standards, framing and rationalizing standards for family office staff configurations and various compensation models…Linda has been a tireless supporter of the Family Wealth Alliance from its inception in 2003 and is truly deserving and perhaps overdue in being honored with this award…”    

Linda accepted the award on behalf of the clients and colleagues who helped build the company that bears her name. “No one ever achieves an award like this without the support and help of many people…my team members at Mack and all our wonderful clients and friends in the industry.” She commented that Mack International and FWA share the same core value: Placing families first. She thanked Jamie McLaughlin for his kind words and Tom Livergood as “a terrific friend and inspiration for the work he does and the great community he has built at Family Wealth Alliance along with all the contributions he has made to the family wealth industry.”    

Linda thanked everyone for the “honor and privilege of this distinction” and offered a parting thought. “I humbly accept this tremendous award. I’m counting on a lot more “lifetime” to continue contributing and enjoying an industry that I find profoundly meaningful and full of satisfaction.”

About Mack International

Mack International is the premier, a boutique retained executive search and strategic management/human capital consulting firm serving national and international clients in the family office, family business enterprise and the wealth management industries on a national and international basis. Founded in 2002, the firm has achieved an exceptional track record of success as evidenced by its unmatched industry expertise, in-depth market knowledge and unparalleled track record of success. Founder and President, Linda C. Mack has established proprietary methodologies such as the Mack 360© and is credited for having coined the term “expert generalist” in the industry.

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Cherry Bekaert Welcomes Luis Reyes as Assurance Partner

RICHMOND, Va. (PRWEB)
December 05, 2019

Nationally acclaimed public accounting and consulting firm, Cherry Bekaert (“the Firm”), is pleased to welcome Luis Reyes, CPA, as an Assurance Partner in the Atlanta practice.

As an Assurance Partner, Luis will provide clients with audit, assurance and consulting services. He will serve clients in numerous industries including medical device and technology, professional services, specialty retailers, construction and real estate, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.

With nearly 20 years of experience, he has extensive experience providing transaction advisory services to private equity groups, as well as strategic buyers, by performing accounting and financial due diligence in connection with mergers and acquisitions.

About Cherry Bekaert

Ranked among the largest audit, tax and advisory firms in the U.S., Cherry Bekaert LLP offers specialized solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, specialty tax, transaction advisory, risk advisory, technology consulting, benefits consulting, litigation support, valuation and wealth management. With clients in all 50 states and internationally, we have specialists in the sectors of technology, health and life sciences, industrial manufacturing, private equity, real estate and construction, and government contracting. We exercise a deliberate curiosity to know our clients’ industries and work collaboratively as one team to guide them forward.

Cherry Bekaert LLP is a founding, independent member of Baker Tilly International, a top-ten global accountancy and business advisory network. Visit us at cbh.com.

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Kate Bauer-Jones, Future Forward

MADISON, Wis. (PRWEB)
December 09, 2019

Elementary literacy nonprofit – Future Forward – welcomes its first executive director, Kate Bauer-Jones.

Bauer-Jones will lead implementation, evaluation, and expansion of Future Forward’s research-proven early literacy program. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Future Forward is a data-driven reading intervention currently in the replication stage of development at 14 school sites in three states.

Future Forward helps struggling early elementary-age children develop the necessary reading and literacy skills to keep up with their peers. An external evaluator using a randomized control trial is evaluating the program’s impact as it is replicated in new environments. In earlier random control trial evaluation, the program model was proven to be highly effective at improving student’s reading achievement (six-times more likely to reach benchmarks) and increasing school attendance (27%), by integrating one-on-one tutoring and family engagement. The program meets the “strong evidence definitions” laid out by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), is included in the Department of Education’s “What Works Clearinghouse,” and received the highest possible rating from the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.”

Serving hundreds of children and counting, Future Forward is growing beyond participating sites to help address the substantial unmet demand for a cost-effective literacy intervention that has a proven effect serving struggling readers. Districts and schools interested in learning how to bring this program to their students and families are welcome to reach out and invite the Future Forward team to meet with their communities. As the program expands, new executive director Bauer-Jones will work with school district elected officials, superintendents, state boards of education, and diverse education professionals to introduce Future Forward’s successful model to more schools across the country.

Bauer-Jones has a broad range of applicable experience. Her teaching background includes a New York City Teaching Fellowship and teaching special education at both private and public schools in Florida. She has worked with out-of-school programs including YMCAs and Boys & Girls Clubs, and has served with United Ways in the Suncoast region of Florida and as President and CEO of United Way of the Florida Keys. Most recently, Bauer-Jones worked with the Early Learning Coalition of Pinellas, engaging diverse stakeholders including business, families, and many partners in the nonprofit sector. She received a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Virginia, and a Master’s degree in Education Management and Innovation.

To learn about bringing Future Forward to your community, Bauer-Jones can be reached at kbauerjones@edanalytics.org or 608.535.9174.

Future Forward is a programmatic subsidiary of Education Analytics (EA), a nonprofit organization working across the country to solve challenges faced by school districts and others with real and actionable solutions. EA uses data to help make better decisions on policies and programs that lead to school and student success. EA’s analytics and Future Forward’s direct service model both work to improve educational outcomes for all students. More at: https://edanalytics.org/.

Future Forward is funded by the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program, designed to generate and validate solutions to persistent educational challenges and to support the expansion of effective solutions to serve substantially larger numbers of students. The EIR Program, established under section 4611 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), provides funding to create, develop, implement, or replicate, entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations, to improve student achievement and attainment for high-need students, and rigorously evaluate such innovations.

FutureForwardLiteracy.org (new website coming soon)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FutureForwardLiteracy/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Email: kbauerjones@edanalytics.org

Call: 608.535.9174

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Steve Stang Joins Cherry Bekaert

RICHMOND, Va. (PRWEB)
December 09, 2019

Growth-focused and nationally acclaimed public accounting firm Cherry Bekaert LLP (“the Firm”) is proud to welcome Steve Stang, CPA, as a Partner and National Leader of the Firm’s Healthcare Transaction Advisory Services group.

Based in the Firm’s Charlotte practice, Steve brings more than 25 years of transaction advisory experience to his healthcare clients. He has worked on more than 100 middle-market healthcare transactions advising on financial due diligence; mergers and acquisitions; strategic financial planning; and quality of earnings engagements. Steve’s industry expertise includes deals for private equity groups, venture capital funds, investment bankers, healthcare REITs, and a diverse group of healthcare providers ranging from $1 million to $400 million in transaction value. He has extensive experience creating financial projections and models, conducting financial feasibility studies and assessing target companies’ financial performance.

Jeffrey Bengtson, Cherry Bekaert’s National Leader of Transaction Advisory Services notes, “Healthcare transactions come with very specific needs, regulations and processes. Steve has a great deal of experience navigating the unique aspects of these deals, which will benefit our clients seeking guidance before, during and after a healthcare transaction.”

Prior to joining Cherry Bekaert, Steve served as the national leader of the healthcare transaction practice for an international CPA and consulting firm. He also held other leadership roles, including the firm’s national health care assurance leader and the national hospitals and health systems practice leader.

Also joining the Firm’s Healthcare Transaction Advisory Services practice is Andrew Blackburn, CPA.

As a manager, Andrew brings more than five years of transaction experience to his healthcare clients. He has worked extensively in the areas of financial due diligence; mergers and acquisitions advisory; and quality of earnings engagements in the middle market healthcare sector.

Prior to joining Cherry Bekaert, Andrew was a manager in the healthcare transaction practice for a Top 10 national CPA and consulting firm.

About Cherry Bekaert

Ranked among the largest audit, tax and advisory firms in the U.S., Cherry Bekaert LLP offers specialized solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, specialty tax, transaction advisory, risk advisory, technology consulting, benefits consulting, litigation support, valuation and wealth management. With clients in all 50 states and internationally, we have specialists in the sectors of technology, health and life sciences, industrial manufacturing, private equity, real estate and construction, and government contracting. We exercise a deliberate curiosity to know our clients’ industries and work collaboratively as one team to guide them forward.

Cherry Bekaert LLP is a founding, independent member of Baker Tilly International, a top-ten global accountancy and business advisory network. Visit us at cbh.com.

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