We congratulate this inaugural class of Best2SMB awardees, who serve as instructive examples of what it means to be Best2SMB.

CHICAGO (PRWEB)
October 02, 2019

The B2SMB Institute, the first professional organization focused on advancing excellence in the business-to-small-business (B2SMB) ecosystem, today announced the winners of the 2019 Best2SMB Awards. The awards, which showcase the best in B2SMB Products & Services, Innovation and Brands, were presented during a special awards luncheon today at the B2SMB Institute’s annual Global Conference in Chicago.

“The mission of the Best2SMB Awards is to identify and recognize companies that are solving genuine needs of small businesses, and doing it successfully, at scale,” said Dave Walker, CEO and Cofounder, B2SMB Institute. “We congratulate this inaugural class of Best2SMB awardees, who serve as instructive examples of what it means to be Best2SMB.”

A highly competitive field of nearly 30 submissions was narrowed to a dozen standout finalists, from which winners in each of three categories were determined. The B2SMB Institute is pleased to announce the following category winners of the 2019 Best2SMB Awards:

• 
  Zoho – Best2SMB Award for Product or Service Offering. Zoho is the operating system for business—a single online platform capable of running an entire business. With 45+ apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting and back office operations, and an array of productivity and collaboration tools, Zoho is one of the world’s most prolific software companies.
• Alignable – Best2SMB Award for Innovation. With more than 4 million members, and millions of connections across more than 30,000 local communities, Alignable is the online network where small business owners across North America drive leads and prospects, generate referrals, land new business, build trusted relationships, and share great advice. Members use Alignable to get the industry answers they need, connect within their local business community or across the country, and increase buzz for their business.
• Square – B2SMB Brand of the Year. Square, Inc. revolutionized payments in 2009 with Square Reader, making it possible for anyone to accept card payments using a smartphone or tablet. Today, the company builds tools to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the economy. Sellers use Square to reach buyers online and in-person, manage their business, and access financing. Restaurants use Caviar to offer diners delivery, group ordering, catering, and pickup. And individuals use Cash App to spend, send, and store money.

Three Brands Inducted into the B2SMB Hall of Fame

Also honored today, were three world-class B2SMB brands that were inducted into the B2SMB Hall of Fame. The B2SMB Institute is delighted to announce the following Hall of Fame inductees were selected for the long-term and significant impact each has made on the success of millions of small businesses around the world:

• American Express, for its Small Business Saturday initiative, which has inspired us all to celebrate and discover small business
• Dell, for empowering small businesses to use technology to grow their business
• Intuit, for creating QuickBooks, its simple accounting software that enables SMBs to prosper

Independently Judged by B2SMB Institute’s SMB Influencers’ Circle

The 2019 Best2SMB Awards were judged by the B2SMB Institute’s SMB Influencers’ Circle, an independent council of journalists, bloggers, thought leaders and authors, who are recognized for their knowledge and understanding of SMB challenges and priorities:

• Anita Campbell, CEO, Small Business Trends
• Melinda Emerson, Consultant and Author, SmallBizLady
• John Lawson, CEO, ColderICE Media
• Rieva Lesonsky, CEO & President, GrowBiz Media and SmallBizDaily.com
• Laurie McCabe, Consultant and Partner, SMB Group
• Barry Moltz, Turnaround Consultant and Author, Getting Small Business Unstuck
• Brian Moran, CEO, Small Business Edge
• Ramon Ray, Founder and Publisher, Smart Hustle Magazine
• Pamela Slim, Founder, K’É- Main Street Learning Lab
• Steve Strauss, Senior Small Business Columnist, USA Today
• Ivana Taylor, Publisher, DIY Marketers

For the full list of 2019 Best2SMB Awards finalists and winners, visit https://b2smbi.com/best2smb-awards/.

About the B2SMB Institute

The B2SMB Institute is the first professional organization focused on advancing excellence in the business-to-small-business ecosystem. B2SMB leaders, practitioners, brands and enterprises rely on the Institute for critical market intelligence resources, peer-to-peer networking, best-practice guidance and specialized skills development. The B2SMB Institute champions small-business-centric thinking and practice, with a focus on how to reach, engage, win, keep and grow SMB customers. The member-driven organization serves as a dynamic, daily destination to find, meet and network with B2SMB decision-makers who share common needs, challenges and goals. Visit https://b2smbi.com/ for details on resources, benefits and membership opportunities.

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“We are so pleased to see a growing number of employers recognize the importance of supporting families formed through adoption,” said Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB)
October 02, 2019

Annual survey of employers reveals increased investment in adoption benefits

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption released its 13th annual Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list recognizing organizations with the most robust adoption benefit programs. The list compares financial reimbursement and paid leave offered to employees who adopt, based on a survey of organizations across the United States. The Foundation partnered with RTI International, an independent, nonprofit research institute, to conduct this year’s survey.

More than 25 years ago, Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s® and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, led an initiative advocating for better adoption benefits in the workplace. The Foundation has carried that legacy forward through its signature Adoption-Friendly Workplace program and 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list.

The 2019 list includes a diverse group of organizations, with three to nearly 350,000 employees, representing 23 industries. On average, employers that completed the survey offer $9,362 in financial reimbursement, which is up 1.2% from 2018. The average amount of paid leave was 7.4 weeks, up 1.3% from last year’s list.

“We are so pleased to see a growing number of employers recognize the importance of supporting families formed through adoption,” said Rita Soronen, President & CEO of the Foundation. “Congratulations to all the organizations on this year’s list, and thank you for sharing our belief that every child deserves a permanent home and loving family.”

NVIDIA is atop the 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list for the second year in a row. The Santa Clara, CA-based artificial intelligence company offers all full- and part-time employees unlimited financial aid to cover the cost of an adoption. NVIDIA also provides up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave to women and men welcoming an adopted child into their home.

“NVIDIA recognizes that families are built in many ways, but they all share the common bond of love. We are excited to be recognized by the Foundation for the second year in a row. Our commitment to employees and their families is core to who we are,” said Beau Davidson, Vice President of Employee Experience at NVIDIA.

The Foundation also ranks employers by size, industry, best paid leave and foster care benefits. Additionally, a new impact list recognizes organizations with more than 1,000 employees that provide the largest overall financial benefits for adoption and have the capacity to reach the greatest number of people. Target Corporation ranked first on the 2019 impact list.

The Wendy’s Company has been designated with Forever Family emeritus status after being atop the 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list for many years. “One of Wendy’s core values is ‘Do the Right Thing.’ Our founder Dave Thomas was adopted, and he strongly believed that offering adoption benefits is simply the right thing to do for your employees,” said Todd Penegor, President & CEO of The Wendy’s Company and Vice Chair of the Foundation’s board of trustees. “Wendy’s is proud to be one of the companies leading the way with robust adoption benefits, and we are thrilled to see NVIDIA top the list for a second year.”

View the complete 2019 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces list and other adoption resources for employers at http://www.davethomasfoundation.org/AFW.

About the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national nonprofit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes for the nearly 155,000 children waiting to be adopted in North America’s foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns and innovative grantmaking. Learn more at davethomasfoundation.org.

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We’re really proud of the entire Catalyst team – we’re seeing significant growth both in the US and around the world because of their work

CLEVELAND (PRWEB)
October 02, 2019

Avalution Consulting – the leading provider of business continuity and IT disaster recovery consulting and software solutions – announced today that Gartner, Inc. has positioned the company as a Leader for its Catalyst business continuity software in the 2019 Magic Quadrant for Business Continuity Management Program Solutions, Worldwide. Avalution was positioned furthest overall for its completeness of vision. This is the third report in which Avalution has been named a Leader.

Avalution is offering complimentary access to the report below.

“Since the launch of Catalyst, we’ve been solely focused on delivering software that removes unnecessary complexity and makes it easy to involve anyone in the preparedness effort,” stated Brian Zawada, Avalution’s Managing Director and Chief Visionary Officer. “We’re very excited about the recognition in the Magic Quadrant, but we’re even more excited about the months ahead as we fully align Catalyst with the Business Continuity Operating System™.”

“We’re thrilled with our positioning in the Magic Quadrant and proud of our recognition ” added Robert Giffin, Avalution’s Managing Director and President. “We’re really proud of the entire Catalyst team – we’re seeing significant growth both in the US and around the world because of their work.”

Catalyst provides comprehensive, yet easy to use, business continuity and IT disaster recovery planning functionality to prepare organizations for disruptive incidents. With Catalyst, continuity planning is simple, scalable, and actionable – for both the program manager AND end user.

Download a complimentary copy of the Gartner Report here

Schedule a Demo of Catalyst

Gartner “Magic Quadrant for Business Continuity Management Program Solutions, Worldwide” by David Gregory and Roberta Witty, September 12, 2019.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Avalution

Avalution Consulting is the creator of the Business Continuity Operating System™ (BCOS) and Catalyst Business Continuity Software. BCOS leverages Avalution’s proven process for building and sustaining business continuity programs that drive focus and alignment to an organization’s business strategy, deliver actionable outcomes, and provide a method for ensuring long-term program engagement.

Catalyst provides comprehensive, yet easy to use, business continuity and IT disaster recovery planning functionality to prepare organizations for disruptive incidents. With Catalyst, continuity planning is simple, scalable, and actionable – for both the program manager AND end user.

+1.866.533.0575 | avalution.com

About BC Management

BC Management, a division of Avalution Consulting, is the leading provider of executive staffing and research services for the business continuity profession worldwide. BC Management provides contract, contract-to-hire, and direct-hire staffing solutions across all risk disciplines and offers data-driven research studies covering compensation assessments, program effectiveness, and industry trends.

+1.714.969.8006 | bcmanagement.com

Media Contact

Courtney Bowers | +1.866.533.0575

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Miles Lee at ACC headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. Photo credit William Deshaze

Choosing from a large group of applicants, judges for the Most Admired CEO award took into account quantifiable results, personal merit, team interaction and community involvement. Winners represent the top innovators, standard-bearers, role models and trailblazers in their industries.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (PRWEB)
October 03, 2019

President and CEO of the cost reduction industry leader, Alliance Cost Containment (ACC), Miles Lee, was named a Most Admired CEO from of Louisville Business First. The award honors outstanding chief executives in the Louisville area from a broad range of businesses.

Choosing from a large group of applicants, judges took into account quantifiable results, personal merit, team interaction and community involvement. Winners represent the top innovators, standard-bearers, role models and trailblazers in their industries.

“Miles is a magnetic leader who inspires confidence and ideas. He pushes our team to succeed in capacities that would ordinarily fall outside of our comfort zones,” said Dee Dee McLeod, COO/CFO at Alliance Cost Containment. She continued, “Miles constantly encourages us to own our ideas. While this can be a cliché in today’s business environment, to Miles that means pushing us to take responsibility and credit for our successes but also giving us the support and permission to admit defeat, encouraging us to roll up our sleeves, reboot and move on. This creates a fluid environment of successes with constant process improvement and creativity, ensuring we are never sitting still in a fast-paced business environment.”

Chief Executive Officers were nominated by their peers or teams earlier this year. The respected business publication will award Lee and fellow honorees at a special dinner on November 13 at the Downtown Marriott Hotel.

Miles Lee said, “I am beyond grateful to receive this recognition. Even to be considered among the other remarkable candidates is humbling. This award really belongs to our team and the energy they continuously infuse into our client relationships, office, vendors and the community.”

Lee continuously brings new concepts to his team as they set the bar for cost reduction industry. For example, several years ago, aware of the particular value ACC could bring to private equity (PE) firms and their portfolios, Lee launched a division focused on reducing procurement costs across PE portfolios. Whether they are seeking a synergistic buy or planning their exit strategy, ACC helps PE clients make informed decisions. Thanks to Lee, ACC is now an expert in the private equity industry, helping PE firms realize higher multiples for their portfolio company valuations.

In addition, Lee has spearheaded several unique, industry-specific buying groups. These organizations combine spending across multiple companies within the same industry to negotiate the lowest prices on common goods and services. For example, he recently led the development of a buying group for $8 billion global agricultural conglomerate with individually owned locations nationwide.

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, ACC has satellite offices across the USA. Under Mr. Lee’s leadership, the company experienced significant growth and garnered a reputation for extraordinary client results and top business integrity.

In recent years, Alliance Cost Containment received several other awards in the areas of business, culture and excellence.

Contact: Kelly Gold

502-208-4546

Alliance Cost Containment, LLC

info@alliancecost.com

ABOUT ALLIANCE COST CONTAINMENT

Louisville-based Alliance Cost Containment (ACC) assists clients with profit improvement by reducing procurement costs. Primary target markets include corporations, private equity backed companies and industry groups. ACC’s approach instills institutional behavior change, adherence to best practices, and helps improve forecasting. The company also creates and manages marketplace environments for equity portfolio and franchise organizations requiring a group savings or GPO structure. ACC is the recipient of numerous awards, including Business of the Year from Louisville Business First, the GLI Inc.Credible Award, the Best Places to Work award 3 years running, the Inc.5000 Fastest Growing Business award and more.

Website: alliancecost.com

Facebook: facebook.com/alliancecost/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/alliance-cost-containment/

Twitter: @alliancecost

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Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi will provide a keynote address at ATD 2020.

While Nooyi served as PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO, net revenue grew more than 80 percent and total shareholder return was 162 percent.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (PRWEB)
October 03, 2019

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is pleased to announce that Indra Nooyi, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, will provide the keynote presentation on Tuesday, May 19, during its 2020 International Conference & Exposition in Denver, Colorado.

While at PepsiCo, Nooyi was the chief architect of “Performance with Purpose,” the company’s pledge to do what’s right for the business by focusing on delivering sustained growth by making more nutritious products, limiting its environmental footprint and protecting the planet, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves.

While Nooyi served as PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO, net revenue grew more than 80 percent and total shareholder return was 162 percent. Prior to becoming CEO, Nooyi served as PepsiCo’s president and chief financial officer. Before joining the company in 1994, she spent four years as senior vice president of strategy, planning, and strategic marketing for Asea Brown Boveri, a Zurich-based industrials company.

Nooyi has received many awards and honorary degrees. In 2007, the Indian government awarded her the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third-highest civilian honor. The U.S. State Department named her an “outstanding American by choice.”

During the ATD conference, Nooyi will be greeted by a global audience of attendees from more than 90 countries. These professionals lead the efforts to prepare for the future of work through developing the knowledge and skills of today’s workforce. ATD 2020 will feature the largest expo dedicated to the talent development field, with more than 400 suppliers showcasing the latest technology and trends in learning.

ATD 2020 will take place May 17–20 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. Registration is open online at atdconference.td.org, and special preconference rates are available for a limited time. Follow ATD for updates about the conference on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter (#ATD2020).

About ATD

ATD is the world’s largest membership organization for professionals who develop talent in the workplace. At its annual International Conference & Exposition, ATD has welcomed keynote speakers including President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Brené Brown, Seth Godin, Marcus Buckingham, Jim Collins, Malcolm Gladwell, Ariana Huffington, Andrea Jung, Sugata Mitra, Dan Pink, and Simon Sinek.

ATD’s members come from more than 120 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. Originally established in 1943, the association was previously known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD). For more information, visit TD.org.

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Mark Mitrovich has been named the new Chief Executive Officer of Foundations in Learning

We are thrilled to welcome Mark Mitrovich to Foundations in Learning. His impressive commitment to education and innovation, proven over the course of a long career in numerous high-profile roles, is clear evidence of his perfect fit as our CEO.

CORALVILLE, Iowa (PRWEB)
October 03, 2019

Foundations in Learning, creator of the Foundations Learning System™, today announced that Mark Mitrovich has assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer. Mitrovich joins the company at an exciting time, following the September launch of the Foundations Learning System. The integrated system includes a screener, diagnostic and intervention solution designed to make visible the needs of underserved students in second grade through high school who struggle with reading comprehension and fluency due to poor word recognition skills.

“I am honored to join Foundations in Learning and embrace the opportunity to work closely alongside the company’s co-founders, Dr. Carolyn Brown and Dr. Jerry Zimmermann, to expand awareness and implementation of their timely and innovative solution to address a critical issue in reading failure—one of the most perplexing and persistent problems facing education in this country,” said Mitrovich. “Based on years of research and development in collaboration with scientists at the University of Iowa and school districts, the Foundations System leverages a powerful learning framework from cognitive science and gives school systems a proven way to identify, diagnose and remediate struggling readers who have been left behind despite years of well-meaning interventions. I firmly believe this is not just a reading solution, but a framework to support learning outcomes that truly transform the lives of at-risk students.”

Most recently, Mitrovich was CEO for Global Learning and Leadership (GL2), a not-for-profit consultancy he founded, dedicated to building capacity within school districts and communities to increase student achievement and success. In addition, he brings to Foundations in Learning 35 years of experience as an educator and district leader, including superintendent positions in Gig Harbor, Wash., and Naperville, Ill. Mitrovich was also Chief Academic Officer for the School Services Division of Pearson North America and has consulted for districts across the United States, as well as for state and federal agencies, superintendents’ associations, Apple, Microsoft, the New York City Board of Education, and the Ministries of Education in New Zealand and Victoria, Australia.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mark Mitrovich to Foundations in Learning. His impressive commitment to education and innovation, proven over the course of a long career in numerous high-profile roles, is clear evidence of his perfect fit as our CEO,” said Dr. Carolyn Brown, President and co-founder of Foundations in Learning. “Mark has demonstrated his willingness to tackle a variety of challenges in pursuit of equal access to educational and economic opportunities for all children. We are confident that this same thoughtful and passionate approach will significantly advance our efforts to improve educational equity through literacy.”

One of Mitrovich’s first initiatives in his new role is to ensure that education leaders and stakeholders nationwide have access to an effective solution, in the form of the Foundations Learning System, to help struggling readers reach proficiency. The Foundations System is an innovative solution that applies the learning framework known as the “Varied Practice Model,” which is proven to enhance automatic skill development in many other domains—including sports, music, language and math—to the development of automatic word recognition skills, an essential precursor of fluency and reading comprehension. Using the system, educators can quickly identify and help students whose academic progress has stagnated due to a lack of foundational reading skills, including persistently struggling readers, students with special needs and English language learners.

Mitrovich is also eager to introduce the education community to the depth of research behind Foundations in Learning’s solutions. Dr. Brown and Dr. Zimmermann have spent more than 30 years studying the needs of struggling readers, and the Foundations Learning System is built on 10 years of research and product development. For the development of the screener and diagnostic, they collaborated with Dr. Bob McMurray, Dr. Eliot Hazeltine, Dr. Deborah Read and Dr. Keith Apfelbaum, who are cognitive scientists and/or reading researchers from the University of Iowa. Support was provided by the SBIR program at the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences under contract ED-IES-15-C-0023. Additionally, through a series of National Science Foundation awards, Professors McMurray and Hazeltine have demonstrated that the principles underlying expert skill learning are applicable to learning to read.

For more information on bringing the Foundations Learning System to a school or district, call 888-701-3009 ext. 100 or contact Foundations in Learning by email at info@foundations-learning.com.

About Foundations in Learning

Foundations in Learning is a provider of scientifically based, empirically derived intervention solutions for elementary and middle school age students. The company’s researchers and program developers have decades of experience in creating, testing, and providing schools with effective programs to meet the individual needs of their students. Foundations in Learning’s technology-delivered, research-based programs are supported by learning models that have been demonstrated to be effective in areas of learning that are particularly relevant to the development, application and generalization of reading and mathematics skills. Learn more at https://www.foundations-learning.com/

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Sherif Agib

We are pleased to welcome Sherif on board, confident that his industry experience and expertise will be instrumental in driving the business forward, growing our customer base, and leading a strong and dedicated team.

SALT LAKE CITY (PRWEB)
October 04, 2019

PrimeGov today announced the appointment of Sherif Agib as Chief Operations Officer. Former VP of Operations at Granicus, Sherif will be responsible for the strategic leadership of business operations and growth of the organization effective September 2019. With extensive experience in the government sector, considerable expertise, and a fresh perspective, Sherif’s appointment comes at an opportune time as PrimeGov focuses its efforts on building a stronger and enhanced business structure to promote and sustain further growth, expansion, and success. Sherif brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles in Granicus, NetSuite, and ServiceMax.

Announcing the appointment, Tom Spengler, PrimeGov’s Board Director, said: “We are pleased to welcome Sherif on board, confident that his industry experience and expertise will be instrumental in driving the business forward, growing our customer base, and leading a strong and dedicated team. His experience and leadership style make him the ideal person to head up operations at PrimeGov and we are excited to have him joining us to scale business at a time of rapid growth.”

Sherif’s appointment comes as interest from the market in PrimeGov solutions continues to grow, with PrimeGov more than doubling its number of clients in the last year alone with recent wins from the city of Los Angeles, Orange County, and Ventura County. Government agencies are rapidly adopting PrimeGov’s industry-leading legislative solution for its advanced technology and enhanced capabilities and the new Chief Operations Officer will be instrumental in driving business forward.

Speaking of his appointment in the new leadership role at PrimeGov, Sherif said: “I’m excited about this new role at PrimeGov because it aligns very closely with my own values of putting our customers first and leading with passion and determination to meet their needs. PrimeGov collaborates with its customers and creates trusted partnerships and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to make an industry-changing impact in the government space.”

As PrimeGov’s client base continues to grow, Sherif will play a key role in scaling business processes. As part of this business scaling strategy and development, PrimeGov has undergone a rebranding to consolidate its products and services, which includes an updated logo and new website, which was launched this week: http://www.primegov.com

About PrimeGov

PrimeGov provides market-leading legislative software solutions for governments. For more information, visit http://www.primegov.com

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