Featured Stories
THREE DAIRY PRODUCERS TO SHARE HOW THEY FORMED NON-TRADITIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AT DAY-LONG CONFERENCE ON SEPT. 9
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 -- The Center for Dairy Excellence issued the following news release:
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THREE DAIRY PRODUCERS TO SHARE HOW THEY FORMED NON-TRADITIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AT DAY-LONG CONFERENCE ON SEPT. 9
The Dairy Financial & Risk Management Conference Will Feature a Producer Panel
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At the 2026 Dairy Financial and Risk Management Conference on September 9 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Austin Copenhaver (Ivy Lakes Dairy and Gorham Dairy), Lyndon Miller (Skyline Dairy LLC) and Lisa Graybeal (PennMar Dairy) will each share their unique story about how have pursued partnerships
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HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 -- The Center for Dairy Excellence issued the following news release:
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THREE DAIRY PRODUCERS TO SHARE HOW THEY FORMED NON-TRADITIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AT DAY-LONG CONFERENCE ON SEPT. 9
The Dairy Financial & Risk Management Conference Will Feature a Producer Panel
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At the 2026 Dairy Financial and Risk Management Conference on September 9 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Austin Copenhaver (Ivy Lakes Dairy and Gorham Dairy), Lyndon Miller (Skyline Dairy LLC) and Lisa Graybeal (PennMar Dairy) will each share their unique story about how have pursued partnershipswith someone outside of their immediate family to rewrite their futures. They will be part of a producer panel discussion facilitated by Dr. Brian Reed, an independent consultant who assists farm families with business transition and transformation planning. Titled "Rewriting the Future," the day-long conference includes additional speakers who will challenge ag lenders and consultants to help their dairy clients reimagine what their legacies look like, share how to navigate difficult family business conversations and dynamics, and drill down on what lenders need to know about dairy markets and risk management.
The conference is planned for Wednesday, September 9, 2026 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the PA Farm Show Complex (McClay Street Entrance) in Harrisburg, Pa. Discounts are available for dairy producers. Dairy financial consultants, lending representatives, and interested dairy producers can register online at www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/financial-conference.
"We're looking forward to hearing from these three dairy producers who have taken the path less traveled and built non-traditional partnerships for their operations. You'll hear their farms' stories, strategies, and future plans as well as the nuts and bolts of how they got these unique partnerships to work for them," said Valerie Mason-Faith, Risk Education Manager at the Center for Dairy Excellence. "Whether you're guiding your dairy clients or managing a dairy farm yourself, this year's conference is filled with sessions like this to help you rewrite the future. We hope to see you there."
Austin Copenhaver resides in the Finger Lakes region of New York with his wife and three kids, where he is a partner in two dairy farm operations totaling 1,700 milking cows. Originally from Annville, PA, Austin attended SUNY Morrisville College and Cornell University. In 2013, Austin, along with partners Garrett Eiholzer and Clayton Wood, started Ivy Lakes Dairy from a preexisting dairy of the Hathorn Family in Stanley, NY starting with 400 milk cows. Since that time, the partners have expanded Ivy Lakes Dairy to 1,100 milking cows. Copenhaver also became a partner in neighboring Gorham Dairy along with Jeff Dann in 2019, milking 600 cows.
Lyndon Miller, his wife Louise and their four children live in Smithsburg, Maryland. Lyndon is in a partnership with Joel Strite at Skyline Dairy LLC. Skyline started in 2022 in a new robotic operation, milking 350 cows and raising all replacement heifers on the farm. He is herdsman and manager of the dairy on a day-to-day basis.
Lisa Graybeal grew up in southern Lancaster County on her family's dairy farm and graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She and her brother are the third generation on their farm, and they merged with another family two years ago to form PennMar Dairy, with three locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland milking 3,500 cows. In March 2023, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding appointed Graybeal to Deputy Secretary. She can still be found working on her dairy farm every weekend and when needed.
Brian Reed DVM, MBA spent 37 years working with dairy farmers as a veterinarian. After receiving his MBA degree in 2001, he combined his veterinary work with business management consulting activities focusing on assisting dairy farm families with strategic planning, profitability analysis and farm transition planning. Dr. Reed currently focuses on using Center for Dairy Excellence resources and grants, as well as serving as an independent consultant, to assist farm families going through farm transition and transformation planning.
To view the full program and register for the conference on September 9, visit www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/financial-conference or call Valerie Mason-Faith at 717-3460849.
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The Center for Dairy Excellence is a non-profit organization initiated by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture in 2004. Bringing together people from more than 40 different dairy organizations in Pennsylvania, the Center's mission is to enhance the profitability of the dairy industry by empowering people, creating partnerships, and increasing the availability and use of resources. Learn more at centerfordairyexcellence.org.
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Original text here: https://www.centerfordairyexcellence.org/wp-content/uploads/8-3_Financial-Conf-Producer-Panel.pdf
[Category: Agriculture]
Sun Country Cites Pilot Shortage While Fighting Multimillion-Dollar Pay Award for Training Pilots
MCLEAN, Virginia, Aug. 4 -- The Air Line Pilots Association International issued the following news release:
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Sun Country Cites Pilot Shortage While Fighting Multimillion-Dollar Pay Award for Training Pilots
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Sun Country Airlines is suing the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA) in federal court to void a binding arbitration award that found the company owes premium pay to its instructor pilots, the very same pilots who stayed and took on the added work of training new pilots and first officers becoming captains.
The suit comes as Sun Country has publicly blamed
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MCLEAN, Virginia, Aug. 4 -- The Air Line Pilots Association International issued the following news release:
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Sun Country Cites Pilot Shortage While Fighting Multimillion-Dollar Pay Award for Training Pilots
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Sun Country Airlines is suing the Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l (ALPA) in federal court to void a binding arbitration award that found the company owes premium pay to its instructor pilots, the very same pilots who stayed and took on the added work of training new pilots and first officers becoming captains.
The suit comes as Sun Country has publicly blamedrecent route cuts out of Minneapolis-St. Paul on a pilot staffing shortage, with the company's own outgoing CEO saying that the shortage traces to pilots not wanting to relocate outside Minneapolis or become a captain. ALPA has countersued, seeking to enforce the award and secure the pay owed to the affected instructor pilots.
"Sun Country can't have it both ways. It can't claim a pilot and captain shortage while simultaneously fighting a multimillion-dollar award compensating the very instructor pilots who stepped up to train new first officers and captains to ease that shortage," said Sun Country Master Executive Council (MEC) chair Capt. Sam Larson.
In December 2025, an independent arbitration board ruled that the airline improperly withheld override pay owed to training pilots. The award requires Sun Country to pay affected instructor pilots in back pay and continue the contractually required premium going forward. Sun Country filed suit against ALPA in March, alleging that the arbitration board exceeded its jurisdiction in issuing the award. ALPA's countersuit seeks to enforce the award and ensure that the affected pilots receive the compensation that they are owed.
Larson added: "Our training pilots continue to assume additional responsibilities to prepare the next generation of Sun Country aviators. The arbitration board ruled in their favor, recognizing their entitlement to compensation withheld by Sun Country. Rather than honoring the ruling, management has chosen to fight its own instructor pilots in federal court, even as it cites a shortage of pilots as a reason for reducing service from Minneapolis.
"This case is straightforward: After reviewing the facts and the collective bargaining agreement, the Board, led by an experienced and highly regarded arbitrator, ruled in favor of our pilots. Sun Country agreed to this binding dispute resolution process when it signed the agreement. It cannot simply walk away from an outcome because management does not like it."
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Founded in 1931, ALPA is the largest airline pilot union in the world and represents more than 80,000 pilots at 42 U.S. and Canadian airlines. Visit ALPA.org or follow us on Twitter @ALPAPilots.
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Original text here: https://www.alpa.org/press-room/2026/08/sun-country-cites-pilot-shortage-while-fighting-multimillion-dollar-pay-award-for-training-pilots
[Category: Transportation]
NCGA Letter Supports Action on Senate Farm Bill
CHESTERFIELD, Missouri, Aug. 4 -- The National Corn Growers Association issued the following news:
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NCGA Letter Supports Action on Senate Farm Bill
Author: Bryan Goodman
The president of the National Corn Growers Association sent a letter today to the leadership and members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry expressing support for the Agricultural Act of 2026, the farm bill "2.0" that the committee is considering. The letter encouraged action by week's end.
"Corn growers recognize there are limited legislative days remaining in this Congress for the farm bill
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CHESTERFIELD, Missouri, Aug. 4 -- The National Corn Growers Association issued the following news:
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NCGA Letter Supports Action on Senate Farm Bill
Author: Bryan Goodman
The president of the National Corn Growers Association sent a letter today to the leadership and members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry expressing support for the Agricultural Act of 2026, the farm bill "2.0" that the committee is considering. The letter encouraged action by week's end.
"Corn growers recognize there are limited legislative days remaining in this Congress for the farm billand E15 to pass and be signed into law," Ohio farmer and NCGA President Jed Bower wrote in the letter. "With these views considered, NCGA urges the Committee to advance the farm bill this week ahead of the planned August recess."
Bower was particularly effusive in the letter as he addressed the inclusion of language in the bill that would allow for the year-round sale of fuels with 15% ethanol blends or E15.
"This deregulatory action will help corn growers and the rural economy during this difficult time and will also address issues around affordability by lowering prices at the pump," he said. "NCGA is extremely grateful that year-round E15 is included in the Agricultural Act."
The letter also highlights specific policy details that are of interest or importance to corn grower members contained in the legislation.
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Bryan Goodman
Sr. Director, Policy Communications, Media Relations
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INFODOC: https://dt176nijwh14e.cloudfront.net/file/906
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Original text here: https://www.ncga.com/stay-informed/media/in-the-news/article/2026/08/ncga-letter-supports-action-on-senate-farm-bill
[Category: Agriculture]
MRAA Welcomes Carly Poole as Education & Dealer Enablement Consultant
BROOKLYN PARK, Minnesota, Aug. 4 -- The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas issued the following news:
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MRAA Welcomes Carly Poole as Education & Dealer Enablement Consultant
Minneapolis, MN -- The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces that Carly Poole -- longtime dealership operator, Certified Dealer and MRAA Board Member -- has joined the organization as an Education & Dealer Enablement Consultant, beginning a new chapter in a long-standing and impactful relationship with the association.
After years of leadership and service on the MRAA Board of Directors,
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BROOKLYN PARK, Minnesota, Aug. 4 -- The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas issued the following news:
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MRAA Welcomes Carly Poole as Education & Dealer Enablement Consultant
Minneapolis, MN -- The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA) announces that Carly Poole -- longtime dealership operator, Certified Dealer and MRAA Board Member -- has joined the organization as an Education & Dealer Enablement Consultant, beginning a new chapter in a long-standing and impactful relationship with the association.
After years of leadership and service on the MRAA Board of Directors,Poole transitions into this role with a deep understanding of the organization and a passion for advancing the success of marine dealers. MRAA is contracting her company, True North Business Consulting, with Poole serving as the primary lead.
"Carly has been an integral part of MRAA's journey for many years and she understands both where we've been and where we're going," said Matt Gruhn, President of MRAA. "She brings an exceptional combination of dealership experience, leadership and perspective. Just as importantly, she cares deeply about our members and this industry. We're excited to continue working alongside her in this new capacity."
Addressing Certification & Member Needs
In her role, Poole will focus on strengthening MRAA's Certification programs -- one of the association's most critical education initiatives. She will also collaborate with MRAA's Education Team and strategic partners to enhance learning design, practical application and member impact -- ensuring that member needs, opportunities and success are kept front and center.
"While my time serving on the Board has come to a close, my relationship with MRAA is far from ending -- it's evolving," said Poole, who began the new consulting role on June 15, 2026. "I'm excited to contribute in a new way, working alongside the team to support dealers and continue advancing the industry."
Poole brings extensive experience in marine retail operations, staff development and business leadership, along with a growing consulting practice focused on practical, real-world outcomes for dealerships.
About the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA)
The Marine Retailers Association of the Americas is the trusted catalyst for success in the marine retail industry. Dedicated to fueling dealer growth and strengthening the boating experience, MRAA delivers industry-leading insights, expert guidance and proven solutions that assist marine retailers in navigating challenges and seizing opportunities. Through education, advocacy and innovative resources, MRAA empowers dealers to thrive, and helps drive a stronger, more sustainable marine industry.
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Original text here: https://mraa.com/carly-poole-mraa-consultant-education-dealer-enablement/
[Category: Business]
Farm Bureau Encourages Senate Passage of Reconciliation Package Including Economic Aid
NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Aug. 4 -- The American Farm Bureau Federation issued the following news release on Aug. 3, 2026:
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Farm Bureau Encourages Senate Passage of Reconciliation Package Including Economic Aid
Following the U.S. House of Representative's approval of a budget resolution that includes $12 billion in much-needed economic aid for farmers and ranchers, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall sent a letter today to Senate leadership encouraging the chamber to advance the budget resolution.
"Due to persistent financial challenges across the agricultural economy, the
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee, Aug. 4 -- The American Farm Bureau Federation issued the following news release on Aug. 3, 2026:
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Farm Bureau Encourages Senate Passage of Reconciliation Package Including Economic Aid
Following the U.S. House of Representative's approval of a budget resolution that includes $12 billion in much-needed economic aid for farmers and ranchers, American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall sent a letter today to Senate leadership encouraging the chamber to advance the budget resolution.
"Due to persistent financial challenges across the agricultural economy, thePresident has called on Congress to deliver additional farmer assistance this year, and the House of Representatives answered the call with $12 billion for U.S. agriculture in reconciliation," Duvall wrote in the letter. "American Farm Bureau Federation supports the advancement of this Budget Resolution in the Senate, which will provide critical relief to enhance the farm safety net.
"We are grateful to the House for acting to deliver needed relief for agriculture, and for the Senate's consideration of this Budget Resolution. We recognize that the cumulative losses for agriculture due to sustained economic pressures far exceed $12 billion and urge continued work to address these losses."
The letter also details some of the factors influencing the farm economy, including historic inflation in production expenses and persistently low commodity prices.
"These factors have contributed to multiple years of losses for U.S. agriculture, which has made it increasingly difficult for farm families to stay afloat," Duvall wrote. "U.S. agriculture delivers the food, fuel, and fiber that Americans rely on every day. Farmers are leaders in their communities and serve as the backbone of America, boosting our rural economy and protecting our food supply. We greatly appreciate your continued leadership and support of American agriculture, and we respectfully urge your support to bring relief for farmers and ranchers during this prolonged downturn in the farm economy."
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INFODOC: https://www.fb.org/files/8.3.26_AFBF_Senate-Reconciliation-Letter.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.fb.org/news-release/farm-bureau-encourages-senate-passage-of-reconciliation-package-including-economic-aid
[Category: Agriculture]
Conflow Power Group Receives Frost & Sullivan's 2026 Global Company of the Year for Excellence in Smart Urban Infrastructure Leadership
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Aug. 4 -- Frost and Sullivan, a provider of market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting and corporate training services, posted the following news release:
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Conflow Power Group Receives Frost & Sullivan's 2026 Global Company of the Year for Excellence in Smart Urban Infrastructure Leadership
Recognized for visionary innovation and customer impact, Conflow Power Group is redefining urban infrastructure with scalable, revenue-generating smart city solutions.
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Frost & Sullivan is pleased to announce that Conflow Power Group has received the 2026 Global Company
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Aug. 4 -- Frost and Sullivan, a provider of market research and analysis, growth strategy consulting and corporate training services, posted the following news release:
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Conflow Power Group Receives Frost & Sullivan's 2026 Global Company of the Year for Excellence in Smart Urban Infrastructure Leadership
Recognized for visionary innovation and customer impact, Conflow Power Group is redefining urban infrastructure with scalable, revenue-generating smart city solutions.
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Frost & Sullivan is pleased to announce that Conflow Power Group has received the 2026 Global Companyof the Year recognition in the Smart Urban Infrastructure sector for its outstanding achievements in visionary innovation, performance, and customer impact. The recognition highlights Conflow Power Group's differentiated approach to transforming streetlighting into a multifunctional infrastructure asset capable of addressing the increasingly interconnected needs of municipalities, data center operators, and communities.
Frost & Sullivan evaluates companies through a rigorous benchmarking process across two core dimensions: visionary innovation & performance and customer impact. Conflow Power Group excels in both, demonstrating its ability to align innovation with emerging market needs while delivering tangible value to customers and infrastructure stakeholders. "The company ensures robust growth by delivering superior value at a competitive price. Traditional lighting systems are ongoing operational expenses, dependent on grid power and periodic replacement. iLamp reverses this equation by combining solar generation, battery storage, AI-enabled functionality, and modularity into a single long-life asset, catalyzing measurable return on investment," said Anirudh Bhaskaran, Associate Director, Energy & Environment at Frost & Sullivan.
At the center of Conflow Power Group's strategy is its iLamp platform, which redefines what a streetlight can deliver within modern urban and digital infrastructure. One physical unit can serve simultaneously as a security asset to an operator, a compute asset to its customers, and a public infrastructure asset to its host community. By integrating solar power generation, battery storage, AI-enabled analytics, connectivity, and edge computing into a modular platform, iLamp creates a distributed infrastructure layer that can support applications ranging from safety and surveillance to environmental monitoring, smart-city services, and localized computing.
Conflow Power Group is now in detailed discussions with three large-scale data center operators around a proposition built on this convergence. Deployed as a perimeter lattice, autonomous, solar-powered iLamp units can provide AI-enabled detection and classification at the pole while minimizing reliance on continuous video transmission. With up to 275 TOPS of computing capability per pole, the platform can process intelligence at the edge, allowing network bandwidth to carry alerts and metadata rather than continuous video streams from hundreds of cameras. The same infrastructure can function as distributed inference nodes, providing compute capacity without requiring a traditional grid connection, water supply, substation, or interconnect queue position.
Equally important, the infrastructure delivers value beyond the data center perimeter. The platform an operator installs inside the fence is the platform the host municipality wants outside it. By extending the same infrastructure into municipal street networks, Conflow Power Group creates an opportunity to align private infrastructure investment with public-sector priorities.
"One physical unit is a security asset to the operator, a compute asset to its customers, and a public good to its host community. We are not aware of another platform that does all three, and we do not believe one can readily be assembled, because the components sit in three separate industries that do not talk to each other. We are grateful to Frost and Sullivan for spotting this first."
He added: "Security vendors have no compute, and in any case, we are not focused on surveillance, we are after the edge inference compute revenue. Compute vendors have no municipal channel; we have more than sixty at agreement stage. Lighting vendors have neither."
This approach addresses a growing challenge for data center development: securing meaningful municipal consent. As communities increasingly weigh the economic, environmental, and infrastructure implications of new data centers, developers must demonstrate benefits that extend beyond capital investment and construction employment. Through its public-private partnership model, Conflow Power Group envisions municipalities serving as hosts, compute off-takers providing secured revenue, and green financing supporting infrastructure deployment. The model can enable municipalities to access green-powered streetlighting, smart-city capabilities, and revenue participation while helping data center operators establish a stronger community-value proposition by supplying AI inference at the edge.
Conflow Power Group's differentiated strategy demonstrates how infrastructure can be designed to create value across multiple stakeholder groups simultaneously. By bringing security, edge computing, renewable energy, connectivity, and municipal services together within a single modular platform, the company is creating a new pathway for infrastructure deployment that can move computing closer to end users while strengthening the communities in which digital infrastructure is built.
Frost & Sullivan commends Conflow Power Group for setting a high standard in competitive strategy, execution, and market responsiveness. The company's vision, innovation pipeline, and customer-first approach position iLamp as a compelling example of how smart urban infrastructure can evolve from a conventional operating expense into a multifunctional platform capable of generating value for operators, customers, and communities.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents the Company of the Year recognition to a company that demonstrates outstanding strategy development and implementation, resulting in measurable improvements in market share, customer satisfaction, and competitive positioning. The recognition identifies forward-thinking organizations that are reshaping their industries through innovation and growth excellence.
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About Conflow Power Group
Conflow Power Group Limited is a UK-based smart-infrastructure company and the developer of iLamp, an autonomous solar-powered street lighting platform. Each unit generates a minimum of 600 watts of solar power, uses roughly a third of that to run its own onboard systems, and carries an NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin edge-compute module rated at 275 TOPS alongside cameras, sensors, WiFi, routers and controllers. The result is a single asset that lights a street, secures it, and delivers inference compute at the point of demand, warrantied for 20 years.
The company licenses the iLamp platform globally under territorial licence and is currently focused on municipalities and national governments offering Public Private Partnerships where the iLamp network can be offered at no cost to the host by preselling inference compute and launching Green Bonds to finance the installations.
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URL: Conflow Power Group
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Original text here: https://www.frost.com/news/press-releases/conflow-power-group-receives-frost-sullivans-2026-global-company-of-the-year-for-excellence-in-smart-urban-infrastructure-leadership/
[Category: BizConsulting]
ASTM International Presents Forensics Award to Jennifer Remy
WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 -- ASTM International, formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials, which develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for materials, products, systems and services, posted the following news release:
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ASTM International Presents Forensics Award to Jennifer Remy
The award recognizes exceptional and unwavering dedication to the advancement of forensic science
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ASTM International's forensic sciences committee has presented its Peter V. Tytell Forensic Sciences Award to Jennifer Remy.
The award recognizes exceptional
... Show Full Article
WEST CONSHOHOCKEN, Pennsylvania, Aug. 4 -- ASTM International, formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials, which develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for materials, products, systems and services, posted the following news release:
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ASTM International Presents Forensics Award to Jennifer Remy
The award recognizes exceptional and unwavering dedication to the advancement of forensic science
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ASTM International's forensic sciences committee has presented its Peter V. Tytell Forensic Sciences Award to Jennifer Remy.
The award recognizes exceptionaland unwavering dedication to the advancement of forensic science by improving terminology within forensic science standards and in developing standards for trace evidence.
Remy's career concentration in forensic science is trace evidence analysis and quality assurance. She is currently a forensic scientist at North Carolina State Crime Laboratory, a position she has held since 2000.
"I am so honored to have received this recognition," says Remy. "When I began my career, I never imagined that one of my areas of focus would be standards development. I am looking forward to continuing down this pathway and helping to strengthen forensic science through standards."
A member of ASTM International since 2015, Remy has previously been honored by the committee with the Award of Appreciation (2026). In addition to ASTM International, she is a member of the Southern Association of Forensic Scientists, the American Society of Trace Evidence Examiners, and the American Board of Criminalistics, of which she is vice president and board member.
Remy received her bachelor of science degree in chemistry from University of Delaware (1998) and her master of science degree in forensic science from University of Illinois - Chicago (2000).
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Original text here: https://www.astm.org/news/press-releases/jennifer-remy-tytell-award
[Category: Materials Management]
