By Market & Region

San Diego – – September 18, 2026 -- Obsidian Sensors has secured a contract under the DUTCH project to deliver high-resolution thermal cameras at attritable price points for the Drone Dominance program, using a manufacturing process the company says will eventually cut costs by an order of magnitude versus incumbent suppliers.

Obsidian fabricates MEMS sensors on glass panels 20 times larger than standard silicon wafers

The company's proprietary Large Area MEMS Platform (LAMP) departs from the thermal imaging industry's traditional reliance on 8-inch silicon wafers. Instead, Obsidian builds its MEMS thermal sensor structures on large glass substrates inside a standard flat-panel display factory, borrowing the scale and cost structure of the display manufacturing sector rather than the semiconductor industry.

Anaheim, Calif. – September 18, 2026 -- Nellson Nutraceutical LLC has appointed Raj Krishnamachari as Vice President, Quality & Regulatory, effective September 14, 2026, placing a returning executive in charge of quality and compliance across the company's North American manufacturing network.

Krishnamachari rejoins Nellson after prior tenure as Senior Director of Quality

Krishnamachari previously served as Senior Director of Quality at Nellson, where he worked on strengthening quality systems, advancing food safety programs, and supporting regulatory inspections. He succeeds Marty Hudak-Roos, who is retiring after leading the company's quality and regulatory function.

Manassas, Va. and Wichita, Kan. – September 18, 2026 -- Electra and The Atlas Group have signed an airframe manufacturing agreement for the EL9 Ultra Short aircraft, with Atlas set to build and assemble airframes for Electra's flight test and certification program starting this month.

Atlas begins airframe production this month with first deliveries targeted for 2027

Work commences at Atlas facilities immediately, feeding Electra's certification campaign for the nine-passenger hybrid-electric EL9, which is designed to take off and land in as little as 150 feet. The two companies will jointly mature production architecture and reduce manufacturing risk ahead of scaled output.

"Realizing this vision requires more than a breakthrough aircraft; it requires the ability to build and deliver it with the consistency and scale of an advanced production system," said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra.

Shenzhen – – September 18, 2026 -- InkSonic launched the Spark F13, a 13-inch direct-to-film printer aimed at small apparel businesses and independent creators, the company announced. The device becomes available starting September 15, 2026 through InkSonic's website, with a waitlist open for early access and launch offers.

Automated maintenance targets printhead downtime for small shops

The Spark F13 includes an automated maintenance routine designed to keep the printhead clean with minimal manual intervention, which InkSonic says significantly reduces downtime. An intelligent ink-level monitoring system alerts operators before supplies run out, addressing a common production delay for small-batch printers.

San Diego – September 18, 2026 -- Wildfire Systems has tripled quarterly booking volume on its Wildfire Commerce Network (WCN), with 235 unique advertisers now recording returns on ad spend of up to 72x.

Advertiser growth accelerates as brands chase measurable, closed-loop results

The San Diego-based loyalty and consumer insights platform said the surge is driven by advertisers in banking, fintech and travel who are increasingly targeting WCN's high-intent shopper audiences across client networks including KashKick, Shop Your Way and Travel Arrow. Top advertisers are rebooking five to seven times per year, while a growing pool of new brands is launching campaigns on the network. In the second quarter of 2026, 54% of WCN bookings came from net-new advertisers, according to Wildfire.

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Athleta, the Gap Inc. (NYSE: GAP) performance apparel brand, has signed a multiyear agreement to become the Official Off-Court Apparel Partner of the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA franchise that sold out all 22 regular-season home games at Chase Center in its 2025 debut season.

Athleta launches limited Off-Court Edit collection modeled by Valkyries guard Veronica Burton

The retailer is releasing a curated performance-lifestyle apparel line on Athleta.com timed to the partnership launch, fronted by Valkyries guard Veronica Burton. The collection targets the crossover audience between athletic performance wear and everyday style consumption.

Ottawa, ON -- Claigan Environmental will run two identical webinars on September 23, 2026, to help manufacturers budget for restricted materials compliance requirements taking effect in 2027.

Two sessions scheduled same day due to expected demand

Claigan will hold back-to-back one-hour sessions at 10am and 2pm on September 23, each including a question-and-answer segment. The company cited anticipated demand as the reason for scheduling duplicate webinars rather than a single event.

New York – September 18, 2026 -- ARM & HAMMER Laundry will donate $100,000 to Dress for Success Worldwide as it returns for a second consecutive year as President's Circle Sponsor of the nonprofit's Women Who Inspire Luncheon, marking the sixth consecutive year of partnership between the two organizations.

Luncheon set for September 30 will honor Gloria Steinem with first-ever Impact Award

The event takes place September 30, 2026, at Tribeca 360 in New York City, gathering corporate executives, media personalities and women from the Dress for Success network. Gloria Steinem will receive the inaugural Women Who Inspire Impact Award, recognizing her decades-long advocacy for women's equality and economic opportunity.

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- Medallion has acquired Andros, an NCQA-certified credentials verification organization, in a deal that consolidates over a million healthcare providers across nearly 400 organizations and health plans onto a single AI-driven credentialing platform.

Deal creates largest AI-native credentialing platform in the U.S.

The acquisition combines Medallion's automated credentialing and enrollment technology with Andros's 13-year track record serving health plans, health systems, provider groups, and telehealth companies since 2013. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Bailey & Company served as exclusive financial advisor to Andros.

Dallas – September 18, 2026 -- A new Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index scored the U.S. healthcare workforce at just 38%, with none of its five underlying dimensions exceeding 50%, according to AMN Healthcare's 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey released today.

Survey of 4,040 professionals exposes a 19-point gap between engagement and future readiness

The index, drawn from responses collected between Feb. 24 and March 31, 2026, measures employee engagement, organizational health, leadership and support, staffing confidence, and future readiness. Employee engagement scored highest at 48%, while future readiness scored lowest at 29%, a 19-point spread that AMN Healthcare says shows workers remain moderately engaged today but doubt the workforce's capacity to meet future demand.

Atlanta – September 18, 2026 -- USG Water Solutions has appointed Christina Coen as Chief Executive Officer, effective September 1, 2026, succeeding John Flaugher, who moves into a strategic advisory role.

Coen brings chemicals and agtech leadership to water infrastructure

Coen joins from UPL Corp, where she served as Chief Transformation Officer, R&D and Sustainability Lead, and previously as Chief Marketing Officer overseeing global P&L for a multi-billion-dollar portfolio. Her prior roles span senior leadership positions at Nalco Water (an Ecolab Company), FMC Corporation, and Dow Chemical, covering R&D, transformation, marketing, and commercial leadership in agricultural and specialty chemicals.

Longmont, Colo. – September 18, 2026 -- Stored Energy Systems (SENS) says its PowerCab2 platform can save data center operators an estimated $20 million to $80 million on a typical 1 gigawatt campus by eliminating dedicated battery rooms and consolidating hundreds of discrete DC power components into a single factory-tested system.

PowerCab2 removes over 300 square feet of battery-room space per structure

The integrated platform typically eliminates more than 300 square feet of dedicated battery-room space from a power distribution center (PDC) or E-house. At an estimated installed cost of $850 per square foot, SENS calculates capital savings of roughly $255,000 per structure.

Boston – September 18, 2026 -- Electrified Thermal Solutions has signed an agreement with Holcim to deploy its Joule HiveTM Thermal Battery (JHTB) as part of the cement producer's electrification roadmap, marking a rare entry of electric heat into a process that has relied almost exclusively on combustion.

Two JHTB units will supply heat up to 1,800°C to a high-temperature cement process

The initial deployment consists of two Joule Hive units storing clean electricity in electrically and thermally conductive bricks, discharging heat on demand at temperatures up to 1,800°C (3,275°F). That range has been largely inaccessible to conventional electric heating technologies, forcing cement, steel and chemicals producers to depend on fossil combustion for their hottest processes.

Brooklyn, N.Y. – September 18, 2026 -- it's electric has been selected by the City of New York and the New York Power Authority to build a permanent curbside electric vehicle charging network spanning all five boroughs, replacing the city's pilot infrastructure with 700 chargers over the next three years.

City expands charging points eightfold from current pilot network

The NYC Department of Transportation's PlugNYC program will grow from 88 Level 2 charging points to 700 under the contract, procured through the Department of Citywide Administrative Services in partnership with the New York Power Authority.

Horsham, Pa. – September 18, 2026 -- Augmentir has launched two conversational AI interfaces, Augie Command Center and Augie Procedure Studio, that let manufacturing staff build workflows, procedures, and AI agents by describing them in plain language rather than navigating software menus. The company unveiled the tools at IMTS 2026, positioning them as a replacement for traditional software navigation on factory floors.

Command Center Lets Frontline Leaders Deploy AI Agents Through Conversation

Augie Command Center allows users to analyze live operational data, build dashboards, schedule work, and create Industrial AI Agents without report builders, SQL, or coding. The system generates charts, insights, and recommended actions conversationally, then chains workflows, procedures, training, and integrations into a single deployed response rather than requiring separate tools for each step.

Stockholm and London – September 18, 2026 -- DanAds, a self-service advertising technology provider, and Nodals AI, an autonomous AI platform for publishers, have entered a strategic partnership that combines predictive-outcome modeling with self-service ad buying, letting publishers sell performance-based campaigns without sacrificing yield.

Nodals AI's models predict clicks, conversions and video completions from publisher data

Nodals AI trains on a publisher's own first-party data to forecast advertiser outcomes such as clicks, conversions or video completes. That capability lets publishers offer CPC- or CPA-style outcome campaigns directly inside their existing ad stacks, matching advertiser demand for performance-based buying.

San Francisco – September 18, 2026 -- GrubMarket has launched a new USDA Pricing AI Analyst, giving produce distributors and wholesalers conversational access to U.S. Department of Agriculture market pricing data for fruits and vegetables.

New tool joins GrubAssist AI platform alongside three existing analysts

The USDA Pricing AI Analyst is the latest addition to GrubMarket's GrubAssist AI lineup, which already includes the Business Analyst, Inventory Analyst, and Cash Flow Analyst. It draws on data from the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, covering fruits and vegetables sold across the United States, and combines that with a distributor's own sales and purchasing records when connected to their ERP system.

Waltham, Mass. – September 18, 2026 -- Sales messages that tell B2B technology buyers they control a positive outcome hold attention 31% longer and produce 31% better recall than fear-based pitches, according to new neuroscience research from Allego, Inc. that challenges a nearly 50-year-old sales doctrine.

The study, conducted with cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Carmen Simon of Enhancive, tests the real-world application of Prospect Theory, the 1979 model by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky holding that fear of loss motivates buyers more than potential gain. Kahneman won the 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics partly for that work.

Las Vegas – September 18, 2026 -- UrVenue will open its new Las Vegas Strip headquarters on Sept. 30 to demonstrate technology aimed at driving non-gaming revenue for resort and casino operators, coinciding with an industry event expected to draw 25,000 gaming and hospitality executives to the city.

UrVenue hosts an Open House at its new Grand Canal Shoppes office from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event takes place at The Venetian Resort's Palazzo side, Level 2M, above the Waterfall Atrium. Attendees can book personally guided, 30-minute sessions in advance, with additional visits available outside Open House hours by contacting UrVenue directly.

Southlake, Texas – September 18, 2026 -- Travel companies are accelerating rather than retreating from AI investment despite persistent economic and geopolitical uncertainty, according to new research from Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR). Just 17% of executives surveyed are curbing modernization spend, while 27% are accelerating AI investment and 41% are protecting their existing technology roadmaps.

Sabre's Compass report blends survey data with Cantor Fitzgerald macro analysis

The findings come from "Compass: Navigating the Fog," a Sabre report combining independent macroeconomic analysis from Cantor Fitzgerald with a proprietary survey of more than 140 airline, agency and hotel executives conducted in June 2026. Sabre characterizes the industry posture as "protection mode": long-term AI roadmaps remain intact while near-term spending shifts toward initiatives with faster returns.