By Market & Region

Boston – September 24, 2026 -- RS2 Healthcare Partners has completed an investment in KMM Group, a Hatboro, Pennsylvania-based precision contract manufacturer for the medical device industry, marking the Boston private equity firm's first new platform deal since narrowing its focus exclusively to lower middle-market healthcare investing.

RS2 names industry veteran J. Mark King as KMM's new CEO

J. Mark King, who brings more than 30 years of medical device industry experience, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of KMM. King previously served as President and CEO of Tegra Medical, a medical device contract manufacturer and former RS2 portfolio company, and has also acted as an advisor to KMM prior to the deal.

"I am honored and excited to continue building on KMM's momentum," King said, citing a long working history with RS2's principals.

Washington – September 24, 2026 -- More than half of US adults did not attempt to get a flu, COVID-19, RSV, or pneumococcal vaccine in the past year, even though 77% agree vaccines are among the best proven tools against serious infectious disease, according to a new national survey released by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

Survey finds 48% of adults tried to get at least one of four respiratory vaccines in the past year

The survey, conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago among 1,206 US adults age 18 and older between August 13-17, 2026, has a margin of sampling error of ±3.6 percentage points. Just 44% tried to get a flu vaccine and only 23% attempted a COVID-19 vaccine, despite 89% of respondents agreeing that anyone who wants vaccine access should have it and 71% saying benefits strongly outweigh risks.

Fulton County, Ill. – September 24, 2026 -- Lightstar Renewables confirmed continued expansion of its Illinois development portfolio spanning community solar, agrivoltaic solar, and battery energy storage systems (BESS), building on a national pipeline that now exceeds 1,000 MW across 15 states.

Illinois clean energy mandates drive developer demand

Illinois' Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) sets a target of 100% clean energy by 2050, while the Illinois Shines Adjustable Block Program opens its 2026-2027 cycle on June 1, 2026. The state's Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA) permits co-location of projects up to 10 MW on a single parcel or adjacent properties, and 2026 statewide energy storage legislation established new storage targets, reinforcing demand for grid-responsive infrastructure.

West Chester, Ohio – September 24, 2026 -- E Tech Group will present on the compliance and data integrity risks of scaling laboratory automation from pilot to full production at the ISPE Boston Area Chapter 2026 Product Show on October 7 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Session targets the gap between pilot success and regulated production failure

Sura Hadi, Director of Laboratory Automation and Industrial Robotics (LAIR) at E Tech Group, will lead the 3:00 p.m. ET session, "From Pilot to Production: Scaling Lab Automation Without Breaking Compliance, Data Integrity, or Teams," in West Red Level, Suite 81. The talk addresses why automation pilots that succeed in contained workflows frequently break down when expanded into regulated manufacturing environments, where instruments must connect to scheduling systems, Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELN), and other enterprise platforms.

Durham, N.C. – September 24, 2026 -- The International Society of Automation (ISA) has released the Fourth Edition of A Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge, the sole officially authorized text mapping ISA's core competencies for automation professionals.

Nearly 30 experts update the industry's reference text for certification exams

The revised guide was edited and written by close to 30 leading automation specialists and covers process instrumentation, control valves, discrete and batch control, digital twins, cybersecurity, safety systems, and asset management. It is designed to prepare candidates for ISA's Certified Automation Professional (CAP), Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST), and the Professional Engineer Control Systems Engineer (PE CSE) exams.

Las Vegas – September 24, 2026 -- Columbus Vegetable Oils has opened a new packing and distribution facility in North Las Vegas, Nevada, marking a expansion of its West Coast operations as the company marks 90 years in business.

New rail-served plant to ship millions of pounds of edible oils annually

The facility increases production capacity to ship millions of pounds of edible oils annually throughout the West Coast, according to the company. It is equipped with processing technology designed to serve food manufacturers, foodservice operators and retailers.

Facility offers conventional, non-GMO and organic oil lines

The plant will stock a range of conventional, non-GMO and organic oils, including soybean, canola, olive, safflower, avocado and corn. The expansion strengthens the company's ability to serve customers across the West Coast region.

Las Vegas – September 24, 2026 -- Hands-on participation at live brand events correlates with an 85% increase in purchase intent among deeply engaged attendees, according to new research from experiential agency Spiro released today.

Spiro's second EMIR report isolates which design choices drive trust and sales action

The findings come from EMIR: The Deeper Dive, the second wave of Spiro's Experiential Marketing Impact Report (EMIR), based on a survey of 2,000 additional B2B and B2C live-event attendees. The first EMIR report, published in 2025, established a business case linking live experiences to trust, advocacy and purchase intent; this follow-up isolates which specific design decisions produce those results.

Atlanta – September 24, 2026 -- LexisNexis Risk Solutions and IMS have integrated the LexisNexis Drive Metrics scoring model into IMS's EdgeSDK, enabling U.S. auto insurers to cut usage-based insurance (UBI) operational costs by up to 50% to 80% through on-device processing that eliminates cloud storage fees.

On-device computing eliminates cloud costs for insurers

The integration moves driving behavior data processing directly onto consumers' smartphones rather than through cloud infrastructure, addressing a cost barrier that has historically limited UBI program growth. LexisNexis states the approach can generate savings of 50% or more by removing cloud processing and storage fees tied to traditional telematics programs.

St. Cloud, Minn. and Marietta, Ga. – September 24, 2026 -- GeoComm and SCENA have formed a partnership to deliver indoor mapping at scale for organizations managing large, distributed, or complex facility portfolios, combining public safety grade location intelligence with national reality-capture capacity.

SCENA adds national field capacity and multi-technology capture to GeoComm's mapping pipeline

SCENA brings LiDAR scanning, Matterport-based digital twins, 360-degree imagery, point clouds, drone capture, and as-built documentation to the partnership, expanding the range of capture approaches GeoComm can deploy across a project. GeoComm contributes public safety grade location intelligence expertise and GIS data quality standards required to prepare indoor data for mission-critical use.

Austin, Texas – September 24, 2026 -- T3 Sixty and Real Estate News have named nine finalists for the 2026 Edge Pitch Battle, a live proptech competition set for Oct. 28-29 in Dallas as part of Edge: The Tech and Data Forum.

Nine early- to growth-stage firms will compete across the full real estate transaction lifecycle

The finalists include 10xSearch, Agent Buddi, FIJIapp, homhub, Open Houses Direct, Pairgap, Purlin, RealAnalytica and VIZO. Collectively, the companies address discovery, client matching, deal closing and business operations for agents, brokerages, teams, MLSs and associations. Purlin was cited as the most scaled competitor in this year's field, offering an end-to-end platform spanning search to close.

Los Angeles – September 24, 2026 -- A fraud alert from a Lear Capital employee led Antioch, California police to dismantle a multi-state identity theft operation with combined victim losses of nearly $30,000, the Antioch Police Department said.

Employee tip triggers police investigation into suspicious transactions

On July 21, 2026, a Lear Capital employee flagged account activity believed to be fraudulent and alerted the Antioch Police Department. Detective Ryan Duff traced the transactions to victims in multiple states.

Cambridge, Mass. – September 24, 2026 -- Forbes has named Farm Aid Co-Executive Director and Program Director Shorlette Ammons to its 2026 50 Over 50: Impact list, recognizing her role in strengthening family farmers and rural food systems.

Forbes list marks sixth year honoring women over 50

The list, produced in partnership with Mika Brzezinski's Know Your Value initiative, is now in its sixth edition, celebrating women driving impact at age 50 and beyond. Ammons' selection cites her work addressing barriers facing family farmers, particularly Black, Indigenous and other farmers of color, and building farmer-led power within agricultural systems.

Washington – September 24, 2026 -- Four in ten Americans report moderate to severe loneliness, according to the second annual Social Connection in AmericaTM survey, which found that key indicators of social connection weakened for a second consecutive year.

Nearly 70% of Americans see loved ones no more than once or twice a month

The survey, part of a 25-year national tracking initiative led by RAND and The Connection Institute with founding funder the Barnes Family Foundation, found that one in five Americans meet with people they care about only a few times a year or less. Time constraints are the top barrier to connection, cited by 30.6% of respondents, followed by distance (14.8%), effort (13.3%) and social anxiety (11.1%).

Shanghai – September 24, 2026 -- Sanyou Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. and NovoCodex Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to jointly develop next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), combining Sanyou Bio's AI-driven antibody discovery platforms with NovoCodex's clinically validated site-specific conjugation technology.

NovoCodex brings a clinically validated conjugation platform to the partnership

NovoCodex's proprietary NovoCodeTM platform incorporates unnatural amino acids into antibodies to achieve defined, controllable conjugation sites, producing homogeneous ADC products rather than the heterogeneous mixtures typical of traditional random conjugation. The technology has been validated in the pivotal Phase III trial of ARX788 and supported ARX305 in showing a favorable safety window and durable antitumor activity in advanced renal cancer patients with high CD70 expression.

Arlington – September 24, 2026 -- Communities In Schools (CIS) has appointed 10 alumni to its National Alumni Advisory Council, a body tasked with shaping engagement strategy across the organization's national network.

Ten alumni from CIS affiliates nationwide join the new council

The cohort draws from CIS chapters including Atlanta, Tacoma, Georgia, Los Angeles, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Eastern Pennsylvania, Nevada, South Carolina, East Texas and Nation's Capital. Members are Ariana Ellis, Leanna Esquivel, J'Niyah Freeman, Bryan Harris, Amanye Jinwright, James Leap, Kaylee Main-Gomez, Miracle Mozzee, James Rivera and Kuniya Young. The group will advise on alumni programs, network connectivity and leadership pathways.

San Diego – September 24, 2026 -- SOCi Inc. secured three separate industry recognitions in the third quarter of 2026, ranking #1 in Marketing Products & Services on Entrepreneur's 9th Annual Top Franchise Suppliers list, landing on the Inc. 5000 for a ninth consecutive year, and reaching finalist status in five categories at The 2026 A.I. Awards.

Franchisors rate SOCi highest in its category for a second straight year

Entrepreneur's ranking draws from an annual survey of franchisors that generated more than 1,000 responses this year, scoring over 180 suppliers across 13 categories on quality, cost, and value. More than 75 franchise brands reported using SOCi, giving it an average rating of 4.57 out of 5 and the top spot in Marketing Products & Services -- SOCi's second consecutive year at #1 and seventh straight year in the top three. The list appears in Entrepreneur's September/October 2026 double issue.

Boca Raton – – September 24, 2026 -- PropAccount.com, the prop firm technology provider powered by FPFX Tech, has launched Marketing Hub, a new module inside its PropGenie suite that automates campaign creative, copywriting, and social deployment for prop firm operators. The tool eliminates the need for in-house design or content teams during the critical launch window, according to the company.

Marketing Hub extends PropGenie's automation from branding to ongoing campaign execution

The module joins PropGenie's existing Branding Studio, Web Builder, and Dashboard Builder tools. It generates branded graphics and ad creative, writes campaign and channel copy, and connects directly to an operator's website and trader dashboard so offers surface as on-site pop-ups and calls to action. A built-in social calendar allows operators to plan, create, and schedule posts across every channel from a single interface.

Horsham, Pa. – September 24, 2026 -- C&D Technologies is introducing the Broadband MAX Pure Lead AGM and Gel battery series and previewing the TEL-HT MAX, a UPS battery engineered to cut total cost of ownership by up to 20% for telecom operators. The company will showcase both products at SCTE TechExpo26, running September 29 through October 1, 2026, in Atlanta, at booth G1332.

Broadband MAX targets lifecycle costs for Outside Plant operators

The Broadband MAX VRLA battery series is built to extend service life and reduce the frequency of battery replacements in Outside Plant applications, directly lowering lifecycle costs for broadband network operators managing distributed infrastructure.

New York – September 24, 2026 -- Climate Adaptive Infrastructure (CAI) has agreed to invest up to $268 million at the parent-company level into SMT Energy, a developer, owner and operator of battery energy storage systems, on top of $32 million CAI had already deployed into SMT assets.

CAI structures a parent-level equity partnership to fund SMT's U.S. storage buildout

The capital commitment, combined with tax equity and project-level debt, will finance the development, construction and operation of SMT Energy's battery storage portfolio across the United States. The platform spans distributed-generation and utility-scale battery storage as well as powered land projects aimed at reinforcing grid reliability.

San Ramon, Calif. – September 24, 2026 -- Accela and KCI Technologies announced an expanded strategic partnership to help state and local government agencies modernize permitting, licensing, inspections, and enterprise asset management through a connected cloud platform.

KCI ranks #50 on ENR's 2026 Top 500 Design Firms list and brings 20 years of Esri partnership expertise to the deal.

The partnership combines Accela's Civic Platform and Novotx Elements XS with KCI's government operations, GIS, and asset management capabilities. KCI is a 100% employee-owned engineering and technology services firm with a dedicated Land Management practice spanning nearly a decade and an asset management team certified by the Institute of Asset Management.