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San Francisco – – September 29, 2026 -- U.S. restaurant and foodservice sales are projected to hit a record $1.55 trillion this year, a 4.8% increase from 2025, according to the National Restaurant Association, as OpenTable releases its first U.S. Restaurant Impact Report quantifying the sector's economic ripple effects. Dining at OpenTable restaurants rose 11% year-over-year, with average per-person spend up 3% to $60, based on OpenTable data covering July 2025 through June 2026.

Restaurant meals trigger $138 in additional nearby spending

60% of diners spend money at neighboring businesses before or after a meal, averaging $138 per visit, per a Ripple Research survey of 1,501 U.S. consumers conducted July 28–August 4, 2026. That figure climbs to $171 for Gen Z diners and $158 for Millennials, pointing to generational differences in local economic contribution.

Santa Clara, Calif. – – September 29, 2026 -- Forward Networks has made Forward Predict generally available, a network-change verification tool that customer IG Group says cut firewall change delivery time by roughly 95 percent and saves engineers more than 30 hours of manual work monthly.

Forward Predict verifies network changes before deployment using a mathematically accurate digital twin

The tool, built on Forward Enterprise's digital twin, models BGP, routing, path, ACL, NAT and firewall-rule changes to show connectivity, security and compliance impact before they reach production. Forward positions the capability as the verification layer required for AI agents to propose network changes safely at machine speed.

Marina del Rey, Calif. – September 29, 2026 -- CommanderAI has launched a mobile app for iOS and Android that extends its AI-powered sales and CRM platform to field representatives in the waste, recycling, and scrap industries, letting reps prospect and close accounts directly from trucks and job sites.

Reps convert roadside sightings into leads with photo-to-lead capture

The app allows a field sales representative to photograph a sign, a truck, or a job site and automatically generate a new prospect record, populated with company and decision-maker data. Outreach can begin on the spot, closing a gap that previously forced reps to log opportunities in notebooks until they returned to a desk.

Dallas – – September 29, 2026 -- Topgolf is replacing its legacy event menu with four new chef-driven buffet concepts and increasing buffet frequency to one station per 30 guests, up from one per 50, in its first major events-program update in recent years.

Four new buffet concepts replace fixed-price legacy menu

The new lineup includes Modern Mediterranean (build-your-own salad and bowl bar with chicken shawarma and grilled steak), Cantina Kitchen (a southwest taco and nacho bar with chicken tinga and fajita beef), Taste of Topgolf (sliders and Roman-crust pizza with vegetarian options) and Chef's Table, a premium entrée menu featuring beef tenderloin and herb salmon for executive events. Planners can add à la carte proteins, sliders, sides and whole pizzas, including gluten-friendly, vegan and vegetarian options.

Indianapolis – September 29, 2026 -- Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) has signed Danish driver Christian Lundgaard to a multi-year contract to pilot the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda starting in 2027, adding a three-time INDYCAR winner to the winningest team in series history.

Lundgaard brings a career-best third-place championship finish to CGR's 2027 lineup

At 25 years old, Lundgaard has 16 podiums and 21 top-five finishes across 87 career INDYCAR starts. In 2026 he won at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and Road America while securing his career-best third-place finish in the championship standings and his first oval podium. He joins teammates Alex Palou and Kyffin Simpson at CGR next season.

Albany, N.Y. – September 29, 2026 -- Foss & Company has closed four historic rehabilitation investments in Buffalo, Albany, Fredonia and Kingston, New York, creating or preserving 156 affordable housing units by pairing state and federal Historic Tax Credits with New York State Homes and Community Renewal's (HCR) Small Building Participation Loan Program (PLP).

Four New York buildings convert to 156 affordable units via blended financing

The Eckhardt Building, a 1940s former department store in Buffalo's Broadway-Fillmore Historic District, is now complete with 28 apartments restricted to an average of 65% Area Median Income (AMI) and roughly 22,000 square feet of commercial space leased to a nonprofit child day care provider.

Dallas – September 29, 2026 -- The global rare earth magnets market is projected to grow from roughly $21.98 billion in 2025 to $30.01 billion by 2030, a 6.4% compound annual growth rate, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com, with electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics and consumer electronics driving demand. Persistence Market Research puts the 2026 market at $15.8 billion, rising to $30.4 billion by 2033 at a 9.8% CAGR, and identifies North America as the fastest-growing region at 11.3% annually. Texas is emerging as the geographic center of that domestic build-out.

Campbell, Calif. – September 29, 2026 -- Vivalink, a digital healthcare solutions provider, published survey data showing 79% of more than 150 U.S. adults with cardiac conditions would participate in a home-based cardiac rehabilitation program if recommended by a provider.

Patients favor hybrid or home-based rehab over clinic visits

When given a choice, 68% of respondents said they would prefer a primarily home-based or hybrid rehabilitation approach over traditional in-clinic programs.

Insurance coverage ranks as the top barrier to participation

Fifty-eight percent of respondents ranked insurance coverage as their top consideration for participating in home-based care. Sixty percent said they would not pay out of pocket for such a program, while 87% said confirmed insurance coverage would increase their likelihood of participating.

Birmingham, Ala. – September 29, 2026 -- The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA) has promoted Gregg Horn to Senior Vice President of Research and Josh Blount to Vice President of Technical Resources, elevating two veteran staffers to lead the trade group's core technical operations.

Horn takes charge of research after 40 years with the association

Horn joined DIPRA in 1986 as a Regional Engineer, became Director of Regional Engineers in 1990, and served as Vice President of Technical Resources since 2013. In his new role, he will lead DIPRA's technical research efforts, Standards activities and comparative studies of substitute materials, while facilitating the Technical Committee, Environmental Subcommittee and other groups addressing research on Ductile iron pipe. He is a Life Member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and has served on committees within AWWA, ASCE, ASTM and ISO.

West Des Moines, Iowa – September 29, 2026 -- Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, will expand its West Des Moines manufacturing facility by 14,000 square feet in a multi-million-dollar investment to meet rising commercial and military aviation demand.

Facility ships more than 25,000 engine nozzles monthly

The site produces advanced fuel distribution systems, including original equipment components and spare parts, and operates as an FAA-certified Part 145 repair station for engine nozzle systems and powerplant accessories.

Expansion targets delivery performance and job growth

James Bagg, vice president and general manager of Engine Control Systems at Collins Aerospace, said the investment strengthens fuel-distribution technology for commercial and military aviation and will add jobs to meet customer demand.

New York – September 29, 2026 -- 120/80 Health Group has logged its eighth consecutive year of record growth, fueled by new client wins and deepening relationships across healthcare and life sciences.

Top-10 biopharma and diagnostic firms sign on for AI-driven work

The firm added multiple category-leading clients in 2026 and began working with several top-10 global biopharmaceutical and diagnostic companies applying AI to drug, test and device development. The agency has shifted from brand-awareness communications for early-stage digital health startups to a strategic consultancy serving businesses from pre-Series A through publicly traded companies.

Dallas – – September 29, 2026 -- TrendAI, the enterprise AI security unit of Trend Micro (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), has entered private preview with TrendAI Vision One Autonomous Vulnerability Discovery, a service that pairs an agentic AI engine with validation from the Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), described as the world's largest vendor-agnostic bug bounty program.

Engine outperforms rivals on CyberGym leaderboard

The service runs on an agentic system code-named AESIR, built primarily on Anthropic models, and deployed and operated on Amazon Bedrock from Amazon Web Services. When tested against the CyberGym benchmarking framework, the engine scored higher than both single-model and other agentic systems on the leaderboard. TrendAI states internal benchmarking shows its models identify more true-positive vulnerabilities with fewer false positives than leading vulnerability scanning and static analysis tools.

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – – September 29, 2026 -- IGEL has signed a strategic distribution agreement with Adistec to bring its Adaptive Secure Endpoint Platform into Latin America, the companies announced at Omnissa ONE 2026. The deal marks IGEL's formal market entry into the region and adds Adistec as a new regional distribution partner tasked with technical enablement, training, and go-to-market support for resellers, system integrators, and technology service providers.

New York – – September 29, 2026 -- DailyPay has introduced a deductions method for its On-Demand Pay service, making it the only large-scale provider offering both full-funding and deductions options to employers.

Deductions method lets employers recoup pay transfers through standard payroll withholding

Under the new deductions option, On-Demand Pay transfers are recovered from an employee's paycheck via a standard payroll deduction rather than full upfront funding by the employer. DailyPay says the model integrates with existing Human Capital Management, payroll and time management systems without disrupting current setups.

Cleveland – September 29, 2026 -- Kurv, a Cleveland-based payments platform, has renewed its partnership with the Cleveland Browns for the 2026 NFL season, extending a multi-year marketing and community relationship between the two organizations.

Kurv secures branded visibility across weekly Browns media sessions

Under the renewal, Kurv will sponsor the backdrop used during the Browns' weekly player and coach interviews, with Kurv-branded imagery appearing Wednesday through Friday at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus throughout the regular season.

Reston, Va. – – September 29, 2026 -- Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) unveiled UpHold EffectTM Agentic SOC Automation, a new capability using AI agents to triage cybersecurity alerts around the clock for federal security operations center teams, addressing a surge in alert volume driven by automated adversary attacks.

AI agents investigate threats while analysts retain final control over actions

The system works continuously to triage incoming alerts, gather contextual data and assemble findings for human analyst review. Customers determine the scope of AI authority, deciding whether the technology can only recommend actions or is permitted to execute them directly, based on mission requirements and risk tolerance.

Every AI decision generates an auditable record documenting what the system observed, concluded and proposed or executed, according to Leidos.

Chattanooga, Tenn. – September 29, 2026 -- Fenix24 has deployed its Argos99 recoverability intelligence platform across more than 200 enterprise environments, now monitoring over 2.5 million assets and servers worldwide, the company announced.

Argos99 platform expands to 200-plus client environments worldwide

The SaaS platform, built from lessons across more than 500 real ransomware recoveries, maps every asset, dependency, backup, identity, and policy state governing an organization's recovery capability. Unlike earlier tools that focused on asset visibility alone, Argos99 reads policies alongside live data to flag drift from required configurations. Gartner named Fenix24 a Cool Vendor in its September 2026 Coolest Vendor Innovations in Cyber Resilience report, specifically citing the Argos99 platform.

Scottsdale, Ariz. – September 29, 2026 -- The American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) will open applications October 1 for its ninth round of massage school grants funded by Massage Envy, offering ten $10,000 awards totaling $100,000. The fall cycle brings Massage Envy's cumulative funding of the program to $550,000.

Massage Envy doubles annual grant capacity in 2026

The program now distributes 10 grants per cycle in both spring and fall, up from five per cycle in prior years, effectively doubling annual grant availability for accredited massage schools.

Accredited schools can apply through October 31

Eligible massage schools must submit an online application via AMTA detailing how grant funds would support school programs and students. The application window runs October 1–31, 2026.

Boston – September 29, 2026 -- Gryphon has released Gryphon ONE on the Genesys Cloud AppFoundry, a real-time compliance layer that lets enterprises recover 35%-45% of their contactable customer universe by preventing over-suppression in outbound dialing campaigns.

Gryphon ONE screens calls against TCPA, TSR and Do Not Call rules before dialing occurs

The integration evaluates automated outbound dialing against the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, Do Not Call registries and state-specific standards in real time. Enterprises using highly regulated data sets can now operationalize governance, risk and compliance directly within Genesys Cloud outbound workflows, removing manual handoffs between compliance teams and campaign launch.

Brooklyn, N.Y. and Spokane, Wash. – September 29, 2026 -- HEVO Inc. and Flying Pig GSE LLC have entered a strategic collaboration to bring automated wireless charging technology to electric and autonomous Ground Support Equipment (GSE) at airports.

HEVO contributes patented Rezonant wireless charging hardware to the partnership

HEVO, a New York-based Tier 1 supplier, will combine its Rezonant wireless charging hardware, power electronics, controls and Journey software platform with Flying Pig GSE's four decades of aviation operating experience and airport customer relationships. The goal is to identify applications where automated charging improves fleet utilization and supports increasingly automated airport environments.