LexisNexis Launches Lexis+ Canada – Redefining Legal Intelligence

 

Advanced technologies and a modern intuitive design deliver unparalleled data-driven legal insights, while enhancing the user experience

TORONTO, August 15, 2022 – LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a leading global provider of legal information and analytics, today announced the official launch of our latest innovative product, Lexis+ Canada.

Lexis+ Canada is the most complete collection of legal information including legal research, practical guidance, analytical tools, brief analysis, and bill tracking capabilities – all packaged in a modern user experience to deliver greater efficiency and better outcomes.

This next generation product provides access to the comprehensive collection of LexisNexis primary law information, including the most complete collection of courts and administrative decisions, Quantums, Case Digests, Case Citators and current awareness sources.

Additionally, Lexis+ Canada gives access to Halsbury’s Laws of Canada, the only up-to-date national legal encyclopedia. Lexis+ Canada also includes LexisNexis Online Research Service, with over 490 full-text textbooks and looseleaf publications in more than 30 different areas of law – unmatched in the Canadian market.

An improved user experience is also evident as the simplified design will set a new standard in ease of use. Striking imagery, bold colors and typography improve readability, reduce visual “clutter”, and emphasize essential information and tasks.

Lexis+ Canada also delivers enhanced functionality. The new “Experience Dock” creates an integrated starting point for core legal tasks and enables seamless switching between product experiences and workflows. New and intuitive features, such as Brief Analysis and Boolean Search Tree make it easy for practitioners to access the information and insights they need, control their search experience, and provide better counsel.

Overall, Lexis+ Canada was built around the user experience, creating a workflow-centered solution. By seamlessly integrating multiple tools in one interface, Lexis+ Canada allows our customers to work with more focus, while removing the obstacles of switching between multiple platforms.

“The introduction of Lexis+ Canada represents a significant milestone in our strategy to deliver legal solutions that improve lawyers’ productivity, workflow, and their ability to deliver timely and strategic counsel,” said Eric J. Wright, CEO, LexisNexis Canada.

Based on extensive customer feedback, Lexis+ Canada addresses the specific needs of legal professionals in all segments, industries, and areas of practice with key features including:

  • Brief Analysis: Extracts citations and legal concepts, recommends other relevant cases, identifies relevant passages, and takes users directly to the document where they are found — all within a unique, dashboard.
  • Practical Guidance: Fully integrated practical guidance including practice notes, precedents, checklists, drafting tools and industry insights from leading practitioners easily accessible in experience dock and within legal research results.
  • Lexis Answers: Responds to natural language search queries with the best, most relevant answer.
  • Legislative Pulse: Integrated bill tracking experience that provides users with one convenient location to obtain information on the progress of bills in the federal and provincial legislatures.
  • Enhanced search capabilitiesthat give practitioners more control over their research experience, including:
  • Boolean Search Tree: Graphically depicts Boolean searches and highlights the impact of each keyword on search results, enabling users to refine searches for the best results.
  • Search Term Maps: Visually depicts clusters of search terms within search results and documents across major content types for fast, easy navigation, trend identification and direct access to relevant information.

“Lexis+ Canada is the result of extensive customer feedback and workflow analysis” said Jeff Pfeifer, Chief Product Officer, LexisNexis North America, UK and Ireland. “Users told us they wanted a solution that improves the quality of their research, speeds the delivery of insights and is easy to use.  Lexis+ Canada leverages cutting-edge technology, modern design elements and advanced data visualization to improve research outcomes for lawyers in Canada.”

“We are proud to launch a world class product that allows lawyers to answer legal questions, apply legal strategy, and accomplish legal tasks, all in one dynamic new place that sets a precedent in simplicity.” said Alan Votary, Head of Product Canada. “This innovative solution will deliver increased efficiency and confidence for our customers, as it addresses the unique needs of their business.”

Lexis+ Canada is the latest global offering in the Lexis+ family, complimenting earlier Lexis+ releases in the U.S. and the U.K.  LexisNexis continues to expand Lexis+ with additional country releases planned in the coming months.

For more information, visit Lexis+ Canada.  

Notes for editors

  • To request a product demonstration, please reach out to our media contact below.
  • Jeff Pfeifer and Alan Votary are available for interview.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis®> and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 10,500 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

Contact Information

Name: Collin Smith
Email: collin.smith@lexisnexis.ca
Job Title: Director, Marketing
LexisNexis Canada
1-905-695-5312

XpertHR® Survey Finds U.S. Employers Have Increased HR Spending by 257%

Companies are responding to the tight job market with employee engagement, recruitment and training

New York City (August 10, 2022) – Companies are more than doubling down on Human Resources strategies, according to the XpertHR 2022 Survey on HR Staffing and Resources. The survey revealed this year’s median HR budget as a percentage of the organization’s operating budget has increased 257%, from 2.1% in 2020 to 7.5% in 2022.

In addition to increasing HR budgets, companies are investing more in per-employee HR expenditures, and supervisory and technical staff:

  • The median budgeted HR expenditure per employee is $2,000, up 64% from $1,218 in 2020.
  • The median ratio of HR staff to employee headcount is 2.1 HR staff for every 100 workers, up from 1.5 in 2020.
  • Four out of 10 survey respondents say they intend to increase resources in the next 12 months for employee engagement (44%), recruitment (43%) and training (40%).
  • Another one-third intend to invest in DEI efforts (33%), onboarding (32%) and hiring (32%) over the next year.

 

Image caption: Four out of 10 survey respondents say they intend to increase resources in the next 12 months for employee engagement (44%), recruitment (43%), and training (40%). One-third intend to invest in DEI efforts (33%), onboarding (32%), and hiring (32%).

“This XpertHR survey indicates that HR leaders are focused on people-centric solutions that embrace changing employee needs and amplify productivity in our ‘work-from-anywhere’ environment,” explained Laci Loew, senior global HR analyst, HR strategy and insights at XpertHR. “Leading organizations are not afraid to make new investments—in HR technology, social and professional development, physical and emotional wellbeing efforts, and DEI opportunities—that provide meaningful work for their employees.”

Image Caption: Survey respondents were asked to provide data on per-employee HR expenses, revealing a 64% increase from an expense of $1,218 in 2020 to $2,000 in 2022. The total per-employee HR investment revealed an expansive range of between $750 to $3,810 per worker.

When explaining the upward trajectory in HR budgets, Loew cited the unusually tight job market and the increased demands that come with employee recruitment and retention, as well as long-term COVID compliance—challenges that have underscored for many companies the importance of a comprehensive HR strategy. She also noted that HR budgets largely shrank or remained the same in 2021 when compared to 2020, as companies grappled with ongoing pandemic-related operating uncertainties and the Great Resignation took shape.

“These benchmarks do not intend to dictate boundaries for HR budgets, but instead spotlight key and emerging trends to inform business decisions and help companies stay competitive,” Loew said.

The XpertHR survey also evaluated the types of roles that are powering HR functions in U.S. companies. The results indicate that almost half of HR staff (47%) are in managerial or supervisory roles, and another 40% work in professional or technical positions.

The XpertHR 2022 HR Staffing and Resources Survey was conducted from May 17 to June 15, 2022, using a self-administered online survey. The survey sample includes 221 U.S. employers. The total estimated number of employees of the responding organizations is 228,786. The survey examined information including HR staff composition, professional certification requirements, the ratio of HR staff to the overall workforce, HR budget, and more.

 

About XpertHR®

Global leader XpertHR empowers organizations to shape HR strategy, manage employee risk and embrace diverse talent ecosystems to create equitable, high-performing and purposeful workplaces. Since 2002, the data analytics and intelligent solutions provider has earned a reputation for providing expert insights, trusted resources and practical tools to help customers achieve greater efficiency, improve compliance and increase employee engagement. XpertHR is proud to be part of the LexisNexis® portfolio within RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. To learn more visit xperthr.com.

 

Contact Information

Name: Lauren Doyle
Email:ldoyle@wordsworthweb.com
Job Title: Communication Specialist
937.241.8378

LexisNexis Launches New Voting Law Resource to Provide a Transparent Overview of the U.S. Election Landscape

Developed with the LexisNexis® Rule of Law Foundation, this free, first-of-its-kind analytics tool enables public search, analysis and visualization of all U.S. state election laws, bills and rulings

 

NEW YORK – LexisNexis® Legal & Professional and the LexisNexis® Rule of Law Foundation today announced the launch of the LexisNexis® U.S. Voting Laws & Legislation Center. The initial release of the tool provides free, public access to a curated and expanding collection of U.S. federal and state election and voting laws, including proposed legislation, codes, voting related information, and graphics.

Leveraging legislative data from State Net® and codes from Lexis+®, the U.S. Voting Laws & Legislation Center provides full-text access and near real-time updates to existing and proposed state and federal laws, presenting law makers, journalists, non-profit organizations, legal professionals, academics, students and the general public with timely, fact-based, unbiased records of voting and election laws.

For proposed legislation, an interactive heat map of the U.S. highlights proposed legislation across all 50 states, with 10 issue-based filters, such as early voting, to help researchers expedite and narrow down their search. For existing, enacted legislation, the Voting Center lets users compare data in table form across different states on issues such as no excuse absentee voting.

“Our 10,000 employees are committed to actively advancing the rule of law through our daily actions, business operations, and innovative products and solutions,” said Mike Walsh, CEO of LexisNexis Legal & Professional. “A critical part of that work is supporting transparency of law by making laws available and accessible to citizens around the world. Together with the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation, we are proud to introduce the Voting Center for the U.S. as a vital, free resource to provide the public with comprehensive data and analytics on the voting laws that impact their lives and shape our country.”

Other key features that distinguish the tool from other election law resources include:

  • Comprehensive Data Repository: Search more than 20,000 existing state and federal voting laws and 2,000+ proposed legislature since 2021 by keyword, topic, or state, and get free access to the underlying documents
  • S. State Dashboards: Offers a curated summary of content including state voting laws, pending legislation, governor and state legislature political party affiliations, and links to historical legislative coverage
  • Insightful Data Visualizations: View interactive heat maps reflecting overall state voting law activity, compare voting laws or issues across several states, and a legislative outlook feature on proposed legislation
  • Customizable, Sharable and Downloadable Content: Create data-driven reports, visuals and infographics that can be easily shared with others or saved for future use and analysis
  • Election Law News: Read select news stories related to voting law from LexisNexis® news sources, including Law360® and the State Net Capital Journal™

LexisNexis will continue to develop and improve the resource over time based on customer feedback. Future planned features include the addition of relevant case law and regulations, a calendar of when state legislatures are in session and notification capabilities.

Early users already see the potential and practical use-cases for the LexisNexis U.S. Voting Laws & Legislation Center:

“With everything going on in our country today, it’s more crucial than ever to know the truth around the law,” said Carlos Moore, President of the National Bar Association. “The LexisNexis U.S. Voting Laws & Legislation Center is the perfect tool to provide much-needed transparency, providing equal access to information about the law in a user-friendly format for both lawyers and laypeople alike.”

William W. Barrett, Esq., Co-Chair, Uniform Law Commission Election Law Study Committee, said, “The LexisNexis U.S. Voting Laws & Legislation Center will be a major contribution to America’s preservation of our democracy.”

For more information on the LexisNexis U.S. Voting Laws & Legislation Center, or to download the mobile version, visit www.lexisnexisrolfoundation.org/voting-laws.aspx.

 

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 10,500 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

About LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation

The LexisNexis® Rule of Law Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which has the mission to advance the rule of law around the world. The foundation efforts focus on the four key elements of the rule of law: transparency of the law, accessible legal remedy, equal treatment under the law, and independent judiciaries.

Media Contacts

Dana Greenstein
Director, Corporate Communications
LexisNexis Legal & Professional
212-448-2163
dana.greenstein@lexisnexis.com

Eric Sokolsky
Plat4orm PR
908-288-7201
eric@plat4orm.com

WHEN GOLD TURNS SILVER: BOB GOLD & ASSOCIATES CELEBRATES CHAMPIONING CLIENTS FOR A QUARTER CENTURY

Los Angeles – July 27, 2022 Bob Gold & Associates (BG&A), the internationally recognized, data-driven public relations and marketing agency, today announced its silver anniversary, having helped launch and grow nearly 250 clients ranging from hi-tech startups and associations to Fortune 500 companies over its 25 years in business.

 

Since its founding in 1997, Bob Gold & Associates has established itself as a premier communications agency for leading hardware and software tech companies alike, expanding far beyond its roots in cable TV to encompass industries including media and entertainment, streaming, IoT, AdTech, enterprise software, blockchain and communication service providers.

 

“Whether clients are on the upswing or are in trouble, we stepped up and helped shape their message and meaning to their community,” said President and Founder, Bob Gold. “For 25 years, we always put our clients’ interests first. Honesty is so rare today. We pride ourselves on pushing back, and not being ‘yes folks.’ It is the only way to ensure their company, brand and reputation meet the future head on.”

 

Bob Gold & Associates stays relevant to propel its clients’ businesses forward, providing creative solutions and highly tailored communications programs that deliver meaningful results. This not only includes offering new and much-needed services, but also creative services to support rebranding efforts and introduce disruptive technologies.

 

The firm’s experiences and clients have been extraordinary, and range from producing Charter’s first exclusive On-Demand program to hiring Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi to tape a live concert and sending every customer who watched a custom thank you card, hiring John Landis to direct a series of commercials, serving as the PR lead for the West Coast Adelphia team during their bankruptcy and reorganization, and managing publicity for Ben Watkins’ Amazon Studio series Hand of God starring Dana Delaney and Ron Perlman, among many other projects.

 

Current clients include next generation smart home services, NFTs for the metaverse, AI-powered energy management, lab-made cheese, social justice campaigns, streaming channels, and highly touted individual shows.

 

Its proprietary BG&A Insight™ is a unique, data-driven approach to PR and brand management that has helped the firm meet every client’s unique needs by implementing proactive and personalized PR campaigns tackling all five pillars offered in the program.

 

A co-founder of WIN PR Group, a global network of partner hi-tech PR firms that offers local services to international clients, Bob Gold & Associates has received numerous accolades and awards. Most recently, the firm was recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best PR Agencies for 2021. The agency was also recognized as a top place to work by Cablefax Magazine in 2019. That same year, Bob Gold was named Communications Professional of the Year by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Gold was inducted into the Cable TV Pioneers in 2007.

 

Gold has also served on numerous committees and boards that include the Television Academy, Alzheimer’s Association, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers Foundation (SCTE), Annenberg School for Communication Alumni Board, USC Board of Governors and the Volunteer Center. He currently serves on the board of Temple Beth El in San Pedro, which is celebrating its Centennial this year.

 

About Bob Gold & Associates

Founded in 1997 by Cable TV Pioneer and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA LA) 2019 Communications Professional of the Year, Bob Gold has created an agency that specializes in the space where technology meets entertainment and enterprise utility. Recognized for its creative and comprehensive approach for its clients, Bob Gold & Associates was named to the first annual Forbes America’s Best PR Agencies List for 2021. The company was ranked among the top 100 5-star agencies nationwide.

Since its founding, Bob Gold & Associates has launched and helped grow 20 TV sports networks, numerous streaming services and worked with nearly every major Communications Service provider and industry association in the United States. A co-founder of a leading international association of independently owned hi-tech PR agencies, WIN PR Group, BG&A provides its clients with immediate international resources for one-time projects or on-going campaigns. Gold is also a published author of a popular children’s picture book, The Shiny Penny. For more information, please visit www.bobgoldpr.com.

 

 

For more information, contact:

Kelly Makepeace

Bob Gold & Associates

310-320-2010

Kelly@bobgoldpr.com

How Thinking Outside the Box can Deliver a High ROI

CHICAGO (July 26, 2022) – “In the marketing world you have to be ready to embrace opportunities that might at first seem a little outside the box,” says Rikki Lee Travolta, who piloted record news coverage as the head of public relations for Empire Today and as the head of PR and marketing for Other World Computing.

 

One outside the box marketing opportunity to take note of is to align your brand with television cooking shows. According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter by Mikey O’Connell, culinary shows are unscripted TV’s fastest growing subgenre. According to MarketingCharts.com, 8 in 10 adults watch cooking shows.

 

Take The Great British Baking Show as an example – it has been marketing gold for the companies that aligned themselves with the program early on.

 

Just as you don’t have to be British to enjoy The Great British Baking Show. Similarly, you don’t have to be Polish to enjoy the new hit program The Polish Cooking Show.

 

The Great British Baking Show features talented bakers politely competing with new baking challenges each episode. Polite is the key word for these competitors. There is no yelling and plotting to undermine each other.

 

The likability factor of The Great British Baking Show goes a long way with viewers. So, it should come as no surprise that the next sleeper television hit looks like it could be The Polish Cooking. It has a similar quiet and entertaining ambiance.

 

The Polish Cooking Show brings to life a real Polish custom that upon her son’s getting married, it is his mother duty to teach his new wife the family recipes and the traditions and history that go with them.

 

As pointed out in the article Why Do People Like Cooking Shows? by Steven Doyle about the psychology behind the popularity of cooking shows, when cooking shows first hit the airwaves in the 1940s and 1950s, they had an educational purpose. Recipes were broken down so that viewers at home could easily follow along.

 

While competition shows like Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef drew audiences in with high pressure situations, audiences are ready for a return to friendly, instructional cooking show options. All things old become new again.

 

The pilot episode of The Polish Cooking Show drew huge ratings on PBS affiliate WTTW thanks in part to a three-act format, a catchy theme song, and the fun and knowledgeable hosts Ala Rokita and her daughter-in-law Natalie (Czupta) Rokita.

 

In each episode, our Polish mother Mama Ala teaches her new daughter-in-law Natalie a traditional recipe, as well as the cultural history that goes along with each dish. The recipes are broken down for viewers at home to follow along with ease. Each show ends with a finished product and reflections on family traditions. Throughout, Natalie’s quick wit shows off her comedic skills earned at legendary improv training ground Second City.

 

“Viewers love Natalie and Mama Ala,” says producer Travolta of his two stars. “They genuinely have fun with each other. There’s love in this kitchen.”

 

“I’ve said it before,” continues Travolta. “Love is a great seasoning.”

 

Love is no foreign topic for Travolta. He was originally brought to Chicago to headline Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding – getting married six times a week and making the show a hit. While that acting role catered to Travolta’s Italian lineage, The Polish Cooking Show capitalizes on his business talents and his Polish bloodline. He is 25% Polish and very proud of this heritage.

 

In addition to being one of the creatives on the series, Travolta is also the conduit aligning companies with The Polish Cooking Show.

 

“If you’re running a company and you have a chance to reach 17,900,000 households over 13 episodes without overwhelming your marketing budget, that’s a package you want to at least consider,” summarizes Travolta.

 

And while The Polish Cooking Show draws fan mail from a wide range of ethnicities and backgrounds, it doesn’t hurt that there are over 9.1 million Polish Americans in the US.

 

“The Polish Cooking Show is demographic gold,” advises Travolta. “The show appeals to cooking enthusiasts, newlyweds, those who enjoy learning about other cultures, and of course people interested in the food and traditions of Central and Eastern Europe. We can put companies in touch with these brand-loyal viewers. It’s definitely worth having a conversation. We’re happy to talk and present the data.”

 

Companies interested in exploring the rewards of being formally associated with The Polish Cooking Show can contact the producers via the Contact page at www.ThePolishCookingShow.com or via email at Partnerships@thepolishcookingshow.com.

 

TPCSTPCS 2

Contact Information

Name: Rikki Lee Travolta
Email: Rikki@thepolishcookingshow.com
Job Title: Producer

Lexis+ Enhanced with Fact & Issue Finder, Enabling Litigators to Generate Precise, Actionable, Practice-Specific Search Results

Interactive dashboard aggregates key facts, topics and issues from legal sources, practice-specific content and data-driven analytics to quickly deliver highly relevant results

 

NEW YORK – LexisNexis Legal & Professional®, a leading global provider of information and analytics, today announced the upcoming availability of Lexis+ Fact & Issue Finder, a powerful, practice-specific feature that empowers legal professionals to build legal strategies centered around the facts, issues and topics of their case. The new offering supports and is tuned to six practice areas – Personal Injury, Labor & Employment, Insurance, Real Estate, Intellectual Property, and Business & Commercial – with additional practice areas planned.

Developed using feedback from more than 1,000 customer interactions, Fact & Issue Finder is designed from the ground up to mimic the exact processes that legal professionals perform when researching their cases. It then greatly enhances the research experience with the use of state-of-the-art search and machine learning technologies, streamlined workflows and data visualizations.

By inputting facts, issues and topics about a case, Fact & Issue Finder gathers relevant content – including case law, practical guidance, verdicts and settlements, expert witness analytics, and unique practice specific content – all from a single search that is designed to deliver results with every interaction.

The aggregated information is displayed via an interactive dashboard that enables users to conduct extensive research on cases whose facts, issues and topics are the most similar to theirs. In doing so, Fact & Issue Finder reduces the countless hours and burden associated with having to research, compile and review data from numerous sources individually.

“Our customers asked us to help them cut through an overwhelming amount of information for every legal matter, minimize the number of searches, sources and applications they require to complete increasingly complex legal research tasks, and give them confidence that they did not miss any crucial information that would impact their case,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of LexisNexis North America, UK and Ireland. “Put simply, litigators want to find ‘cases like mine.’ We’ve built a litigation solution that places all of the relevant information they need at their fingertips, wrapped in a highly intuitive and visual user experience.”

Lexis+ Fact & Issue Finder is the only research solution on the market geared toward fact and issue specificity in litigation. Key features include:

  • Case Graph: Visually presents a case’s entire life cycle, displaying its dockets, pleadings, motions, briefs, verdicts and settlements, and cited statutes and making them available with a single click.
  • Expert Advisory Content: Increases knowledge about practice-specific issues from LexisNexis’ Practical Guidance, administrative resources, and exclusive content from Elsevier for medical, insurance, real estate, HR and IP-related sources.
  • Integrated Data and Analytics: Uses Verdicts & Settlements data to reveal trends in similar cases so attorneys can better understand the potential value of their cases, then finds expert witnesses who participated in those cases and have experience with the same facts, topics, and issues as those in their case.

“Lexis+ Fact & Issue Finder is designed to help litigators find highly relevant information aligned to specifics of a case,” said Jeff Pfeifer, Chief Product Officer, LexisNexis North America and UK. “Our goal is to supply litigators with highly curated results while alleviating the common fear of not knowing when it’s appropriate to stop researching.”

Lexis+ Fact & Issue Finder will be available in Lexis+ for subscribers starting September 1, 2022. Additional content may be necessary to power all feature capabilities. For more information, please visit https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/legal/b/product-features/posts/introducing-fact-issue-finder-on-lexis.

About LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LexisNexis Legal & Professional® provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 10,500 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

Media Contacts

Dana Greenstein
Director, Corporate Communications
LexisNexis Legal & Professional
212-448-2163
dana.greenstein@lexisnexis.com

Eric Sokolsky
Plat4orm PR
908-288-7201
eric@plat4orm.com

Contact Information

Name: Dana Greenstein
Email: dana.greenstein@lexisnexis.com
Job Title: Director, Corporate Communications

Small Town America: It’s Your Move

Over the past two years, 5 million U.S. people say they have relocated because of remote work. And they’re not alone. Some estimates indicate that 19 million more Americans plan to move due to work from home (WFH).  

Remote work has disrupted a 70-year trend toward urbanization. Forbes contributor, Jack Kelly, noted, “the greater ability to work remotely is leading to new migration patterns.” For the first time in generations, people are moving to live where they want, rather than where they are employed, creating a new geography of work that will draw remote workers away from “superstar cities” to places that offer something, well, more. 

Small Town America. 

After decades of population decline, and the recent rise of remote work, the timing has never been better for a renaissance for Small Town America. In fact, it’s already starting. A Wall Street Journal analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data found that rural counties saw a net gain in population from mid-2020 through mid-2021. Add to that, there are more small towns in the U.S. than there are big cities. The 2020 Census indicates that about 76% of the approximately 19,500 incorporated places in the U.S. have fewer than 5,000 people 

Take West Lafayette in Indiana, North Platte, Nebraska, Ruston, Louisiana and Stillwater, Oklahoma. Each has fewer than 50,000 residents; each also wants remote workers to relocate there and are actively recruiting them.  

That’s a lot of real estate.  

The physical infrastructure—highways, byways and bridges, city services, and residential and commercial properties, to name a few—already exists. With the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, smaller communities even have even more access to resources that will spur additional development.  

But room to grow and physical infrastructure aside, Small Town America has something else to offer, a magical It Factor: emotional infrastructure.  

There’s a certain romance associated with Small Town America: the town square surrounded by charming storefronts and bustling cafes, neighborly greetings shared with a wave or a tip of the hat, and the inevitable cast of characters who lend lovable flair. It’s all part of an undeniable sense of community—the real-life Schitt’s Creek—Small Town America has in spades. It just can’t be experienced, much less replicated, anywhere else.      

That craving for community is something we hear a lot, at least anecdotally, at MakeMyMove. (We’re an online marketplace that enables remote workers to identify and explore the communities that are incentivizing WFH employees to relocate.)  We know WFH employees miss out on the mentoring, networking and community-building opportunities offered by an in-person work environment. They’re making up for the professional sense of isolation by building richer and deeper connections to the communities in which they live.  

Shahil Shrestha is one of those remote workers. After his Manhattan-based job went remote during the pandemic and his landlord put his rental house in New Jersey up for sale, he reassessed his priorities.  

He moved to West Lafayette in January as part of MakeMyMove’s Work from Purdue program, which offers financial incentives and other benefits to attract remote workers. Sure, he enjoyed the relocation stipend, access to coworking space and open tab at the university’s student union. But within six months, he had also gained a foothold in the community that he hadn’t experienced in other environs. He plays volleyball and badminton. He practices music with a neighbor. He attends events organized for fellow Work from Purdue program participants.  

In other words, he tapped into West Lafayette’s emotional infrastructure and found a community.  

He’s not alone. Our movers have told us time and again, “The money got my attention, but the community is what sold me,” proving that even the most generous relocation package will fall flat if there isn’t a sense of community—that emotional infrastructure, again—to support it.  

Only time will tell if remote worker relocations to West Lafayette, North Platte, Ruston and Stillwater—and thousands of small towns like them—are truly part of a rural renaissance. It’s your move, Small Town America. Let’s make it a movement. 

 

makemymove_movers

 

Bill Oesterle is the co-founder and former CEO of Angie’s List who now serves as Executive Chairman of MakeMyMove, an online marketplace connecting remote workers to communities across the U.S. that are incentivizing remote worker relocations.  

Contact Information

Name: Paige McCluskey
Email: pmccluskey@wordsworthweb.com
Job Title: Assistant Account Manager

When It Comes to Compensation, XpertHR Survey Shows that Employers Feel Trapped Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Survey reveals that employers know they must increase compensation but struggle to do so affordably

New York City (July 14, 2022) – According to the XpertHR Compensation Practices Survey 2022, employers believe that better employee compensation is the key to retaining and attracting talent—though making the necessary adjustments on that front presents its own financial challenges. Nearly eight in 10 (78%) of employers rated offering competitive pay as a “high” priority for attracting talent this year, but 88% said that doing so will be “somewhat” or “very” challenging.

 

Image caption: Keeping pay competitive, ensuring pay equity and balancing retention with affordability are the top priorities of employers in 2022 [left]—yet, at the same time, employers find these same goals are their top compensation challenges [right].

“The extremely tight labor market is forcing employers to reevaluate their pay structures,” says Natasha Wiebusch, Legal Editor at XpertHR. “Yet many companies struggle to free up the financial resources to do this.”

With the cost of living rising in the current economy, staying competitive with compensation is all the more challenging. Eighty-four percent of the survey respondents said that balancing retention with affordability is also “somewhat” or “very” challenging, while 67% cite inflation and cost-of-living factors among the top three challenges.

“Employers are scrambling to remain competitive with compensation while not breaking the bank,” Wiebusch added. “But the results are clear: employers who want to retain or grow their current workforce must be prepared to spend more on labor.”

Among the bright spots of the compensation survey, however, was the fact that 68% of participating organizations designated pay equity as a high priority this year. The growing effort to improve workforce representation and pay equity was among the top five diversity, equity and inclusion trends XpertHR identified for 2022.

The XpertHR Compensation Practices Survey 2022 was conducted from April 5, 2022, to April 29, 2022, using a self-administered online survey. The survey sample includes 314 employers that are located across the US. The total estimated number of employees of the responding organizations is 536,242. This survey report explores compensation practices, such as what types of pay structures are used, priorities and challenges of compensation structures, common benchmarking practices, and more. A complimentary press version of the report is available upon request.

About XpertHR:
XpertHR has been providing HR solutions since 2002, empowering organizations across the globe to build successful workforces and create a purposeful workplace for all. The platform delivers expert insight, trusted resources, data analysis and practical tools to help achieve greater efficiency, reduce risk, and increase employee engagement. XpertHR is developing smarter data analysis tools and cutting-edge technology to support future demands on HR in an increasingly digital world. To learn more, visit xperthr.com.

 

Media Contact:
Lauren Doyle
ldoyle@wordsworthweb.com
937.241.8378

The MICHELIN Guide sets its sights on Vancouver

 

 

 

    • Vancouver joins Toronto as a Canadian MICHELIN Guide destination
    • MICHELIN Guide inspectors are already in the field, finding culinary gems

 

 VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 14, 2022 — Michelin and Destination Vancouver today announced the MICHELIN® Guide Vancouver, the latest expansion of the MICHELIN Guide.

 

Vancouver is home to a thriving culinary community, with both established chefs and young professionals ready to polish their skills. The city’s restaurant teams are committed to using a wide range of high-quality products, such as produce, meat and seafood sourced locally and sustainably.

 

The first MICHELIN Guide Vancouver selection will be revealed in the fall, and it will showcase outstanding restaurants and professionals receiving Michelin distinctions. The famously anonymous inspectors of the Guide award the iconic MICHELIN Stars – One, Two or Three – to unparalleled cuisine. The Guide is also renowned for its Bib Gourmand selection, highlighting restaurants that offer great quality food at good prices. The MICHELIN Green Star is given to restaurants that are leaders in sustainable gastronomy.

 

“We’re thrilled to bring the MICHELIN Guide to Canada’s west coast and shine a spotlight on all that Vancouver has to offer,” said Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guides. “Our inspectors are already exploring Vancouver. They are eagerly diving into its wide variety of cuisines, prepared with high-quality products and served in warm, casual atmospheres. Vancouver is celebrated by international travelers for its artistic vibe and multifaceted identity – from impressive buildings to outdoor spaces – and we’re pleased to focus on its very promising culinary potential.”

 

Meticulous in maintaining their confidentiality, Michelin inspectors are already in the field, making dining reservations anonymously and paying for all their meals to ensure they are treated the same as any other customer.

 

“The fusion of flavors and cultures, influences from the Pacific Rim threaded through, and the abundance of the freshest ingredients from the ocean and land make the dining experience in Vancouver something very special,” said Royce Chwin, President & CEO, Destination Vancouver. “We have long enjoyed tremendous acclaim for our culinary scene and the MICHELIN Guide Vancouver further elevates the city’s reputation as a global dining destination. And we’re so delighted that Vancouver is now a culinary destination for aspiring young chefs who want to train under the guidance of a MICHELIN-Starred team.”

 

The upcoming Vancouver restaurant selection will follow Michelin’s historical methodology, based on five universal criteria, to ensure each destination’s selection equity: 1) quality products; 2) the harmony of flavors; 3) the mastery of cooking techniques; 4) the personality of the chef in the cuisine; 5) consistency between each visit (each restaurant is inspected several times a year).

 

The MICHELIN Guide is constantly observing the evolution of culinary destinations around the world. Michelin works with Destination Marketing Organizations, or tourism boards, to promote the travel industry in the respective locations; however, the MICHELIN Guide selections process remains completely independent.

 

While selections remain fully independently determined by Michelin inspectors, Michelin is working with Destination Vancouver on marketing and promotion activities only.

 

The 2022 Vancouver restaurant selection will join the MICHELIN Guide selection of hotels, which features the most unique and exciting places to stay in Vancouver and around the world. Visit the MICHELIN Guide website, or download the free app for iOS and Android, to book unforgettable hotels and make restaurant reservations through partners OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms.

 

Michelin in Canada

Michelin opened its first North American tire production facilities in Canada in 1971 in Bridgewater and Pictou County, Nova Scotia. It’s now a major contributor to the Canadian economy in the field of sustainable mobility, with activities in the tire sector but also around and beyond tires. The company currently employs around 4,000 people in Canada. In May, the MICHELIN Guide announced Toronto as its first Canadian destination.

 

About Michelin North America, Inc.

Michelin, the leading mobility company, is working with tires, around tires and beyond tires to enable Motion for Life. Dedicated to enhancing its clients’ mobility and sustainability, Michelin designs and distributes the most suitable tires, services and solutions for its customers’ needs. Michelin provides digital services, maps and guides to help enrich trips and travels and make them unique experiences. Bringing its expertise to new markets, the company is investing in high-technology materials, 3D printing and hydrogen, to serve a wide a variety of industries—from aerospace to biotech. Headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, Michelin North America has approximately 22,500 employees and operates 34 production facilities in the United States and Canada. (michelinman.com)

 

About Destination Vancouver

Destination Vancouver is the official destination marketing and management organization for the spectacular city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and represents more than 800 members in the city’s visitor economy. Destination Vancouver’s mandate is to support Vancouver’s tourism industry in developing compelling experiences and offerings for the city’s visitors and promoting Vancouver to target Canadian, U.S., and international markets. The purpose of the dedicated group of approximately 32 full-time team members (and growing), along with close to 200 visitor services volunteers, is to transform Vancouver’s communities and visitors through the power of travel. (destinationvancouver.com)

 

For more information, contact:

Andrew Festa

Michelin North America – External Communications
andrew.festa@michelin.com

Suzanne Walters

Destination Vancouver – Director, Communications
swalters@destinationvancouver.com

Contact Information

Name: Andrew Festa
Email: andrew.festa@michelin.com
Job Title: Press Officer

ALERCELL® TO DISTRIBUTE AMOY DIAGNOSTICS’ MOLECULAR CANCER TESTS IN THE UNITED STATES

BOZEMAN July 12, 2020 – Alercell® announced today that it has entered into a master distribution agreement with Amoy Diagnostics Co., Ltd (AmoyDx), a China based innovative molecular diagnostics company with shares traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE: 300685), The master distribution agreement enables Alercell® to introduce to the United States market several innovative DNA sequencing cancer tests.

The first tests to be introduced under the Agreement include: Pan Lung Cancer PCR Panel, EML4-ALK Fusion Gene Detection Kit, BRCA Pro Panel, and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Genotyping Detection Kit. These molecular diagnostic tests are all introduced as RUOs (Research Use Only) and are the most advanced next generation DNA sequencing tests in various fields to tackle, Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer , Ovarian Cancer and Cervical Cancer screening. These tests target gene mutations/fusions and serve as cancer biomarker in several fields, part of the process includes a service giving access to AmoyDx NGS Data Analysis System (ANDAS).

ANDAS allows a fast DNA sequencing analysis and comparison with an existing database. The AmoyDx® BRCA Pro Panel is a next-generation sequencing (NGS) based in vitro diagnostic assay intended for qualitative detection and classification of single nucleotide variants (SNVs), insertions and deletions (InDels), and large rearrangements (LRs) in protein coding regions, intron/exon boundaries, some introns and UTR regions of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, using DNA isolated from peripheral whole blood or formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tumor tissue specimens.

The sequencing data can be analyzed by ANDAS to detect the genomic variants in the target region. It is efficient and allow access to large amount of data which benefit and speed up the diagnostic process.

“Amoy Diagnostics is a real innovator in the field of cancer biomarker detection, and we are proud to open the US market to these advanced tests. It is just the start of a long collaboration, and we are excited as some universities are already testing the products” said Frederic Scheer, Alercell® CEO. AmoyDx is a well-known biotech company that has several existing agreements with well-known players such as Astra Zeneca, Merck and other large biotech companies.

The tests are available now for distribution at Alercell corporate office in Montana.

 

About Amoy Diagnostics Co., Ltd.

Amoy Diagnostics Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 300685) is a leading biotech company which pioneered the development and commercialization of cancer diagnostics in China. It is the largest provider of molecular diagnostics products for personalized healthcare in China, as well as a service center for oncology biomarker analysis. AmoyDx has a market-leading portfolio of molecular tests and is the therapy diagnostics partner for several major multinational pharmaceutical companies offering precision therapies for cancer.

 

ABOUT ALERCELL

Alercell®, Inc is a molecular diagnostics company that provides cancer and leukemia rapid tests to diagnose life-threatening illnesses at an early stage. The company was founded with the aim of providing more accurate and timely diagnostic tools for cancer patients worldwide.  Alercell’s mission is to make a difference in the fight against cancer by providing innovative and accurate diagnostic solutions that improve patient outcomes.

The Alercell® mission is built on the foundation of “stopping it before it starts”. Our genetics-based testing is the first line of assault against cancer & leukemia and infectious diseases. Alercell® is a Biotechnology company based in Bozeman, Montana with a satellite office in New York City.

For more information, please visit: www.alercell.com

 

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Alercell ‘s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include the inability to complete the proposed business combination or the Extension; the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the proposed business combination; costs related to any business combination; Alercell’s ability to manage growth; Alercell’s ability to execute its business plan; the timing of revenues from existing customers, including uncertainties related to the ability of Alercell’s customers to commercialize their products and the ultimate market acceptance of these products; the uncertain impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Alercell’s and its customers’ businesses; uncertainties related to Alercell’s estimates of the size of the markets for its products; the rate and degree of market acceptance of Alercell ‘s products; the success of other competing products and services that exist or may become available; Alercell’s ability to identify and integrate acquisitions; rising costs adversely affecting Alercell’s profitability; uncertainties related to Alercell’s potential litigation involving Alercell or the validity or enforceability of Alercell’s intellectual property; and general economic and market conditions impacting demand for Alercell’s products and services. Other factors include the possibility that any proposed business combination does not close, including due to the failure to receive required security holder approvals, or the failure of other closing conditions. Alercell does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Disclaimer

This release shall neither constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which the offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

 

Media Contact

Alercell, Inc.

Mr. Frederic Scheer, CEO

Email: fscheer@alercell.com

Dr. Alexandre Scheer, Chief Medical Officer

Email: ascheer@alercell.com

Tel: (406) 233-6434