All posts by Neel Achary

MENLO PARK, Calif. and COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 30, 2023 — Kitman Labs, the performance intelligence company setting a new industry standard for how elite sports organizations use data, today announced a landmark multi-year partnership with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS). The partnership will be housed at the Crew’s world-class facilities in Lower.com Field and the OhioHealth Performance Center in Columbus.

“We welcome the Crew and their entire Organization, led by Tim Bezbatchenko, into the Kitman Labs performance family,” founder and CEO Stephen Smith said. “As the first club in Major League Soccer history, the Crew are paving the way as the first in MLS to become an ‘Innovation Partnership’ club – a multi-faceted partnership which will impact every level of athlete performance and club operations, from their first team to their scouting and youth programs to their approach to investment and resource allocation. Our collective goal is to create a fully integrated operating system designed to elevate and advance player and team performance in North America, and we are proud to be able to collaborate with a club that has been known as an innovation leader since the founding of MLS.”

“The Crew and Kitman Labs are two organizations with complementary philosophies which is why this groundbreaking partnership makes so much sense,” Crew President & General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko said. “We are both deeply committed to fundamentally changing how data is used in sport to optimize performance, reduce injury risk, support operations, and ultimately drive success across every aspect of the organization, from the First Team, through Crew 2 and to the Academy. That common mission has now evolved into the development of an all-encompassing operations platform that will hopefully yield dividends in every aspect of team operations – not just for the Crew, but for North American soccer in the years to come. We are proud to be the first adopters in MLS as we look to try and set a new standard in how performance intelligence is leveraged across the sport.”

Kitman will collaborate with the Crew to leverage its proprietary performance intelligence platform and analytics to support three key areas of focus:

Player Development – delivering a tailored and data-driven talent development process to maximize player potential
Evidence-based Coaching – development of a real-time integrated system to enable objective, outcome-driven coaching and planning
Scouting and Recruiting – development of a data rich, configurable recruitment analytics solution to maximize the return on current and prospective players

With roots as “The Team of Firsts in MLS,” the Crew – under Bezbatchenko’s leadership since 2019 – have secured three championships: 2020 MLS Cup, 2021 Campeones Cup, 2022 MLS NEXT Pro Cup.

Leading the day-to-day implementation of the partnership are Crew Vice President of Soccer Administration Jaime McMillan, Crew Director of Analytics Alex Mysiw, Kitman Labs Performance Strategy Lead Darcy Norman and Kitman Labs Project Manager Courtney Steward.

The Kitman Labs Innovation Leadership partnership is designed to provide Columbus with deeper, strategic insight into all areas of on-field performance, ranging from developmental club best practices to helping gamify trade and transfer scenarios as well as making sure that injury prevention and maximal performance scenarios are created effectively and easily for all athletes, while giving performance leaders the ability to maximize every area of performance. The Crew and the Kitman Labs teams will work in lock-step to develop and instill the infrastructure and processes necessary at the ground level, to support the accurate, real-time collection and distillation of relevant data across the business to enable the analysis necessary to drive the desired KPIs.

This new business launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs have undertaken. That includes the successful close of a $52M Series C funding round led by Guggenheim Investments, a global asset investment and advisory firm with more than $259 billion* in assets under management and two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports, both made in the last two years. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

Rucker previously worked for the alliance’s sister company Powers Insurance & Risk Management.

(St. Louis, Mo., March 28, 2023) Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a cohesive family of more than 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois, recently promoted Kaylee Rucker to Communication Coordinator.

In this position, Rucker will handle internal and external communication for alliance members and company partners. This includes coordinating conferences, trade shows, and education opportunities for both the company’s team and its partners, as well as assisting with the organization’s marketing efforts and monthly newsletter.

Prior to her promotion, Rucker served as an administrative assistant for VIAA’s sister company Powers Insurance & Risk Management, one of the largest family owned and operated independent insurance agencies in the bi-state-region. She previously worked at various customer support-related businesses. Rucker earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Missouri State University.

“Kaylee’s promotion is based upon her excellent work performance and communication skills,” said VIAA’s co-founder Henry Powers. “She will play a huge role in the marketing efforts of our rapidly expanding alliance, and we look forward to all she will accomplish.”

Founded in 2006, sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance generates more than $600 million in written premium and is the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a $11 billion national alliance. Founded in 1991, Powers Insurance & Risk Management provides personal and business insurance, surety, risk management, and employee benefits. The companies are headquartered at 6825 Clayton Ave. For more information, call (314) 725-1414 or visit www.viaa4u.com.

28th annual event to showcase the work of emerging Missouri high school artists.

(St. Charles, Mo., March 21, 2023) Mosaics Fine Art Festival recently opened the application process for its Joyce Rosen Founder’s Scholarship. Missouri high school students, who are eligible for nomination by their art teachers, will be selected to showcase their art at the 28th annual event. The deadline for submitting one piece of art per student is Sept. 1.

The Joyce Rosen Founder’s Scholarship tent will exhibit all artwork, and three scholarship prizes will be awarded by a professional judge. Students can submit original work in a variety of media categories including clay, drawing, glass, leather, metal, pastel, oil/acrylic, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, and wood.

Mosaics Fine Art Festival – which invites only 100 artists to showcase and sell their wares at this exclusive juried event – is held Fri., Sept. 15 through Sun., Sept. 17. The family-friendly event, which is free and open to the public, will be held along several blocks of North Main St. in Historic St. Charles, Mo. where more than 30 restaurants and over 75 shops are located.

“This is a unique opportunity for high school artists to have their work on display at a major arts festival,” said Mosaics Fine Art Festival’s vice president Melinda Nolan. “It is a huge honor for the student, the student’s art teacher, and the student’s school to be recognized for their dedication to the importance of fine arts in our society.”

Mosaics Fine Art Festival features live musical entertainment, a Children’s Village for hands-on art experiences, and the Mary Hediger Memorial Art Shop for Kids where children ages 14 and younger can buy professional artwork. The Artists for Adoption Pet Pavilion is open to families interested in adopting pets from local rescue organizations.

Pictured is Mosaics Fine Art Festival board member Diana Nash, who oversees the Joyce Rosen Founder’s Scholarship.

The Mosaics Fine Art Festival is a nonprofit organization that showcases local and regional artists while educating the community’s children and adults in how art can enhance their lives. The festival features a wide array of artwork produced by a mix of emerging, mid-career and established artists in all media. For more information about the submission process, call (314) 406-2067 or visit Mosaics Fine Art Festival.

Queen’s Award

Left to right: Chancellor Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE, Moroccan Ambassador to the UK HE Hakim Hajoui, Vice-Chancellor John Latham CBE, Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands Sir John Crabtree.

Coventry University’s incredible connections with countries across the globe have been recognised in one of the last awards in the name of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, the UK’s most prestigious business award, was awarded to Coventry University for its tireless work building relationships with institutions and companies throughout the world, while also drawing thousands of students from around the globe to its campuses across the UK.

The award was one of the last Her Majesty The Queen would have approved before her death in September last year.

This year The Queen’s Award will be renamed in tribute to her successor and son King Charles III, as the King’s Award for Enterprise.

The Lord-Lieutenant for the West Midlands, Sir John Crabtree OBE, was on hand to make the presentation at Coventry University’s new Delia Derbyshire building – part of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities – on behalf of the monarch.

The award, in the category of International Trade, comes as there were 15,565 international students from over 150 nationalities are studying across the Coventry University Group in 2021/22, making it the sixth largest higher education recruiter for international students in the UK.

Coventry University Group’s global outlook has also seen it establish a network of global hubs, in Brussels, Dubai, Singapore, Rwanda and Beijing, in addition to its campus in Wroclaw, Poland, and branch campus in Egypt, as well as a joint institute with Communication University of China that launched in September 2022.

Sir John Crabtree OBE paid tribute to the late Queen and met Coventry University Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Latham CBE, and the Chancellor, Dr Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE, to present the award to the university.

Sir John Crabtree OBE said: “These awards were introduced in 1966 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II as she was very keen and determined to support British enterprise.

“Coventry University now has one of the last awards she would have approved.

“This year’s winners will be the King’s Awards for Enterprise which means Coventry University will be in the last batch of The Queen’s Awards, which I think is very fitting.

“It is a real accolade because Coventry University has got this award for an international focus on jobs, skills and work to welcome people to our region.”

Dr Casely-Hayford CBE said: “Sadly we lost our wonderful monarch, the late Queen, last year, so this is one of the last awards that will ever be made and titled The Queen’s Award, which makes it even more special.

“For us, this prestigious award really is something we value as a global education group that is committed to widening access to quality education.

“Our mission is creating better futures and that is not confined to these shores or to the people of this country. We passionately believe in the power of education to transform lives across the world and communities and have five core values that help us achieve that.

“Our international students bring diversity of thought, outlook, their approach to issues, all of which help the university community and the wider community accelerate positive change.”

Coventry University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Latham CBE said: “This is the second time we have won this award and that has happened through innovation, talent, teamwork and determination. This event was a chance to celebrate our international success but also reflect on the legacy of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

“Students from 150 nations study across our group – this is what Coventry is about. We’re a global institution preparing people for a global world as we move forward. We’re so proud to have won this.”

The Moroccan Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Mr Hakim Hajoui, also attended the ceremony as the university prepares to open a branch campus in Casablanca with The British Schools Educational Services Prives.

Sondra Berg brings nearly 10 years of insurance industry experience to her new role.

(St. Louis, Mo., March 17, 2023) AAdvantage Insurance Group recently hired Sondra Berg as its Personal Lines Account Executive. In this position, she will focus on maintaining, expanding, and servicing the agency’s clients. Berg will develop relationships with existing clients, as well as pursue new business opportunities.

Berg has worked in the insurance industry for nearly 10 years. Prior to joining AAdvantage Insurance Group, she worked at a local insurance agency in various capacities. Berg holds licenses in Property & Casualty Insurance, as well as in Life Insurance in both Illinois and Missouri.

Founded in 2009, AAdvantage Insurance Group specializes in auto, home, business, farm, and life insurance. The agency serves clients in 19 states with the majority in Illinois and Missouri. AAdvantage Insurance Group is located at 78 S. Main St. in Glen Carbon, Ill.

“Sondra makes an excellent addition to our growing organization based upon her ability to create customer service solutions,” said AAdvantage Insurance Group’s CEO Josh Kaburick. “She brings an extensive amount of industry experience to her new role, and we look forward to all she will accomplish for both our clients and our company.”

AAdvantage Insurance Group is a member of Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a cohesive family of more than 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois. Founded in 2006, sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance generates more than $600 million in written premium and is the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a $11 billion national alliance.

For more information about AAdvantage Insurance Group, call (618) 692-4440 or visit www.aadins.com.

St. Louis nonprofit welcomes national accounting and advisory firm to its growing organization

(St. Louis, Mo., March 14, 2023) – Conflux Co-Learning, the nation’s first co-learning space that exclusively serves manufacturers and distributors, recently named Wipfli as its first Certified Partner. Wipfli is a national accounting and advisory firm based in Milwaukee, Wis. with Missouri offices located at 7733 Forsyth Blvd. in Clayton and 2460 Executive Dr. in St. Charles.

As Conflux’s first preferred partner, Wipfli will focus on the specific business opportunities in the manufacturing and distribution sectors. This includes sharing extensive knowledge and providing targeted guidance via educational events and networking opportunities for Conflux’s manufacturer and distributor membership.

“We’re inspired by Conflux’s vision and excited to be a part of their collaborative,” said Doug Kolker, St. Louis-based Wipfli partner. “Helping to assess, improve and scale business operations and align digital solutions to support growth and efficiency is what we do daily for our clients. As a partner, Wipfli can support Conflux members in learning best practices we’ve established with companies like theirs.”

Founded in 1930, Wipfli is a top 20 accounting and advisory firm with more than 3,100 associates. Services range from audit and accounting to digital transformation and disruption management. Wipfli serves organizations in a variety of industries including financial institutions, financial services, healthcare, construction, real estate, education, nonprofits, manufacturing and distribution.

“Our nonprofit represents industrial leaders who envision a stronger future for the manufacturing and distribution industry,” said Conflux Co-Learning’s Chairman of the Board Brandon Dempsey. “It makes perfect sense to welcome Wipfli as our very first Certified Partner because their company brings a comprehensive expertise to our organization’s quest for regional growth.”

Pictured from left to right are Conflux Co-Learning’s Co-Founders Derek Weber and Brandon Dempsey.

Conflux Co-Learning is a membership-based nonprofit organization that creates content, connections, and space so manufacturing and distribution leaders can navigate and grow in a rapidly changing industry. The nonprofit is located at 8221 Minnesota Ave. For more information, call (314) 754-8712 or visit www.confluxcolearning.com.

Weis brings nearly 10 years of insurance industry experience to the company.

(St. Louis, Mo., March 10, 2023) Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a cohesive family of more than 160 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois, recently hired Brett Weis as Personal Lines Coach.

In this position, Weis will work with the alliance’s development team to achieve technology and revenue goals. He will coach new and existing team members on best practices for all property and casualty insurance issues including coverages, claims, carriers, and processes.

Weis has worked in the insurance industry for nearly 10 years. Prior to joining VIAA, he served as a personal lines department manager at an independent insurance group that served doctors nationwide. Weis earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. He holds licenses in Property & Casualty Insurance, as well as Life & Accident and Health or Sickness Insurance. Weis also has a Personal Lines Coverage Specialist (PLCS) designation.

“Brett brings the industry knowledge and experience our alliance members need to increase their revenue,” said VIAA’s co-founder Henry Powers. “His customer service background, along with the working relationships he builds with clients and carriers, make him an excellent addition to our growing team.”

Founded in 1991, Powers Insurance & Risk Management provides personal and business insurance, surety, risk management, and employee benefits. Founded in 2006, sister company Valley Insurance Agency Alliance generates more than $600 million in written premium and is the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a $11 billion national alliance. The companies are headquartered at 6825 Clayton Ave. For more information, call (314) 725-1414 or visit www.powersinsurance.com or www.viaa4u.com.

Three-day program highlights an individualized approach for improving interpersonal skills.

Marianne Whelchel

(St. Louis, Mo., March 8, 2023) Psychological Associates (PA), a consulting company that improves business performance through its leadership and talent development services, will hold its Q4 Leadership: The People Skills Advantage™ program. The three-day intensive workshop will take place Tues., May 2 through Thurs., May 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The program will be held at the Charles F. Knight Executive Education & Conference Center located at One Brookings Dr. on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

The program’s individualized experience focuses on helping a company’s top talent improve team success through the people skills they need to engage and influence others. Q4 Leadership comprehensively identifies and adapts effective leadership behaviors with more intricate job-related feedback. The program combines the latest in instructional design along with PA’s six decades of pragmatic leadership development.

The workshop – which uses real-world issues and situations – is designed for C-level leaders, vice presidents, and general managers who will improve their interpersonal skills to break down silos and contribute to synergistic teams.

Psychological Associates’ facilitator Marianne Whelchel will lead the sessions. She brings more than 16 years of global leadership development, training, and human resources experience to the workshop. Whelchel has managed the design and delivery of leadership curriculum for over 6,000 leaders globally.

Psychological Associates helps clients select, develop, and retain their best leaders, enabling them to build exceptional organizations. Its exclusive Q4 Dimensional® Model of Behavior™ – an industry-renowned structure that categorizes observable actions into understandable groupings – inspires high performance while attaining comprehensive results. Consulting capabilities include talent assessment, leadership development, succession planning, people analytics, and executive coaching. Founded in 1958, Psychological Associates is headquartered at 8000 Maryland Ave. in Clayton, Mo. Reservations are required since space is limited. For more information, call (314) 725-7771 or visit www.q4solutions.com.

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The Art Exchange Project presents their 5th Group Art Show, ‘Pulse – Vibration of Life’

from 11 am to 7 pm from Sunday to Friday, March 5th to 10th, 2023

at The Stainless Gallery, Mira Corporate Suites, Mathura Road, New Delhi

The Art Exchange Project presents their 5th Group Art Show, ‘Pulse – Vibration of Life’ at The Stainless Gallery, Mira Corporate Suites, Mathura Road, New Delhi. Chief guest Gurpreet Singh (Founding partner of Aakar Design Consultants Pvt. Ltd.) inaugurated the exhibition on Saturday, March 4th, 2023. The exhibition will showcase works by 16 artists on a medium of their choice and will be on until Friday, March 10th, 2023.

Curated by the Founder of The Art Exchange Project and Visual Artist, Aarti Uppal Singla, the show will be a wreath of paintings, digital art, collages, photographs and ceramic pieces created by artists from Delhi and Mumbai which includes Aarti Uppal, Balesh Jindal, Devangi Sidharth, Dharmendra Singh, Divyaman Singh, Khushroo Kalayanwala, Jaspreet Kaur, Meena Vohra, Rashmi Rai, Shibani Sehgal, Shireen Khanna, Sushil Bhasin, Sushmita Choubey, Vidyasagar Hariharan, Winnie Singh and Yumi Onishi.

To make the event wholesome, there will be separate activities slated throughout the week at the gallery.

Mindfully chalked-out Workshops will be held on the topics:

• Sunday, March 5th, 2023: Doodle-n-Emotion by Sushil Bhasin at 2pm.
• Tuesday, March 7th, 2023: Drawing your Story by Winnie Singh at 3 pm
• Thursday, March 9th, 2023: World of Collages by Shibani Sehgal at 4 pm

Enriching Talks on:

• Sunday, March 5th, 2023: Flamingos in the City by Vidyasagar Hariharan at 4.30 pm
• Monday, March 6th, 2023: Artist’s Journey by Meera Vohra at 3 pm
• hursday, March 9th, 2023: Inspiring Demo on Acrylic Textures by Divyaman Singh at 12 noon.

Pulse – Vibration of Life is an ideology that brings out artists from the dullness and darkness that pandemic lashed out at the world. It is an opportunity for everyone, the artists and onlookers to feel alive and hear their hearts throb with energy and not just drift away with the flow of time. The colours used testify the very concept and the inspiration all these 16 artists hold within them.

As she brings forth such vitality, Aarti Uppal Singla says, “The past 2 years have not shown any mercy and with Pulse I want each one of us to feel that we are back on track and that life gives hope only when we want to see it. I am elated with the colours and techniques all the artists have chosen to express themselves and emerge out after a long period of containment of sorts. It is miraculous how creative minds using different mediums creating their individual pieces come together in union, in sync with one another. This is my ode to life and it’s vivacity. Hope is what keeps us moving on, afterall.”

Pulse – Vibration of Life is TAEP’s fifth group show. The others being Explorations at AIFACS in March 2017, Noir – the mystery unfolds at The Stainless Gallery in September 2017, Spaces – real and imagined at The Stainless Gallery in December 2018 and Viewpoints – Distinct diverse at The Stainless Gallery in December 2019.

About The Art Exchange Project:

TAEP is a free art community with the objective of getting people back in touch with their creative energies. Members include professional artists, designers, engineers, doctors, teachers, homemakers, students, and others for whom art is a significant part of their lives. TAEP members learn, teach and collaborate to make art. They are bridging the gap between art lovers and creators by bringing affordable art to people.

Normet has acquired Remion Ltd, a specialist in innovative business- and process-enhancing industrial internet solutions and advisory services situated in Finland. Remion employs a team of 28 professionals.

“We see Remion as a critical enabler for our digitalization strategy going forward. Remion’s capabilities in analytics and software development provide a foundation for us to utilize related skillsets in developing the Normet offering. We value Remion’s existing customer base and its significant growth opportunities. We look forward to working together with Remion to tap into these growth opportunities while ensuring that development and support continues with Remion’s existing customers”, comments Riku Helander, Senior Vice President, Services Business Line, at Normet.

“The change of ownership doesn’t change the focus for Remion. We look forward to developing IoT and analytics solutions for our customers and to further expand our customer base. Remion will continue to develop its offering and grow under new ownership”, comments Jukka Kivimäki, CEO at Remion.

Remion, founded in 2001, offers innovative IoT solutions and services for various industries, machine and equipment manufacturers, service companies and development organizations that are fundamental to efficient, forward-thinking operations. Remion is based in Tampere, Finland.

The acquisition was closed in February 2023. The parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details related to the transaction. After the acquisition, Remion continues to operate as an independent company as part of the Normet Group.