Sunnyvale, Calif. – September 11, 2026 -- Cresta, a customer experience AI platform, has signed former NFL running back and Super Bowl champion Marshawn Lynch as brand ambassador in a multi-year partnership.

Cresta commits to multi-year ad campaign featuring Marshawn Lynch

Lynch will appear in advertising, at industry events, and across additional marketing initiatives promoting Cresta's enterprise AI platform, starting with a new ad launched today that frames the company's technology as putting customer experience in "Beast Mode."

Lynch says Cresta targets the frustration of hold music and repeated calls

Lynch described his frustration with customer service delays: "My first career counted on me running through players who thought they could stop me... it feels like just more defenders in the way. Cresta's told me they're putting both out of business. So I said, sign me up, ASAP!"

Waging am See – September 11, 2026 -- German precious metals dealer pro aurum has planted its corporate logo across nearly eight hectares of farmland above the Waginger See, using roughly 16 million flowering plants and about 300,000 small-blossom sunflowers in a satellite-guided precision agriculture project developed with GEOXIP AG.

Logo spans 80,000 square meters, visible only from the air

The planted area, equivalent to roughly eleven football fields, forms a lettering reading "pro aurum" that stretches approximately 365 meters long and 50 meters high. The accompanying tagline, "Edelmetalle. Münzen. Barren." (Precious Metals. Coins. Bars.), extends around 300 meters. The full image is only legible from above.

Frankfurt – September 11, 2026 -- German students perform worse today than they did a quarter-century ago, despite the country spending above-average sums per pupil compared with international peers, according to the latest PISA assessment results.

Education inequality widens despite two decades of reform

The gap in educational outcomes between advantaged and disadvantaged students has grown larger since the first PISA shock in 2001, reversing gains made in the years that followed. Performance had improved steadily through 2015 after policymakers overhauled curricula and teaching standards in response to that initial wake-up call.

High spending fails to translate into learning outcomes

Germany allocates more funding per student than the international average, yet results now trail behind comparable economies, raising questions about the efficiency of current educational spending and resource allocation within the school system.

Westwood, Mass. – September 11, 2026 -- Chase Corporation has committed $100,000 to a new partnership with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), funding scholarships, volunteerism, and STEM outreach programs across its global operations.

Chase directs $50,000 to SWE for scholarships and employee memberships

The engineered materials manufacturer's contribution to SWE includes funding for five $3,000 scholarships awarded in Chase Corporation's name to students pursuing engineering and technology fields. The agreement also grants Chase engineers access to SWE memberships, opening professional development, networking, mentorship, and workshop opportunities.

London – September 11, 2026 -- Vertice launched Ana, an autonomous AI negotiation agent for enterprise software procurement, after the system completed more than 4,000 live negotiations worth $500 million in spend, delivering average savings of 18% and cutting renewal cycles by 15 days.

Ana targets the software contracts procurement teams have no time to review

Vertice data shows one in seven software contracts auto-renews without oversight, rising to three in four contracts within tail spend, where vendor price uplifts and compliance changes typically go unchallenged. Ana runs unlimited simultaneous negotiations across a company's entire software stack, building scenario-specific strategies, modelling likely outcomes and drafting vendor correspondence in the customer's own voice.

Miami – September 11, 2026 -- Boats Group customer data shows a Mid-Atlantic brokerage generated 494% more boat detail page views after raising its average listing score by just 5%, as the marketplace operator pushes brokers and dealers to optimize inventory ahead of fall boat show season.

The company reports marketplace traffic climbs approximately 30% in the weeks surrounding major boat shows, as buyers research brands and compare models before and after visiting docks. Boats Group says listing quality during that window directly determines which sellers capture buyer attention.

Guangzhou, China – September 11, 2026 -- GAC Group shipped 26,978 vehicles under its own brands in international markets in August, an increase of 177% year-on-year, extending a run of overseas expansion that has pushed cumulative exports close to 600,000 units.

Exports for the January-August period totaled 172,008 units, up 136% from the same period last year, according to figures released by the Guangzhou-based automaker.

Africa posts steepest growth as retail sales climb 881%

Africa emerged as GAC's fastest-growing overseas market in August, with retail sales rising 881% year-on-year. The company finalized a local production agreement in Egypt with Jameel Motors and formally entered the Ghanaian market, launching a lineup that includes the S7, GS8 and AION V models.

Almaty – September 11, 2026 -- The Bulat Utemuratov Foundation has allocated 460 million tenge (approximately $1 million) to fund natural gas connections for private homes in Almaty, Kazakhstan, under an agreement signed with the city's Akimat (mayor's office).

Foundation funding targets private homes still burning solid fuel for heat

The initiative supports the transition of private residences from coal to natural gas heating, addressing a major source of seasonal air pollution in Almaty during the winter heating period.

Akimat to handle site assessments while contractors execute connection works

Under the signed agreement, the Almaty Akimat will inspect eligible private homes, advise residents on connection procedures, and guide them through the transition process. Qualified contractors will then carry out the required construction and installation work to link properties to the municipal gas network.

Merrill, Wis. – September 11, 2026 -- Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. has appointed Ben Parisi to a newly created role as vice president, head of finance operations and financial planning and analysis, the insurer announced.

Parisi will oversee core finance functions across the organization

Parisi's mandate covers finance operations, expense management, procurement, payroll, financial planning and analysis, and management reporting. He will report directly to Daniel Kim, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Church Mutual.

Hong Kong – September 11, 2026 -- The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust approved an average of US$774 million in donations annually between 2020 and 2024, ranking it as Asia's largest corporate donor and eighth largest globally, according to a Bridgespan Group study released at the close of the Club's PBC forum on September 8, 2026.

Bridgespan data confirms Jockey Club's position as Asia's top corporate donor

The corporate giving research, unveiled during PBC 2026, benchmarked the Trust's donation volume against global peers and placed it at the top of the regional ranking. A separate Bridgespan report, backed by the Institute of Philanthropy (IoP), the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gates Foundation, examined how Asia's wealthiest families structure philanthropic giving alongside business interests.