Events

Astemo to Invest $112 Million in Kentucky EV Motor Plants

Berea, Kentucky – September 07, 2026 -- Astemo Americas, Inc. will invest more than $112 million to expand production of hybrid electric-vehicle motors at two manufacturing plants in Berea, Kentucky, creating 114 new jobs in Madison County.

Expansion adds nearly 300,000 square feet of production space in Berea

The investment will add production and warehouse capacity at Astemo's facilities on Mayde Road in Berea. It forms part of a multi-year program expected to generate 282 new jobs overall while scaling output of hybrid EV powertrain components at the company's Kentucky sites.

Claroty Named Leader, Customer Favorite in Forrester OT Security Wave

New York – September 07, 2026 -- Claroty scored the highest mark possible in nine separate evaluation criteria, earning both a Leader and a Customer Favorite distinction in The Forrester Wave: Operational Technology Security Solutions, Q3 2026.

Forrester awards top scores across current offering and strategy categories

The nine top scores span vulnerability management, risk modeling and exposure prioritization, secured access management, reporting, IT/OT convergence support, SOC integration depth, and OT-safe deployment models within the current offering category. On the strategy side, Claroty received top marks for innovation, adoption, and pricing flexibility and transparency.

Flō Networks Moves to Acquire Up to 100% of Axtel in Mexico

Mexico City – September 07, 2026 -- Flō Networks has announced plans to launch public tender offers to acquire up to 100% of the outstanding shares of Controladora Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V. and up to 100% of the CPOs of Axtel, S.A.B. de C.V., in a move that would consolidate two major fiber-optic operators in Mexico.

Boards of both Axtel companies give preliminary green light to the deal

Flō, the U.S.-based digital infrastructure operator formerly known as Transtelco, said it has received preliminary approval from the Boards of Directors of both Axtel Companies to advance toward launching the offers. The company is now seeking regulatory clearances required to proceed.

Simplot Drivers in California Vote to Join Teamsters Local 431

Helm, Calif. – September 07, 2026 -- Sixteen drivers at J.R. Simplot's Helm, California facility have voted to join Teamsters Local 431, launching a first-contract fight at one of the world's largest agribusinesses.

Drivers haul hazardous agricultural chemicals across Central Valley farms

The unit transports herbicides, pesticides and insecticides to retail customers and farms throughout the region. Workers hold Class A Commercial Driver's Licenses with hazardous materials hauling endorsements, a specialized credential required to move regulated agrochemicals on public roads.

EvoMap Open-Sources AutoResearch, an AI Agent Research Verification System

San Francisco – September 07, 2026 -- EvoMap has open-sourced AutoResearch, a multi-agent system that converts AI-generated research hypotheses into executable experiments and uses the resulting evidence to decide whether to continue, revise or abandon a research direction.

AutoResearch lifts a Django benchmark fix from 2/7 to 7/7 through iterative testing

On a real Django issue drawn from SWE-bench Lite, AutoResearch initially scored 2 out of 7 on official new-feature tests, then improved to 4 out of 7. Rather than halting at the partial gain, the system continued investigating the underlying problem and ultimately reached 7 out of 7, while holding 203 out of 203 regression tests intact.

S&P Global Completes Sale of Upstream Software Unit to SLB

New York – September 07, 2026 -- S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) has completed the divestiture of its geoscience and petroleum engineering software portfolio to SLB, the oilfield technology company operating in more than 100 countries. Financial terms of the deal, first announced in April 2026, were not disclosed, and S&P Global said the transaction is not expected to materially impact its financial results or those of its Energy division.

SLB absorbs upstream workflow tools while S&P Global retains data distribution rights

Under the agreement, S&P Global Energy will continue supplying its proprietary data through the divested geoscience and petroleum engineering workflow tools now owned by SLB. The arrangement creates a strategic alliance designed to keep customers accessing S&P Global's datasets within the same tools they use for daily upstream operations.

HUMAIN Taps Compal as Long-Term ODM Partner for Cloud-to-Edge AI

Riyadh – September 07, 2026 -- HUMAIN has named Compal Electronics (TWSE:2324) as its long-term strategic ODM partner to build AI infrastructure spanning cloud data centers to edge devices, with the deal signed and showcased at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

HUMAIN and Compal sign roadmap covering AI servers, edge computing and Physical AI

Tony Bonadero, CEO of Compal Electronics, and Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, signed the strategic partnership agreement at LEAP 2026. The collaboration establishes a long-term roadmap covering cloud AI infrastructure, edge computing, Physical AI, and future intelligent computing technologies to support HUMAIN's regional AI ambitions.

Lighteum Medical Names Gaurav Agarwal as New CEO

San Diego – September 07, 2026 -- Lighteum Medical has appointed Gaurav Agarwal as Chief Executive Officer, effective August 31, 2026, bringing nearly 30 years of medtech leadership to the precision component manufacturer.

Agarwal joins with a track record of over $15 billion in M&A activity and $11 billion in private equity dispositions

Agarwal most recently served as President and CEO of PE-backed Capsa Healthcare, where he delivered more than 20% revenue and EBITDA growth within 18 months, completed two tuck-in acquisitions, and expanded the company into software and services. He previously led Vyaire Medical as President and CEO, and held senior roles at Acelity/KCI, Smith & Nephew, and GE Healthcare. At Acelity/KCI, he oversaw global commercial operations during a portfolio transformation that preceded the company's $6.725 billion sale to 3M.

Obama Foundation Becomes Anchor Tenant for Reactivate Solar in Illinois

Chicago – September 07, 2026 -- Reactivate and The Obama Foundation have signed a multi-year agreement making the Foundation the anchor tenant for community solar projects across Illinois, a structure designed to let low-to-moderate income households and small businesses cut utility bills by up to 50%.

Obama Foundation anchors solar portfolio to unlock financing for local subscribers

Under the deal, the Foundation commits to purchasing a portion of solar output from projects developed, owned and operated by Reactivate, a move that stabilizes project economics and frees remaining capacity for subscription by residents and businesses through the Illinois Solar For All program or other regional community solar schemes.

API International Launches NSF-Certified CleanLine Flanges for Drinking Water

Tualatin, Ore. – September 07, 2026 -- API International has launched CleanLine, a new line of stainless steel flanges certified to NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 and NSF/ANSI/CAN 372 for drinking-water and clean-water applications.

New Line Adds NSF Certification to Existing Waterworks Flange Range

CleanLine expands API International's waterworks and sanitary process components to serve projects that specifically require NSF-certified parts. The line was developed in response to customer demand for stainless steel components in drinking-water systems that mandate NSF certification. Ric Henderson, VP of Sales, said the certification lets the company support more drinking-water infrastructure projects using the same manufacturing and service base as its existing AWWA and ANSI/ASME flange offering.

Nura Studios Launches Showcraft, Cuts Indie Film Costs in Half

San Francisco – – September 07, 2026 -- Nura Studios has opened public access to Nura Showcraft, a production platform that stitches AI-generated shots into full-length animated and live-action projects, as one director reports the tool has cut production costs in half.

Platform targets the gap between AI shot generation and full production workflows

Nura Showcraft lets filmmakers move from script or shot list through storyboard, animatic, animation and final edit inside one connected environment. The platform integrates multiple AI image and video models alongside ACES colour management with HDR/SDR output, with local real-time 4K upscaling planned. "AI can generate a shot. The harder problem is turning thousands of shots into a coherent production," said Sylvio Drouin, CEO and co-founder of Nura Studios.

ALKU Acquires rockITdata to Expand AI, Healthcare IT Reach

Andover, Mass. – September 07, 2026 -- ALKU, a specialized staffing firm, has acquired rockITdata, a technology consulting firm focused on artificial intelligence, digital transformation and data analytics, financial terms were not disclosed.

ALKU gains project-delivery capability beyond staffing

The deal pairs ALKU's talent-sourcing model with rockITdata's solutions expertise, allowing the combined firm to offer end-to-end project ownership rather than staffing placements alone. ALKU CEO Andrew Bull said the acquisition lets the company solve larger, more complex client problems by combining rockITdata's technical execution in AI, data and federal health with ALKU's talent reach.

AirDNA Launches AI-Native Pricing Tool Adapt for STR Operators

Denver – September 07, 2026 -- AirDNA has launched Adapt, an AI-native revenue management system for short-term rental (STR) hosts and property managers, drawing on data from 15 million listings the company tracks to set nightly rates and minimum stays.

More than 14,000 listings tested Adapt before public launch

The tool was developed after feedback from thousands of STR hosts identified a recurring problem: operators often cannot tell whether their pricing is working or why a rate changed. AirDNA connected more than 14,000 listings to Adapt during private and public betas to refine the product.

Nucleus Research Names Blue Yonder, e2open, Infor Control Tower Leaders

Miami – September 07, 2026 -- Nucleus Research has named Blue Yonder, e2open, Elemica, FourKites, Infor, and o9 Solutions as Leaders in its 2026 Control Tower Technology Value Matrix, citing their combined strength in functionality and usability for large-scale enterprise adoption.

Decision velocity now drives control tower ROI, analyst says

Charles Brennan, Principal Analyst at Nucleus Research, said the value of control tower platforms depends on how quickly organizations can identify disruptions with material business impact, assess their operational and financial consequences, and act before the window to improve the outcome closes.

Women's Capital Summit Targets Sports Investment, Ownership Growth

New York – September 07, 2026 -- The Women's Capital Summit will convene investors, league executives and founders to examine capital flows into women's sports and women-led businesses, positioning the sector as an increasingly sophisticated investment market rather than an emerging niche.

Sophia Bush joins summit to advocate for capital deployment into women's sports

Actor and investor Sophia Bush will speak at the Summit on the case for backing women's sports and women entrepreneurs, drawing on her track record of investing in women-focused businesses and initiatives.

Kreate, Nickolas Asset Management Invest $100M in Ohio Plant

Tiffin, Ohio – September 07, 2026 -- Nickolas Asset Management and Kreate will invest $100 million in a 542,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility at 458 Second Avenue in Tiffin, Ohio, creating approximately 120 jobs. Production is scheduled to begin October 1, 2026, with the first machines already delivered to the site.

Facility deploys 32 ENGEL molding machines with AI-driven quality control

The plant will operate 32 new ENGEL injection-molding machines equipped with iQ weight-control technology, integrated with pick-and-place robots, FANUC collaborative robots, autonomous guided vehicles and automated packaging. Krevera's read-write computer-vision AI platform will connect production equipment, quality systems and factory operations, inspecting output and enabling machines to make autonomous real-time corrections.

Nutraceutical Ingredients Market to Hit $161.53B by 2031

Delray Beach, Fla. – September 07, 2026 -- The global nutraceutical ingredients market is set to expand from USD 108.33 billion in 2026 to USD 161.53 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual rate of 7.3%, according to MarketsandMarkets.

Asia Pacific outpaces global growth with 11.3% CAGR

Asia Pacific is projected to remain the largest and fastest-growing regional market, driven by rising health awareness in China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. Expanding food and beverage manufacturing capacity and growing demand for personalized nutrition are reinforcing the region's supply position.

US Manufacturing PMI Cools to 54.6% as Tariffs, Iran Conflict Bite

Tempe, Ariz. – – September 07, 2026 -- U.S. manufacturing activity expanded for an eighth straight month in August, but the pace cooled as the ISM Manufacturing PMI fell to 54.6%, down 1 percentage point from July's 55.6%, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The reading marks the sector's recovery from a 10-month contraction and corresponds to an estimated 2.4% annualized increase in real GDP, ISM said. The broader U.S. economy has now expanded for 22 consecutive months.

New orders and backlogs lose momentum as demand sentiment softens

The New Orders Index dropped 3 points to 53.7% from 56.7% in July, while the Backlog of Orders Index fell 3.2 points to 51.8%. The positive-to-negative comment ratio on demand narrowed to 2-to-1 in August from 3.5-to-1 the prior month. New Export Orders bucked the trend, edging up 0.2 point to 53.2%.

PDFix Tagging Cuts ITHAKA's PDF Accessibility Costs by 97% on AWS

Frederick, Md. – September 06, 2026 -- ITHAKA, the nonprofit behind JSTOR, has achieved a 98% accessibility check pass rate while cutting remediation costs by more than 97% through an on-demand PDF pipeline built on Amazon Web Services using PDFix structural tagging, according to a new AWS Public Sector Blog article highlighted by PDFix-US.

ITHAKA's 20 million PDFs would cost up to $624 million to remediate manually

ITHAKA's digital corpus spans approximately 20 million PDFs and 156 million pages, with materials dating back to 1550. The AWS article estimates manual remediation of the full collection would cost between $156 million and $624 million, a scale that made conventional, upfront remediation financially impractical.

Google Funds Water-Saving Irrigation for 6,000 Acres of Texas Rice Farms

Nashville, Tenn. – September 05, 2026 -- AgriCapture has partnered with Google and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation to replenish 5.4 billion gallons of water in Southeast Texas by converting 6,000 acres of rice farmland to water-saving irrigation systems.

Google finances irrigation overhaul across Trinity River Basin farmland

The program targets the Trinity River Basin, where roughly 140,000 rice acres are flood irrigated annually amid pressure from agricultural demand, urban growth and recurring drought. AgriCapture is working directly with Texas rice farmers to install irrigation infrastructure that replaces continuous flooding, measuring results through flow meters, field sensors and geospatial monitoring to quantify verified water savings against prior flood-irrigation baselines.