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Austin – September 15, 2026 -- SHIFT, a health and performance platform built for industrial and frontline workforces, has launched a Clinical & Performance Advisory Council and named clinical psychologist Dr. Brandi Luedtke, PsyD, HSPP, as its Founding Advisor.

Construction suicide rates far exceed workplace fatality figures

Approximately 5,200 construction workers aged 16 to 64 died by suicide in 2022, more than five times the number who died from fatal workplace injuries, according to data analyzed by CPWR–The Center for Construction Research and Training. CDC figures for 2021 show men in construction had a suicide rate of 56.0 per 100,000, compared with 32.0 per 100,000 among men in the overall working population.

San Mateo, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Helix has launched Whole Exome+ Sequencing (WES+), a diagnostic test that combines exome sequencing, mitochondrial genome analysis, and genome-wide digital karyotype into a single order for patients with unexplained developmental delay, neurological conditions, and rare genetic disease.

WES+ integrates four diagnostic capabilities in one order

The test covers 99% of clinically relevant exome regions, includes mitochondrial testing that other labs typically bill as a separate add-on, and performs high-resolution chromosomal copy number analysis via a digital karyotype. Helix says the digital karyotype feature may eliminate the need for a standalone chromosomal microarray (CMA) in many clinical scenarios, though the company notes CMA or additional cytogenetic testing may still be clinically indicated in some cases.

Washington – September 15, 2026 -- Grain Management has completed the merger of Ritter Communications and Great Plains Communications, forming Rightfiber, one of the nation's largest privately held fiber broadband platforms operating across 20 states.

New entity secures $1.6 billion credit facility to fund expansion

Rightfiber has entered into a $1.6 billion credit facility led by Fifth Third Bank to finance organic growth and potential acquisitions. CEO Heath Simpson said the company's team is in place, its network connected, and systems integration is under way following the funding close.

Combined network reaches 300,000 fiber passings across 28,000 miles

Rightfiber now serves more than 400 communities in 20 states through a 28,000-mile fiber network with over 300,000 Fiber-to-the-Home passings. The platform provides services to residential customers, businesses, carriers, hyperscalers and community partners.

New York – September 15, 2026 -- Karas Wines, an Armenian winery founded in 2004, has been nominated for 'New World Winery of the Year' in the 2026 Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Awards, marking a milestone for the country's wine sector on the international stage.

Karas cultivates over 400 hectares at elevations above 1,300 meters in Armenia's Ararat Valley

The estate, located in the Armavir region, grows both indigenous Armenian grapes and international varieties in mineral-rich volcanic soils. Karas has supported ampelographic research identifying more than 120 indigenous Armenian grape varieties, including Areni and Sireni, combining traditional clay vessel fermentation with modern viticulture.

Winery became first in Armenia to certify an organic vineyard

Karas has invested in solar energy, advanced drip irrigation and digitally managed water systems to address vineyard management challenges in the semi-arid Ararat Valley climate.

Toronto – September 15, 2026 -- Manulife has appointed Sarah Chapman as Global Chief Marketing & Customer Experience Officer, effective January 1, 2027, giving her oversight of brand, marketing and customer experience strategy for a company serving more than 37 million customers worldwide.

Chapman joins Manulife's Executive Leadership Team, reporting directly to CEO Phil Witherington

Chapman will lead Manulife's Global Marketing organization and report to President and Chief Executive Officer Phil Witherington. Witherington said the appointment reflects internal succession planning and cited Chapman's track record leading transformation as key to advancing Manulife's goal of becoming the top choice for customers.

Boca Raton – September 15, 2026 -- The national average price of diesel hit an all-time high of $5.85 a gallon on September 4, 2026, according to AAA, then climbed further to $5.9015 three days later, surpassing the previous record set in June 2022.

Diesel prices have risen more than 50% since the outbreak of war with Iran

A year ago the same gallon cost $3.71; on the eve of the conflict it cost $3.76. Six months of disrupted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and crude trading near $90 a barrel have added more than two dollars to a fuel that powers freight, agriculture, construction and a large share of the country's backup and off-grid electricity.

Lehigh Valley, Pa. – September 15, 2026 -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) will donate up to $15,000 to the Ceramic & Glass Industry Foundation and the Glass Manufacturing Industry Council through a donation tied to attendance at the 87th Conference on Glass Problems in Toledo, Ohio, running Sept. 14-17.

Air Products Foundation Ties Donation to Booth Visits

For each visitor to its exhibit and hospitality event, the Air Products Foundation will contribute $100, capped at a total of $15,000, to support the next generation of ceramic and glass professionals. The event runs 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on Sept. 14 and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on Sept. 15 in Salon 2 of the Renaissance Toledo Downtown Hotel.

Baltimore -- T. Rowe Price, which manages $1.87 trillion in client assets as of July 31, 2026, is rolling out Anthropic's Claude across its investment organization, giving portfolio managers, analysts and developers direct access to the AI system for research and tool-building.

Portfolio managers and analysts gain Claude Cowork for research synthesis

Investment professionals will use Claude Cowork to process large volumes of information and support multistep, knowledge-intensive workflows. The firm frames this as increasing capacity for research, analysis and debate rather than replacing analyst judgment.

Developers adopt Claude Code to build proprietary investment tools

T. Rowe Price's technology teams are deploying Claude Code to build and improve tools intended to enhance productivity across investment and operating workflows firmwide.

San Francisco – September 15, 2026 -- Voxel, an industrial intelligence company, has appointed Hal Mady as Chief Revenue Officer, Krishna Gopalakrishnan as Vice President of Perception and AI, and Asaf Elani as Field Chief Technology Officer, expanding its leadership team as the company ranks No. 71 on the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies.

Three executives join to scale go-to-market, AI and field engineering functions

Mady will lead Voxel's global go-to-market strategy and commercial operations. Gopalakrishnan will run the engineering organization behind the company's computer vision systems and operational AI models. Elani will serve as the technical bridge between enterprise customers and Voxel's product teams under a forward-deployed execution model, working directly with site leaders to convert applied AI models into enterprise-grade capabilities.

Pittsburgh – September 15, 2026 -- MSA Safety has launched the A1X, a next-generation WinGrip vacuum anchor that weighs 7 kg -- 35% lighter than its predecessor -- and cuts its diameter to 350 mm from 480 mm, aiming to speed up aircraft maintenance checks.

Redesigned pneumatics double anchoring positions per bottle

The A1X uses vacuum suction technology to create a non-invasive attachment point on aircraft wing surfaces, powered by refillable air or gas cylinders that generate the required negative pressure. A redesigned pneumatic system doubles the number of anchoring positions achievable with a single bottle, reducing how often technicians must carry replacement cylinders during time-critical checks.

Norwalk, Connecticut – September 15, 2026 -- Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) reported total crypto, cash and marketable securities holdings of $15.7 billion, with Ethereum holdings reaching 5,929,198 ETH as of September 7, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET.

Bitmine controls 4.9% of the entire ETH supply, nearing its 5% acquisition target

The company's ETH position equals 4.9% of the 122.0 million total ETH in circulation, putting Bitmine 97% of the way toward its stated 'Alchemy of 5%' goal just 15 months after launching its treasury strategy on June 30, 2025. Bitmine acquired 28,086 ETH in the past week alone, maintaining a streak of weekly purchases since the strategy's inception, a record the company says is unmatched by any publicly traded firm globally.

Boston – September 15, 2026 -- EMD Serono, Inc., the U.S. and Canada healthcare business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, has acquired two preclinical fertility drug programs from Boston-based biotech PostEra, the companies announced.

EMD Serono takes over two AI-designed oral fertility candidates

The deal covers PostEra's Follicle-Stimulating Hormone Receptor (FSHR) agonist program for ovarian stimulation in IVF and its Luteinizing Hormone/Choriogonadotropin Receptor (LHCGR) agonist program for male infertility and ovulation triggering. Both programs originated from PostEra's proprietary Proton AI platform, developed over the past two years to target small-molecule alternatives in Women's Health and Fertility, markets the company describes as almost entirely dependent on injectable medications.

Columbia, Md. – September 15, 2026 -- The Foundation Fighting Blindness has renamed its venture philanthropy arm, formerly the Retinal Degeneration Fund (RD Fund), to the Gund Vision Fund, honoring more than 50 years of support from Gordon Gund and the Gund family.

Fund has deployed $100 million into 20 companies since 2018

Since launching in 2018, the vehicle has managed more than $140 million in strategic capital and deployed over $100 million directly into a portfolio of 20 companies. It has syndicated with more than $1.5 billion in institutional capital from over 60 co-investors, positioning it as one of the most active venture philanthropy models in the retinal disease space.

Cupertino, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Seventy-nine percent of U.S. adults do not believe physical security in the country's buildings has significantly improved since the September 11 attacks, according to a new YouGov survey commissioned by Alcatraz AI. The poll, described as the first national survey measuring public trust in badge- and credential-based access systems 25 years after 9/11, found 76% of respondents believe office buildings never received security investment comparable to aviation.

Boise, Idaho – September 15, 2026 -- SWEAR, a digital content authenticity firm, has launched the Community Video Integrity Project, a program that lets municipalities and law enforcement agencies cryptographically verify surveillance footage from the moment it is recorded.

53% of Americans cannot reliably distinguish AI-generated video from authentic footage, Pew Research found in 2025

That erosion of trust is pushing public agencies to move beyond simply presenting video evidence toward proving its authenticity, particularly for investigations, courtroom use, and public accountability.

Charlotte, N.C. – September 15, 2026 -- Approximately 205 participants attended Carolina Complete Health Community Baby Showers held Sept. 2 across six North Carolina communities, connecting expectant and new parents with maternal and infant health resources.

Six cities hosted events with 17 community partners

Families gathered at Carolina Complete Health Community Connections Centers in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Lumberton and Raleigh. The events included participation from 17 community partners, expanding access to local services for prenatal care, breastfeeding, newborn care, nutrition and food assistance.

San Jose, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Arasan Chip Systems will test its full I3C IP portfolio at the MIPI I3C Interoperability Session in Taipei on October 19-20, 2026, alongside other industry vendors validating compliance with the sensor-control standard.

Arasan brings three I3C IP variants and software stack to Taipei testing

The company will run interoperability tests on its I3C Host IP, I3C Dual Mode IP -- which supports both host and device functions -- and I3C Device IP. Arasan will also validate its licensable proprietary I3C software stack during the session, held alongside the MIPI Member Meeting.

Old Town, Maine – September 15, 2026 -- The Wild Blueberry Association of North America (WBANA) has released a free consumer-education toolkit designed to simplify scientific terminology around plant compounds for reporters, educators, parents and caregivers ahead of the back-to-school season.

WBANA responds to rising consumer confusion over bioactive compound terminology

Colleen Craig, who leads WBANA's Health Research Committee, said the trade group observed a surge in consumer publications using bioactive compound terms when discussing wild blueberries, generating increased customer questions about phytonutrients such as anthocyanins and antioxidants. The toolkit, titled 'The ABCs of Phytonutrients: A Back-to-School Guide to Wild Blueberry Plant Power,' is positioned as a first-step communications resource for the industry.

Shenzhen – September 15, 2026 -- XtraMaker has surpassed $500,000 in Kickstarter pledges for its M1 Series desktop DTF printer, with the campaign set to close on September 13 at 8:45 AM PDT.

Super Early Bird pricing offers up to 54% off before tiers sell out

Backers who order before the deadline lock in discounted rates and qualify for exclusive final-countdown giveaways tied to the closing hours of the campaign.

M1 Series positions itself as the industry's first desktop DTF printer

The system prints designs onto PET film and transfers them onto fabric via hot-melt adhesive and heat pressing, targeting T-shirts, shoes and canvas bags. It combines printing, powdering, curing and air purification into a single compact unit, and includes G7-certified color accuracy, automatic white-ink circulation and built-in power backup.

Birmingham, Ala. – September 15, 2026 -- Tom Beckbe, the Birmingham-based outdoor apparel maker, has secured a minority investment from Cox Outdoors, the newest division of Cox Enterprises.

Cox Enterprises Backs Family-Run Outdoor Brand

Cox Outdoors was created to partner with leading outdoor consumer brands, targeting conservation initiatives and long-term generational growth rather than short-term returns. Alex Taylor, chairman and CEO of Cox Enterprises, said the partnership reflects shared family values and a conservation ethic between the two companies.

Founders Retain Control, Team and Operations

Tom Beckbe was founded in 2015 by Radcliff and Mary Menge and will continue to be independently run by its founders with the same team and values. Radcliff Menge, co-founder, said the Cox partnership will allow the company to deepen its focus on product quality, customer service and conservation support.