Supply Chain

Pune, India – October 02, 2026 -- The global electroplating market reached USD 16.45 billion in 2025 and is forecast to climb to USD 21.26 billion by 2034, growing at a 2.89% CAGR from 2026, according to new research from Maximize Market Research. Demand for corrosion-resistant, conductive and durable metal coatings across automotive, electric vehicles, electronics, aerospace, defense and medical devices is driving the expansion.

Asia Pacific dominates plating demand on automotive and electronics output

Asia Pacific led the market in 2025, underpinned by large-scale vehicle, PCB, connector and industrial equipment production across China, Japan, India and South Korea. North America and Europe remain significant, fueled by aerospace, defense and industrial applications alongside adoption of trivalent chromium and advanced wastewater-treatment systems to meet tightening environmental rules.

Huntington, W.Va. – October 02, 2026 -- Energy Services of America Corporation (Nasdaq: ESOA) will acquire substantially all operating assets of FAMCO, Inc., a West Virginia water and sewer infrastructure contractor, for a base purchase price of $6.95 million.

Energy Services structures deal with mixed cash-and-stock payment

Under the Asset Purchase Agreement, three-eighths of the purchase price will be paid in cash at closing, while one-half will be issued in Energy Services common stock shortly after the transaction closes. The remaining one-eighth will be withheld pending a post-closing true-up.

Palo Alto – October 02, 2026 -- PaleBlueDot AI has closed a $200 million Series C financing round led by ComputeCore, valuing the Silicon Valley-based AI infrastructure provider at $3.2 billion.

Funding round follows January's $150 million Series B

The new round builds on a $150 million Series B announced in January 2026. Existing shareholder B Capital participated again alongside other global investors.

Company has signed more than $5 billion in customer contracts

As of the end of September 2026, PaleBlueDot AI had accumulated over $5 billion in customer contracts. Customers in the U.S. and Japan together generated more than half of the company's monthly revenue.

Kalispell, Mont. – October 02, 2026 -- Vero Broadband, LLC, operating as Vero Fiber, has completed its merger with Montana Sky Networks Incorporated, known as MontanaSky, combining two broadband providers active in Northwest Montana.

Merger unites a 30-year-old local provider with a national fiber network operator

MontanaSky, founded in 1993 and operating offices in Kalispell and Libby, Montana, has spent more than three decades serving the Flathead Valley region. Vero Fiber, a subsidiary of VFN Holdings, Inc., specializes in fiber-to-the-premises networks and has expanded through acquisitions and investment in rural and underserved U.S. markets.

New York – October 02, 2026 -- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and America Makes have launched a searchable online database of additive manufacturing (AM) standards alongside a September 2026 Gaps Progress Report, giving manufacturers and regulators a clearer map of which safety and performance standards exist, which are in development, and where coverage is still missing.

Both tools originate from the Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC), a cross-sector body jointly led by ANSI and America Makes, as AM adoption expands into aerospace, medical devices, automotive, and defense applications where parts from different machines and manufacturers must perform consistently.

Gastonia, N.C. – October 02, 2026 -- Parkdale, Incorporated's subsidiary, Parkdale Advanced Materials, Inc., has acquired full ownership of CiCLO® technology, a patented biodegradable textile ingredient aimed at reducing microplastic fiber persistence in the environment.

Parkdale expands CiCLO beyond apparel into nonwovens, geotextiles and filtration

CiCLO technology has an established presence in apparel, home and hospitality textiles, sold through brands including Target, Walmart, Costco, Black Diamond, Stella McCartney, IHG Hotels, Billabong, Hanes and McDonald's. Parkdale now plans to push adoption into adjacent synthetic-fiber markets, including nonwovens for industrial and hygiene products, geotextiles, filtration, insulation and furnishings.

Concord, N.C. – October 02, 2026 -- Heintz Performance Inc. has acquired Woodward Machine Corporation, the exclusive steering supplier to the NASCAR Cup Series since 1995, in a deal brokered by Viking Mergers & Acquisitions.

Deal caps a 30-year supplier relationship between the two motorsports companies

Heintz Performance, a motorsports and performance retailer based in Concord, North Carolina, had worked with Woodward Machine for three decades before the acquisition. Jeff Edge, a senior advisor in Viking M&A's Charlotte office, represented the seller, Tony Woodward, in the transaction.

Norcross, Ga. – October 02, 2026 -- Koning Health has become an approved vendor under a new agreement with HealthTrust Performance Group, creating a streamlined purchasing pathway for HealthTrust member healthcare organizations to acquire the Koning Vera Breast CT system.

Agreement launched last month expands Koning's U.S. market access

The deal, which took effect in September 2026, marks a milestone in Koning Health's U.S. expansion strategy, giving the company a direct contracting route into HealthTrust's network of member hospitals, imaging centers and health systems.

Approved vendor status removes procurement barriers for buyers

David Georges, President of Koning Health, said the arrangement gives HealthTrust member organizations "a more direct path to evaluate and adopt Koning Vera," positioning the compression-free breast CT technology for broader deployment across U.S. clinical settings.

Las Vegas – October 02, 2026 -- Bold Penguin, the Digital Broker for commercial insurance, has entered a global strategic partnership with bolttech, an insurtech operating in 39 countries across four continents, to build a joint commercial and personal lines offering for agents, insurers and embedded partners in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Bold Penguin's U.S. customers gain access to bolttech's personal lines tools through one interface

The deal combines Bold Penguin's Digital Exchange, which matches commercial risks to best-fit markets from submission through real-time quote and digital bind, with bolttech's embedded distribution network and AI-enabled workflows spanning personal and commercial lines. Bold Penguin also contributes its DeX ai intelligence layer and integrated commercial carrier network to the arrangement.

Denver – October 02, 2026 -- Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) is constructing its third lunar communications ground station near Yuma, Arizona, advancing the world's first commercial lunar communications network toward full operational status.

Arizona site marks first US 20-meter antenna for KSAT Lunar network

The Yuma location will host the first 20-meter antenna in the United States dedicated to the KSAT Lunar network, which is designed to deliver continuous communications coverage between Earth and the Moon. Site preparation and foundation work are currently underway at the facility.