Rich Local Talent Pool Will Augment Firm’s Expertise and Bring Unique Experiences and Perspectives to Expanding U.S. Client Base
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / The Philippines has long been renowned for its talented workforce across various industries. However, in recent months there has been a significant focus on leveraging Filipinos’ deep proficiency and fluency in U.S. accounting and finance practices.
To tap into this extensive talent vein, Alpine Mar, a rapidly growing, modern-day accounting firm, has announced the opening of a new office in Santiago City in the Philippines. These offices will support 12 local Alpine Mar employees, while also providing a co-working space for students and other remote workers which the firm hopes will serve as an additional local recruiting vehicle.
“We are thrilled to be opening a new Philippines office and tapping into the region’s rich talent base of accounting and finance professionals, who will serve as a seamless extension of our domestic team and help support our rapidly growing roster of U.S. clients,” says Pablo Martell, CEO and Managing Partner at Alpine Mar. “We are also excited to leverage the co-working space as a means of identifying and attracting top-notch prospective hires to our firm.”
While demand for qualified accountants well-versed and familiar with U.S. accounting and finance practices is increasing, the supply of seasoned U.S.-based professionals is dwindling. Recent reports clearly show a downward trend, including a substantial decrease in CPA exam candidates in the U.S. in recent years.
With approximately 200,000 certified public accountants (CPAs) – many with experience at prestigious firms – the Philippines has emerged as a mecca for plugging the skills gap and overcoming the current U.S. CPA shortage in a cost-effective manner. Students, in particular, represent a prolific candidate and skills pipeline, especially considering their familiarity with technology and the industry’s concurrent “digital first” shift geared towards improving efficiency, accuracy and client service.
Alpine Mar’s new Philippines office will bring the firm’s total number of employees globally to 40, inclusive of partners.
Sia/LBG has been awarded a supplemental grant by the Gates Foundation to enhance its web-based cost and environmental impact modeling resource for pharmaceutical APIs Cost of Goods (COGs).
BALTIMORE, MD / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / Sia/LBG (formerly Latham BioPharm Group), the Life Science and Healthcare Business Line of Sia, a next-generation, global management consulting group, has been awarded a supplemental grant by the Gates Foundation to enhance its web-based cost and environmental impact modeling resource for pharmaceutical APIs Cost of Goods (COGs). This funding builds on the initial grant award, where Sia/LBG developed a web-based tool that allows clients to harness data from multiple systems to save time and resources by optimizing and understanding pharmaceutical COGs analyses earlier in development.
The new features will include COGs analysis for Drug Product formulation, Device manufacturing, Fill, Finish, Packaging for tablets/sterile products/unique presentations, as well as market demand forecasting. These enhancements are designed to broaden the tool’s user base, ensuring it remains a sustainable product for the global health community while also supporting potential commercial users beyond the global health sector.
Building on this foundation, Sia/LBG will continue collaborating seamlessly with the different teams across Sia. New features will be integrated by leveraging Sia/LBG’s life sciences technical consulting expertise alongside Sia’s leading artificial intelligence solutions and customer experience expertise.
“Our team turned a complex life sciences COGs and climate impact model into a web-based app, streamlining costing and improving reproducibility, version control, and data management for teams performing modeling, says Chris Peterson, Sia/LBG’s Managing Director of Strategy & Management Consulting. “Customers using the web-based application have already seen a reduction in time to input data by 40% and a decrease in manual touchpoints, leading to a more consistent evaluation of COGs.”
This meaningful program and enhanced new capability and product offering is consistent with Sia/LBG’s strategic commitment to serve as a world leader in Life Sciences and Healthcare consulting, as well as Sia’s Consulting for Good initiative.
The team is actively seeking additional application adopters to provide feedback on how the modeling resource can be utilized in both global public health and commercial pharmaceutical decision-making across the product development spectrum. Stakeholders interested in contributing to this dialogue are encouraged to contact Chris Peterson at cpeterson@lathambiopharm.com.
The new location serving a full menu of breakfast, brunch and lunch opens its doors on Monday, July 28th in Austin, Texas
AUSTIN, TX / ACCESS Newswire / July 28, 2025 / First Watch, the leading Daytime Dining restaurant serving breakfast, brunch and lunch, announced today it has opened a new location in Austin, Texas. The new restaurant located at 3500 E Parmer Ln, Suite 10140, Austin, Texas 78754, brings a chef-inspired menu and rotating seasonal offerings to a 4,253-square-foot space that seats more than 142 people, provides outside dining under a covered patio and serves signature housemade fresh juices at an indoor brunch bar. The restaurant will employ approximately 45 people.
To celebrate the opening of the new EastVillage, Austin, TX location, customers who dine in-restaurant during its first five days in business will receive free coffee with their meal. In addition, the first 120 customers to visit the new restaurant will also receive a custom, reusable travel mug.
“We’re thrilled to bring First Watch to EastVillage – a dynamic, walkable community that perfectly reflects our mission of connecting people over fresh, chef-inspired daytime meals. EastVillage’s blend of urban energy, green spaces, and neighborhood charm makes it an ideal setting for our newest restaurant. We look forward to becoming part of this vibrant community and offering a welcoming space where families and friends can gather, relax, and enjoy the comfort of a shared table.” – Dan Anfinson, COO of MHFW Restaurants LLC
First Watch’s curated menu takes an elevated approach to traditional breakfast, brunch and lunch that are made to order using farm fresh ingredients. The menu includes crave-able items such as Avocado Toast, Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, Farm Stand Breakfast Tacos and Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. The new restaurant offers healthy, flavorful favorites like house-made granola and pico de gallo, organic greens, house-roasted vegetables, cage-free eggs and 100% fresh-squeezed orange juice as well as more indulgent, classic offerings.
First Watch EastVillage will also offer options from the restaurant’s fresh juice bar – including the best-selling Morning Meditation (made with orange, lemon, turmeric, organic ginger, agave nectar and beet) – juiced in-house daily using only the highest quality fruits and vegetables. The new restaurant features First Watch’s brunch cocktail program, which allows guests to enjoy signature creations like the Blackberry Bramble Sangria (a signature blend of Merlot, mixed berries and apple with a squeeze of orange and lime) and Cinnamon Toast Cereal Milk (coconut rum, cold brew coffee, coconut milk and agave nectar).
Five times a year, First Watch offers a revolving seasonal menu that follows the sun to source the highest quality ingredients, wherever and whenever they are in season. This ever-evolving menu has featured items like Crab Avocado Toast, Pumpkin Pancake Breakfast, Elote Mexican Street Corn Hash and Watermelon Wake-Up fresh juice, among many others.
The interior brightly builds upon First Watch’s Urban Farm design prototype with the addition of warm blue tones, quartz countertops, and a subway-tile backsplash. A grab-and-go retail area will showcase Sweet Street’s line of GMO-free, additive-free desserts for purchase and the concept’s socially responsible and award-winning Project Sunrise coffee, grown by independent groups of women farmers in South America, called the Mujeres en Café. Communal tables as well as patio and bar seating make First Watch a great place for guests to work remotely in an approachable atmosphere.
First Watch serves its entire menu seven days a week from 7 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. for pickup, delivery and dine-in service. The restaurant also offers customers complimentary newspapers and free Wi-Fi Internet access.
For more information about First Watch, its menu offerings or to find the nearest location, visit firstwatch.com.
ABOUT FIRST WATCH First Watch is the leading Daytime Dining concept serving made-to-order breakfast, brunch and lunch using fresh ingredients. A recipient of hundreds of local “Best Breakfast” and “Best Brunch” accolades, First Watch’s chef-driven menu rotates five times a year and includes elevated executions of classic favorites alongside specialties such as its Quinoa Power Bowl, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Chickichanga, Morning Meditation fresh juice and signature Million Dollar Bacon. After first appearing on the list in 2022 and 2023, First Watch was named 2024’s #1 Most Loved Workplace® in America by Newsweek and the Best Practice Institute. In 2023, First Watch was named the top restaurant brand in Yelp’s inaugural list of the top 50 most-loved brands in the U.S. In 2022, First Watch was awarded a sought-after MenuMasters honor by Nation’s Restaurant News for its seasonal Braised Short Rib Omelet. First Watch operates more than 540 First Watch restaurants in 29 states. For more information, visit www.firstwatch.com.
ABOUT MAC HAIK RESTAURANT GROUP (MHRG) Mac Haik Restaurant Group (MHRG) is a division of Mac Haik Enterprises LTD (MHE), a diversified holding company headquartered in Houston, Texas. MHRG oversees a growing portfolio of original and franchised concepts, including Kirkwood-a modern clubhouse-style restaurant opening in Houston’s Energy Corridor-and Maggie’s Coffee. MHRG is also the largest franchisee of First Watch Restaurants and was named Franchisee of the Year in 2024. MHE’s broader holdings include Mac Haik Outdoor Media, Mac Haik Hospitality, and Mac Haik Automotive Group, which operates 16 dealerships across the South. Learn more at machaik-enterprises.com.
Oak HC/FT and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) co-lead investment to accelerate the deployment of Ambience’s AI platform to transform clinical and administrative workflows for health systems across the country.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / Ambience Healthcare, the leading ambient AI platform for documentation, coding, and clinical documentation integrity (CDI), today announced a $243 million Series C round to scale its AI platform for health systems. The round was co-led by Oak HC/FT and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from existing investors including the OpenAI Startup Fund, Kleiner Perkins, and Optum Ventures. New investors in the round include Frist Cressey Ventures, Town Hall Ventures, Smash Capital, Georgian, and Founders Circle Capital.
Ambience was architected with the understanding that health systems are not monolithic enterprises. They span ambulatory clinics, emergency departments, and inpatient hospitals – each with distinct workflows, specialties, and clinical and administrative demands. Ambience integrates directly into the EHR to meet this complexity, enabling its platform to adapt to the unique context of each care setting and specialty without requiring workflow redesign or staff retraining.
Building on its foundation of industry-leading ambient scribing, Ambience has grown into the leading end-to-end platform for documentation, coding, and clinical workflow support that operates across the full continuum of care. Today, it supports more than 100 ambulatory subspecialties, EDs, and inpatient specialties, producing structured, compliant documentation that improves clinical quality, reduces administrative burden, and drives revenue-cycle performance. The platform is powered by proprietary AI reasoning models purpose-built to handle the nuanced regulatory, clinical, and operational demands of real-world healthcare.
“The market response to Ambience goes beyond customer satisfaction – it reflects genuine customer love,” said Vig Chandramouli, Partner at Oak HC/FT. “Ambience has developed a comprehensive AI platform that not only works across specialties and integrates seamlessly with EHR systems, but also meets the rigorous standards of compliance teams – a rare and powerful combination. We’re proud to support them.”
Ambience is now used by leading health systems across the United States, including Cleveland Clinic, UCSF Health, Houston Methodist, and Memorial Hermann. Adoption has been fastest in high-complexity subspecialties, the emergency department and inpatient settings – areas with the greatest documentation burden. In recent KLAS evaluations, Ambience achieved a 97.7 customer satisfaction score, with top marks for product quality and responsiveness. It is also the first ambient solution with third-party validated, CFO-approved ROI tied to improved coding accuracy and compliance.
“Documentation has long been a source of friction,” shares CEO Michael Ng. “Ambience is turning it into a source of strength – transforming how clinicians deliver care, how administrators run operations, and how patients experience the system.”
For clinicians: Automates documentation with ambient listening, preps them with specialty-specific chart summaries, and simplifies complexity with built-in features like ICD-10 assistant and real-time compliance engine – all directly inside their existing EHR workflow. This reduces cognitive burden and documentation time, freeing clinicians to focus on delivering their best patient care.
For administrators: Standardizes workflows across coding, quality, CDI, prior authorization, and utilization management by producing complete, compliant documentation in real time. Built-in support includes CDI & ICD-10 coding assist and structured chart output tailored for operational review – all at leading levels of compliance from data captured throughout the entire clinical workflow.
For patients: Enhances understanding and care follow-through with contextually aware ambient listening and clear after-visit summaries. With Ambience handling documentation in the background, clinicians stay more engaged – strengthening trust, communication, and overall care experience.
“When we first backed Ambience at the seed, we saw the potential for their ambient AI product to be the wedge into a number of essential clinical workflows over time,” said Julie Yoo, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). “In a space now crowded with point solutions, the exceptional team at Ambience has executed impressively over the years by expanding into a robust platform, grounded in real clinical needs-tailored to subspecialties, trusted by frontline providers, and delivering clear value to health systems. We’re honored to continue to support Ambience to bring AI to the places where it’s needed the most in healthcare.”
With this new funding, Ambience will continue expanding its AI platform across health systems and accelerate the delivery of products that make administrative tasks invisible, data accurate by default, and care teams more effective everywhere.
About Ambience Healthcare
Ambience Healthcare is the leading AI platform for documentation, coding, and clinical workflow, built to reduce administrative burden and protect revenue integrity at the point of care. Trusted by top health systems across North America, Ambience’s platform is live across outpatient, emergency, and inpatient settings, supporting more than 100 specialties with real-time, coding-aware documentation. The platform integrates directly with Epic, Oracle Cerner, athenahealth, and other major EHRs. Founded in 2020 by Mike Ng and Nikhil Buduma, Ambience is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by Oak HC/FT, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), OpenAI Startup Fund, Kleiner Perkins, and other leading investors.
Exclusive Concepts, EK Creative and Go Fish Digital, all Agital companies, now operate under one name with a new look, integrated strategy, and AI-enabled tools built for scale
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / Go Fish Digital, a digital marketing agency within the Agital portfolio, announced a new brand identity that brings together three high-performing Agital companies, Go Fish Digital, Exclusive Concepts, and EK Creative, under a single, unified name. Alongside this consolidation, the agency is unveiling an updated visual identity that reflects its evolved positioning: a performance-driven partner built to help modern marketers stay ahead with speed, transparency, and results.
This brand refresh also includes the launch of Barracuda, a proprietary suite of AI-powered marketing tools developed by Go Fish Digital’s in-house experts. Barracuda supports execution across all service areas, technical SEO, paid media, digital PR, content, analytics, and social commerce, giving teams real-time insights and automation that drive superior outcomes. These tools are built by marketers, for marketers, and are already powering growth for clients across many industries.
The brand transformation reflects a strategic journey that began in early 2024. Exclusive Concepts, one of the first eCommerce-focused digital agencies in the U.S., became part of Agital and brought nearly three decades of leadership in paid media and full-funnel planning. EK Creative, also integrated into Agital that year, quickly rose to prominence as one of the first TikTok agency partners, leading in social commerce, affiliate, and live shopping activations. Go Fish Digital, already a respected authority in SEO and content marketing, added its reputation for innovation and digital PR leadership. Now, these three teams operate as one under the Go Fish Digital name, with deeper specialization, broader capabilities and a stronger shared vision.
“This relaunch reflects the powerful expertise we’ve brought together,” said David Dweck, General Manager of Go Fish Digital. “By combining these three results-focused teams, we’ve created a more agile and strategically aligned agency. Clients now get an integrated approach, AI-enhanced execution, and a seamless experience, backed by years of proven results.”
The new identity emphasizes clarity, precision, and partnership. As the industry rapidly evolves, Go Fish Digital equips brands to navigate change confidently with actionable insights, streamlined solutions, and a clear point of view. The updated design system, digital experience, and visual language reinforce the agency’s role as a proactive guide, helping clients see around corners and stay ahead of what’s next.
“This is more than a new look. It’s a clear signal that we’re here to lead, with stronger tools, seamless execution, and a relentless focus on performance,” said Jamie Farrell, Chief Marketing Officer at Agital.
The launch of Barracuda further strengthens that promise. Designed to streamline execution and unlock scale, Barracuda gives teams the ability to test, adapt, and optimize faster than ever.
“Barracuda was purpose-built to solve real marketing challenges,” said Dan Hinckley, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Go Fish Digital. “It pairs our exceptional talent with intelligent automation, allowing clients to move quickly and compete confidently.”
The new Go Fish Digital identity is now live across all digital platforms and client channels. It represents a modern performance agency built for the pace and complexity of today’s digital landscape.
To explore the new identity and learn how Go Fish Digital helps brands outsmart, outplay, and outperform, visit www.gofishdigital.com.
The new partnership combines Third Bridge’s world leading library of expert interviews with Portrait’s AI-driven research tools, streamlining how institutional investors blend qualitative insight with quantitative analysis.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / Portrait Analytics, the leading personalized AI-powered investment research platform, today announced a strategic partnership with Third Bridge, a leading global expert network and investment research provider. Embedding Third Bridge’s unparalleled library of high-quality expert interviews directly into the Portrait platform will create a one-stop research environment for institutional investors.
This collaboration addresses a growing need in public market investing: combining state-of-the-art AI capabilities with powerful qualitative insights from trusted experts. Instead of switching between siloed tools or stitching together AI workflows manually, investors can now leverage AI to seamlessly surface real-time expert perspectives at the moment they’re discovering, researching, and monitoring an investment thesis.
“Investors are excited by AI’s potential to add leverage to the research process, but are struggling to integrate this technology with critical data sources,” said David Plon, CEO and co-founder of Portrait Analytics. “Integrating Third Bridge’s extensive library of expert insights and company intelligence into our leading AI platform is a major step towards helping our users fully unlock the value of this research for creative idea generation and thesis development.”
This partnership benefits institutional investors, particularly hedge funds and asset managers who rely on expert interviews as part of their research process. Third Bridge subscribers on the Portrait platform can now instantly leverage the collective insights from thousands of experts through Portrait’s deep research workflows. For instance, an analyst researching GLP-1s can now leverage Portrait to analyze thousands of expert conversations about downstream impacts on medical devices, food companies, and insurers, uncovering non-obvious investment opportunities.
“Portrait’s platform is the perfect environment to unlock even more value from our trusted library of expert insights,” said Mike Grubert, Managing Director at Third Bridge, “This collaboration underscores our commitment to providing the world’s decision makers with access to the high-quality insights they need, whenever and wherever they need them. Together, we’re giving our mutual clients a faster, smarter way to conduct due diligence and develop differentiated insight into investment opportunities.”
ABOUT PORTRAIT ANALYTICS:
Portrait Analytics is a personalized AI-powered investment research platform that supports critical public market workflows across idea generation, context-building, and thesis monitoring. Built by former buy-side analysts, Portrait is headquartered in New York with a presence across the U.S. and Europe. Learn more at https://www.portraitanalytics.ai.
ABOUT THIRD BRIDGE:
Third Bridge is a global investment research business, providing investors and business leaders with access to the unique expert insights they need to accelerate and improve their decision-making. Founded in 2007, it has 1,500+ employees who serve the world’s top private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, and management consulting firms. Learn more at: www.thirdbridge.com.
Hybrid-Fueled Ramjet to Enable Throttleable, Restartable Missile Systems for Enhanced A2/AD Penetration
COCOA, FLORIDA / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / Vaya Space announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a SBIR Phase II in the amount of $1,236,406 focused on the development of the Hybrid-Fueled Ramjet, a throttleable and restartable hypersonic missile propulsion system, to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF). The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018, which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded, and now on July 9, 2025, Vaya Space will start its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.
“This Phase II award represents a significant advancement in hypersonic propulsion and a strong vote of confidence in Vaya’s hybrid technology. Our Hybrid-Fueled Ramjet introduces a new class of adaptable missile propulsion; combining throttleability, restart capability, and mission-tailorable thrust to meet the dynamic demands of modern defense. We’re proud to help shape the future of strategic capability for the United States,” stated Vaya Space Chief Executive Officer Kevin Lowdermilk.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense or the U.S. government.
About Vaya Space
Vaya Space is a privately owned company based on the Space Coast and leveraging patented Vortex-Hybrid engine technology to disrupt both the Space and Defense markets. Visit VayaSpace.com for more information.
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. With a workforce spanning across nine technology areas and 40 other operations around the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit afresearchlab.com.
About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 320 military, civilian and contractor personnel at four hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has awarded over 10,400 contracts worth more than $7.24 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit afwerx.com.
BOZEMAN, MT / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / Rivers are Life, a network of River Heroes who are invested in the protection of rivers around the world, today announced a partnership with Wildrye Distilling, a celebrated Montana-based craft distillery, to release “The Confluence Collection” – a limited-edition series of four unique whiskeys inspired by the iconic rivers of Montana.
Crafted with care and purpose, The Confluence Collection features:
The Jeff: A rye whiskey finished in port casks, echoing the heritage of the Jefferson.
The Maddy: A bold, free-spirited wheated bourbon as untamed as the Madison.
The Gally: Rye barrel, Montana single malt capturing the power of the Gallatin.
The Mo: A blend of all three, celebrating the confluence and creation of the Missouri.
Each bottle pays tribute to one of four vital Montana Rivers – the Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin, and Missouri – all of which play a key role in supporting the state’s ecosystem, agriculture, local communities, culture, and beyond.
A portion of proceeds from all sales will benefit Montana-based river protection group, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper, to protect fishable, swimmable, drinkable water throughout the 25,000 sq. miles of Montana’s Upper Missouri River Basin. They accomplish this mission by actively engaging with citizens, stakeholders and decision makers, utilizing water-quality monitoring and best-available science and, when necessary to protect waterways and communities, insisting on compliance with the law. Upper Missouri Waterkeeper believes healthy, clean waterways go hand-in-hand with strong communities and therefore focus both on stopping pollution and on sustainable, long-term solutions to issues threatening Southwest and West-Central Montana.
“Through this collaboration, we’re raising a glass not just to great whiskey, but to the rivers that shape our lives and landscapes,” said Katie Horning, Vice President of Marketing at Rivers are Life. “Partnering with Wildrye lets us celebrate Montana’s waterways in a bold, flavorful way, all while giving back to the rivers that inspire us.”
“Partnering with Rivers are Life on The Confluence Collection has been a natural fit,” said Sten Anderson, Co-Founder of Wildrye Distilling. “Montana’s rivers fuel our way of life-and our craft. We’re proud to help protect these waters so future generations can explore, enjoy, and raise a glass to them too.”
A limited run of The Confluence Collection will be packaged as a complete set in a sustainably crafted custom case by Woodchuck USA. With each box sold, a tree is planted in parts of the world with the biggest need for reforestation – a fitting tribute to the partnership’s mission to protect our planet.
We’ll be hosting a release party for the Confluence Collection at Wildrye Distilling on Wednesday, July 30th from 6pm-8pm. Stop by to learn more about the partnership, enter to win incredible raffle prizes, enjoy some amazing live music, hand-crafted cocktails, and food from neighboring restaurants.
CEO, adjunct professor and educational leader, Dr. Belinda Reyes, was honored at the 2025 commencement ceremony.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / American College of Education® (ACE) selected Dr. Belinda Reyes – CEO, author, adjunct professor and educational leader – as its 2025 Alumni Achievement Award recipient. A first-generation college graduate and second language learner, Dr. Reyes’ career of nearly 30 years has included transformational initiatives for dual language and VPK-12 education.
In a speech delivered at ACE’s 2025 annual commencement ceremony, Dr. Reyes shared, “It’s with deep humility and immense gratitude that I stand before you, not just as a doctoral graduate, but as living proof that the vision of American College of Education to serve, lead and achieve is not only noble, it’s transformative … I’m part of a new generation of scholar-practitioners because ACE met me where life demanded I be – present as a mother, wife and leader.”
In her previous role as assistant superintendent, Dr. Reyes made history as the first former second language learner from her hometown school district to return and serve in a Cabinet-level position on the Superintendent Leadership Team.
Among many outstanding contributions throughout her career, Dr. Reyes notably led her district’s response to the displacement of nearly 3,000 non-English speakers following Hurricane Maria in 2018, securing support and implementing targeted strategies that resulted in a 93% graduation rate for affected students. Her doctoral research at ACE examined the impact of dual language education in closing achievement gaps between English Language Learners and their monolingual peers. It was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of English Learner Education and recognized at numerous conferences.
“We’re incredibly proud of Dr. Reyes and her influential career,” ACE President and CEO Geordie Hyland said. “The annual Alumni Achievement Award is an opportunity to recognize and highlight an ACE graduate who has not only accomplished earning a degree but has elevated what they’ve learned into meaningful contributions and positive change in society.”
Dr. Reyes is ACE’s 13th annual recipient.
About American College of Education
American College of Education (ACE) is an accredited, fully online private college specializing in high-quality, affordable programs in education, business, healthcare and nursing. Headquartered in Indianapolis, ACE offers more than 60 innovative and engaging programs for adult students to pursue a doctorate, specialist, master’s or bachelor’s degree, along with graduate-level certificate programs.
July 29, 2025 – Article was updated to reflect changes to the sub headline
MASV Express significantly reduces latency for performance-sensitive environments, accelerating transfers by up to 3.5X
OTTAWA, ON / ACCESS Newswire / July 29, 2025 / MASV (massive.io), the fastest and most reliable large file transfer platform for media professionals and an IDC Innovator 2025 for Media & Entertainment*, today introduced MASV Express, a breakthrough in scalable file delivery designed for today’s fast-moving enterprise media environments.
MASV Express is a next-generation, enterprise-grade performance feature built on the same trusted MASV platform that customers around the world rely on for fast, scalable, and secure file delivery. Now, with MASV Express, enterprise workgroups and creative teams get the best of file delivery: MASV Express moves files from origin to the destination without first needing the complete file in MASV’s secure container. This way, Express can accelerate file transfer speeds by up to 3.5X, dramatically accelerating turnaround time on top of MASV’s already super-fast file transfers and preserving MASV’s operational agility.
MASV Express keeps content flowing smoothly through any network environment, ensuring the fastest, most reliable, and most secure delivery experience available. No other enterprise file transfer platform delivers this powerful combination of speed, simplicity, scalability, and uninterrupted performance. Express builds on MASV’s current capability to overcome any point-to-point delivery issues-like propagating outages and network congestion-by preserving reliability of the file transfer while decreasing turnaround times.
“File transfer is no longer just a utility; it’s a strategic advantage,” says Majed Alhajry, CTO of MASV. “MASV Express sets a new standard for the industry with the fastest, most scalable, and most agile file transfer platform available. With direct delivery, enterprise and creative teams can move massive files at speed without bottlenecks or infrastructure hurdles. MASV Express is purpose-built for modern, dynamic media operations, seamlessly connecting legacy systems with emerging platforms to keep content flowing and teams operating at peak performance.”
Breakthrough Speed with Cut-Through File Transfer MASV Express introduces cut-through file transfer-a performance-enhancing innovation that reduces latency and enables faster multi-destination delivery, even in congested or unreliable network environments.
Global Scalability, Zero IT Dependency MASV Express runs on the proven MASV network, backed by AWS, delivering reliable, full-speed transfers no matter the recipient’s bandwidth. Need more bandwidth to cover a major election, global sporting event, or breaking news? MASV scales instantly with no extra hardware, software, or IT coordination required. MASV is ready when you are.
Speed to Air MASV Express supports growing files, allowing transfers to start while the file is still being written, a critical capability for today’s real-time environments like sports and news, where every second counts. Leagues, broadcasters, and digital publishers are under constant pressure to deliver highlights, recaps, and exclusive content across OTT, social, YouTube, and broadcast channels, often within moments of the live action. MASV Express gives teams the speed and reliability they need to stay ahead in the race for audience attention.
Enterprise-Grade Security With support for SSO, fine-grained user-access controls, and flexible authentication methods, MASV Express meets the stringent security and compliance needs of large teams and media enterprises, without slowing them down.
Built for the Work You Do MASV Express was developed in direct response to real production needs, removing manual steps, accelerating speed, and eliminating traditional chokepoints:
Offloading footage from OB trucks to post-production in real time, including growing files, without overloading standard IP networks.
Meeting fast-turnaround deadlines with instant scalability and sub-minute setup.
Simplifying cloud migration for broadcast workflows while maintaining continuity with existing systems.
Transferring large batches of time-sensitive news footage from remote locations reliably and at speed.
Enabling hybrid workflows with seamless delivery between cloud and on-prem environments.
MASV Express will be available mid-summer 2025. Contact sales@masv.io to learn more, or visit www.massive.io.
*Recently, MASV was named an IDC Innovator in the IDC Innovators: Media and Entertainment, 2025 (doc #US52275525, May 2025) report.
About MASV
MASV is a cloud-based large file transfer platform designed to orchestrate and secure file movement worldwide to meet fast-paced and nimble workflows. Global media organizations rely on MASV to automatically deliver their large files without any restrictions, allowing them to concentrate on their next big deliverable. To learn more and try MASV for free, visit massive.io or contact team@masv.io.
