· *AOL's billionaire cofounder Steve Case runs the DC-based venture capital firm Revolution.*
· * Case is convinced that the future of American startups lies outside of Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston, which receive 75% of all venture capital in the US.*
· *Since 2014, he has gone on seven "Rise of the Rest" bus tours to encourage entrepreneurship across the country, for a total of 38 cities outside of the three main VC centers.*
· *Late last year, he launched the $150 million Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and put "Hillbilly Elegy" author and former Valley investor JD Vance in charge. It includes limited partners like Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Bridgewater's Ray Dalio.*
· *While the investments are considerable, the factor that's making the biggest impact on entrepreneurs in smaller cities is the relationships Case facilitates.*
· *This article is part of Business Insider's ongoing series on Better Capitalism.*

--------------------

At 9:50 on a Friday morning in May, I was on a bright red bus with a billionaire investor, a celebrity author, and the governor of Kentucky.

I had joined Steve Case and his venture capital firm, Revolution, for a 12-hour day of touring Louisville, culminating in a pitch contest that's was like a condensed, and significantly kinder, version of "Shark Tank" with a $100,000 prize.

Case, 59, is the billionaire cofounder and former CEO of AOL. Since 2005, he's led more than $1 billion in startup investments through Washington, DC-based Revolution. He's always been primarily interested in investing outside of the three main entrepreneurial centers — Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston — but in the past four years he's defined and concentrated his efforts on what he calls the "Rise of the Rest."

As the person behind the first iconic internet company, Case is now attempting to become a power broker of the next major wave of innovation in the United States, and he's already made significant progress.

Case has used his DC location to its potential, lobbying for startup-friendly laws like the JOBS Act of 2012 and working on President Barack Obama's jobs council in 2011. It was around this time that he became convinced the modern world was approaching a massive technological and societal shift, and that if the US didn't get ahead of it, its citizens and economy would fall behind. The entrepreneurial hegemony of the Valley was a construct whose purpose was wearing thin.

It was time for other cities across the country, many only just emerging from depressed or stagnant economies, to take advantage of the so-called "Internet of Things" becoming the "Internet of Everything;" the shift from novelties like app-controlled light bulbs to industry-transforming developments like new methods of collecting livestock and crop data.

Case decided that he was not only going to bet his money on this upcoming shift, he was going to do whatever he could to usher it in. He would show Americans that startup culture shouldn't be reserved for the coastal elites, and he'd do it in a way that grabbed the public's attention.

Case and his team rented a luxury coach bus, wrapped it in a custom full-body sticker with "Rise of the Rest" logos, and kicked off a four-day tour from Detroit in 2014. Case made use of his connections and clout to include the mayor, governor, and his friend Dan Gilbert, CEO of Quicken Loans and major real estate developer. The day included visits to new startups in the "rising" city and ended with a startup pitch contest with a $100,000 prize from Case's pocket. The day received local coverage and provided a rough idea of what could work, but it was fairly lowkey relative to what it would become.

When I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky this past May for the final two stops on the seventh Rise of the Rest tour, upwards of 600 members of the public attended each of the pitch competitions. Despite the lighthearted fanfare, the tours were treated with the utmost seriousness. Local political leadership and entrepreneurs alike were not only advocating for specific companies, but were using the day to explain to a bus-load of influential investors why their hometown deserved as much respect and recognition as any of the big three VC markets.

It was also the first tour to draw from the $150 million Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. Instead of using only his personal wealth, Case was now working with a sum gathered from almost 40 of the most prominent investors in the country, including Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio. He put JD Vance, a former Valley investor best known for his hugely successful memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," in charge of the fund.

I had known of the influence Case had as an investor and that his portfolio proved he truly believed in this notion of the "Rise of the Rest," but I was still skeptical about the bus tours. I wondered if they were anything more than a vanity project, a collection of photos and videos with a decent check attached, but not one that was going to uplift a community.

After spending two days on the bus tour and talking with dozens of locals in both cities I visited, it became clear that Case is tapping into something with a lot of momentum. A decked-out bus and a camera crew is a spectacle, sure, but that's the point. These bus tours and pitch contests aren't going to magically transform cities overnight, but they're giving these communities a publicity boost to ride out, and, more importantly, a network that now includes 38 cities across 26 states, and contains some of the most influential business people, politicians, and academics in the country.

It remains to be seen if this seed fund is going to yield the big returns Case and his team are looking for. The first three years of the Rise of the Rest, where Case used his own money, were somewhat of a beta test for this larger initiative which, in addition to the bus tours, will also include a total of 20 annual investments.

Regardless of how the fund performs, Case and his team have already convinced thousands of Americans that their startups and their cities can thrive, and that's leading to them build things they never would have otherwise.

*Bringing the bus to town*

That morning in May, when I was on the bus in Louisville, Case was uncharacteristically quiet, checking his itinerary and notes as conversation swirled around him. Normally, he speaks in a low register at an energetic pace, his sentences often bleeding into each other. In the time I spent on the tour, he seemed inexhaustible, despite the week's relentless schedule.

But right then, he was overshadowed by Vance, who was leaning across the aisle to chat with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.

Vance, who built his public image on overcoming struggles with poverty while growing up in Ohio and Kentucky, helps bring attention to the Rise of the Rest initiative through the star power he gained from his massive bestseller — I even saw Bevin ask for his autograph. Vance lights up in one-on-one conversations, and throughout the tour, I saw guests approach Vance to tell him about their projects.

Case, Vance, and the team start their tour days on tour at around 7 a.m. and go for 12 hours. That morning, we were leaving behind an outdoor breakfast at the Angel's Envy distillery, where Bevin, Mayor Greg Fischer, and Senator Rand Paul spoke about the need to accelerate entrepreneurship in Louisville (and, in the case of Paul, announce he would vote against confirming Gina Haspel to lead the CIA). Case believes strongly that alliances with state, local, and federal government will be essential for the growth of rising startup communities over the next few decades, and Revolution has consistently initiated these conversations in each of its Rise of the Rest stops.

From there, we drove around the city, meeting seasoned entrepreneurs with fast-growing companies, novice founders with new startups, and local power brokers.

Case and Vance often split up at these stops, each taking about half of the bus group. Each visit has elements for the cameras — in Louisville, we visited an axe-throwing facility that provided plenty of photo ops — but the Revolution investors, like the guests they invite, are constantly taking notes on potential new investments or partnerships. 

A day earlier, as we toured Branch Technology's robotics factory in Chattanooga, I noticed Rise of the Rest partner Mary Grove grab Case's attention and quietly chat as they closely watched a 3D printer create a complex grid. Later, I asked Case what he and Grove were discussing. He said that at each stop, he and his team make sure to highlight great businesses and initiatives for local and national media, but they're also looking for the best company to put their money in. Case believed that Branch was good enough to represent its city in the press, but he and Grove needed to know if it would fit in the Rise of the Rest portfolio. Case told me this approach to impact investing is like "building a model home."

"We want great returns for the fund but we also want to showcase the companies to others," he said, explaining that they want the companies they invest in to symbolize the unique opportunities in that specific region.

In Louisville, our last stop was at the Speed Museum's auditorium, a beautiful glass-encased space where several hundred people arrived for conversations about their city and a competition.

And in the same way that the 12-hour day is the result of four months of planning by Revolution partner Anna Mason, the series of seven or eight four-minute pitches the team deliberated for about 15 minutes each at that night's pitch contest came after careful due diligence done prior to the tour.

One of Louisville's predominant industries is healthcare, and the medical device company InScope Medical took home the prize. The previous night in Chattanooga, the winner was FreightWaves, a data analytics and media company for freight trucking that takes advantage of its founder and CEO Craig Fuller's family connection to Chattanooga's robust freight industry, one of the biggest in the country.

A few days after winning, Fuller announced on FreightWaves' site the $100,000 would go toward educational grants or relocation fees for new talent, depending on what was needed. "An investment of that size is not going to move the needle for the city unless it's directly invested in encouraging job and economic growth in the region," Fuller wrote, noting that his goal is to make FreightWaves — which expects $13 million in revenue this year and, following the tour, closed a $15.75 million Series A round — Tennessee's first company worth $1 billion.

Although not every city's winner so neatly links the city's tradition with a startup moving it into the future, it was not at all a coincidence that both of these companies represented that.

"I see what's going on in the next wave of innovation, the next wave of technological change, as really depending on things that places like Chattanooga are good at, as opposed to the things that Silicon Valley are good at," Vance told the audience at the Chattanooga breakfast event. It's about changing a community's perception of itself, so that it can both play to its strengths and retain young talent that would otherwise flee. He said he and Mason passionately agree that "folks should not try to brand themselves as the Silicon 'X' of their particular area." What makes these Rise of the Rest cities great, he explained, is that they're building on a legacy of connections and expertise in areas the Valley simply can't.  

*The country is bigger than three states*

After just two days with the Revolution team, I had memorized Case's talking points that he brings to every speech. They explain the reason he's doing all of this in the first place.

A full 75% of venture capital in the United States goes to three states: California, New York, and Massachusetts. Half of all venture capital goes to Silicon Valley alone. That's data gathered by CB Insights, which also found that a minuscule 1% of all this VC money goes to black entrepreneurs. And regardless of race, the vast majority of founders funded are male. If the US wants to remain the most entrepreneurial nation in the world, and it should want to, says Case, then these figures must change.

Fostering these diverse startup communities, he continues, will then drive job growth that will benefit entire cities. Case cites a 2014 Kauffman Foundation report that says startups account for a full half of all new job creation in the US.

Case details his vision further in his 2016 book, "The Third Wave," using two borrowed phrases he's reinterpreted. The title is one of those phrases, coming from futurist Alvin Toffler's identically titled book from 1980 about how the shift to the "Information Age" is the third most significant transformation in all human history. Case uses it specifically to refer to the third wave of the internet, which has just begun.

The first wave, he argues, lasted from 1985 to the popping of the online bubble in 1999, and was about establishing a foundation based around PCs. It's the environment in which his company AOL thrived. The second wave lasted from 2000-2015 and was about developing search, social media, and ecommerce. It led to the ubiquity of the smartphone. The third wave began just a couple years ago, and is about "the internet of everything," where virtually every aspect of our life will have an online component, to the point where internet connectivity will no longer be seen as a perk. 

This is where "the rise of the rest" fits in. That, by the way, is borrowed from the subtitle of journalist Fareed Zakaria's 2008 book "The Post-American World." Zakaria was referring to China and India, but Case uses it to represent cities that aren't New York City, Boston, or in the Bay Area.

Case argues that the companies that will thrive in the Third Wave will not benefit from being in a tech ecosystem, despite using cutting-edge technology. These companies will be in industries that are often highly regulated, like healthcare and agriculture, and will not be scrappy startups setting out to disrupt industries from the outside; rather, they will succeed through partnerships with established leaders and institutions.

"It may make sense, for example, for a company that wants to revolutionize the agricultural industry to settle in the Midwest, where the right supply chains already exist and the culture of farmers is best understood," Case wrote in his book. "A company that wants to disrupt the healthcare industry might find that doing it in Nashville or Baltimore, both of which have developed vibrant healthcare sectors, might make more sense than doing it from Palo Alto or New York City."

These "rising" cities Case identifies typically have young startup scenes, and some, like the one in Chattanooga, emerged after years of economic struggle began to fade. He saw firsthand the power of startups on communities when AOL sparked the creation of a previously barren tech corridor in northern Virginia.

So far, Case has invested about $3.5 million across the seven Rise of the Rest bus tours. Until this past tour, Case invested from his personal wealth. Nine additional investments across the country were made ahead of the last tour, with an additional one after it.

Revolution would not disclose indicators of performance for its fund. However, Amazon purchased Partpic (for an undisclosed amount) a year after it won a 2015 competition in Atlanta, and Omaha winner LifeLoop told Silicon Prairie News last December it had grown its customer reach fivefold in the year since its Rise of the Rest investment to serving 100 communities across 20 states. As shown by the Chattanooga and Louisville examples, some of the Rise of the Rest investments are just starting to build momentum, while others, like FreightWaves, are already scaling.

The Rise of the Rest Seed Fund is one of three funds at Revolution, and Case and his team don't see it as operating in a vacuum.

"So $150 million in the great scheme of things is not a huge fund — we get that," Case told me earlier this year. "But if we, in fact, are on average doing 10% of rounds, we're really helping catalyze, mobilize, more like $1.5 billion of capital. And then if we have this group of investors who are well-positioned to write $50 million checks down the road, hopefully it ends up being many billions of capital that gets unleashed here." 

Megan Smith, President Barack Obama's former CTO and the founder and CEO of startup accelerator Shift7, joined the fund as an LP in February and was in Chattanooga. She told me that her work in the White House proved to her that Case's thesis is correct, and that not only are Case and his team well-respected among investors, "They're doing the leg work for them," by discovering and cultivating talent in markets that could potentially benefit their portfolios and corporations. She's most excited by the way both the entrepreneurs and investors can leverage the Rise of the Rest network, and, as an MIT board member, she connected Branch Technologies to the MIT Media Lab, even though it didn't take home the 100 grand the day it competed.

"These are national scale, maybe even global scale companies," Case told me, referring to highlights of the last tour, even beyond those in the competitions. "They just happen to be in Louisville, they happen to be in Chattanooga, so they shouldn't just have regional ambitions. They can go the distance."

*Setting out in 1804*

In June of 2016, Case spent a day in Louisville in a hybrid book tour-bus tour trip arranged by Chuck Denny, the regional president of PNC who oversees Greater Louisville and is in charge of developing the market and establishing his bank's visibility. Denny, who got his bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville in 1975 and his MBA from there in 1980, has made it part of his mission at the bank to improve his beloved hometown as much as possible. Denny had actually been a guest for the Nashville day of the first bus tour, back in 2014.

Denny accompanied Case to the tarmac where Case's private jet was parked, and the Revolution founder's words were so inspirational and the scene so dramatic that Denny kept a photograph of it in his office for inspiration.

"You have one of everything here," Case told Denny. "But it's scattered. It needs to be in one place to be easier for the entrepreneurs to access, and to have this density." Case explained that Louisville would benefit greatly from an entrepreneur center like the one they have in Nashville.

"I called it my John Wayne moment," Denny told me, laughing. "He imparts this wisdom on us, and then he rides off."

Just over a year later, the 1804 entrepreneurship center opened, named after the year Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out from Louisville on their famous expedition.

It ended up being a key stop on the 2018 bus tour, concluding a chapter in a story that captures the effectiveness of the Rise of the Rest tours: how relationships can enact significant change.

Denny first invited Case to Louisville in 2016 because he was on the first bus tour, at the invitation of Michael Burcham, the founder and CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (the same one 1804 is modeled on). From that visit came the advice that built 1804, which then led to Denny mobilizing his network to successfully lobby for Louisville to be the first Rise of the Rest city to get a second bus tour. Now, that second tour is already helping 1804 grow.

Brit Fitzpatrick, who runs 1804's business development, told me that she and the rest of 1804's leadership are focused on fostering diversity in greater Louisville's entrepreneur community and opening up access to capital by educating founders about taking investments and connecting them to investors.

The Rise of the Rest tour, even though it lasted just 12 hours, already helped move both of those agendas forward in a significant way, Fitzpatrick told me.

Case said that he and the Rise of the Rest team deliberately find diverse candidates for the pitch competitions, and work with local leaders to invite organizations specifically empowering groups like female entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color to be part of the tour. He told a story at 1804 about how in one of the tour's earliest stops, there was an event where only white men were in attendance, and he's avoided having that happen again. 

Fitzpatrick said that the day in Louisville helped "bring people to the conversation who weren't typically there."

She told me this networking element was by far the most valuable aspect of the tour. And while she said she's not yet at liberty to share details, she's already working on partnerships started from conversations she had on the bus that will launch later this year.

"If there's nothing else I've learned from entrepreneurship, and probably business in general, it's that it all comes down to relationships," Fitzpatrick said, "and I don't know of any experience that facilitates those more strategically than the Revolution team."

*SEE ALSO: AOL founder Steve Case is traveling the US investing in local businesses through his $150 million seed fund — here are the 5 most recent entrepreneurs to get $100,000 each*

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San Francisco hotel welcomes guests to their reimagined lounge with a special room package

Burlingame, CA, June 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront has completed the renovation of the hotel’s popular hot spot - Flights 101 Lounge. To celebrate the renovation, the hotel is offering a room package with a $50 food and beverage credit to enjoy the updated Flights 101 Lounge. 

Located in the center of the lobby, the chic new design of Flights 101 Lounge has transformed the space - creating an inviting, contemporary focal point for locals and visitors to enjoy. With three-story floor-to-ceiling views of the bay, including a patio that overlooks the landing strips of San Francisco International Airport, the bar and restaurant offer one of the Bay Area’s best experiences. San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront recently elevated the guest experience throughout, with an extensive renovation of the guest rooms and meeting space. The completion of the Greatroom renovation and Flights 101 Lounge, marks a comprehensive $24 million upgrade to the entire hotel. 

*THE ATMOSPHERE *
Flights 101 Lounge offers the best of both worlds. For work or for play, the well-designed space is ideal for gatherings or stealing a moment alone. The back bar boasts a four-screen television multi-plex media wall with the option to view four different channels or see a single event on the big screen. For custom viewing, Flights 101 Lounge offers an app that allows guests to access the audio of their favorite program playing on the four-screen media wall from their personal device. Complimentary Wi-Fi is also available for guests. Charger-accessible seating emulates the work-hard personality of Silicon Valley while the fun, local-centric food menu and creative beverages echo the play-hard nature of the city.

*THE LOOK *
The design was the work of Patricia Lopez of Baskervill Architecture & Planning in Richmond, Virginia. Inspired by the waterfront location, the space subtly marries the indoors with the outdoors, showcasing incredible views. The Greatroom is dressed in shades of gray with rich wood tones accented by chrome and copper details. Lush carpeting washed in blues and tans represents the sand and shore. Mid-century modern furnishings are perfectly positioned to create intimate gathering spots within the vibrant space. Plush, quilted club chairs surround wood grain tables for comfortable dining. Sleek sofas, leather armchairs and coffee tables offer the comforts of a modern living room. Communal seating is available at a long, gray stained table, set at an attractive angle in the heart of the lively surroundings. The expansive 25 seat bar is crowned by a magnificent chandelier with hundreds of cascading crystals that mimic the shape of water. Beautifully appointed outdoor patio space, complete with fire pits, overlooks the San Francisco International Airport landing strips, capturing one-of-a-kind views along the Peninsula waterfront.

*THE MENU *
Locally sourced and deliciously inspired, the menu at Flights 101 Lounge is right on time. The menu is focused on appetizers, small plates and entrées designed for arrival at your table within five, 10 or 20 minutes. With fresh seafood, creative California dishes and the craved and raved about Black Angus Beef Burger – the Flights 101 Lounge offers something for everyone to enjoy.  A diverse and innovative beverage menu showcases signature and barrel-aged cocktails, an array of local craft beers and regional wines. Chef Dion Hawkins and his culinary team often conduct Chef Tastings in Flights 101 Lounge to test new menu items and gather inspiration from guests.

*THE SPECIAL OFFER *
To celebrate the renovation, San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront is offering overnight accommodations with a $50 food and beverage credit at Flights 101 Lounge and complimentary in-room Wi-Fi. For more information and to make your reservation, please see our special offer.

*FLIGHTS 101 LOUNGE*
Flights 101 Lounge is located in San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront Hotel at 1800 Old Bayshore Highway in Burlingame, California and is open daily from 2:00 p.m. to midnight. Parking is complimentary for guests who dine or drink at Flights 101 Lounge. San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront Hotel is owned by Xenia Hotels & Resorts.

*About Marriott Hotels*

With over 500 hotels and resorts in 64 countries and territories around the world, Marriott Hotels is evolving travel through every aspect of the guest's stay, enabling the next generation to Travel Brilliantly. Boldly transforming itself for mobile and global travelers who blend work and play, Marriott leads the industry with innovations, including the Greatroom lobby and Mobile Guest Services that elevates style & design and technology. Marriott Hotels is proud to participate in the industry’s award-winning loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®. Members can now link accounts with Starwood Preferred Guest® at members.marriott.com for instant elite status matching and unlimited points transfer. To learn more, visit www.MarriottHotels.com. Stay connected to Marriott Hotels on Facebook, @marriott on Twitter and @marriotthotels on Instagram.*
*

*About Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc.*

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is a self-advised and self-administered REIT that invests primarily in premium full service and lifestyle hotels, with a focus on the top 25 U.S. lodging markets as well as key leisure destinations in the United States. The Company owns 38 hotels, including 36 wholly owned hotels, comprising 10,852 rooms, across 17 states and the District of Columbia. Xenia's hotels are primarily in the luxury and upper upscale segments, and operated and/or licensed by industry leaders such as Marriott®, Hyatt®, Kimpton®, Fairmont®, Hilton®, and Loews®, as well as leading independent management companies including Sage Hospitality, The Kessler Collection, Urgo Hotels & Resorts, and Davidson Hotels & Resorts. For more information on Xenia's business, refer to the Company website at www.xeniareit.com.

# # #

*Attachments*

· Restaurants in San Francisco
· Hotel Offers in San Francisco

CONTACT: San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront
1800 Old Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, California 94010 USA
1 650-692-9100
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sfobg-san-francisco-airport-marriott-waterfront/ Reported by GlobeNewswire 2 hours ago.

Out of 100 metro areas nationwide, Verizon is unbeaten in 76 as ranked by an independent tester

NEW YORK, June 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- We’ve reached a milestone with the results in for 100 of the 125 metro areas tested as part of the 1H 2018 U.S. RootMetrics® Metro Rootscore Reports. As the nation’s most rigorous, independent scientific study, RootMetrics has declared Verizon undefeated in 76 of these 100 metro areas.*How does Verizon Remain on Top for Customers?*

“Our millions of customers across the country enjoy a consistently superior network experience because our engineers focus every day to deliver the network you can count on,” said Tami Erwin, Verizon’s Executive Vice President of Wireless Operations. “We are committed to delivering the best customer experience not just on our network, but on the plans you choose as well. Starting today, you can mix and match different Verizon unlimited plans – all on the same, easy-to-manage account.”

From Chicago to Dallas, from LA to New York, and dozens of markets in-between, Verizon has you covered. Here are the metro areas where Verizon remains unbeaten:

*Alabama*   *Idaho**  ** *   *Oklahoma * 

Mobile   Boise   Tulsa
         
*Arizona**  *   *Illinois*   *Oregon**  *
Phoenix   Chicago   Portland
Tucson        
    *Indiana**  ** *   *Pennsylvania*

*Arkansas** *   Fort Wayne   Allentown
Little Rock   Indianapolis   Harrisburg
        Pittsburgh
*California*   *Louisiana**  ** *   Scranton
Antelope Valley   Baton Rouge    
Bakersfield   Shreveport   *Rhode Island* 

Concord       Providence
Fresno   *Massachusetts*    
Indio   Boston   *Tennessee** *

Los Angeles       Chattanooga
Modesto   *Michigan*   Memphis
Riverside   Detroit   Nashville
Sacramento   Flint    
San Diego   Lansing   *Texas* 

San Francisco       Dallas
San Jose   *Mississippi*   El Paso
Stockton   Jackson   Houston
Victor Valley       McAllen
    *Missouri*   San Antonio
*Colorado*   Kansas City    
Colorado Springs   St. Louis   *Utah**  *

Denver       Ogden
    *Nebraska*   Provo
*Connecticut**  *   Omaha   Salt Lake City
Bridgeport-Stamford        
Hartford   *Nevada * * *   *Virginia** *

    Las Vegas   Hampton Roads
*Florida*   Reno    
Jacksonville       *Wisconsin * 

Kissimmee   *New York**  ** *   Madison
Miami   Buffalo   Milwaukee
Orlando   Hudson Valley Region    
Pensacola   New York City   *Washington, DC** *

Sarasota   Syracuse    
         
*Georgia** *   *North Carolina *    
Atlanta   Raleigh    
Augusta        
    *Ohio**  *    
*Hawaii*   Cincinnati    
Honolulu   Dayton    
         

*Consistently Recognized By Many Independent Third Parties*

Nationwide, we continue to have an overwhelming lead over the competition across the vast majority of third party tests, due to our consistent network investment and deployment of the latest technologies. Just this year, Verizon was ranked #1 in the nation for a record ninth time in a row by RootMetrics®*; received more awards than any other wireless provider in the J.D. Power Wireless Network Quality Performance Study** (20th time in a row); was recognized as best in streaming***; and in April was found to deliver the best real-world download speeds by Tutela, a widely installed network testing software, with over 250 million devices globally.****

*What does this mean for you?*

Having lots of awards from multiple independent testers is nice, but that’s not why we’ve built the nation’s best, most reliable wireless 4G LTE network, the largest in the country covering 2.5 million square miles. We’ve built it so you’ll be able to use your device when and how you want to. Whatever matters most to you – whether it’s streaming music or a movie, watching your favorite pro football team during preseason on Yahoo! Sports, sharing that perfect moment with your friends, or connecting with loved ones to make sure they are OK after extreme weather or other emergency  – you can do it best with Verizon.

2018 promises even more exciting technology firsts for our customers, including our next generation 5G network. To learn more about some of those improvements and the work our engineers are doing, check out these videos on why we’re Best For a Good Reason.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) (Nasdaq:VZ), headquartered in New York City, generated $126 billion in 2017 revenues. The company operates America’s most reliable wireless network and the nation’s premier all-fiber network, and delivers integrated solutions to businesses worldwide. Its Oath subsidiary reaches about one billion people around the world with a dynamic house of media and technology brands.

VERIZON'S ONLINE MEDIA CENTER: News releases, stories, media contacts and other resources are available at www.verizon.com/about/news/. News releases are also available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.

*Rankings based on the RootMetrics US National (2H 2017) and Metro (1H 2018) RootScore Reports. Tested with best commercially available smartphones on 4 national mobile networks across all available network types. Your experiences may vary. The RootMetrics award is not an endorsement of Verizon. Visit www.rootmetrics.com for more details.

 ** Verizon Wireless received the highest numerical score among wireless service providers in the J.D. Power 2017 (V1 & V2) & 2018 (V1) U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Studies rating it Highest Wireless Network Quality Performance across the Nation. 2018 V1 study is based on 38,595 total responses, measuring the network quality experienced by customers with wireless phones, surveyed July-December 2017. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

*** Based on Verizon interpretation of Nielsen Video Test data collected nationally between 10.1.17 and 3.31.18

**** Verizon customers received the best overall download speeds across the U.S., according to a study of United States’ mobile performance in April by Tutela. During a typical-activity network test, Verizon users received a download speed of 21 Mbps, with AT&T at 14Mbps, T-Mobile at 11.75, and Sprint at 8.51Mbps on average, across the country.

*Media Contact: 
*Laura Merritt
614-561-2605
Laura.merritt@verizonwireless.com
twitter.com/MerrittLBliss Reported by GlobeNewswire 51 minutes ago.

Company’s momentum reflects growing need for high-resolution, extremely accurate 3D data and solutions

McLean, VA, June 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vricon, a global leader in 3D data and solutions, today announced that it has more than doubled its year-over-year sales growth rate and set a record pace for new customer acquisition.

Vricon serves the global professional geospatial market with world-leading 3D geodata and 3D visualization solutions. With direct access to the world’s largest global imagery archive, Vricon uses automated 3D image-processing algorithms inside a state-of-the-art high-performance computing environment to produce its high-resolution 3D data and solutions for government and commercial clients. Use of 3D geodata helps users to see the world as it really exists, explain what they're seeing more clearly, and better convey their findings to decision makers.

Vricon has greatly increased and diversified its government-sector portfolio.  From early 2017 to today, Vricon increased its support to foreign government clients, who now generate roughly 35 percent of Vricon revenue. Vricon also grew its US Government (USG) client base by 67 percent; USG clients account for slightly less than 50 percent of total Vricon revenue.

On the commercial side, “the real excitement is coming in the telecommunications sector,” said Eric Von Eckartsberg, Vricon Chief Revenue Officer. “As recently as last year, we expanded into the telco market, where we immediately picked up new clients and quickly grew this nascent opportunity to approximately 11 percent of our 2017 revenue. We anticipate explosive growth in this sector throughout 2018.”

Vricon’s expansion into the telecommunications sector reflects a critical need for telecommunications companies to navigate the rapid changes happening throughout the industry. With an increasing number of connected devices, high-definition content, and new services, the demands on networks are accelerating and growing exponentially; telecommunications companies need cost-effective, next-generation geodata solutions that allow them to design networks that can perform optimally for 4G LTE but can also accommodate the 5G environment to empower smart homes and the Internet of Things.

“The company’s momentum reflects the growing need for high-resolution, extremely accurate 3D data and solutions,” said Magnus Brege, Vricon CEO. “When we launched the company in 2015, we initially targeted the defense community. But other industry sectors quickly recognized the power of Vricon 3D products and solutions to create new opportunities effectively and overcome their challenges. We’re also building an international commercial clientele, who now contribute over 7 percent to our revenue and is growing quickly.” 

Vricon, which just celebrated its third birthday, has achieved a number of other timely milestones:· By early 2018, Vricon increased sales by 130 percent over the previous 12 months, enabling the company to become debt free.
· In just the first quarter of 2018, Vricon generated $10 million in revenue.
· In February 2018, Vricon launched its new Telco Suite, a comprehensive, cost-effective, next-generation solution for the telecommunication sector.
· In 2017, Esri—the market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software—became a Vricon reseller, opening the door to many new and diverse customers who now can use Esri tools to work with Vricon 3D data to support public safety, energy, and other key sectors.

“Vricon’s mission is to build The Globe in 3D by producing photorealistic 3D products and digital elevation models with unmatched coverage and delivery timelines,” adds Brege. “It’s not just a tag line — we’re really doing it, as the company’s financial and technical achievements demonstrate.”

About Vricon 

Vricon serves the global professional geospatial market with world-leading 3D geodata and 3D visualization solutions. Vricon is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. For further information, visit http://www.vricon.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

*Attachment*

· Untitled design (1)

CONTACT: Craig Brower
Vricon
703-283-4588
craig.brower@vricon.com Reported by GlobeNewswire 41 minutes ago.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. He's negotiated a compromise immigration bill and hopes it will pass without Democratic votes. Reported by NPR 8 minutes ago.

Former CFO Mark Baumgartner Returns as Strategic Advisor

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., June 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Liberty Tax, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAX) (“Liberty Tax” or the “Company”)Liberty Tax, a leader in the tax preparation industry, today announced that, as anticipated, it received a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department (the “Staff”) of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) indicating that the Company’s Class A common stock would be subject to suspension and delisting as a result of the Company’s continued non-compliance with Nasdaq’s filing requirement, as set forth in Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) (the “Rule”), unless the Company timely requests a hearing before a Nasdaq Hearings Panel (the “Panel”).

Liberty Tax intends to timely request a hearing before the Panel, which request will automatically stay any suspension and delisting action by the Staff for a period of 15 days. The stay may be extended at the option of the Panel upon the Company’s request and support of same and, as such, the Company intends to ask the Panel for a further stay concurrent with its request for a hearing and pending the ultimate conclusion of the hearing process.

At the hearing, the Company intends to present its plan to regain compliance with the Rule and intends to request the continued listing of its Class A common stock on Nasdaq while it works to become current in its periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Forms 10-Q for the periods ended October 31, 2017 and January 31, 2018, which remain delinquent.  Under the Nasdaq Listing Rules, the Panel may, in its discretion, grant the Company an extension of up to 360 calendar days from the due date for the initial delinquent filing (the Form 10-Q for the period ended October 31, 2017), or December 10, 2018. There can be no assurance that the Panel will grant the Company’s request for a further stay or extension to evidence compliance with the Rule or that the Company will be able to evidence compliance with the Rule within the period of time that may be granted by the Panel.

The Company expects to promptly engage a new independent public accounting firm to complete the review of the Company’s financial statements and periodic reports and is working diligently so that it is in a position to bring its SEC filings up to date.

In addition, Liberty Tax is pleased to announce that Michael Piper became the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective June 15.  Additionally, former Chief Financial Officer of the Company Mark Baumgartner will return to the Company to serve as an outside strategic advisor and consultant.

“Both Mike and Mark are familiar with Liberty Tax as they were instrumental in building the Company’s success during their previous tenures,” said Liberty Tax CEO Nicole Ossenfort. “The knowledge and experience they bring will bolster Liberty Tax’s position as an industry leader and innovator.”

Piper brings more than 30 years of financial, operational and strategic experience to the role. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer of CDYNE Corporation, a privately held web service solution provider. Before that, Piper served as the Company’s Vice President of Financial Products and in other roles at the Company including Director of Finance and Director of Financial Products.  He worked for the Company for 13 years before moving to CDYNE Corporation. Piper also served in senior roles in accounting and finance with three publicly traded companies, and he worked for a time at Ernst & Young.

Baumgartner is well-respected across the industry and by the Liberty Tax franchise base. He spent more than 10 years with Liberty Tax as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer before retiring in 2014. He currently serves as Audit Committee Chairman of the privately held Business Financial Services, Inc.

The appointments of Piper and Baumgartner reflect Liberty Tax’s strategy to build a winning corporate structure that integrates the knowledge and experience of franchisees with the talent and expertise of corporate executives.

*About Liberty Tax, Inc.*

Founded in 1997, Liberty Tax, Inc. (NASDAQ:TAX) is the parent company of Liberty Tax Service. In the U.S. and Canada, last year, Liberty Tax prepared over two million individual income tax returns in more than 4,000 offices and online. Liberty Tax's online services are available through eSmart Tax, Liberty Online and DIY Tax, and are all backed by the tax professionals at Liberty Tax locations and its nationwide network of seasonal tax preparers. Liberty Tax also supports local communities with fundraising endeavors and contributes as a national sponsor to many charitable causes. For a more in-depth look, visit Liberty Tax Service and interact with Liberty Tax on Twitter and Facebook. 

*Forward Looking Statements*

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which provides a “safe harbor” for such statements in certain circumstances. The forward-looking statements include statements or expectations regarding the Company’s intentions to engage a new independent public accounting firm and to timely request a hearing and stay of suspension before the Panel and related matters.  These statements are based upon current expectations, beliefs and assumptions of Company management, and there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and speak only as of the date on which they are made, actual events could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including but not limited to the loss of key personnel or inability to engage accounting personnel as needed; the failure to engage an independent public accounting firm to complete the review of the Company’s financial statements and periodic reports; uncertainties relating to the ability of the Company to cure any delinquencies in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules; and risks relating to the substantial costs and diversion of personnel's attention and resources due to these matters and related litigation and other factors discussed in greater detail in the Company’s filings with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements and to consult the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other SEC filings for additional risks and uncertainties that may apply to the Company’s business and the ownership of the Company’s securities. The Company’s forward-looking statements are presented as of the date made, and the Company does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

*MEDIA CONTACT:*
Martha O’Gorman
Chief Marketing Officer
Liberty Tax Service
(888) 848-5344 
martha@libtax.com Reported by GlobeNewswire 31 minutes ago.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., June 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE:HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division has begun scheduled overhaul work on the nuclear-powered submarine USS Boise (SSN 764).The Los Angeles-class submarine arrived at Newport News on Monday and will undergo planned maintenance and repair activities pierside before it will be moved to a dry dock in January 2019. The extended engineering overhaul, which includes system upgrades, will take 25 months and is expected to be completed in 2021.

“Submarine fleet support work represents a significant increase in our workload and provides a critical balance for public and private shipyards,” said Bill Smith, Newport News’ vice president of fleet support programs. “We have been preparing for Boise’s availability and looking forward to returning the submarine back to the fleet.”

Newport News laid USS Boise’s keel in August 1988, and the submarine was delivered to the U.S. Navy in September 1992.

A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/file?fid=5b2811f02cfac24fa318fd44.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII’s Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII’s Technical Solutions division provides a wide range of professional services through its Fleet Support, Integrated Missions Solutions, Nuclear & Environmental, and Oil & Gas groups. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs nearly 39,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit:

· HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com
· HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries
· HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries

Contact:

Duane Bourne
Duane.A.Bourne@HII-co.com
(757) 380-3581 Reported by GlobeNewswire 21 minutes ago.

A school in Virginia is being renamed for former President Barack Obama and shedding its original honorific for a Confederate general. Reported by Newsmax 5 hours ago.

A 15-year-old corgi named Pepper got lost in his West Virginia neighborhood after a storm, but the owner of a popular dog Twitter account found him and used his platform to help the lost pup Reported by CBS News 5 hours ago.

Donald J. Tata Engineering Scholarship Awarded to Marlborough, MA and Natick, MA High School Seniors

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. (PRWEB) June 19, 2018

Tata & Howard, Inc., a leading innovator in water, wastewater, stormwater, and environmental services engineering solutions, announced it’s 2018 Donald J. Tata Engineering Scholarship winners. Graduating seniors from Marlborough High School, Igor De Moraes and Amanda Vilensky; and seniors from Natick High School, Kevin Zheng and Rebecca McCue, each received the $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Tata & Howard and the Tata family.

This annual scholarship was instituted in memory of Donald J. Tata, P.E., co-founder and former CEO of Tata & Howard, Inc., who passed away in March of 2017. The scholarship which is valued at $1,000, is presented to a graduating Marlborough High School senior who is attending a four-year college or university to pursue a degree in engineering. This year for the first time, the scholarship was expanded to include Natick High School graduates, Mr. Tata’s hometown for over 30-years.

"We had several well qualified applicants for the Donald J. Tata Engineering Scholarship and it was challenging to make our final decisions,” said Jenna W. Rzasa, P.E., Co-President of Tata & Howard. “Don would be pleased to see so many smart and well-rounded students interested in a career in engineering.”

“We are all impressed with the academic achievements and ambitious goals from these talented students,” stated Karen L. Gracey, P.E., Co-President of Tata & Howard. “As future engineers, it is so exciting to imagine what these promising young individuals will accomplish in their careers.”

###

Natick High School Scholarship Recipients:

Kevin Zheng, an AP Scholar with Distinction, graduated from Natick High School with highest honors and participated in numerous unique extracurricular activities. One notable activity was to create the largest Stick Bomb with a group of friends, that was ultimately held by the Guinness Book World Records. He facilitated engineering and computer science activities to thousands of daily visitors at the Museum of Science in Boston and was recognized by both houses in the Massachusetts State Legislator on the topic of Saving Energy. Mr. Zheng plans to attend Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts, majoring in computer engineering.

A member of the National Honor Society, Rebecca McCue also excelled at tennis and volleyball. She was a member of the Key Club, who volunteered at several community service projects, which included building projects for disadvantaged Appalachian families in West Virginia. Ms. McCue participated in Physics for Engineers, a year-long course for seniors, that are self-motivated and have a strong background in math and science. She plans to study Environmental Engineering.

###

Marlborough High School Scholarship Recipients:

Amanda Vilensky, a member of both the National Honor and the National Art Honor Societies, is an accomplished student and artist. Through her work with the Environmental Club at school, she developed a passion for engineering and its problem-solving methodology for critical ecological issues. Ms. Vilensky plans to attend the University of Vermont to further her education in Environmental Engineering.

Fluent in both English and Portuguese, Igor De Moraes is a member of the National Honor Society and a STEMbassador, who mentored other students in Math and Science. A curiosity in renewable energy encouraged him to hypothetically experiment with piezoelectric tiles for the school’s gymnasium to produce electricity. Mr. De Moraes is a gifted athlete, excelling in football, track, and competed in Ping Pong competitions. He was also an officer in the Latin Club. Studying Mechanical Engineering, Mr. De Moraes will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the fall.

###

About Tata & Howard, Inc.
Founded in 1992, Tata & Howard, Inc. is a 100% employee-owned water, wastewater, stormwater, and environmental services consulting engineering firm dedicated to consistently delivering cost-effective, innovative solutions in the water environment. Tata & Howard has gained a solid reputation as an industry leader in the Northeast by bringing knowledge, integrity, and dedicated service to all sized markets, both public and private. With offices in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Arizona, Texas, and Ontario, Canada, Tata & Howard’s expansion has included projects in Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, and Brampton, Ontario.

For more information: Tata & Howard Reported by PRWeb 6 hours ago.

West Virginia regulators have issued two additional violation notices to the Mountain Valley Pipeline project Reported by Seattle Times 4 hours ago.

Nation’s Leading Frozen Yogurt Chain Re-Opens Gloucester, VA and Huntsville, AL Locations, Hosting First Day of Summer (June 21st) Celebration at Gloucester, VA Store

RICHMOND, Va. (PRWEB) June 19, 2018

sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt, the nation’s leading frozen yogurt chain, named America’s Best Frozen Yogurt by The Daily Meal, and a Top New Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine, will celebrate the First Day of Summer this Thursday (June 21st) by hosting a Free Yogurt Day at the Gloucester, VA location (6826 Walton Lane, Gloucester, VA 23061).

Gloucester sweetFrog guests will enjoy free servings of their favorite sweetFrog flavors – complete with delicious toppings – from open to close on Thursday, June 21st, to honor the store’s recent reopening. This celebration comes on the heels of the Gloucester location’s Grand Re-Opening event that was hosted on Saturday, June 16th.

sweetFrog’s CEO, Patrick Galleher, is thrilled the frozen yogurt chain’s award-winning name will remain a fixture in the Gloucester community.

“We’re thankful to be a popular choice for families looking for a sweet escape from the summer heat,” said Galleher. “We consider each of our stores a big part of the surrounding community— a key ingredient of a successful local economy. With the continued support of sweetFrog frozen yogurt fans, we’re looking forward to serving customers for years to come in Gloucester, across the country, and around the world.”

A refresh of the store’s interior design awaits customers who attend Free Yogurt Day at the Gloucester location on June 21st. Local customers in Gloucester and Huntsville, Alabama have already been enjoying this design refresh, and the new and improved in-store experience it offers, since both stores re-opened earlier this June (Gloucester on June 7th and Huntsville on June 9th). Local families in Huntsville can also expect their own Grand Re-Opening event on June 30th. The locations of both stores are as follows:· Gloucester - 6826 Walton Lane, Gloucester, VA 23061
· Huntsville - 5001 Whitesburg Drive , Suite 103 Huntsville, AL 35802

The Gloucester and Huntsville re-openings occurred soon after sweetFrog’s successful acquisition of five Hoopla stores in New York.    Another two-store acquisition in Reno, Nevada and a Grand Opening for the brand’s first military base location in Fort Belvoir, VA are coming in July as well.

Galleher says all of these developments are part of sweetFrog’s dedication to smart and sustained franchise system growth.

“With 340 locations and growing, we’re one of the hottest franchises in the country,” said Galleher. “Whether we’re taking over existing locations or launching brand new stores, we’re a best-in-class brand with no plans of slowing down. It’s an exciting time at sweetFrog, and we’re only getting bigger and better as we grow with our fantastic franchise partners.”

For more information about sweetFrog frozen yogurt, please visit http://www.sweetfrog.com.

For more information about the sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt franchise opportunity, and re-brand and acquisition opportunities, please visit http://sweetfrog.com/franchising.

About sweetFrog Frozen Yogurt:
sweetFrog (http://www.sweetfrog.com) is the fastest growing self-serve frozen yogurt restaurant company in the country. With a wide selection of premium frozen yogurt flavors and fresh toppings choices, sweetFrog was named Best Frozen Yogurt in the USA by The Daily Meal in 2014 and 2016. sweetFrog has 340 stores and mobile units including retail, mobile trucks and non-traditional locations (such as sporting venues) in twenty-seven states in the U.S and the Dominican Republic. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Richmond, Virginia. sweetFrog prides itself on providing a family-friendly environment where customers can enjoy soft-serve frozen yogurt, ice cream, gelato and sorbets with the toppings of their choice. The company was founded on Christian principles and seeks to bring happiness and a positive attitude into the lives of the communities it calls home. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.

Wayne Homes has announced the promotions of Tracy Gershom to Executive Vice President of Sales and Construction and Jen Collinsworth to Senior Vice President of Sales.

UNIONTOWN, Ohio (PRWEB) June 19, 2018

Wayne Homes, an Ohio-based custom homebuilder, has announced the promotions of Tracy Gershom to Executive Vice President of Sales and Construction and Jen Collinsworth to Senior Vice President of Sales.

In her new role as Executive Vice President of Sales and Construction, Gershom will have responsibility for all aspects of the company’s sales and construction functions, including sales, starts, closings, and customer experience.

“Tracy believes strongly in our systems and is an advocate for an excellent customer experience,” President and Chief Executive Officer George Murphy said. “The list of Tracy’s past responsibilities and accomplishments with Wayne Homes is long. She has been with us through our private to public (Centex) to private ownership transitions and is Wayne Homes through and through.”

Gershom began her career with Wayne Homes began in 1989 as the sales manager for the Akron-Medina office. In 1997, she was promoted to Newark Division President and was responsible for all aspects of the division’s performance, including sales and construction, customer experience, and every aspect of the day-to-day operations.

When Wayne Homes became a private company in 2008, Gershom was promoted to Vice President of Sales, and most recently, Senior Vice President of Sales.

Collinsworth will take over the role of Senior Vice President of Sales. She will have responsibility for all aspects of the company’s sales functions and will work with Gershom and the Regional Directors of Sales to continue improvements in the sales process and execution of sales experience for customers visiting our model centers.

“Jen’s thirteen years of experience have made her an invaluable leader for Wayne Homes,” Gershom said. “For the last year, she has been dedicated to training to increase her sales and management skills, which have contributed to many improvements for our sales teams.”

Collinsworth began her career with Wayne Homes in 2005 as the Delaware office Sales Manager before later transferring to the Newark office. In 2013, she was promoted to Regional Vice President of Sales, leading five of the sales offices to growth and improving the sales processes.

“I’m passionate about developing talent within the organization and the impact that it has on both internal and external customers,” Collinsworth said. “The additional responsibilities of my new role provide the opportunity to collaborate with the brightest minds in the building industry (our team) to enhance our customer’s experience, create a culture of fun, and lead an incredible team to succeed in the service of sales.”

For more information about Wayne Homes, or to inquire about job opportunities, visit WayneHomes.com.

About Wayne Homes

Wayne Homes is a custom home builder in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia (see all Model Home Centers). We offer nearly 50 customizable floorplans and a team dedicated to providing the best experience in the home building industry. For more information, Ask Julie by live chat or call us at (866) 253-6807. Reported by PRWeb 5 hours ago.

A 15-year-old corgi named Pepper went viral after getting lost in a storm in West Virginia. The owner of popular Twitter account "We Rate Dogs" just happened to find Pepper, and fate helped bring the lost pup home. Reported by CBS News 3 hours ago.

A Virginia city is rebranding its only school named after a Confederate general to honor the United States' first black president.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Reported by Delawareonline 29 minutes ago.

An attorney's argument that a grand jury in West Virginia has served too long could result in hundreds of indictments being dismissed Reported by Seattle Times 45 minutes ago.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam says he's recalling members of the state's National Guard from the U.S.-Mexico border because he's unhappy with a federal policy of separating immigrant children from their families Reported by Seattle Times 46 minutes ago.

Bravatek increases revenue guidance rates for remainder of 2018

AUSTIN, Texas, June 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bravatek Solutions, Inc. (OTCPink:BVTK) (“Bravatek,” or the “Company”) again communicates with shareholders, in an open and forthright way, to address its anticipated revenue increases.The Company continues offering both patented and patent-pending cybersecurity software products, tools, and systems (such as telecom tower services). Bravatek’s recent partnership with Google and its recent announcement of anticipated product and service listings on GSA IT Schedule 70, are examples of our recognition in the marketplace.

As an example of increased business activity, Mr. Jonathan Bolton, Executive Vice-President of HelpComm, a Bravatek subsidiary, commented: “We are experiencing accelerated requests to perform work across our Telecom group—including more work from FirstNet with AT&T, as well as potential new work in West Virginia and the Richmond, Virginia market. We are also benefiting from Bravatek’s assistance in the strategic growth of HelpComm.”  

Because of the demonstrable increase in Telecom activity, Bravatek is now updating its previously announced guidance for 2018 (in a press release in February 2018) from estimated revenue between $4.7M and $5.1M for 2018 to estimated revenue between $7.5M and 8.0M for the telecom portion of our business, as projected by management at this time (see Note 1).

The Company will update shareholders on other sectors of its business in short order after it assesses its promotional activities, for example, of its new consumer software and software partnership with Google, as well as its Joint Venture with DarkPulse, and other strategic activities.

Note 1: These projections are based on management’s interpretation of current activities and potential future telecom projects, and they are speculative “forward-looking statements” as described below.
             
*About Bravatek Solutions, Inc.*

Bravatek Solutions, Inc. is a high technology security solutions portfolio provider that assists corporate entities, governments and individuals protect their organizations against both physical and cyber-attacks through its offering of the most technically-advanced, cost-effective and reliable software, tools and systems.

For more information, visit www.bravatek.com

*Safe Harbor Statement*

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are intended to be covered by the "safe harbor" created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "believe,""expect,""may,""will,""should,""could,""seek,""intend,""plan,""goal,""estimate,""anticipate" or other comparable terms. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this news release regarding our strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: our ability to successfully market our products and services; the acceptance of our products and services by customers; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in our prior filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

*Media contact:*

Bravatek Solutions, Inc.

info@bravatek.com

1.866.490.8590 Reported by GlobeNewswire 3 hours ago.

The Richmond School Board voted to rename J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School, where about 90 percent of students are black, after President Barack Obama. Reported by NYTimes.com 2 hours ago.