ACES Mobility Coalition Names Joshua Schank as Executive Director
The ACES Mobility Coalition announced Joshua Schank as its new executive director. Schank, a Columbia‑trained urban planner with nearly three decades in public transportation, policy and technology, was unanimously selected after a national search. He will continue his roles at InfraStrategies, UCLA’s Institute for Transportation Studies, and the Mineta Transportation Institute while leading ACES’s strategy to scale shared autonomous mobility. The move comes as U.S. cities seek to turn autonomous‑vehicle pilots into permanent, integrated transit solutions.
Development for Everyone: AI Coaching in Action with Kirsten Moorefield
AI coaching is emerging as a scalable solution for personalized employee development, moving beyond traditional high‑potential‑only models. In a Talent Development Leader podcast, Kirsten Moorefield, co‑founder of Cloverleaf, explains how AI‑driven coaches can level the playing field and deliver tailored...
AI Native Accounting Foundation Launches to Cut AI Hype
The AI Native Accounting Foundation, a new nonprofit, was launched to help accounting and finance professionals cut through AI hype and adopt practical, responsible solutions. Founded by Kacee Johnson and Bebe Kim, the group will operate vendor‑neutrally while offering education,...
Munis Mixed, UST Yields Rise Post-Jobs Report
Municipal bond prices were mixed on Wednesday as U.S. Treasury yields climbed following a stronger‑than‑expected jobs report, prompting market participants to reassess the timing of the Federal Reserve’s next rate cut. The two‑year muni‑UST spread slipped to 59% while longer‑dated...
Shopify Stock Drops Despite Revenue Beat, $2 Billion Buyback
Shopify reported fourth‑quarter revenue of $3.67 billion, topping forecasts, but earnings per share fell short at 48 cents versus the 51‑cent consensus. The company projected first‑quarter revenue growth in the low‑30% range and a free‑cash‑flow margin in the low‑to‑mid teens, slightly below...
Why the Largest U.S. Auto Dealer Isn't Interested in Chinese Cars — for Now
Lithia Motors, the largest U.S. auto dealer, said it will not bring Chinese‑made vehicles to its domestic showrooms for now. CEO Bryan DeBoer cited the high cost of establishing new franchise infrastructure and uncertain return‑on‑investment, not politics or logistics, as...
When Leaders Misbehave, What Is HR’s Responsibility?
The article examines HR’s responsibility when senior leaders engage in misconduct, from romantic entanglements to financial fraud. It stresses that HR must launch disciplined investigations, document every detail, and follow established policies rather than improvise. When violations are severe, escalation...
Landers Exits As Alliance CEO, Sheets Takes Helm
Dr. Steve Landers stepped down as CEO of the National Alliance for Care at Home, ending his 17‑month tenure that began in September 2024. He will remain on the board to aid the transition, which takes effect on Feb. 9. Jennifer...
Florida and Texas AGs Issue Sweeping Anti-DEI Opinions on MLK Day
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued coordinated opinions declaring that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs violate equal‑protection guarantees. Both opinions lean on the Supreme Court’s 2023 Students...
JM Smucker Overhauls Supply Chain Leadership
J.M. Smucker announced a sweeping overhaul of its supply‑chain leadership, eliminating the chief operating officer role and seeing the retirement of two senior vice presidents. The company created a new chief product supply officer position, promoting Rob Ferguson to oversee...
Credit Manager M&A Spree Raises Diligence Issues for LPs
Credit managers are accelerating mergers and acquisitions, sparking a wave of private‑debt GP consolidation. Fund allocators such as Goldman Sachs’ external investing group and Allianz Global Investors are sharpening their focus on this trend. The surge in deals expands assets...
Delaware Supreme Court Says Employer Can Enforce Restrictive Covenants After Revoking Ex-Employee’s Equity
The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a Chancery ruling and held that consideration for restrictive covenants is measured at the time the agreement is signed, not when it is enforced. In North American Fire Ultimate Holdings v. Doorly, the court affirmed...
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What To Expect From Friday's Report On Inflation
Economists expect the January Consumer Price Index to rise 2.5% year‑over‑year, a dip from December’s 2.7% and the lowest headline inflation since May 2021. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, is also projected at 2.5%, matching the lowest...
People News: GPA, Sound Transit, Reading & Northern
Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) announced Kevin Price will become President on July 1, 2026 and transition to President‑CEO by mid‑2027, bringing three decades of terminal operations experience. Sound Transit revealed three senior hires – Jessyn Farrell as Executive Director of...
Western Europe in a Multipolar World
The global order has moved from Cold‑War bipolarity to a multipolar system where the United States, Russia and a rising China dominate international affairs. Technological globalization and interdependence have intensified, reshaping how Western Europe engages with these powers. The article...
The UK Chagos Deal Is an 'Act of Great Stupidity'
The United Kingdom has announced a plan to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to an unrelated African nation, sparking alarm among security analysts. The islands host Diego Garcia, a joint U.S.–U.K. military base that underpins American power projection across...
Lower Unemployment Rate Supports Longer Pause for Fed
January’s jobs report showed 130,000 new positions, nearly double expectations, and a unemployment rate drop to 4.3%, down from 4.5% in January. The stronger labor market has pushed back market expectations for the Federal Reserve’s next rate cut from June...
How the Largest Health-Care Education Company in U.S. Is Addressing a Growing Jobs Gap
Covista, the former Adtalem Global Education, has rebranded to signal its exclusive focus on health‑care education amid a widening U.S. workforce gap. The company reports more than 24,000 health‑care graduates each year, accounting for roughly 10% of the nation’s nurses...
Medicare Fraud Reporting: Whistleblower Program Overview and Common Questions
The Medicare whistleblower program, grounded in the False Claims Act, allows private citizens to file qui‑tam lawsuits exposing fraudulent Medicare claims. Successful relators receive a share of recoveries, which have totaled tens of billions of dollars, while the government gains...
Ex-Prince Andrew Suggested Uranium Investments to Epstein: BBC
A confidential UK briefing on high‑value minerals in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, highlighting uranium among other resources, was forwarded by former trade envoy Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein in 2010. The document, prepared during Andrew’s official visit, outlined potential low‑cost extraction...
Forterro Defies European IT Spending Caution with Strong Cloud and AI-Driven Growth in 2025
Forterro posted €375 million in 2025 revenue, delivering double‑digit growth in sales, recurring revenue, and bookings despite a cautious European IT climate. Cloud bookings surged 30% year‑over‑year, pushing recurring revenue to 74% of total. Net revenue retention hit 114% and gross...
Northern California Workplace Investigations Workshop
The Northern California Workplace Investigations Workshop offers HR, labor relations and in‑house counsel a half‑day, in‑person training on conducting lawful, defensible investigations. Participants will learn to design investigative plans, gather evidence, interview witnesses, handle privileged matters and social‑media issues, and...
This TSX Gold Producer Tipped as Top M&A Target in Scorching Metals Market
A TD Cowen survey of 58 institutional investors and mining executives identified Toronto‑listed Iamgold Corp. as the leading M&A candidate for 2026, with 20 % of respondents flagging the company. The poll also showed near‑universal expectations of heightened gold and silver...
Rootly | Your On-Call Team Is Burning Out: Here's How to See It Coming
Rootly launched On‑Call Health, a free open‑source platform that monitors on‑call responder workload. It aggregates observed data—incident volume, severity, after‑hours pages, commit patterns—and optional self‑reported check‑ins to compute a 0‑100 risk score. The tool emphasizes trend analysis over single snapshots,...
Wabtec Acquires Dellner Couplers (UPDATED 2/11)
Wabtec announced a definitive agreement to acquire Dellner Couplers for $960 million in cash, funded by cash on hand and short‑term debt. The deal values Dellner at roughly 12.5 times its projected 2025 EBITDA and includes anticipated $22 million in cost synergies over...
Freddy’s Frozen Custard Names Todd Paladini as CIO
Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers announced Todd Paladini as its inaugural chief information officer. Paladini, a veteran with over two decades leading IT for brands like Cafe Rio and Cinemark, will oversee modernization of the chain’s technology infrastructure. The hire...
A New Addition to PTO: Heartbreak Leave
A recent Zety survey finds that one in three employees believes companies should offer dedicated “heartbreak leave” and many have already taken time off after a breakup. Younger workers, especially Gen Z and millennials, are most eager for the benefit, with...
TikTok Is Becoming a Core Marketing Channel — Not Just a Social App
The episode explains how TikTok has shifted from a pure entertainment platform to a core marketing channel where users discover brands and make purchasing decisions, with 92% taking action after viewing short‑form videos. It highlights the challenges mid‑size and regional...
Currito Opening 11 Locations in 2026
Currito, the Cincinnati‑based fast‑casual bowl chain, will open 11 new restaurants across the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic in 2026, following a record year that saw 25 franchise units sold in the past 18 months. The expansion targets markets such as Dayton,...
Britney Spears Sells Catalog
The episode discusses Britney Spears' reported sale of her music catalog to independent publisher Primary Wave, noting the lack of confirmed details and price. It places this deal in the context of recent high‑profile catalog sales by artists like Queen,...
CGI Expands Global Alliance with Google Cloud to Help Businesses with Gemini AI
CGI has broadened its multi‑year alliance with Google Cloud to accelerate enterprise adoption of the Gemini agentic AI platform. The expansion equips tens of thousands of CGI consultants with Gemini Enterprise and funds joint workshops, hackathons, and training programs. It...
Lloyds Banking Group to Close Another 95 Branches
Lloyds Banking Group announced it will shut 95 more branches – 53 Lloyds, 31 Halifax and 11 Bank of Scotland locations – between May 2024 and March 2027. The closures will leave the group with about 610 branches after the...
Would You Pay £7.50 for a Pint of Guinness?
The Advocate Arms in Market Rasen is polling patrons on a possible £7.50 price for a pint of Guinness, up from its current £6. Diageo says the increase translates to roughly £0.04 per draught pint and stresses that retail pricing...
Arcjet Release V1 of Its SDK for Enabling Security Capabilities in JavaScript Apps
Arcjet launched version 1.0 of its JavaScript SDK, delivering a stable, production‑ready API for security functions such as bot mitigation, email verification, rate limiting, and data redaction. The SDK can block malicious bots, enforce custom traffic rules, and protect against...
Best Trade Finance Bank In North America: BNY
BNY was named the Best Trade Finance Bank in North America, reflecting its robust portfolio and eight global trade centers. The bank leverages high credit ratings, competitive pricing, and a suite of digital tools to streamline trade processing, risk mitigation,...
When the Recruiter Stops Believing the Culture (and Candidates Can Tell)
The article defines "cultural drift" as the gap between a company’s proclaimed values and the behaviors that actually emerge, often surfacing after growth, re‑orgs, or leadership changes. Recruiters, as the first human touchpoint for candidates, notice this drift early, sensing...
Pega Targets $2bn Revenue Milestone as It Bets on 'Predictable AI' - CEO Alan Trefler Slams 'Delusional' Multi-Agent Approach
Pegasystems beat its guidance as Pega Cloud annual contract value surged 33% year‑over‑year, positioning the firm to cross the $2 billion revenue mark by 2026. CEO Alan Trefler championed a "predictable AI" Blueprint approach, arguing that design‑time AI‑driven workflows are more...
Zimmer Plans US Salesforce Reorganization
Zimmer Biomet announced a U.S. salesforce reorganization aimed at creating a fully dedicated, product‑specialized team of 2,500 reps. The shift targets high‑growth segments such as sports medicine, trauma, robotics, and ambulatory surgery centers, with one‑third of the transition already complete....
Empathy Engineer: Is This the £110k Job of Your Dreams?
The tech sector is inventing high‑paying roles such as empathy engineer, a position that blends social, cultural and emotional insights with technology design and can command salaries up to £110,000. A Tide survey found that 80% of British job seekers...
Why Harbor Health Is Acquiring Dementia Support Company Rippl
Harbor Health, an Austin‑based primary care and health‑insurance group, announced the acquisition of Rippl, a Seattle‑based dementia‑care platform. The deal, terms undisclosed, adds Rippl’s CMS GUIDE‑model services for Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare beneficiaries to Harbor’s condition‑focused care pathways. By...
Take2 Raises $14M Series A for AI Hiring
Take2 announced a $14 million Series A round led by Human Capital, with participation from Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments, Reach Capital, SemperVirens VC and Honeystone Ventures. The startup builds autonomous AI agents that conduct phone interviews, schedule appointments and handle credential verification for...
European Investment Bank Launching Financing Platform for Energy Efficiency
The European Investment Bank is injecting €60 million into Solas Capital’s Sustainable Energy Fund II to launch a new financing platform that will support energy‑efficiency projects for SMEs across the EU. The platform is designed to mobilize nearly €400 million of total capital,...
Upside Robotics Is Reducing Fertilizer Use and Waste in Corn Crops
Upside Robotics secured a $7.5 million seed round to scale its solar‑powered autonomous fertilizer robots for corn. The robots, driven by proprietary algorithms, have already cut fertilizer use by 70%, saving roughly $150 per acre. After testing on 70 acres in...
Apptronik Closes over $935M Series A with New $520M Extension Round
Apptronik announced a $520 million Series A‑X extension, bringing its total Series A funding to over $935 million and total capital raised near $1 billion. The round includes existing backers such as Google, B Capital and Mercedes‑Benz, and new investors AT&T Ventures, John Deere and Qatar...
Littler Lightbulb – January 2026 Appellate Roundup
The January 2026 appellate roundup highlights several pivotal employment‑law decisions. The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court, holding that any amount of entertainment work qualifies a production company for the Multi‑employer Pension Plan Amendments Act exemption. The Fifth Circuit affirmed...
What Rubio Gets Right (and Wrong) About the Western Hemisphere
Juan S. González argues that U.S. security hinges on a stable Western Hemisphere, echoing Roosevelt’s Monroe‑Doctrine insight. He praises Secretary of State Marco Rubio for recognizing the need for proactive engagement but criticizes Rubio’s reliance on coercion and short‑term pressure....
IRS Roundup- January 21 – February 9, 2026
The IRS issued several key updates between Jan 21 and Feb 9, 2026, including Notice 2026‑9 extending the deadline for IRA and pension plan amendments to Dec 31 2027, and Fact Sheet 2026‑2 outlining the rollout of fully electronic federal payments under Executive Order 14247. It opened applications...
Conducting Criminal Background Checks? What the Phath Decision Means for Employers
The Pennsylvania Third Circuit in Phath v. Central Transport clarified that the Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA) applies whenever an employer considers criminal history, even if the applicant volunteers the information. Employers must now evaluate any disclosed conviction for...
US Insurance Tech Spending 2026: From Modernization To Intelligence
The episode examines Forrester's forecast that U.S. insurance tech spending will rise by $173 billion in 2026, reaching 6 % of total national tech outlays. It explains how insurers are shifting from pure modernization to intelligence‑driven initiatives—cloud migration, AI‑enabled analytics, automation, and...
Report Reveals a Lack of Awareness and Poor Career Advice Is Impacting Apprenticeship Uptake
The In‑Comm Training Annual Barometer, surveying over 350 16‑ to 21‑year‑olds, shows apprenticeship consideration slipping to 80%, a 9% drop. More than half of respondents (54%) admit they know no local schemes, and only a third trust the government understands...