ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. Announces Share Consolidation

BEIJING, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq: RETO) ("ReTo" or the "Company") today announced that its board of directors approved a combination of its Class A shares, no par value (the "Class A Shares"), on a twenty-to-one basis (the "Share Combination"). The Class A Shares will begin trading on a post combination basis on October 2, 2026.

As a result of the Share Combination, each twenty (20) pre-combination Class A Shares will be automatically combined into one (1) Class A Share without any action on the part of the holders, with the number of issued and outstanding Class A Shares reduced from 145,814,975 to approximately 7,290,749. There will be no change to the par value of the Class A Shares, which will remain no par value following the Share Combination. The Class A Shares will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market ("Nasdaq") under the symbol "RETO" under a new CUSIP number – G75271158. The Share Combination is intended to increase the market price per share of the Class A Shares to allow the Company to maintain its Nasdaq listing.

No fractional shares will be issued as a result of the Share Combination. Shareholders who otherwise would be entitled to a fractional share because they hold a number of Class A Shares not evenly divisible by four will automatically be entitled to receive an additional share of the Class A Shares.

The Share Combination will not be submitted to a vote of the Company's shareholders as shareholder approval is not required under the laws of the British Virgin Islands.

The Company's transfer agent, VStock Transfer, LLC, will act as the exchange agent. Adjustments made to Class A shares represented by physical stock certificates can be made upon surrender of the certificate to the transfer agent. Please contact VStock Transfer, LLC for further information at (212) 828-8436.

About ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc.

Founded in 1999, ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc., through its operating subsidiaries in China, is primarily engaged in the research and development, and sales of ecological environment protection equipment, intelligent mining equipment and smart craft beer machines. The Company provides consultation, design, implementation and installation of its equipment and related parts, as well as engineering support and technical advice and services. For more information, please visit: http://en.retoeco.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. The Company's actual results may differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties. The reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission discuss these and other important factors and risks that may affect the Company's business, results of operations and financial conditions. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

SOURCE ReTo Eco-Solutions, Inc.

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Micro-Businesses Lead Hiring for a Second Straight Month as Wages Climb Fastest in the West

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- America's small businesses added an estimated 28,000 net new jobs in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest Gusto Small Business Jobs and Pay Report — the eighth consecutive month of positive hiring following January's dip. September's gain picked up from August, which was revised down to 18,500 net new jobs (from an initial estimate of 29,500), though the pace remained below the 12-month average of 34,000 as hiring continued at a cooler pace than earlier in the year.

Hiring stayed broad even as growth cooled: 14 of 19 sectors, all four U.S. regions, and every company size tier added jobs in September. Health Care and Social Assistance led all sectors for an eighth straight month with 13,000 net hires, followed by Other Services (+3,400) and Construction (+2,500). On the pay side, Average Hourly Earnings across small business employees rose 4.0% year-over-year to $37.40, while starting pay for newly hired workers climbed 3.1% to $25.80 an hour.

"Hiring picked up a little in September, but the bigger story is who's doing the hiring," said Nich Tremper, Senior Economist at Gusto. "For the second month running, it's the smallest employers — companies with just five to nine employees — adding more jobs than any other size tier. At the same time, pay keeps climbing faster than inflation, especially out West. Small business owners aren't chasing growth the way they were earlier this year, but they're not pulling back either — they're being selective about who they hire and paying up to keep them."

The Big Picture

At +28,000, September's seasonally adjusted net hires came in below the 12-month average of +34,000, though they picked up from August. Recent months: May (+38,000), June (+36,000), July (+39,700), August (+18,500). Prior months were revised with this release — July was revised down to +39,700 (from +42,400), and August was revised down to +18,500 (from +29,500). As always, the most recent months are subject to revision as additional payroll data arrives.

On pay, Average Hourly Earnings reached $37.40 in September, up 4.0% from a year earlier — wage growth has hovered around 4% for most of 2026, ranging from about 3.9% to 4.6%. The New Hire Pay Index, which tracks starting pay for newly hired workers, rose 3.1% year-over-year to about $25.80 an hour.

Sector Breakdown

Health Care and Social Assistance led all sectors for an eighth straight month. Top gainers:

- Health Care and Social Assistance: +13,000 net hires

- Other Services: +3,400 net hires

- Construction: +2,500 net hires

Fourteen of 19 sectors were in positive territory in September — a narrower spread than earlier in the year, but still a majority of the small business economy adding jobs.

Regional Breakdown

All four U.S. regions posted positive net hires in September:

- South: +13,000 net hires

- West: +7,500 net hires

- Midwest: +4,300 net hires

- Northeast: +3,000 net hires

The South held its position atop all regions again in September, up from +9,300 in August. The West came in second, followed by the Midwest and the Northeast. Wage growth was strongest in the West, where small business pay rose 5.3% year-over-year to $42.00 an hour — the highest wage growth and the highest pay of any U.S. region. The Northeast and the South grew at roughly the national rate of 4.0%, while the Midwest trailed at 3.0% growth and had the lowest average hourly earnings of the four regions at $32.91.

Company Size Breakdown

All four company size tiers posted positive net hires in September:

- 5–9 employees: +13,000 net hires

- 20–49 employees: +6,000 net hires

- 10–19 employees: +5,200 net hires

- 1–4 employees: +3,600 net hires

Micro-businesses with 5–9 employees led all size tiers for a second straight month, outpacing the 20–49 and 10–19 employee tiers combined. All four tiers stayed positive, a sign that hiring, while cooler than earlier in the year, remains broadly distributed across the small business economy.

Methodology

The Gusto Small Business Jobs and Pay Report tracks anonymized payroll data from a stratified random sample of roughly 100,000 small businesses across the United States with 1–49 employees, drawn from the 500,000+ companies on Gusto. To ensure the findings represent small businesses nationally, Gusto uses a two-stage weighting process: first, matching the national distribution of small businesses by industry, size, and region using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data as a benchmark; second, adjusting for company age using Census Bureau Business Dynamics Statistics data. All figures are seasonally adjusted using the U.S. Census Bureau's X-13ARIMA-SEATS methodology unless otherwise noted. The report also tracks two small business pay measures — Average Hourly Earnings and the New Hire Pay Index, a three-month rolling average of starting pay for newly hired workers — both of which are seasonally adjusted.

About Gusto

Gusto is the leading partner for small businesses, helping them with a wide variety of critical tasks, including payroll, health benefits, tax credits, compliance, 401(k), HR, and much more. Gusto serves over 500,000 small businesses across the US and is on a multi-decade journey to grow the small business economy with technology and heart.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Gusto, Inc.

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Hundreds of AI agents curate and synthesize evidence across thousands of target–disease assessments, with the first disease-specific application developed with The Michael J. Fox Foundation Targets to Therapies initiative

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Phylo today launched Target Atlas, an agentic target-prioritization app built on Biomni Lab, the company's Integrated Biology Environment. Target Atlas can cut the evidence-gathering behind target reviews from months of work by teams of scientists to days, creating a shared record that links findings to their sources and can be updated as new research appears. AI agents apply consistent analyses across targets, while scientists decide which evidence matters and how much weight it should carry. Teams can change those weights to see how their own criteria alter the rankings.

Free with a Biomni account, the public edition of Target Atlas spans thousands of target–disease assessments, presented through source-linked target profiles and interactive 2x2 plots.

Only about one in ten drug programs that enter clinical development is approved (Hay et al., Nature Biotechnology, 2014). Target choice is one of the earliest and least expensive points at which to change a drug program—and one of the most costly to get wrong—yet the evidence needed to choose well is fragmented across genetics, expression, clinical activity, safety, tractability, biomarkers, competition, and the literature, and changes continuously. Drug mechanisms with human genetic support are associated with an estimated 2.6-fold higher probability of success from Phase 1 to approval (Minikel et al., Nature, 2024). The finding supports a broader premise: stronger, converging evidence at target selection should improve the odds of clinical success, underscoring the value of a current, auditable evidence layer.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation's Targets to Therapies (T2T) Initiative established a transparent Parkinson's target-prioritization framework through community nominations, expert panels, curated scorecards, and a published methodology (Vaiana et al., npj Parkinson's Disease, 2025). MJFF's Parkinson's edition of Target Atlas makes that expert framework openly explorable and connects it to source-linked analyses that can be refreshed as new evidence emerges.

"The Michael J. Fox Foundation's single, urgent goal remains to find better therapies and a cure for people and families with Parkinson's. Expanding the number of well-characterized, druggable targets is a critical part of the puzzle," said Gaia Skibinski, VP, Head of Translational Therapeutics at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. "As the pace of technology and science evolve, we look forward to exploring how emerging tools in AI, like Phylo's Target Atlas, can help researchers move promising targets toward potential new Parkinson's treatments."

"The T2T initiative is exactly the kind of multi-database, multi-expert prioritization that takes a community months to do by hand. Target Atlas shows that agents can assemble and score that evidence in days and keep it current — without replacing the expert judgment that decides which evidence matters. Our collaboration demonstrates what becomes possible when a foundation's expert framework is connected to a continuously updateable evidence layer, and our goal is to bring that model to every major disease," said Kexin Huang, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of Phylo.

Because target prioritization spans scientists, team leads, and senior R&D leaders, Target Atlas gives teams a shared, source-linked view for comparing evidence and aligning on decisions. Across diseases, versioned computational skills turn evidence from databases, papers, and disease datasets into dashboards and source-linked profiles that record source, date, coverage, and missingness. Researchers can compare targets in interactive 2x2 plots, inspect the evidence behind each result, and use chat to explore the evidence or edit private views.

MJFF's Parkinson's edition is one application of the broader Target Atlas, which Phylo plans to expand across all major diseases in the public edition over time. Available by annual license for a governed Biomni deployment, the enterprise edition of Target Atlas enables 20,000-plus targets per selected disease, proprietary data integration, target-pair dashboards, and AI/ML-based scoring.

Phylo is seeking foundations, consortia, and patient organizations to sponsor additional disease editions published free to their communities, with each organization's framework represented in scoring.

Target Atlas, including the MJFF Parkinson's edition, is available today at https://biomni.phylo.bio. R&D leaders can request an Enterprise demonstration, and foundations and consortia can discuss sponsoring a disease, by reaching out to [email protected].

About Phylo

Phylo's mission is to bring the best agentic intelligence to every biomedical scientist. Its enterprise-grade AI platform, Biomni Lab, is the first Integrated Biology Environment—a unified workspace where scientists collaborate with AI agents across literature research, experimental design, biological data analysis, and scientific decision-making.

Biomni Lab is now used by leading global biopharma, including Chugai Pharmaceutical and Ono Pharmaceutical.

Phylo is based in South San Francisco, and raised a $13.5 million seed round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Menlo Ventures' Anthology Fund with Anthropic.

For more information, visit phylo.bio. To learn more about Biomni Lab, visit biomni.phylo.bio.

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation's Targets to Therapies Initiative

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF) launched its Targets to Therapies Initiative in 2024 to expand promising, druggable biological targets in the Parkinson's disease translational pipeline. It combines community-sourced nominations with expert panel-guided prioritization and validation roadmaps, drawing on MJFF datasets and collaborations with Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP), including the Collaborative Research Network, Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, and Global Parkinson's Genetics Program.

SOURCE Phylo, Inc.

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New two-year grant will expand commercialization-focused programming at Pegasus Park, helping more North Texas scientific breakthroughs gain traction and attracting top talent to the region.

DALLAS, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MassChallenge, ranked the No. 2 accelerator in the U.S. by TIME and Statista, is expanding its commitment to Dallas, announcing its second U.S. headquarters, bolstered by a renewed two-year grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies, whose founder, Lyda Hill, was recently named to the 2026 TIME100 Philanthropy list. The renewed partnership is intended to further accelerate North Texas' innovation and life sciences ecosystem.

The renewed investment builds on five years of collaboration since Pegasus Park opened, strengthening the connections, programs and startup pipeline that support the region's life sciences ecosystem. Since 2022, MassChallenge has delivered accelerator programming, connected founders with experts, convened the ecosystem through dozens of events and created opportunities for high-potential companies from North Texas and beyond to engage with the region.

The generous grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies enables MassChallenge to scale its proven accelerator programming in Dallas, concentrating on enterprise-startup collaboration in North Texas and connecting regional corporate leaders with curated, commercialization-ready startups. Two intensive, ten-week early-stage Accelerators, in Health & Life Sciences and in Security & Resiliency, will help founders reach the critical technical, regulatory and commercial milestones that position them to win customers, attract capital and scale. Founder Access Clinics will give earlier-stage founders the opportunity to validate their path to market with feedback from academic, clinical, corporate and industry stakeholders. The partnership will also support INNOVATE '26, MassChallenge's flagship Dallas convening, taking place November 17 at Pegasus Park.

"Dallas has extraordinary strength in research, industry and capital, and we're proud to be part of building a leading life science and biotechnology ecosystem here. We're grateful that Lyda Hill Philanthropies' renewed support allows us to continue the long-term work of accelerating high-potential biotechnology companies and contributing to the ecosystem of support around them," said MassChallenge CEO Cait Brumme. "Lyda Hill Philanthropies has been a catalytic partner in building that connective tissue, and we're grateful for their continued investment in the founders, institutions and relationships that are turning North Texas into a leading biotech and life science ecosystem globally."

"Lyda Hill Philanthropies has long believed that North Texas has the scientific talent, institutions and ambition to support a world-class life sciences ecosystem," said Nicole Small, CEO of Lyda Hill Philanthropies and CEO of LH Capital. "Pegasus Park was created to bring the people, infrastructure and resources that innovation and scaling require into one place. The growth we've seen across the campus and the region reinforces what is possible when we invest for the long term, and this renewed partnership with MassChallenge will help more founders and companies build, grow and succeed here."

The renewed investment comes at a moment of enormous momentum across North Texas, visible both in MassChallenge's growth since launching in the region and in the market itself. Since 2022, Texas-based applications to MassChallenge national programs have grown more than fivefold, while innovation-event attendance is approaching 1,000 annually. That growth mirrors broader momentum across the region. The Dallas Regional Chamber recorded 14 life sciences corporate locations or expansions across Dallas-Fort Worth in 2025 alone, while CPRIT reports that 10 companies that started, expanded or relocated to the region with its support have gone on to raise more than $2 billion in direct follow-on funding.

That momentum is particularly visible at Pegasus Park. BioLabs at Pegasus Park filled its shared workspace in just 15 months against a projected five-year timeline. That demand contributed to the development of Bridge Labs on the Pegasus Park campus, which opened in 2024 with 135,000 square feet of growth-stage lab space. Pegasus Park is also home to one of three national hubs for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), selected after a highly competitive nationwide search.

The growth at Pegasus Park reflects the broader growth of North Texas as a destination for life sciences research, entrepreneurship and investment. Across the region, universities, healthcare systems, companies, investors and economic-development organizations are contributing to an environment designed to help promising science and technology move toward commercialization and create new economic opportunities. For the Dallas Economic Development Corporation, supporting the companies that start in the region, as well as those it attracts, is an important part of that opportunity.

"Dallas has proven its ability to attract major companies and investment. The opportunity now is to invest just as intentionally in the companies that start here and give them what they need to stay and scale here," said Linda McMahon, CEO of the Dallas Economic Development Corporation. "That takes access to capital, talent, infrastructure and strong partnerships across the public, private and academic sectors. Dallas has tremendous strengths in life sciences and technology, and continued investment in our innovation ecosystem can translate those strengths into companies, quality jobs and long-term economic growth."

For North Texas founders, that broader regional momentum is creating new opportunities to turn promising science into companies that can reach the market and scale and to advance a nationally competitive innovation economy.

"The startups coming out of MassChallenge's programs are tackling some of the toughest health and science challenges facing North Texas and the nation," said Craig J. Lewis, MassChallenge Board Member and Interim Managing Director. "This renewed investment gets those solutions to market faster, and it's proof that the innovation happening right here in North Texas can compete with, and outpace, anywhere else in the country."

To learn more about MassChallenge and explore opportunities to participate as a founder, expert or partner, visit masschallenge.org.

About MassChallenge

MassChallenge is a global institution that backs startups building solutions to complex, systems-critical challenges, working where complexity is high and the path to market is hardest. Founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with offices in Texas, Israel, Switzerland and the UK, MassChallenge connects startups with the partners, programs and capital needed to accelerate commercialization and real-world impact. Since 2009, MassChallenge has supported more than 5,000 startups that have raised over $27 billion in funding and is ranked No. 2 in the United States on TIME's list of America's Best Incubators & Accelerators 2026. Learn more at masschallenge.org.

About Lyda Hill Philanthropies

Lyda Hill Philanthropies encompasses the charitable giving of founder Lyda Hill and includes her foundation and personal philanthropy. The organization is committed to funding transformational advances in science and nature, empowering nonprofit organizations and improving the Texas and Colorado communities. Because Miss Hill has a fervent belief that "science is the answer" to many of life's most challenging issues, she has chosen to donate the entirety of her estate to philanthropy and scientific research.

SOURCE MassChallenge

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DENVER, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Adswerve, an award-winning predictive marketing consulting firm, today announced its Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform (Real-Time CDP) specialization from Adobe, a recognition of the deep, hands-on expertise the company has built over three years of driving results with Adobe Customer Journey Analytics.

The specialization marks the next step in Adswerve's evolution as an Adobe partner, giving clients a single, trusted team across analytics, activation, and soon orchestration. This formalizes work Adswerve's team has already been doing for its clients: building unified, real-time customer profiles that unlock predictive, personalized marketing at scale.

"Adobe Real-Time CDP is one of the best platforms in our data solutions toolkit. It helps us create a unified and accurate data foundation for our clients, a critical element of a successful predictive marketing strategy," says Tom Zawacki, Chief Executive Officer at Adswerve. "When we combine Adobe Real-Time CDP with Adobe Customer Journey Analytics for campaign analytics and customer insights, Adobe Journey Optimizer for CX optimization, and interoperability with other key ecosystem partners, we deliver significant ROI for our clients."

To date, Adswerve has deployed Real-Time CDP for several of its enterprise clients. Adobe Real-Time CDP allows organizations to unify data from every source (web, app, CRM, offline) into unified profiles that can be activated in real time. For Adswerve's clients, that means moving beyond fragmented, channel-by-channel marketing into one coherent, actionable view of each customer's journey.

Adswerve is also already working with Adobe's newest innovation in this space, Adobe CX Enterprise Coworker, which orchestrates and automates agentic workflows across Real-Time CDP, Customer Journey Analytics, Adobe Journey Optimizer, and other compatible CX Enterprise applications to assemble audiences, pull creative assets, and build out a journey plan, with a human marketer still signing off before anything goes live. For Adswerve's clients, this means faster time to market without giving up control over what actually reaches their customers.

The Real-Time CDP specialization requires a verified number of successful client implementations and certified team members before granting it. Adswerve's bench includes two current Adobe Champions, Sara Hanrahan and Josh Stephens, as well as past Adobe Champions, underscoring the depth of subject-matter expertise behind the specialization.

About Adswerve

Adswerve is an award-winning predictive marketing consulting firm helping brands and agencies acquire, grow, and retain customers while maximizing ROI. Its 250+ experts combine human expertise, AI, deep platform mastery, and proprietary Adswerve Intelligence to deliver predictive marketing solutions across Data, Intelligence, Experiences, and Measurement. Adswerve is the largest independent US Google Marketing Platform provider, a leader in Google Cloud Platform and Gemini development, a three-time Adobe Solutions Partner of the Year, and a trusted partner to Amazon, Snowflake, and other leading technology companies. This expertise enables 950+ clients to anticipate what's next, act with confidence, and drive measurable business results. Learn more at adswerve.com.

Media Contact

Lacy Talton

Evergreen & Oak on behalf of Adswerve

[email protected]

252.467.5220

SOURCE Adswerve

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Leading bioreactor manufacturer accelerates time-to-results and simplifies global deployment with standardized automation

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world's largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced that PBS Biotech, a leading manufacturer of single-use bioreactor systems, embedded Rockwell Automation technology into its multi-parallel bioreactor platform to accelerate cell therapy process development and support seamless scale-up to commercial manufacturing.

Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products (ATMP) organizations face growing pressure to accelerate process development while enabling scalability, reproducibility and regulatory readiness. Across the industry, low-throughput, iterative workflows, manual processes, non-standardized environments and dependence on proprietary or PC-based systems slow progress, introduce variability and increase risk as therapies advance toward commercialization.

To help its customers overcome these challenges, PBS Biotech partnered with Rockwell Automation to embed standardized, globally recognized automation in its MiniPRO™ platform — a closed, automated bioreactor system with up to 24 independently controlled bioreactors that enables parallel process development. The platform uses FactoryTalk® software and the Process Library to deliver integrated, real-time process control and visibility within a scalable automation environment that can seamlessly integrate into a larger PlantPAx® distributed control system (DCS) used to automate an entire cell-therapy facility.

"Rockwell technologies let us provide industrial-grade control of critical process parameters, so users are generating high-quality process data in an environment that looks and feels like commercial manufacturing," said Sharon Harvey, director of product management and strategy, PBS Biotech. "That's really advantageous because developers are able to introduce this during the product development stage and then evolve towards clinical and commercial manufacturing with history and control."

The Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI), a member-based, nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the bioeconomy of the United States, was an early adopter of the PBS platform.

"Typically, you don't see this control in a system as small as the MiniPRO," said Tom Bollenbach, chief technology officer at ARMI. "With our first integrated manufacturing line, our biggest challenge was getting the process control system to sequentially hand off between subsystems. Because the MiniPRO has Rockwell controls, system integration is streamlined. When we talk to the supervisory system that makes hand-offs happen, it's very easy to get them to talk to each other. That enables us to build bigger manufacturing lines."

PBS Biotech has demonstrated that process performance on the MiniPRO is consistent with its larger-scale Vertical-Wheel® bioreactors, allowing developers to generate manufacturing-relevant data as programs advance. That continuity, combined with the platform's compatibility with widely used automation environments, supports more predictable transfer into Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) settings.

"As cell therapy programs advance, seamless tech transfers between development outputs and manufacturing requirements help reduce risk during scale-up," said Matt Weaver, vice president, global industry - life sciences, Rockwell Automation. "By introducing a widely used automation platform during process development, the MiniPRO helps teams preserve process knowledge and control as they progress toward clinical and commercial manufacturing."

To read the full PBS Biotech case study, click here.

About Rockwell Automation

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 26,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries as of fiscal year end 2025. To learn more about how we are bringing the Connected Enterprise® to life across industrial enterprises, visit www.rockwellautomation.com.

About PBS Biotech ("PBS") 

PBS Biotech is a leading manufacturer of single-use bioreactor systems and provider of process development services. The Company's proprietary Vertical-Wheel® technology enables scalable, low-shear mixing for a wide range of cell therapy and cell culture applications. PBS Biotech's vision is to become the world's standard manufacturing platform for allogeneic cell-based therapies. To learn more, visit pbsbiotech.com.

SOURCE Rockwell Automation, Inc.

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- Mark K. Nichol, CFP®, joins Mesirow Wealth Management as Wealth Advisor.

- Brings experience serving high-net-worth individuals and families through comprehensive wealth management and financial planning.

- Addition reflects the momentum of Mesirow Wealth Management's Empowered Advisor initiative and the firm's continued success in attracting top industry talent.

CHICAGO, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mesirow, an independent, employee-owned financial services firm, today announced that Mark K. Nichol, CFP® has joined Mesirow Wealth Management as a Wealth Advisor. Nichol brings experience serving high-net-worth individuals and families through comprehensive financial planning and wealth management.

In his new role, Nichol will work closely with clients to develop personalized strategies that evolve alongside their lives, families and financial goals. His experience spans financial planning, investment management, retirement planning and collaborating with tax and estate planning professionals to deliver integrated wealth management solutions.

"We remain deeply committed to meeting clients' evolving needs while attracting exceptional advisors who share our entrepreneurial mindset and client-first approach," said Brian D. Price, CEO, Mesirow Wealth Management. "Mark's decision to join Mesirow reflects the value advisors see in our open architecture, collaborative culture, and commitment to helping them build the practice they envision. We are excited to welcome him to the team and continue expanding our wealth management capabilities."

Nichol's addition also underscores the success of Mesirow's Empowered Advisor initiative, which raises awareness among experienced advisors seeking greater flexibility, collaborative resources and advanced planning capabilities. Through the campaign, Nichol gained a deeper understanding of Mesirow's open architecture platform and client-focused culture, all of which reinforced his interest in joining the firm.

"We are committed to attracting talented advisors and giving them the support, resources and collaborative environment they need to grow," said Nitay Laor, Director, Strategic Growth and Acquisitions, Mesirow Wealth Management. "Mark's experience and client-first approach will strengthen the guidance we provide to individuals and families, while helping him continue to develop and build the practice he envisions at Mesirow."

Mesirow Wealth Management has continued to expand through a combination of organic growth, strategic acquisitions, enhanced estate and tax planning capabilities, and the addition of talented wealth advisors across the country.

"I'm excited to join Mesirow and become part of a firm known for its long-standing commitment to clients, collaborative culture, and entrepreneurial spirit," said Nichol. "It's clear that Mesirow offers advisors the flexibility, resources, and support needed to deliver meaningful outcomes for clients. I look forward to helping individuals and families navigate important financial decisions and advance towards their long-term goals."

Nichol earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional designation.

Mesirow Wealth Management is the firm's founding capability, connecting clients to what matters today and across generations. Learn more at mesirow.com/wealth-management.

About Mesirow

Mesirow is an independent, employee-owned financial services firm founded in 1937. Headquartered in Chicago, with offices around the world, we serve clients through a personal, custom approach to reaching financial goals and acting as a force for social good. With capabilities spanning Private Capital & Currency, Capital Markets & Investment Banking, and Advisory Services, we invest in what matters: our clients, our communities and our culture.

Mesirow has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Chicago by Crain's Chicago Business multiple times and is one of Barron's Top 100 RIA firms. To learn more, visit mesirow.com, follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to Spark, our quarterly newsletter.

Media

[email protected]

Michael Herley | 203.308.1409

Mesirow does not provide legal or tax advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The views expressed above are as of the date given, may change as market or other conditions change, and may differ from views express by other Mesirow associates.

Mesirow refers to Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. and its divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates. The Mesirow name and logo are registered service marks of Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc., © 2026, Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved. Investment management services provided through Mesirow Financial Investment Management, Inc., Mesirow Institutional Investment Management, Inc. and Mesirow Financial Private Equity Advisors, Inc., all SEC-registered investment advisors, a CFTC registered commodity trading advisors and member of the NFA, or Mesirow Financial International UK, Ltd. ("MFIUK"), authorized and regulated by the FCA, depending on the jurisdiction.

Award recognition disclosures: mesirow.com/award-recognition-disclosures

SOURCE Mesirow Financial Holdings, Inc.

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Starrett will help identify, develop, and scale new businesses aimed at addressing persistent challenges across the cancer experience

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Thyme Companies, the family of businesses purpose-built to solve problems across the cancer care landscape, today announced that Carolyn Starrett has joined as executive vice president of new ventures, reporting to Executive Chairman Robin Shah. Her more than two decades of experience across oncology, clinical research, biopharma, and real-world data will shape Thyme Companies' strategy as it expands beyond the existing Thyme Care platform.

"Carolyn has a rare ability to understand where the biggest problems exist across the cancer care journey and then build businesses that can solve them at scale," said Shah. "This is our second stint working together, and I saw firsthand at Flatiron Health how she could take an idea, build an organization around it, and turn it into something that had real and lasting impact. She combines that strategic perspective with an incredible ability to execute. At Thyme Companies, we have an opportunity to think big about where the cancer care ecosystem needs to go and act quickly to build what's missing. Carolyn is exactly the kind of leader I want alongside us as we meaningfully change cancer care."

Before joining Thyme Companies, Starrett spent nearly a decade at Flatiron Health, a cancer data company that partners with hundreds of oncology practices and most of the industry's leading cancer drug developers, which she joined in 2016 alongside Thyme's founders. She served as Flatiron's Chief Executive Officer from 2021 to 2025, during which time she led the expansion of its real-world evidence platform from roughly 400,000 to more than 5.5 million patient records, grew its OncoEMR platform to serve more than 4,500 oncology providers nationwide, and oversaw the company's expansion into research sites across the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. After stepping back from Flatiron, Starrett founded Starrett Advisory to work with companies at the intersection of healthcare, data and AI, and she currently serves as a board director for NeoGenomics.

"Cancer has always been personal to me. I spent the last decade focused on using data and technology to make cancer care better, but I've always wanted to get closer to the patient experience itself – what it takes to navigate our complex system and the ever changing universe of new treatment options," said Starrett. "Joining Thyme Companies is a chance to build directly against that opportunity, informed by everything Thyme Care has already learned from the people living through it. And I get to do it with people I've wanted to work with again for years."

Starrett's appointment follows Thyme Companies' recent launch and its Series E financing. Her arrival accelerates the work already underway as Thyme Companies pushes into new business lines.

About Thyme Companies

Thyme Companies is the parent of the Thyme family of businesses, focused on building companies against the disconnection in how cancer care is delivered, accessed and paid for. Anchored by Thyme Care, the nationally recognized oncology care company, Thyme Companies develops independent businesses connected by one mission: to transform the experience of cancer for the people living through it. To learn more, visit thymecompanies.com.

SOURCE Thyme Care

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Insurance-native platform connects acquisition sources, investment decisions, distribution channels, agent workflows, and business outcomes, with Arity Pulse AI delivering performance intelligence and actionable recommendations across the acquisition lifecycle.

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Arity, a mobility data and analytics company, today introduced Arity Lead Platform, an insurance-native, carrier-controlled platform designed to help insurers drive growth, increase control over acquisition decisions and investments, and better understand what drives long-term business value.

Insurance carriers invest heavily across publishers, marketplaces, lead and call providers, agency networks, CRM platforms, and distribution channels. Yet the systems supporting those investments often operate independently, fragmenting acquisition decisions and limiting visibility from acquisition spend through customer outcomes. As carriers face increasing pressure to drive efficiency and profitable growth, understanding which acquisition investments create value has become increasingly important.

Arity Lead Platform builds on more than a decade of experience connecting insurers with publishers, marketplaces, and acquisition partners. The platform extends that foundation beyond connectivity, providing a carrier-controlled operating layer across the technologies and partners insurers already use. Reusable connectors reduce integration effort and accelerate partner activation, while carrier-defined rules help insurers manage acquisition decisions, coordinate distribution, and connect agent and call center execution to downstream business outcomes.

"Customer acquisition has become too important to manage as a series of disconnected decisions," said Gary Hallgren, President of Arity. "Carriers have an opportunity to outperform by connecting acquisition activity to business outcomes and using what they learn to improve acquisition performance. Arity Lead Platform puts carriers at the center, giving them control over how acquisition decisions are made across their ecosystem and helping them turn more of their investment into long-term value."

Rather than addressing acquisition activities in isolation, Arity Lead Platform brings together four integrated capabilities across the acquisition lifecycle:

- Connect acquisition sources, marketplaces, partners, agents, and carrier systems.

- Orchestrate carrier-defined buying, routing, budgeting, and distribution decisions.

- Engage agents and CRM workflows while capturing engagement and outcome data.

- Optimize with Arity Pulse AI, which identifies performance drivers and provides actionable recommendations within defined policies and controls.

Powering the platform's intelligence is Arity Pulse AI, which helps insurers understand what is happening across the acquisition lifecycle, identify performance drivers, and uncover opportunities to create greater value. By connecting acquisition activity, operational execution, and business outcomes, Arity Pulse AI turns fragmented data into intelligence that can inform future acquisition decisions and create a continuous feedback loop across the ecosystem.

Arity will showcase Arity Lead Platform at ITC Vegas 2026, including Arity Pulse AI-powered acquisition intelligence, demonstrating how carriers can connect acquisition sources, manage purchasing and distribution decisions, integrate agent workflows, and link those activities to downstream business outcomes.

About Arity

Founded by The Allstate Corporation in 2016, Arity is a mobility data and analytics company that helps organizations make smarter decisions through data, analytics, and technology. Arity transforms large-scale data into insights that improve business performance, operational efficiency, and customer outcomes.

SOURCE Arity

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Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of "Treating the Families; Not the Cancer"

For two decades, JAJF has given families facing a young parent's late-stage cancer diagnosis something invaluable: time together, unforgettable experiences and memories that last forever.

ATLANTA, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation (JAJF) marks its 20th anniversary this year, celebrating two decades of a simple but powerful mission: treating families to WOW! Experiences® that give children who will lose their mother or father to cancer a timeout to create indispensable memories together—while they can.

Founded in 2006 by Jon Albert in honor of his wife, Jill, JAJF was born out of personal tragedy. When Jill was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, she and Jon quickly realized the disease wasn't just attacking her body; it was upending their entire family, including their two young children, Jake and Jamie. The Alberts decided that alongside treating Jill's cancer, they needed to treat their family—and for them, that meant making priceless memories together. That realization became the inspiration for JAJF's signature WOW! Experiences, which give other families the same opportunity for meaningful time together while they can. Jill passed away a week before Thanksgiving in 2006, just two weeks after the organization's launch. The foundation she inspired has gone on to provide WOW! Experiences to thousands of children and their parents nationwide.

Jon Albert described the organization's story and mission, saying, "Twenty years ago, JAJF began with one very personal realization: when a parent has late-stage cancer, the entire family is affected. We couldn't change what was happening to Jill, but we could make sure our family had time together that cancer couldn't take away. Every WOW! Experience we create today is rooted in that same belief—that while we may not be able to treat the cancer, we can treat the family and give them cherished memories that will last far beyond the trip itself."

A Prescription Unlike Any Other

JAJF has championed and advanced the approach of Family-Centric Cancer Care. Following a formal prescription from their oncologist, JAJF plans a custom, all-expenses-covered trip for families who have a parent with a terminal cancer diagnosis and at least one child under the age of 18. Over the past 20 years, this approach has been embraced and praised by the national oncology community, with oncologists across the country prescribing WOW! Experiences as a formal part of a patient's treatment protocol—recognizing while medicine treats the disease, positive, fun memories treat the family. For oncologists to prescribe JAJF as part of treatment is truly extraordinary.

Dr. Vandana Abramson, an oncologist at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and member of JAJF's Medical Board of Advisors, spoke to the value of prescribing WOW! Experiences to patients and their families: "As oncologists, so much of our attention is necessarily focused on treating the cancer. But a late-stage cancer diagnosis affects far more than the patient—it changes life for the entire family. Medicine can do many extraordinary things, but there are needs it cannot meet. Prescribing a WOW! Experience gives us a meaningful way to care for the family as a whole, creating space for joy, connection and the chance for a family to simply be a family, rather than a family living with cancer."

The Lasting Impact of WOW!

The impact of a WOW! Experience doesn't end when the trip does. For a few precious days, families step away from appointments, treatments and the constant management, stress and sadness of illness to simply be together. What remains afterward are the memories—moments of laughing together and living life as a family again. For children in particular, those cancer-free memories become a lasting inheritance and a source of comfort and coping long after their loss.

Holly Hernandez, mom and patient, described the impact that her family's WOW! Experience has had, saying, "JAJF gave our family something far greater than a trip. It gave us time together—to laugh, to breathe, to be present, and to make memories that we will carry with us long after our footprints in the sand have disappeared. In a season of our lives that can so often be measured in appointments, treatments and uncertainty, JAJF gave us the opportunity to simply be a family."

Two Decades of Community and Recognition

JAJF's work has earned national recognition over the years, including Jon Albert's selection as a 2018 CNN Hero and JAJF's continued four-star rating from Charity Navigator, its highest distinction, every year since 2020. The organization has also received recognition from national outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the TODAY Show, USA TODAY and CNN, where Dr. Sanjay Gupta has spoken publicly about the importance of "prescribing" JAJF and the medicinal value for families confronting terminal illness.

JAJF is supported by tremendous and compassionate in-kind WOW! Partner organizations, who provide everything from attraction and sporting tickets to lodging, transportation and dining for families. These include global brands like Marriott, Four Seasons, Hyatt, TRAVEL + LEISURE, American Airlines, Hertz, the NFL, the NBA and Universal Studios, as well as destination marketing organizations like Visit Orlando, Visit Texas, Visit NYC, Visit Seattle and Visit Yosemite. JAJF's "business model" is based on how many ways families can create treasured, vital memories (while they can) and how many remarkable, compassionate partners there are to help provide the WOW!

Looking Ahead

As it celebrates its 20th anniversary, JAJF's mission remains as urgent as ever. The foundation continues to expand its reach to families nationwide, working with an ever-growing coalition of oncologists, hospitals, corporate partners and individual donors who share its belief the best part of memories is making them.

Family after family, JAJF is giving the gift of precious time and lasting, positive memories for the children. "Cancer does not stop; nor will JAJF," the foundation says of its next chapter, one that will continue to give families facing the unimaginable something medicine alone can't provide.

About the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation

Founded in 2006, the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) public charity that treats families facing a young parent's late-stage cancer diagnosis to WOW! Experiences®—oncologist-prescribed timeouts from cancer that allow families to travel and create treasured memories together. Following a prescription from an oncologist, JAJF arranges custom trips for families with a terminally ill parent from driveway to driveway. JAJF continues, year after year, to maintain a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, its highest distinction. Learn more at www.JAJF.org.

Media Contact:

Erin Marvin, Vice President of Communications, Miles Partnership

[email protected]

Connect with JAJF:

Website: www.JAJF.org 

Facebook: facebook.com/JAJForg

YouTube: youtube.com/user/JAJForg

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/jack-&-jill-late-stage-cancer-foundation

X: https://x.com/JAJForg 

SOURCE Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation

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