Day: March 6, 2024

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Stevie® Awards Announce Finalists in 18th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service

Stevie® Awards Announce Finalists in 18th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service

Finalists in the 18th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in customer service, contact centers, business development, and sales, were announced today.

FAIRFAX, Va., March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Finalists in the 18th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, an international competition recognizing excellence in customer service, contact centers, business development, and sales, were announced today.

A diverse group of organizations and individuals worldwide have been recognized in awards categories for sales executives, solution providers, contact centers, new products and services, and more.

Organizations with five or more Finalist nominations include Allianz Services Pvt Ltd (Trivandrum, Kerala, India), Avetta (Lehi, UT USA), Blackhawk Network (Pleasanton, CA, USA), Capital Rx (New York, NY, USA), CivicPlus (Manhattan, KS, USA), Datasite (Minneapolis, MN, USA), DHL Express Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam), DHL Express (worldwide), Element Electronics (Winnsboro, SC, USA), IBM (Armonk, NY, USA), Inspiro (Makati City, Philippines), Intuit (Toronto, ON, Canada), Loveholidays (London, United Kingdom), OpenGov (San Francisco, CA, USA), Purpol Marketing Limited (Chippenham, United Kingdom), QNB Finansbank (Istanbul, Turkey), Qualitest Group (Bridgewater, NJ, USA), Sales Partnerships, Inc. (Broomfield, CO, USA), SAP (worldwide), Support Services Group, Inc. (Waco, TX, USA), Toco Warranty (Los Angeles, CA, USA), TransPerfect Translations (New York, NY, USA), UPMC Health Plan (Pittsburgh, PA, USA), ValueSelling Associates Inc. (Carlsbad, CA, USA), VIZIO Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA), VMware (Broadcom) (Palo Alto, CA, USA), and Voya Financial (New York, NY, USA).

For a full list of Finalists by category, visit www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

All Finalist nominations ultimately will be named Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners. The placements will be revealed during a gala banquet on Friday, April 12 at The Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are now on sale.

The awards are presented by the Stevie Awards, organizers of several of the world’s leading business awards shows including the prestigious International Business Awards® and The American Business Awards®.

More than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated in this year’s competition. Finalists were determined by the average scores of more than 200 professionals worldwide in seven specialized judging committees. Entries were considered in more than 60 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year; 60 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Sales Director of the Year to Sales Training Practice of the Year, and Achievement in Sales Automation; and categories to recognize new products and services and solution providers, among others.

All nominated finalist customer service departments will be included in voting for the People’s Choice Stevie® Awards for Favorite Customer Service. Beginning today through March 29, the general public may vote for their favorite providers of customer service in the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite Customer Service. Voting is open at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com. The nominee with the most votes in each category will receive a special crystal People’s Choice Stevie Award. Winners of the People’s Choice Stevie Awards in multiple industries will be honored at the awards gala in Las Vegas on April 12.

Nominations for a special prize, the Sales Partnerships Ethics in Sales Award, remain open through March 15. There are no entry fees to submit nominations for this award, which will recognize outstanding examples of ethical sales practices since the beginning of July 2022. Winners will also be announced and recognized at the April 12 ceremony.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries annually from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Sponsors of the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service include Sales Partnerships, Inc. Support Services Group, Inc., and ValueSelling Associates, Inc.

Media Contact:
Nina Moore
+1 (703) 547-8389
Nina@StevieAwards.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d842dc2e-f7a4-40ca-a10c-1690e076d935

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9058607

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Zenas BioPharma Appoints Patricia Allen to its Board of Directors

WALTHAM, Mass., March 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zenas BioPharma, a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of inflammation and immunology-directed therapies, today announced the appointment of Patricia Allen to its Board of Directors, on which she also will serve as Chairperson of the Audit Committee. Ms. Allen joins the Zenas Board of Directors with over 20 years of experience leading finance, investor relations, business development, human resources, operations and IT at global public and private biotechnology companies.

“We are pleased to welcome Patty to our Board of Directors,” said Lonnie Moulder, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zenas BioPharma. “She has successfully led cross-organizational functions and served on the board of directors of both private and public global biotechnology companies. We look forward to Patty’s contributions to the next phase of Zenas’ growth as we advance our mission to develop and commercialize transformative immunology-based therapies for patients in need.”

“I look forward to collaborating with the experienced Zenas team and Board of Directors, who are building a leading of inflammation and immunology-focused global biopharmaceutical company through disciplined pipeline execution and business development,” said Ms. Allen. “This is an exciting time for Zenas as they seek to progress multiple programs through the clinic to ultimately improve the lives of those living with autoimmune diseases.”

Ms. Allen most recently served as the Chief Financial Officer at Vividion Therapeutics, from where she recently retired. While at Vividion, she co-led led fundraising and the company’s acquisition by Bayer AG, as the company grew and advanced multiple programs towards the clinic. She currently serves on the board of directors and as chair of the audit committee of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, SwanBio Therapeutics and Anokion, in addition to holding past board member and audit committee chair roles at Inversago Pharma and Yumanity Therapeutics.

Prior to Vividion, Ms. Allen was the Chief Financial Officer at Zafgen, Inc. (now Larimer Therapeutics). Earlier, she was Vice President of Finance and Treasurer, Principal Financial Officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Director of Finance at Alkermes, Inc.; and Auditor at Deloitte & Touche, LLP. She received a B.S. in Business Administration from Bryant College.

About Zenas BioPharma

Zenas BioPharma is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to becoming a leader in the development and commercialization of inflammation and immunology-directed therapies for patients in need around the world. With clinical development capabilities and operations globally, Zenas is advancing a portfolio of potentially differentiated autoimmune therapeutics in areas of high unmet medical need. We leverage the experience and capabilities of our executive management team and our established networks throughout the biopharmaceutical industry as we seek to develop therapies that can improve the lives of those facing autoimmune and rare diseases. For more information about Zenas BioPharma, please visit www.zenasbio.com and follow us on X (formerly Twitter) at @ZenasBioPharma and LinkedIn.

Investor and Media Contact:
Argot Partners
Zenas@argotpartners.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 9058707

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Highs ranging between 17°C and 22°C

The weather Wednesday is partly cloudy in most regions, growing cloudy in the afternoon in centre-west regions. The wind is blowing north-west in the north and east in the midland and south, relatively strong near coast and light to moderate inland. The sea is choppy to rough in the north and rough to a bit choppy elsewhere. Temperatures are steady with highs ranging between 17°C and 22°C, hovering over 15°C on western heights. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

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ANPE and ARPA of Sicily sign four partnership agreements

Four partnership framework agreements were signed on March 5 in Tunis, between the National Agency for Environmental Protection (ANPE) and the Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Sicily (ARPA), the Italian partner of the strategic project "Environmental Education for a Sustainable Mediterranean - EdEn-MED," co-funded by the European Union as part of the Tunisia-Italy Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2014-2020. The aim of the EdEn-MED project is to introduce innovative teaching methods into the Tunisian and Sicilian education systems in order to encourage environmental protection for sustainable development. It consists in mobilising education and environmental protection players in the programme area to boost cooperation for innovative and sustainable environmental education. The agreements signed mainly cover cooperation in the fields of environmental education, water quality management, the preservation of biodiversity, the fight against climate change and air quality control. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

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Devising comprehensive vision of food security for Tunisia by 2035 (ITES)

Tunisia needs to devise a medium- and long-term food policy to boost its food security, in view of the growing global food crisis arising, among other things, from the repercussions of COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukranian conflict, as well as the climate change effects," according to a recent report published by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (ITES). According to the report, entitled "Food Security in Tunisia to 2035," Tunisia's food system is suffering from a number of problems, including increased dependence on fluctuating external markets, heavy pressure on natural resources, the fragmentation of plots of land and the ageing of farmers, combined with the disaffection of young workers and poor access to new agricultural technologies, which are all examples of structural factors undermining Tunisians' food security. ITES considers it crucial to devise a comprehensive vision of Tunisia's food security by 2035, with a view to establishing an inclusive, sustainable and innovative food system that i s resilient to shocks and climate change and less dependent on the external world. The study sets out in this regard, a number of goals for achieving food sovereignty in the country, through the mobilisation of a range of appropriate actions. The main goal is to "ensure sustainable food availability that is less dependent on imports," which means setting up a cross-cutting, cross-ministerial institutional structure responsible for food security. This structure will be tasked with drawing up the new food and nutrition policy, implementing it on the basis of effective horizontal and vertical coordination with stakeholders, and periodically assessing and adjusting it in line with the State's strategic vision and any unforeseen circumstances. Meanwhile, it is necessary "to improve agricultural production and productivity, by enhancing the preparation and conduct of agricultural campaigns, adopting agronomic techniques better tailored to climate change, stepping up agricultural outreach, making the best use of state-owned land, and so on." ITES also recommends stepping up research and innovation to improve food security, and repositioning government intervention as a mediator and strategic regulator in the food system. "The State must devise a gradual liberalisation plan for each agricultural product, notably with regard to non-strategic agri-food products such as tea, coffee and sugar." "It must intervene to readjust the prices of certain basic products in the event of a crisis, and tighten controls on the storage and distribution chains in the agri-food sector." The study also points to the need to reduce food dependency on external markets. To achieve this, it recommends better anticipating future shocks and preparing for changes in global markets, reducing the import bill through controlled, multi-year planning of purchases on the global market and creating a simplified procedure for importing basic products by streamlining current public procurement procedures. The aim is also to "improve storage and dist ribution channels and logistical conditions, by equipping each region with suitable markets (wholesale and municipal) and slaughterhouses, increasing the number of direct sales outlets from producer to consumer, and setting up digital platforms and digitising storage and distribution channels to increase the transparency of commercial transactions and combat speculation." The ITES also calls for improving conditions of access to finance, insurance, encouraging investment in agriculture and the agri-food sector and reducing losses and recovering food waste. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse