Greater Insurance Service and EPIC Specialty Benefits partner on food drive for Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Prue Lotharius

Director, Business Development & Marketing

608-977-6627

prue.lotharius@epiclife.com

Greater Insurance Service and EPIC Specialty Benefits partner on
food drive for Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis.—August 7, 2018—EPIC Specialty Benefits is partnering with local insurance agencies around Wisconsin this summer to help Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin.

Greater Insurance Service Corp. will host a food drive August 15-30 at its home office at 414 Atlas Ave. in Madison. The public is invited to stop by with donations of non-perishable food items (no glass containers) or donations of cash/checks.

“We wanted a fun way to engage with valued agency partners this summer while supporting the broader community. Putting together a food drive tour with Second Harvest made sense, and partnering with Greater Insurance Service was an easy decision because they have been strong partners of ours for a long time,” said Prue Lotharius, Director of Business Development and Marketing.

“At Second Harvest, we know that we cannot end hunger alone,” said Dan Stein, Second Harvest President and CEO. “Through collaboration with amazing organizations like Greater Insurance Service and EPIC Specialty Benefits, together we can change the lives of those facing hunger in our community.”

About Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin

Second Harvest is a hunger-relief charity organization whose goal is to make sure everyone in southwestern Wisconsin has enough of the right kinds of food to live a happy and healthy life. Second Harvest distributes millions of pounds of food each year through a network of partner agencies and programs. For every $1 donated, Second Harvest can provide three meals. For every 1.2 pounds of food donated, Second Harvest can provide one meal. Check out this list of most-needed non-perishable food items.

About EPIC Specialty Benefits

EPIC Specialty Benefits is a choice provider of group insurance products to cover life, disability, dental, vision, and voluntary benefits for businesses. Based in Madison, Wis., EPIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of WPS Health Solutions, a nationally regarded government contractor and a leading Wisconsin not-for-profit health insurer. For more information, please visit epiclife.com.

Hoofer Sailing Club Will Host Screening of ‘Coyote: The Mike Plant Story’ Aug. 18

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Information:

Shauna Breneman, Communications Director

Office: (608) 262-8862

Email: sbreneman@wisc.edu

HOOFER SAILING CLUB WILL HOST SCREENING OF ‘COYOTE: THE MIKE PLANT STORY’ AUG. 18

Hoofer Sailing development event to support realization of the Hoofer Marina Project

MADISON – The Hoofer Sailing Club will host a screening of “Coyote: The Mike Plant Story” at 7 p.m. Aug. 18 at Shannon Hall in Memorial Union, with ticket sales supporting the building of a new Hoofer marina.

“Coyote: The Mike Plant Story” tells the incredible story of legendary Midwestern sailor Mike Plant and his ambition for adventure as he journeys on a solo trip around the world. Screening attendees will see Plant overcome numerous obstacles, including time in a Portuguese prison, in his pursuit of making his dreams come true.

This screening’s proceeds will help another dream come true: the building of a new marina near Memorial Union.

One-thousand tickets are available for purchase. Following the screening, the Club will host a reception, which will include a gallery featuring renderings of the marina.

In fall 2018, the Wisconsin Union team, including the Wisconsin Hoofers, will break ground on the new pier system near Memorial Union. The new system will enhance lakefront safety and efficiency, create a new greenspace along the lakeshore, and help the Hoofers continue their legacy of providing outdoor recreation opportunities and instruction.

Hoofers is made up of six outdoor-related clubs, including the Hoofer Sailing Club, which frequently uses the current 40-year-old marina. Through almost four decades of use by thousands of Hoofers, the marina’s infrastructure has experienced wear and tear.

The Hoofer Sailing Club provides affordable, accessible sailing equipment and instruction to more than 1,000 members. The Club offers lessons in everything from wind surfing to scow and keelboat sailing.

The Hoofer Marina Project will replace the existing marina and include accessibility enhancements, shoreline restoration, expanded green space, improved docks, a new crane to facilitate more efficient transport of boats, and more.

“We are looking forward to the ways in which this project will help us better serve the community in the future,” Sailing Club Commodore and UW-Madison senior Alise Mintz said. “We are grateful to everyone who has given to the marina fund and supported our ability to continue to serve the community.”

Click here for more information regarding the “Coyote: The Mike Plant Story” screening, including how to purchase tickets. Those interested in supporting this project can also donate here: union.wisc.edu/get-involved/donate/give-to-hoofers.

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About the Hoofer Sailing Club

The Hoofer Sailing Club promotes sailing at UW-Madison by providing recreational and competitive sailing instruction and equipment. Since 1939, the Club has operated under the Wisconsin Union to provide affordable, accessible sailing programs to the campus and community. Learn more about the Club: hoofersailing.org.

[Note to the editor: Click here to download a rendering of the new marina.]

UnityPoint Health Notifies Patients of Security Incident

Amy Varcoe, Media Relations

UnityPoint Health

C: 515-491-8813

Amy.Varcoe@unitypoint.org

NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNITYPOINT HEALTH NOTIFIES PATIENTS OF SECURITY INCIDENT

(WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – July 30, 2018) UnityPoint Health announced today that it has notified approximately 1.4 million patients of a recent email phishing incident that may have compromised certain patient protected health or personal information.

“We take our responsibility to protect patient information very seriously and deeply regret this incident occurred,” said RaeAnnIsaacson, PrivacyOfficer, UnityPointHealth. “While we are not aware of any misuse of patient information related to this incident, we are notifying patients about what happened, what information was involved, what we have done to address the situation, and what patients can do to help protect their information.”

On May 31, 2018, UnityPoint Health discovered that a phishing email attack had compromised its business email system andmay have resultedinunauthorizedaccesstoprotectedhealthinformation and other personal information for some patients. Upon learning of this attack, UnityPoint Health informed law enforcement agencies and launched an investigation with an expert computer forensics firm to determine the size and scope of the attack, as well as the number of people potentially impacted.

The forensics investigation revealed that UnityPoint Health received a series of fraudulent emails known as “phishing” that were disguised to appear to have come from a trusted executive within the organization. The phishing emails tricked some employees into providing their confidential sign-in information which gave attackers access to their internal email accounts between March 14, 2018 and April 3, 2018. Some of the compromised accounts included emails or attachments to emails, such as standard reports related to healthcare operations, containing protected health information and/or personal information for certain patients.

Patient information that may have been in compromised email accounts included patient names and one or more of the following: addresses, dates of birth, medical record numbers, medical information, treatment information, surgical information, diagnoses, lab results, medications, providers, dates of service and/or insurance information. For some individuals, information may have included a Social Security number and/or driver’s license number. For a limited number of individuals, information may also have included payment card or bank account numbers. While unauthorized access to patient information may have occurred, no known or attempted misuse of patient information has been reported as a result of this incident at this time.

UnityPoint Health will offer free credit monitoring services for one year to individuals whose Social Security number and/or driver’s license number were included in the compromised email accounts. UnityPoint encourages impacted individuals to remain vigilant in reviewing account statements for fraudulent or irregular activity on a regular basis, including a review of any “explanation of benefits statements”. Individuals should follow up with the applicable insurance company or care provider for any items that are not recognized.

Electronic medical record and patient billing systems were not impacted by this attack. The only unauthorized access to patient information may have occurred through compromised email accounts, where the information was contained in the body of an email or in attachments such as reports. It is common and appropriate for patient information to be shared through business email between employees authorized to use it as part of their work to support patient care. Business reports are created for a variety of purposes, including to track payments from patients’ primary insurance carriers or to contact patients regarding follow-up appointments.

According to computer forensic experts and law enforcement, these types of phishing email attacks are usually financially motivated. The phishing attack on UnityPoint Health was more likely focused on diverting business funds like payroll or vendor payments, rather than on obtaining patient information.

In April, UnityPoint Health notified approximately 16,400 patients of a separate phishing email attack. Law enforcement agencies report dramatic increases in attacks on business email systems. Often carried out by international criminal organizations, these highly sophisticated attacks utilize complex schemes that are constantly evolving.

UnityPoint Health has taken a number of important steps intended to protect its systems and prevent similar situations from happening in the future. Specific actions include:

Resetting passwords for all compromised accounts to prevent further unauthorized access;
Conducting mandatory education for employees to help them recognize and avoid phishing emails;
Adding technology to identify suspicious external emails; and
Implementing multi-factor authentication which requires users to go through multiple steps to verify their identity in order to access systems.
“We continue to work closely with leading experts to learn from our experience and help our organization – and other health care organizations – prevent these kinds of cybercrimes,” said Isaacson.

UnityPoint Health mailed notification letters via U.S. Mail on July 30, 2018, to individuals impacted by this incident (where last known home address was available). UnityPoint Health has also notified the news media and posted notices on the homepages of the health system website and all affiliate websites.

For patients who have questions or concerns regarding this incident, or to determine if they are impacted by this incident, UnityPoint Health has established a dedicatedandconfidentialtoll-freehelplineat1-888-266-9285.The helplineisstaffedbyprofessionalsfamiliarwiththisincidentandknowledgeable aboutwhatpatientscandotoprotectagainstmisuseoftheirinformation.ThehelplineisavailableMondaythrough Friday,8:00a.m.to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. In addition, UnityPoint Health has established a dedicated website (www.unitypoint.org/security-notice) where patients can access information regarding the incident, including frequently asked questions and tips for protecting their information.

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About UnityPoint Health

UnityPoint Health is the nation’s 13th largest nonprofit health system and the fourth largest nondenominational health system in America, providing care throughout Iowa, western Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

National architecture-engineering firm opens third Florida office

NOTE: Mead & Hunt’s headquarters are in Middleton, Wisconsin. The firm is the 4th largest in Wisconsin according to ENR magazine. Balchon, Knuckey and Schmidgall are all new hires.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 31, 2018

National architecture-engineering firm opens third Florida office

Mead & Hunt, a national architecture-engineering consulting firm, is opening its third Florida office in Tampa.

The new Tampa office will be the home office for Ed Balchon, who brings more than 25 years of Florida water-wastewater engineering experience to Mead & Hunt. He is joined in Tampa by Todd Knuckey and Dave Schmidgall who will lead the Florida aviation team.

“There are significant and challenging projects in the Tampa Bay and west-central Florida region that are well-aligned with the capabilities of the firm. Opening a Tampa office is another step toward expanding service to Florida clients and offers rewarding consulting opportunities for our employees,” said Balchon, Market Leader for Mead & Hunt’s water practice.

Balchon joined with the purpose of expanding Mead & Hunt’s presence in the region. He will be active in adding staff to address client needs. Further growth is anticipated in the Tampa, Tallahassee and Daytona Beach area offices soon. Pulling from both local and national resources, the Florida team will provide the full range of Mead & Hunt services.

Mead & Hunt established a water-wastewater office in Port Orange in August 2017. In April 2018, the firm established a highway and bridge office in Tallahassee. The Tampa office will initially focus on water-wastewater, infrastructure and aviation services. All three offices are anticipated to add more service lines soon. Mead & Hunt provides clients with expert planning, architecture, engineering, environmental and construction administration services throughout the nation.

“We’ve been looking for the right opportunity to establish another Florida office, and Tampa was my first choice,” said Ron Engel, Vice President and Group Leader of Mead & Hunt Aviation Services. “With a skilled and available workforce and great business community – Tampa was where we needed to be.”

Balchon added to this sentiment, sharing that Mead & Hunt was pursuing opportunities to showcase the firm’s long history of creating innovative engineering solutions with landmark projects.

“We have the depth of senior, skilled personnel with local, Florida experience to address this environmentally-sensitive region,” said Balchon. “The infrastructure needs in Florida are growing rapidly and so is Mead & Hunt, especially in the water-wastewater market.”

The employee-owned consulting firm remains strong on ENR‘s Top 500 design firm list with a national ranking of 139th in 2018. Mead & Hunt was named by CE News as one of the top 10 engineering companies to work for in the nation. The firm employs about 700 employees from 30+ offices located across the nation.

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Contacts:

Ron Engel, Vice President and Aviation Services Group Leader ron.engel@meadhunt.com 517-908-3107
Ed Balchon, Florida Water Market Leader ed.balchon@meadhunt.com 813-390-8446
Kary Beck, Corporate Communications kary.beck@meadhunt.com 608-443-0370

Prestigious London-Based Chocolate Competition Names Wisconsin’s CocoVaa Chocolatier as an International Rising Star

Syovata Edari Collects 17 Academy Awards in London and is Named an International Rising Star by the Prestigious Academy of Chocolate Awards

CocoVaa Chocolatier picked up its 17 academy awards in London, England on Wednesday at the Academy of Chocolate Awards’ annual awards ceremony. The Academy also announced owner and chocolatier Syovata Edari as an International Rising Star, which came as a surprise to Edari who is fairly new to the industry. She is the only US national to hold this title in 2018. This year the Academy had a record-breaking 1,200 entries from 45 countries. The highly competitive juried competition took place over ten weeks in a rigorous process where each chocolate is subjected to blind tasting by multiple panels of international experts in the fine chocolate industry.

According to a coordinator of judges, even placing silver is extremely difficult due to the complex rubric used to assess the hundreds of chocolates submitted from around the world.

Edari entered seventeen items in the hopes of winning at least one or two awards. “I would have been pleased to win even one bronze because I knew I was competing with some of the world’s best” states Edari who won awards for every submission including two gold, eight silver and seven bronze. “Sharing the stage with some of the world’s best makers and designers of fine chocolate, winning so many awards and being named an International Rising Star is the greatest honor and a dream come true.“ Edari’s wins from the London based competition come the same year she was named one of America’s Top Chocolatiers and awarded the highest ranking Grand Master title by the International Chocolate Salon based in the U.S.

Edari uses premium ingredients, makes everything in “micro-batches,” and is conscientious with regard to the sources of her chocolate. “When you operate ethically and with attention to quality, your margins are lower, but as consumer’s become more educated with regard to taste as well as sourcing, smaller artisans like us will be at the forefront of the food revolution and industrial chocolate will ultimately lose its appeal all together.” says Edari, who took her children with her to London to receive their awards. “I wanted my kids to see and to enjoy the benefits of our collective hard work and perseverance.” Edari’s children Emayu, age 18, and Solomon, age 10, have been actively involved in the business operations and inspire many of Edari’s flavor and design concepts. “My kids took the stage with me. They deserve this as much as I do.”

CocoVaa Chocolatier has become known for its unique and whimsical flavor combinations such as coconut Lemongrass which won a silver award and hazelnut macchiato which won a gold award. Edari is scaling up and is building a larger production and retail space at The Marling at 1815 East Washington Avenue in Madison, Wisconsin which should be open fall of 2018 with expanded hours. “We are growing quickly but carefully so we don’t lose quality or lose sight of our mission.”

Source:

CocoVaa Chocolatier media team

info@cocovaa.com