WPS Health Solutions earns Energy Efficiency Excellence Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Director of Communications
608-977-7343
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

WPS Health Solutions earns Energy Efficiency Excellence Award

MADISON, Wis.—April 22, 2020—Focus on Energy in Wisconsin has selected WPS Health Solutions as one of 13 winners of the Energy Efficiency Excellence Award for 2020. The announcement, which coincides with Earth Day on April 22, recognizes WPS’ commitment to improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of its operations in Madison.

The statewide program worked with its partner utilities to choose the winners.

“WPS Health Solutions is honored to earn this award for ongoing energy conservation efforts,” said Ken Roseth, Vice President of Facility Operations. “Saving energy is just one of the ways we care for the environment, both today and for future generations.”

Since 2017, WPS has completed more than 25 major energy-efficiency initiatives. The list includes major LED lighting retrofits; optimization of air handlers and associated support equipment; optimization of data center climate controls; and converting a steam heating system to a high-efficiency hot water system.

Including the last project applications from 2019, annual savings from those projects are estimated at 2.4 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 23,000 therms of natural gas, according to Alex Dodd, an energy adviser with Focus on Energy.

Using 2019 electricity and gas prices, that equates to about $275,000 in annual savings. Also, that amount of energy is enough to power 210 homes for a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator. Total consumption (in British thermal units) at the Madison campus has been reduced by 15%.

Dodd also estimates total incentives from Focus on Energy at $215,000 for projects in 2017 through 2019.

Focus on Energy is funded by the state’s investor-owned energy utilities and participating municipal and electric cooperative utilities.

About WPS Health Solutions

WPS Health Solutions is a nationally regarded government contractor and a leading Wisconsin not-for-profit health insurer. The WPS Health Insurance division offers affordable health plans and benefits administration. The WPS Government Health Administrators division administers Part A and B Medicare benefits for millions of seniors in multiple states, and the WPS Military and Veterans Health division serves millions more members who are active in the U.S. military, veterans, and their families. Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions) has been based in Madison, Wis., for more than 70 years. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

Music App LÜM Featured as Apple’s App of the Day

For Immediate Release
April 3rd, 2020

Music App LÜM Featured as Apple’s App of the Day

Music streaming app highlighted as Apple’s App of the Day following the launch of first-ever artist focused virtual gifting system.

MADISON, WI – April 3, 2020 – Today, the social music streaming app LÜM is being highlighted by Apple as “App of the Day.” This follows the company’s announcement of becoming the first music streaming platform in the US to allow for direct-to-artist virtual gifting. The company’s virtual gifting system launched in January 2020, via a new in-app virtual currency called the “Note.”

The Madison-based tech startup recently closed a second round of financing after launching its social media and music streaming app in July 2019. The platform has quickly grown to over 70,000 users, including 45,000 musicians and a catalog of over 125,000 tracks. In January, LÜM launched the “Note,” becoming the first in-app virtual currency to be used for artist financial support in a music streaming platform in the US.

“We live in a world where people are quick to congratulate, but slow to support,” said Max Fergus, CEO of LÜM. “We want young independent musicians to know that we, along with millions of others, want to support them, because we know that they will succeed in their endeavors. Technology, and even more importantly, human connection, will continue to shape many industries, including music. We are excited to bring that future to artists and fans.”

Within the first two months since the launch of LÜM’s virtual currency, over 8,000 artists have received direct support from fans. Over 12,000,0000 Notes have been gifted to artists. Each Note has direct financial value equal to the average royalty payout per stream on alternative streaming platforms. The average payout to supported artists on LÜM is approximately 8 times higher than the per stream income generated by artists on other major music streaming services. In the future, LÜM looks to apply its virtual currency to new areas of the music industry and continue to pursue the company’s ultimate goal of creating a path for independent artists to make a career out of their passion for music. LÜM has also recently launched a COVID-19 response to subsidize additional income for creators during the crisis.

Please follow this link to the “Today” tab on the Apple App store to find LÜM’s featured story under App of the Day.

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Website: https://lum.fm/ 

iOS App Download: Click Here

For Press Inquiries: max.fergus@lum.fm (P:608-576-6682)

Press: https://lum.fm/press

About LÜM 

LÜM is a music streaming and discovery application built on a stand-alone social network that enables emerging artists to circulate their music and grow their fan base. The LÜM platform focuses exclusively on emerging artists and increases artist-to-fan and fan-to-fan engagement through the gamification of social music discovery. 

Artists upload their content and connect with fans on LÜM’s platform. Users discover, support and circulate music by sharing and engaging with their friends and peer communities. Founded in 2018, LÜM is headquartered in Madison, WI, with offices in Austin and New York City. For more information, visit https://lum.fm/. 

Naviant Named 2020 Partner of the Year by Hyland Software

Media contact:
Liz Skolaski | 888.686.8789 x 892 | lskolaski@naviant.com

Naviant Named 2020 Partner of the Year by Hyland Software

Verona, WI & Akron, OH, & Orem, UT  – March 10, 2020 – Naviant, a top OnBase reseller, was recently honored at Hyland Software’s 2020 Executive Forum and swept the awards night, including being named 2020 Commercial Partner of the Year, 2020 Customer Growth Partner of the Year, and 2020 Marketing Excellence Partner of the Year!

Naviant, a long-time top OnBase & Brainware partner, is so proud to be recognized by Hyland Software as the #1 Hyland Partner of the Year. With over 300 Hyland partners worldwide, Naviant was selected for our proven track record of success, our dedication to our “process first” approach and solution expertise, our innovative approach to ongoing customer education, and our happy customers.

“At Naviant, our prime focus is on our clients’ growth and sophistication,” said Michael Carr, President and CEO at Naviant. “We apply our technology and process automation expertise to help our customers stay ahead of the competitive curve and achieve their goals.”

Naviant’s unique approach to the customer experience sets it apart from other OnBase resellers. This close relationship with clients enables Naviant to offer tailored, innovative ideas and solutions to automate even further. Elizabeth Skolaski, Executive Vice President and COO at Naviant, says, “The best-in-class OnBase content services platform has a direct and measurable impact on our clients and helps them work smarter and faster with less, and these top honors help set Naviant apart from the other OnBase resellers.”

As a long-standing key partner of Hyland Software, Naviant helps organizations operate more efficiently using the OnBase software platform, ABBYY and Brainware intelligent capture platforms, and the Kryon Robotic Process Automation platform. Naviant’s “process-first” approach brings focus to the importance of process improvement prior to implementing best-in-class automation solutions and technology.

In addition to the prestigious recognitions above, Naviant was also awarded for the 16^th year in a row the distinct honor of being a 2020 Hyland Diamond Support Partner, as well as receiving 2020 Platinum Elite Partner status.

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About Naviant

Business processes and solutions that empower better and faster decisions are what we do best. As a nationally-recognized intelligent automation solutions integrator and business process consulting organization with over 30 years of experience headquartered in Verona WI, our clients do more with less by streamlining processes and gaining visibility into the information they need to make better decisions. As a long-standing key partner of Hyland Software, Naviant helps organizations operate more efficiently using the OnBase software platform, ABBYY and Brainware intelligent capture platforms, and Kryon Robotic Process Automation platform. Naviant’s “process-first” approach brings focus to the importance of process improvement prior to implementing best-in-class ECM solutions and technology. Naviant is a top-tier partner for OnBase, a single enterprise information platform for managing content, processes, and cases, that combines ECM, case management, business process management (BPM), records management, compliance, and capture functionality on a single platform. In addition, Naviant also partners with Kryon Systems for Robotics Process Automation (RPA) technology to enable organizations to drive business agility and efficiency by offloading repetitive high-volume work to a digital workforce (aka software robots).  To learn more about Naviant, please visit naviant.com. Process focus. Excellence.

About Hyland

Hyland is a leading content services provider that enables thousands of organizations to deliver better experiences to the people they serve. Find us at Hyland.com.

Parent Company of Wisconsin Bank & Trust Recognized as a Forbes Best Bank in America for 2020

Madison, WI, February 27, 2020 — Wisconsin Bank & Trust through its parent company, Heartland Financial USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: HTLF), has been named a “Forbes Best Bank 2020.”

In its annual review of the largest publicly traded banks and thrifts, Forbes ranked Heartland 40th among a nationwide group of 100 leading banking organizations with assets ranging from $9 billion to over $2 trillion.

“We are proud to be named among the Best Banks in America for 2020,” said Curtis Chrystal, President and CEO at Wisconsin Bank & Trust. “As a community bank, what sets us apart is our strong commitment to our customers, combined with access to ‘big-bank’ products and services as part of Heartland.”

“The Forbes ranking underscores the benefits of our unique structure—the strength and capabilities of a big bank, combined with the personal touch and local decision-making of a community bank,” Chrystal said. Wisconsin Bank & Trust offers full-service branches where experts can meet all financial needs throughout the community.

To compile the rankings, Forbes used data collected by SNL Financial through the third quarter of 2019 on the country’s largest publicly traded banks and thrifts. The data covered ten metrics of financial health: return on average equity; net interest margin; nonperforming loans (NPLs) as a percentage of loans; nonperforming assets as percentage of assets; reserves as a percentage of NPLs; two capital ratios (Tier 1 and risk-based); and leverage ratio. Forbes generated its ranking based on an average of the individual ranks of each metric.

About Wisconsin Bank & Trust

Wisconsin Bank & Trust (WBT), a subsidiary of Heartland Financial USA, Inc., (NASDAQ: HTLF), is a business-focused community bank with assets of more than $1 billion. With 14 banking centers and one loan processing office, Wisconsin Bank & Trust serves customers in the Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Monroe and southwest areas of Wisconsin. WBT offers a wide range of personal and business banking, private client and mortgage lending services. For more information, visit www.wisconsinbankandtrust.com or call 608.203.1214. Wisconsin Bank & Trust is a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender.

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CEC Receives National Excellence in Business Award from National Systems Contractors Association

Hiawatha, IA (Feb. 19, 2020) – Communications Engineering Company (CEC), a nationally recognized technology systems integrator, is pleased to announce that it has been recognized by National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) with an Excellence in Business award in the category of Differentiating Strategies.

The company has aligned the sales organization to concentrate on customer-driven initiatives allowing CEC’s sales professionals to focus on one-on-one support across technology suites. Customers enjoy one point of contact for audio, video, fire & security, IT, healthcare communications, and two-way communications solutions. World class technology service and support is available locally across their footprint in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

“This new sales strategy not only provides our customers with a better experience, but also prepares us for long-term, sustained growth,” stated CEC Vice President of Sales Tyler Ebnet. “Our dedication to customer-focused selling also helps us create new services and solutions to better support the way our clients work, including our new Managed Systems Program (MSP), which rolled out in January 2020.”

By packaging the latest technology into an affordable monthly subscription across a three-year term, the Managed Systems Program offers a built-in refresh cycle so customers can stay current with technology.

NSCA also recognized Ebnet with a 2020 Randy Vaughan Founder’s Award, which is granted to a select number of professionals across the country who hold management or decision-making roles within a commercial integration firm.

CEC will be recognized along with five other integration firms for its Excellence in Business award at NSCA’s 22^nd annual Business & Leadership Conference, held Feb. 26-28, 2020, in Irving, Texas.

To learn more about CEC and its dedication to the customer experience, visit www.cecinfo.com.

About CEC
With offices in the Midwest serving local and national customers, CEC offers solution design, integration, and technical services specializing in audio/video, fire and security, healthcare communications, IT, and two-way communications. Focused on creating world class technology experiences, the CEC team partners with clients to understand their businesses, tailor solutions, and plan for future technology needs. To learn more, visit www.cecinfo.com.

About NSCA
The National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA) is the leading not-for-profit association representing the commercial low-voltage electronic systems industry. NSCA is a powerful advocate for all who work within the low-voltage industry, including systems contractors/integrators, product manufacturers, consultants, sales representatives, architects, specifying engineers, and other allied professionals. 

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For more information:
Angie Worrell, Director of Marketing
aworrell@cecinfo.com or 319-294-9000