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SFAA Elects Board of Directors, New Chair, and Officers

SFAA

The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA), a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association representing all segments of the surety and fidelity industry, held its Annual Meeting and Board of Directors meeting on April 14 and 15, 2022. During the Annual Meeting on Wednesday, April 14 th the SFAA membership elected the SFAA Board of Directors and during the Board of Directors meeting on Thursday, April 15 th the Board elected the Officers and Executive Committee Members: Officers and Executive Committee Members Robert Murray, SFAA Chair, Head of Surety, Zurich North America Robert Raney, SFAA Vice-Chair, Head of Construction Surety, Travelers Companies John F. Welch, SFAA Past-Chair, President & CEO, CNA Surety Group Rick Ciullo, Chief Operating Officer, The Hartford Insurance Group Mike Keimig, President & CEO, Markel Surety Corporation Timothy Mikolajewski, President, Global Surety, Liberty Mutual Group Stephen Ruschak, Executive Vice President Surety, Arch Insurance Group Other Elected Board Members Antonio C. Albanese, Head of Surety, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Ken Bearley, President – Bond Division, Great American Insurance Companies Ken Chapman, Executive Vice President – Surety, IAT Insurance Group Stephen M. Haney, Division President, North America Surety & CUO, Global Surety, Chubb Surety James Kawiecki, President of Surety, Hanover Insurance Group Matt Lubin, President, Surety Division, Crum & Forster Alan Pavlic, President/COO, Old Republic Surety Group Sarina Puccio, Head of Credit and Surety, Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. Michael Seff, Head of Surety, Intact Insurance Specialty Solutions Gary Stumper, National Surety Leader, Westfield Group Larry Taylor, President, Merchants Bonding Company Group The board welcomed newly elected board members Steve Lubin (Crum & Forster) and Stephen Ruschak (Arch Surety) and recognized outgoing board members Steve Anderson (Swiss Re) and Nancy Giordan-Ramos (Main Street America) for their outstanding service on the board and to the industry. The board also thanked John Welch for his leadership and contributions to the industry during his two years of service as SFAA Chair. The Surety & Fidelity Association of America (SFAA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association representing all segments of the surety and fidelity industry. Based in Washington, D.C., SFAA works to promote the value of surety and fidelity bonding by proactively advocating on behalf of its members and stakeholders. The association’s more than 425 member companies write 98 percent of surety and fidelity bonds in the U.S. For more information visit www.surety.org. Contact Details Peter Roth +1 703-401-0676 proth@surety.org Company Website https://surety.org/

April 21, 2022 12:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Telos' Decentralization Rivals that of Bitcoin and Ethereum

Telos Foundation

Telos Blockchain (ticker: TLOS), the world’s most robust and decentralized ESG compliant layer 1 platform and home to the world's fastest, highest capacity EVM (tEVM), derives credible neutrality and decentralization from at least 42 equally distinct validating nodes compared to the much smaller number of major mining pools securing Bitcoin and Ethereum. After a thorough competitive analysis comparing Telos’ decentralization to the decentralization of many of the other top Layer 1 chains, the Foundation has confirmed its assumptions. Based on validator equality and crucial factors regarding architecture and finances, the team confirmed that Telos is indeed one of the leading chains regarding credible neutrality and decentralization. As mining pools lack equality, massive node counts become irrelevant: As depicted in the pie charts above, Telos, via its governance, has maintained an equitable distribution amongst all its active validators and Bitcoin and Ethereum have not. Instead, the mining pools of both Bitcoin and Ethereum have now become centralized. The hypothesis is that over the years the well-funded pools have overtaken the little ones. Despite the substantial number of nodes, to be a credibly neutral peer-to-peer network, the network must also sustain even splits in validator power / responsibilities. Without this equality, the insulating strengths of decentralized peer-to-peer networking becomes significantly degraded. A decentralized network made up of equitable validators adds a powerful layer of insulation against multiple scenarios. For example, a multi-government coalition could potentially implement disruptive regulations or restrictions on blockchain. If only a handful of validators / mining pools need to be targeted, it becomes much easier for those governments to impose their will and degrade the insulation that a peer-to-peer network is supposed to provide. In fact, an event far smaller than this could instantly interrupt some chains from operating as they intended. However, the problem is not just limited to government interference. It is also the potential of a coalition amongst the validator majority that threatens the decentralization and stability of a chain. Despite having many nodes, it appears that for Bitcoin it would take only ~5 large mining pools to form a majority, only ~4 for Ethereum and 22 for Telos (as depicted in the pie charts above). Aside from this significant (4x to 5x) difference, it is also worth noting that the community fairly votes the Telos validators into active slots vs Bitcoin / Ethereum in which the mining pool’s principles are anonymous and can simply buy their way into a majority position. Hence, the centralization and lack of credible neutrality that has now formed. Credible neutrality cannot exist in an environment in which control and influence is exerted by small groups of well-funded people. This move towards validator centralization also leads to neutrality questions that are impossible to answer. For example, are the validator majorities' ambitions in line with what is best for the chain or themselves? To put the potential gravity of this into perspective one needs to understand that the principal/s of a majority sized mining pool can easily be a crime syndicate, and no one would know about it due to the anonymity. In fact, all the major mining pools can hypothetically be owned by crime syndicates, and no one would ever know. In contrast to this, with chain-governed validator equality and ongoing fair community voting, these credibility and neutrality questions are simply non-existing issues. In fact, all these chain degrading scenarios are exactly what the Telos architecture and governance have insulated against. As a chain’s validator network becomes unequal in size; the more it will move towards centralization, the more its neutrality will become biased and the more these chain breakdown scenarios may become a reality. Insider allocation cost blockchain’s their credible neutrality: Being that Telos was a 100% bootstrap project (95% of the coins airdropped to the community, 5% were used as equal pay to the almost 150 contributors, no insider handouts, and no ICO), the team already knew that its insider allocation was at the same level as Bitcoin’s beginnings, zero. Telos is the only L1 chain besides Bitcoin to have ever reached this stage of maturity while still maintaining zero insider allocation. All the other L1 chains are believed to be centralized and unable to become credibly neutral public infrastructure due to their insider allocation (click here to see). With this being noted, these chains will most likely never be utilized by governments as a legal tender and dApps depending on this infrastructure will never be 100% insulated by the full power of credible neutrality and decentralization. Telos Decentralization: Since its inception, the validators of the Telos Blockchain are both equally sized and regionally / globally diversified. Plus, no ungoverned wallet is known to hold more than 2% of the chain. From chain architecture to finances, decentralization and neutrality are of the highest priority for the chain. Over the last 4 years, Telos has grown into a truly utopian blockchain option for both private and public infrastructure. It is ludicrously fast, very inexpensive, extremely energy efficient, credibly neutral, non-congested, super easy to deploy on and the only chain that fully insulates the public from the front running / MEV that is plaguing Ethereum. Decentralization Highlights: Telos is the only third generation layer 1 blockchain to have never done an ICO [initial coin offering] and this non-action alone insulates the chain greatly regarding insider collusion and the SEC security law suits. Telos, at its inception, electively chose to stay a bootstrap project and rise in the same fashion as Bitcoin. All other third generation layer 1 chains (including Ethereum) have done ICOs and will more than likely be forced to file with the SEC as securities. The former and current SEC Chairman have both expressed that every ICO [initial coin offering] they have seen are indeed securities, that they have jurisdiction, and that federal securities laws apply. The validating architecture of other networks might be structured via peer-to-peer architecture, but they are not credibly decentralized due to the distribution of monetary / voting / validating power. Again, insider allocation is non-existent and as you can see above in the pie charts depicting validator decentralization, Telos Validators are proportionally equal. Telos governance has the fairest voting system in existence, called Telos Decide. It is tamper-proof and secured by the Tlos coins that investors own. A coin holder can vote on behalf of the coins they hold and rely on outcomes that do not require any further human involvement. No other Layer 1 offers this level of automated community fairness. Especially because the Telos governance documents may be dynamically amended by the votes of the coin holders in a process that is entirely controlled by on-chain smart contracts. Governments, investors, dApp creators, and end users need not forget that the fundamental features which bring the most value to blockchain are credible neutrality and decentralization. With credible neutrality and decentralization the following attributes are all significantly enhanced: Utility Redundancy Security / Trust Individual Financial Independence dApp Sovereignty Fair Voting Legal Tender The actions and inactions of Telos are driven by the belief that the public and private sectors require credibly neutral blockchain infrastructure in a third-generation capable format. Credible neutrality, ludicrously fast speeds, energy efficiency, and super low-cost transactions make Telos the perfect crypto currency for the global internet and for the people. About Telos Live since 2018, Telos Blockchain (ticker: Tlos) is a third-generation smart contract platform that offers compatibility with Solidity, Vyper and Native C++ smart contracts. Telos provides full EVM/Solidity support with fixed low-cost gas fees and no front running. Uniquely, Telos also offers a path to fee-less transactions via its robust native C++ smart contract support. Utilizing less than 0.000002 kWh per transaction, the chain can sustainably support hundreds of millions of transactions per day, produce blocks in 0.5 second intervals on a first-in-first-out basis (eliminating front running on the network) and securely validate transactions via a credibly neutral and globally decentralized block producer network. The Telos Blockchain has the throughput needed to facilitate and scale the thriving Metaverse / Web 3.0 better than any other blockchain. Its performance is unrivaled in the industry and was purpose-built to offer speed, scalability, cost-effectiveness, credible decentralization, and end-user fairness. Telos, harnesses its power by utilizing tight C++ on the frontend and a custom WASM runtime environment on the backend. About The Foundation The Telos Foundation is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization established as a promotional and funding body to advance the Telos Blockchain Network and provide support to network applications. Contact Details The Team hello@telosfoundation.io Company Website https://www.telos.net/

April 20, 2022 10:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Agora Data Named as NIADA National Corporate Partner

Agora

Agora Data, whose suite of resources empowers independent auto dealers and finance companies to finance more non-prime customers, continues as a National Corporate Partner by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA). Agora is committed to leveling the playing field for non-prime auto loan originators, a market that has long been underserved and underbanked. The company plans to offer NIADA's 20,000 independent dealers the same advantages typically reserved for big franchise operations. For example, Agora made history with the first-ever crowdsourced subprime securitizations in the auto industry. They were completed in December 2020 and May 2021, and more securitizations are underway. Agora also recently unveiled the first-ever reducing interest rate line of credit. These new offerings pave the way to an unlimited borrowing capacity, the lowest interest rates, and the highest advances without requiring personal guarantees. The company combines its innovative financial solutions with a groundbreaking technology platform that calculates the book value of non-prime auto loans. Dealers and finance companies can now determine the value of their portfolios using Agora's patent pending predictive modeling. With this information, dealers can track the performance of their portfolios and optimize the capital they need to fuel growth by using a line of credit or by opportunistically selling a portion of their loans. "A single objective drives Agora - to remove the barriers dealers and finance companies face when attempting to access needed capital." said Steve Burke, CEO of Agora Data, Inc. "As a former Buy Here Pay Here dealer, I know firsthand how tough this industry can be for even the brightest entrepreneurs. It is amazing how auto loan originators can grow when the odds are stacked against them, so imagine what they can accomplish if these obstacles are removed." NIADA has been supporting independent dealers for 75 years, so it is the perfect fit for a strategic industry partner, says Burke. "NIADA built its reputation on connecting dealers with the most effective solutions providers in our industry. Agora is honored to continue being counted among those trailblazers." Agora Data will be attending and exhibiting at the upcoming NIADA Convention & Expo being held June 20-23, 2022, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. The company plans to announce and demonstrate many innovative advancements, all designed to fuel growth for dealers and finance companies. About Agora Data, Inc: Agora Data's platform delivers a suite of tools to empower independent auto dealers and finance companies to finance non-prime customers. Agora's family of auto finance products provides a wide range of critical funding paths so originators can obtain the cash they need to fuel growth, compete, and build wealth. Powered by patent pending technology, originators now have access to robust data analytics and planning resources to help optimize the performance of their portfolios. Agora Data made history by closing the first-ever crowdsourced subprime auto securitization in 2020 and followed that up with its second transaction in early 2021. For more information, visit agoradata.com or contact us at 877-592-4672. Contact Details Shelly Vandeven +1 682-282-4130 media@agoradata.com Company Website https://agoradata.com/

April 18, 2022 09:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Industrial Defender Unveils New Standalone OT Vulnerability Management Solution, Immunity by ID™

Industrial Defender

Industrial Defender, the leader in operational technology (OT) security, today announced the launch of Immunity by ID™, a new cloud-based offering that helps industrial security teams turn their OT asset inventory information into a risk-based vulnerability management program. The product is offered as a standalone solution or as an add-on within the Industrial Defender platform. Using current OT hardware and software inventory information from an asset visibility tool, CMDB or spreadsheet, this vendor-agnostic solution generates a prioritized list of vulnerabilities based on asset criticality and risk level, along with applicable patching data, to help keep critical infrastructure secure in the face of global cybersecurity threats. Immunity by ID is up and running in a matter of days, allowing users to begin their vulnerability management program immediately, and simple, transparent pricing lets them easily scale a subscription as they mature. “With the looming threat of a global cyber war, critical infrastructure organizations of all sizes are looking for straightforward solutions that rapidly deliver actionable intelligence to help them protect their essential systems,” said Peter Lund, CTO at Industrial Defender. “We created this tool to help companies better utilize the asset information they already have that may be nothing more than a data dump right now. Unlike other OT vulnerability management offerings on the market, ours is powered by an anonymized cloud, so as soon as a vulnerability is published, you'll know whether a device is at risk without waiting for the next software update.” Industrial Defender will be offering a free 14-day trial of Immunity by ID to qualified users at North American and European critical infrastructure companies through the end of May to support their efforts to shore up cybersecurity defenses. For more information, visit https://www.industrialdefender.com/immunity-by-industrial-defender/. About Industrial Defender Since 2006, Industrial Defender has been solving the challenge of safely collecting, monitoring, and managing OT asset data at scale, while providing cross-functional teams with a unified view of security. Their specialized solution is tailored to complex industrial control system environments by engineers with decades of hands-on OT experience. Easy integrations into the broader security and enterprise ecosystem empower IT teams with the same visibility, access, and situational awareness that they’re accustomed to on corporate networks. Learn more at www.industrialdefender.com. Contact Details Erin Anderson +1 617-675-4206 eanderson@industrialdefender.com Company Website https://www.industrialdefender.com

April 14, 2022 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Raw materials platform Zaraye raises $2.1m in Tiger Global’s first pre-seed investment in Pakistan

Zaraye

Karachi based business-to-business raw materials marketplace Zaraye raises $2.1mn in their pre-seed round from Tiger Global and Zayn Capital. Other investors include +92 Ventures, Alan Rutledge, Jack Rizvi, and current and former Careem employees holding key positions in their tenures. This is Tiger Global’s first pre-seed investment in Pakistan. Founded in late 2021, Zaraye helps manufacturing businesses procure raw materials and finance the working capital. It is currently serving clients across textile and construction industries, with over 300 partners and suppliers spread out in 20+ cities. Pakistan’s industrial manufacturing sector contributes to 20% of the country’s economy with a $35bn raw material market annually with raw materials contributing 60-65% of the total costs for the manufacturers. In conditions where net margins are thin, finding efficiency in costs becomes critical for these businesses to win orders and sustain against competition locally and globally. Additionally, SMEs have always found acquiring financing a huge battle for their businesses from financial institutions, and are forced to turn to informal markets with ~2.5x premiums. Ahsan Ali Khan, co-founder and CEO of Zaraye commented: “We aim to strengthen the backbone of the country’s economy by helping the entrepreneurs in finding avenues to optimize and scale. Zaraye will help our partners to compete locally and globally as they find more savings in time and money to create the best products. With the confidence of amazing investors in Zaraye, we are geared to supercharge our mission to reach millions of users”. Traditionally a manufacturer would connect with a handful of intermediaries or directly with the suppliers with a tedious process of going through multiple phone calls, and wait for them to furnish rates. This process is longer, tedious and brings very limited options for the buyers to make a decision. With Zaraye, buyers of raw materials can simply post their requirements for the required product and the relevant suppliers can furnish quotes in real time making the information for buying decisions vast and quick. At the same time, the suppliers can access consolidated demand volumes with the vast network of buyers on Zaraye’s platform. Faisal Aftab, Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Zayn Capital BitRate Fund commented: “Procurement in the manufacturing industry is a massive problem with similar models showing immense success in comparable markets. We believe in the Zaraye team and their capabilities in solving this problem in Pakistan. We’re super excited to be a part of their journey.” Zaraye is available across platforms with their iOS, android and web app. The platform helps buyers of raw materials connect with multitude of suppliers who furnish their quotes in real-time making the process faster and hassle free. Zaraye was founded by IBA class fellows Taha Iqbal Teli, Hashair Junaid Ahmedani and Ahsan Ali Khan who worked together at multiple instances throughout their academic and professional careers. Taha and Ahsan have been part of the tech ecosystem for the past 5 years with experience at giants like Careem and Swvl. Ahsan led Swvl’s Travel category for Pakistan in his last stint, while Taha led the TaaS product for Karachi before launching the Daewoo Adda, a logistics product for transportation’s leading player Daewoo. Meanwhile, Hashair after completing his post-graduate degree at the University of Bath, where studied with Taha he returned to Pakistan to join his family business in Karachi. Hashair soon found his passion in the hospitality industry introducing Czech and Levantian cuisine to Pakistan with two successful ventures while building an FMCG brand for imported coffee from Latin Amercia. Hashair Junaid Ahmedani, co-founder of Zaraye added: “Small and medium business owners have been trapped in a cycle of high competition and lack of financing options- Zaraye aims to help these businesses scale as they find the efficiencies in procurement and financing options to make better decisions for their businesses.” Taha Iqbal Teli, co-founder of Zaraye said “Our goal is to help these entrepreneurs focus on manufacturing and selling their products. Zaraye will handle the entire procurement process, all the way from getting quotes, assuring quality, delivering to their doorsteps with any after-sales assistance our partners might require. Our partners remain at the heart of all our endeavors and we believe this massive problem cannot be solved without a world class team. As we build great solutions for our customers, we are always on the lookout for great talent and I would encourage everyone who feels passionately about building solutions at scale that make lives easy and loved by customers to apply away.” Having worked together on multiple projects, the three came together to solve one of the biggest problems faced by the manufacturing industry in emerging markets. Hashair’s experience while working with his family business was critical in understanding the problems faced by the businessmen and how they operate. The team amalgamates context from legacy businesses and building modern solutions at scale. Zaraye has built a strong team with experience from Swvl, PWC UK chapter, Daraz and Louis Dreyfus and their tech team is led by Asif Ali, ex-CTO Cheetay. About Zaraye Founded in late 2021, Zaraye helps manufacturing businesses procure raw materials and finance the working capital. It is currently serving clients across textile and construction industries, with over 300 partners and suppliers spread out in 20+ cities. Zaraye is available across platforms with their iOS, android and web app. The platform helps buyers of raw materials connect with multitude of suppliers who furnish their quotes in real-time making the process faster and hassle free. About Tiger Global Management Tiger Global Management is an investment firm focused on public and private companies in the global internet, software, consumer,and financial technology industries. Tiger Global has been an investor in companies such as Facebook, Stripe, Uber, Coinbase, Byju’s, Instacart, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, Postmates, Quora, Spotify and others. About Zayn Capital Zayn Capital is an investment firm providing debt and equity financing to start-ups in Pakistan with occasional opportunistic bets in the region. It was founded by Faisal Aftab and Faisal Chowdhry who both serve as managing partners of the Venture Capital firm. Zayn Capital has made 20 investments with lead investments in Nayapay, Bagallery, Krave Mart and Bookme.pk among others. Their team is made up of seasoned executives, investors, founders, and operators who partner and support startups in Pakistan. For more information, please visit https://www.zayn.capital/ Contact Details Zaraye Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website http://www.zaraye.co/

April 14, 2022 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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NAMEPA receives grant from Cargill to implement program for educating students to become Marine Environment Protectors

North American Marine Environment Protection Association

The North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) has received funding from Cargill to implement an afterschool enrichment program for youth in grades 6-8 in underserved communities in the greater Miami area with a goal to educate and activate students to be “Marine Environment Protectors”. The project will help “Save Our Seas” by encouraging this generation to become responsible stewards of the marine environment through hands-on educational programs and projects. NAMEPA’s Marine Environment Protectors program increases ocean literacy among underrepresented youth, highlights workforce development in marine fields, allows for long-term scientific research, and creates a framework for similar projects to expand across North America. “Cargill believes in being strong community partners and actively supports valuable programs that protect and promote our planet,” explained Jan-Willem van den Dijssel, Cargill’s Americas Lead for Ocean Transportation. “We are partnering with NAMEPA to help foster ocean literacy amongst students of today and steer them to become ocean ambassadors of tomorrow. This program supports this goal and will drive lasting positive change.” NAMEPA Co-Founder and Executive Director Carleen Lyden Walker commented, “ NAMEPA is grateful to Cargill Cares Community Fund for providing opportunities for organizations such as NAMEPA to engage with students in local communities to be better overall stewards. Marine Environment Protectors will provide hands-on educational programming by utilizing the natural environment, scientific instrumentation, and immersive classroom instruction. This funding allows NAMEPA to continue our educational outreach toward the goal of activating communities to ‘Save Our Seas’.” CARGILL - Cargill’s 155,000 employees across 70 countries work relentlessly to achieve our purpose of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way. Every day, we connect farmers with markets, customers with ingredients, and people and animals with the food they need to thrive. We combine 157 years of experience with new technologies and insights to serve as a trusted partner for food, agriculture, financial and industrial customers in more than 125 countries. Side-by-side, we are building a stronger, sustainable future for agriculture. NAMEPA - The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) is a marine industry-led organization of environmental stewards preserving the marine environment by promoting sustainable marine industry best practices and educating seafarers, students and the public about the need and strategies for protecting global ocean, lake and river resources. Visit us at www.namepa.net. Contact Details NAMEPA Carleen Lyden Walker +1 203-260-0480 executivedirector@namepa.net Company Website https://namepa.net/

April 12, 2022 03:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Cooper Standard Names Quinn Vice President, Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer

Cooper Standard Holdings Inc.

Cooper Standard (NYSE: CPS) today announced the appointment of Shannon B. Quinn to vice president, chief commercial and strategy officer. In her new role, Quinn will be responsible for the global commercial group and corporate strategy, and will report to Patrick Clark, senior vice president and managing director – global automotive. Based at the Company's world headquarters in Northville, Quinn will also join Cooper Standard’s Global Leadership Team. “With more than 25 years of experience spanning a wide range of functions and product areas, Shannon is a great fit for her new role as chief commercial and strategy officer and member of our Global Leadership Team,” said Clark. “She is a creative, proactive and an enthusiastic leader with an established record of improving performance. We are pleased to welcome Shannon to Cooper Standard and I am confident that she will be a key contributor in the continued growth and progress of the Company.” Prior to joining Cooper Standard, Quinn served as president, consumer original equipment (OE) North America for Bridgestone Corp. from 2017 to 2022. In this role, she was responsible for leading business development, commercial negotiations, program management, strategy and the overall profit and loss for the business unit. She also led the new initiative to expand Bridgestone’s overall business with new OE’s and new mobility players. Previously, she held titles of increasing responsibility at Adient and its predecessor Johnson Controls, serving as vice president, Ford business unit, where she was responsible for leading all new business pursuit opportunities and generation of revenue plans supporting overall business projections. She joined the global automotive supplier as managing director for the Ford business unit in 2011. From 2000 to 2011, Quinn held several strategic commercial positions with Visteon Corp. She began her career as a product engineer at Ford Motor Co. in 1991. Quinn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and a Master of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. She has also completed multiple exclusive executive leadership development programs. She has served as an OESA (Original Equipment Supplier Association) director and an Automotive Hall of Fame board director. Quinn currently serves as a board director for Vista Maria and the Board Development Committee. About Cooper Standard Cooper Standard, headquartered in Northville, Mich., with locations in 21 countries, is a leading global supplier of sealing and fluid handling systems and components. Utilizing our materials science and manufacturing expertise, we create innovative and sustainable engineered solutions for diverse transportation and industrial markets. Cooper Standard's approximately 23,000 employees are at the heart of our success, continuously improving our business and surrounding communities. Learn more at www.cooperstandard.com or follow us on Twitter @CooperStandard. # # # CPS_G Contact Details Chris Andrews +1 248-596-6217 candrews@cooperstandard.com Company Website http://www.cooperstandard.com/

April 11, 2022 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Volatus Aerospace Provides Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Drones to Support Ukraine

Volatus Aerospace Corp.

Volatus Aerospace Corp. (TSXV:VOL, OTCQB:VLTTF) ("Volatus" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has begun delivery of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (“ISR”) drones to a consortium of organizations that are focused upon the three critical areas of support to Ukraine: medical supplies, non-lethal military equipment, and assistance to displaced persons. In addition to the ISR unmanned aircraft, Volatus is providing anti-drone systems and training. Under the terms of various supply agreements, Volatus has made initial shipments to humanitarian organizations like Mriya Aid, and Second Front Ukraine Foundation - a registered Canadian not-for-profit corporation working with trusted partners across North America and in Ukraine to deliver goods necessary to protect the lives of Ukrainians in the face of Russian aggression. To meet the growing need for this equipment, Volatus is prepared to fulfill continuing requirements for its products. Volatus CEO, Glen Lynch, commented: "We are honoured and proud to support Second Front, Mriya Aid, and others. This technology provides accurate real-time intelligence while reducing risk to the people who have chosen to serve, and, as recent videos have highlighted, civilians who are at significant risk." Source: Volatus Aerospace Corp. TSXV: VOL About Volatus Aerospace: Volatus Aerospace Corp. is a leading provider of integrated drone solutions throughout Canada, the United States, Latin America and most recently in Europe. Operating a vast pilot network, Volatus serves commercial and defense markets with imaging and inspection, security and surveillance, equipment sales and support, training, and design, manufacturing, and R&D. Through its subsidiary Volatus Aviation, Volatus carries on the business of aircraft management, charter sales, and cargo services using piloted, remotely piloted, and autonomous aircraft. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Corporation with respect to future business activities and operating performance. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the foregoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding (i) the business plans and expectations of the Corporation; and (ii) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to the Corporation, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflects expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Forward-looking information reflects the Corporation’s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to it and on assumptions it believes to be not unreasonable in light of all of the circumstances. In some instances, material factors or assumptions are discussed in this news release in connection with statements containing forward-looking information. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Corporation; meeting the continued listing requirements of the TSXV; and anticipated and unanticipated costs and other factors referenced in this news release and the Circular, including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Circular under the caption “Risk Factors”. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by law, the Corporation disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Source: Volatus Aerospace Corp. TSXV: VOL Contact Details Volatus Aerospace Rob Walker +1 514-447-7986 rob.walker@volatusaerospace.com Company Website https://volatusaerospace.com

April 11, 2022 07:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Accelerate Maryland Partners (AM Partners) Applauds Center for Regional Analysis Report Highlighting Economic Boon Bringing $12.6 Billion to Maryland and the Washington, DC Region.

AM Partners

Earlier this week, The Center for Regional Analysis (CRA) at George Mason University released a new preliminary assessment report with the following; highlighting a new report that found building a new American Legion Bridge and expanding the Washington DC region's network of managed toll lanes into Maryland will generate $12.6 billion in construction related economic activity, support 43,400 job-years of employment (a job-year is one job lasting for one year) and boost regional labor income by more than $3.3 billion. The proposed project will construct a new American Legion Bridge across the Potomac River and add 37 miles of highway improvements from the south side of the bridge as part of the I-495/I-270 corridor to Frederick MD. This project will connect Maryland with the expanding managed toll lane network in Northern Virginia. Phase north of the project along I- 270 from I-370 to I-70, is part of an ongoing, federally required environmental study which considers an array of highway improvements to address roadway congestion. “Building this important regional mobility asset will cost about $6 billion. The economic impacts of that spending will be mostly realized in the Maryland suburbs but will be felt across our region,” said Terry Clower director of the CRA. “The jobs supported by this project will boost regional labor income by more than $3.3 billion.” Accelerate Maryland partners (AM Partners) is the private entity in a new Public-Private-Partnership (P3) with the state of Maryland to finance and build the project without local or state tax dollars. Transurban whose North American headquarters is located in Tysons and currently operates 53 miles of managed to lane facilities known as express lanes in Northern Virginia is leading the AM Partners team along with Macquarie Group. Managed toll lanes, a fast-growing approach to traffic management that has been successfully implemented in major cities around the world, allows drivers the choice of paying a dynamically priced toll to use restricted access lanes. Using a free-market approach, the value of the toll varies to encourage or discourage the number of users so that traffic flows on the managed lanes remain relatively unencumbered. The proposed managed toll lanes would allow transit and high occupancy vehicles three or more passengers to use the managed lanes at no cost. “The new roads and bridge are crucial to promoting regional economic competitiveness, Clower added. “State and local leaders recognize that mobility is a key determinant of economic success,” he said. “This will generate economic contributions to the region for decades to come.” The full report and additional information about the study may be found here. (Information contained in this release was from a release posted by the Center for Regional Analysis on Monday, April 4, 2022. The full release may be found here ). ### About AM Partners The AM Partners consortium is led by Transurban and Macquarie Capital, whose collective experience spans more than 90 successful P3 projects globally, including Virginia’s 495, 95 and 395 Express Lanes network – the largest urban P3 toll network in the U.S. with all segments delivered on time and on budget. The consortium seeks to extend the benefits of Virginia’s neighboring Express Lanes network that has saved more than seven million drivers a total of 17 million hours of time, while generating an estimated $7 billion in economic impact and 46,000 jobs in the Greater Washington Area through its development and construction since 2012. AM Partners was selected in February 2021 as Maryland’s preferred Developer for the American Legion Bridge I-270 to I-70 Relief Plan. AccelerateMarylandPartners.com Contact Details Karyn Le Blanc +1 202-497-4572 karyn.leblanc@kglcommunications.com Company Website https://www.acceleratemarylandpartners.com/

April 06, 2022 02:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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