International Stem Cell Corp., a biotechnology company developing novel stem cell-based therapies, announced that its scientific team has developed a robust innovative technology to generate functional articular cartilage from the patient’s own skin or adipose tissue to treat osteoarthritis. ISCO believes this technology may allow the company to provide relief to patients suffering from osteoarthritic knee joints, as well as to those with shoulder joints and intervertebral spinal disk osteoarthritis.

Ruslan Semechkin, ISCO’s chief scientific officer, stated, “While we are working on obtaining regulatory approval for the Parkinson’s disease treatment in Australia, as well as in the US, we are also pursuing a number of other therapeutic indications including osteoarthritis, which can potentially be treated with the patient’s own cells.”

Even though osteoarthritis is prevalent in our society, there is a lack of an effective treatment for this disease. Developing and successfully testing a scalable system that permits the generation of functional human cartilage tissue with superior mechanical properties is a significant accomplishment. The capacity to provide greater stability than other tissue that is currently available for the treatment of osteoarthritis is even more impressive.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease characterized by progressive erosion of the articular cartilage. Although osteoarthritis can damage any joint in the body, the disorder most commonly affects joints in the hands, knees, hips and spine. The erosion of articular cartilage leads to joint pain, stiffness, and impaired mobility. According to the Arthritis foundation osteoarthritis affects over 27 million Americans with an estimated medical costs of as much as $65 billion.

For more information on the company, visit www.internationalstemcell.com

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Avant Diagnostics, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a medical diagnostic company specializing in large panel biomarker screening. OvaDx is the company’s first test, a sophisticated microarray-based way to detect pre-symptomatic ovarian cancer by measuring the activation of the immune system in blood samples in response to early stage ovarian tumor cell development.

Identifying the variations of specific genes in the genome is an expanding objective of genetic research, since variations are what define individual characteristics, including disease states or a statistical propensity for disease. Early detection of disease can provide options for earlier treatments that may improve the patient’s chances of survival, as well as their quality of life. It could also mean significant cost savings by avoiding expensive late stage disease treatments.

OvaDx is an advanced microarray-based diagnostic test that measures the activation of the immune system in response to ovarian tumor cell development. It’s the market’s first large-panel screening test for ovarian cancer, and can be used as an elective screen for women seeking greater wellness, and for screening women at elevated risk for ovarian cancer. OvaDx has indicated a high sensitivity and specificity for all types and stages of ovarian cancer, including stage IA-IV borderline serous, clear cell, endometrioid, mixed epithelial, mucinous, serous and ovarian adenocarcinoma. Clinicians will appreciate the following features of OvaDx:

• High sensitivity and specificity for all types and stages of ovarian cancer
• Identifies stage I, II, III and IV disease markers in patient samples
• Detects stage IA disease markers with ~80% sensitivity and 100% Specificity
• Multi-plexed microarray assay reads approximately 100 proteomic biomarkers
• Proteomic panel provides definitive real-time test results
• Microarray format reduces serum requirement to 0.1-0.25 ml per sample run
• Arrayit Diagnostics, Inc. blood cards can also be used for sample collection
• Fluorescence detection ensures high signal detectivity
• Test controls eliminate experimental false positives and false negatives
• High-throughput format scales to any number of patient samples
• Automated process permits large-scale (e.g. 1,000,000 sample+) screening
• Supplement OVA1® and other multi-analyte tests
• Supplement genetic tests including BRCA1 and BRCA2
• Screen patient sera from breast, cervical, uterine and other cancer patients
• Test samples from patients with ovarian cysts and other benign conditions

Avant recently announced the start of calibration testing in preparation for the OvaDx validation study, to be used in support of a pre-submission package for the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration).

For more information on the company, visit https://avantdiagnostics.wordpress.com/

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With energy prices continuing to fall in recent months toward six-year lows, oil and gas exploration and production companies are scrambling to find cost savings in order to remain competitive. Throughout the first half of 2015, EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE: EOG) shifted its focus toward capital efficiency in order to better position itself to be successful in a lower commodity price environment, and other major North American producers, such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) and Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) highlighted similar strategies in their most recent financial updates.

Despite these efforts to cut costs, environmental pressures remain at an all-time high, forcing major players in the oil and gas industry to address current market conditions in a cost-effective, environmentally conscious manner. Galenfeha, Inc. (OTC: GLFH), through the recent release of its innovative iWaV system, is addressing this demand while potentially revolutionizing the oil and gas chemical injection marketplace.

In a conventional reservoir, oil producers can typically expect to extract approximately 15 percent of hydrocarbons through conventional recovery techniques, which leaves about 85 percent that can’t be recovered without the use of more complex recovery methods. Chemical injection is one of the three primary techniques used in these enhanced oil recovery efforts. Using this technique, various chemicals are injected into reservoirs in order to aid in the mobility of oil deposits and reduce surface tension. Although chemical injection has proven to be highly effective, it is also particularly expensive. Traditionally, oil producers utilizing a chemical injection program have been forced to address maintenance onsite, which creates a costly, labor-intensive and potentially dangerous necessity that can seriously hamper financial performance.

Galenfeha’s iWaV is an open and powerful system that enables complete control of an entire chemical injection program through existing SCADA infrastructure. Following implementation of the iWaV system, oil producers gain access to a range of useful features designed to minimize the financial impact of one of the single highest expenses of operating a well site.

“We are proud to introduce Galenfeha’s groundbreaking iWaV system,” Lucien Marioneaux, Jr., president and chief executive officer of Galenfeha, stated in a news release. “This new development demonstrates our company’s commitment to provide the oil and gas industry with state-of-the-art and environmentally conscious products.”

As the current lower commodity price environment sends oil and gas firms in search of new solutions to cut costs and improve performance, Galenfeha is in a favorable position to capitalize on its groundbreaking iWaV platform. Offering complete, remote control of costly chemical injection programs at an attractive price point, the company expects the iWaV system to make serious waves in the oil and gas industry in the months to come.

Take a closer look at the company by visiting www.galenfeha.com

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Innovation in the world of trucking isn’t something you hear about every day, but it should be, given that if the American economy were a human body, trucking would be its veritable lifeblood. American Trucking Associations (ATA) data shows that roughly 68.8 percent of all domestic freight tonnage is handled by over-the-road trucking, and that overall industry revenues were up in 2014 by 2.6 percent, breaking the $700 billion mark for the first time in history. Moreover, 1.6 million Americans are employed by the industry, earning around $43,000 a year on average, and they moved just under 10 billion tons of freight last year. The ATA’s For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was up 1.8 percent YOY in June, near the January 2015 all-time high of 135.8, at a seasonally-adjusted 132.1, despite factory output having been relatively soft, and an inventory reduction throughout the supply chain that was hampering throughout until summer kicked in.

Transportation and supply chain management is the core of this massive, logistical engine of over-the-road trucking. In this arena, real-time supply chain situational awareness is key, requiring both visibility and flexibility of what is being shipped and how it is being shipped, in order to optimally execute on any given transportation objective. That is why technological innovation in this area of the trucking industry (and broader intermodal freight transportation industry) is of such importance to investors who are looking to get in on the ground floor, with companies that represent disruptive potential. Companies like full-service transportation logistics outfit, On the Move Systems, Inc., which is developing a proprietary ISTx Platform for creating solutions that increase cost-effectiveness, convenience and ultimately real-time supply chain transparency, in order to ultimately bring forth a sharing economy-based revolution in the trucking industry as we’ve known it. The ISTx Platform will not only allow for real-time situational awareness of the supply chain, but enable rapid computation of minimal-cost routing, and provide a powerful delivery assurance framework.

Using information technology to revolutionize an industry like trucking – which is still hamstringed by legacy systems and antiquated methodologies, and thereby significantly optimize overall logistical efficiency and operational cost-effectiveness through a more complete utilization of resources, as well as the sharing/reuse of excess capacity – constitutes a new and more complete vision for the future of the industry. This is the central, driving vision at OMVS, which is creating a shared economy business model powered by its ISTx software platform, which is essentially Uber for the trucking world. Uber’s meteoric rise has been due to its focus on a shared economy business model, powered by the Uber mobile app, which lets end-users submit cab trip requests themselves, before those requests are intelligently and automatically routed in real-time to Uber drivers using their own vehicles.

Applying this same logic to the world of trucking is a concept that is overdue for emergence and the enthusiasm of the reception by markets has been as wild as a revolutionary tech startup for OMVS. From strategically-based regional trucking fleets tailored to meet specific demands in key markets and an open scheduling/pricing platform, to specialty brokerage services dovetailed into the national and North American carrier network, OMVS emphasizes on attentive customer service and a personnel pool packed with knowledgeable, helpful people.

The task of creating an “Uber-for-Trucking” shared economy platform for the industry is in good hands, as OMVS empirically possesses both the technical capabilities (demonstrated by the creation of its ISTx Platform), and real-world industry experience needed in order to tie together all the perfect features that a truly captivating solution requires. Having tapped a top Houston-area software design firm known for its success making similar shared economy platforms back in mid-July, and having plowed months of research and engineering into optimizing the customer interface, OMVS is now floating JV potential, testing the waters for freight brokerage and paralleled industry operators to partner up with, as the debut of this revolutionary new online platform looms large on the horizon.

To take a closer look, visit www.onthemovesystems.com

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Neah Power System’s highly scalable, patented PowerChip® fuel cell technology acts as an instantly rechargeable battery that, once a given supply is depleted, can simply have its fuel cartridge swapped out to fully recharge the system. This core technology, in addition to the company’s formic acid reformer fuel cell system, Formira HOD™ (Hydrogen-on-Demand) and its BuzzBar Suite, designed to be the total, compact, off-grid charging solution for small electronics, has garnered NPWZ more and more attention from investors of late, due to the wide variety of applications such a portfolio covers. We are talking everything from UAVs for both the defense and commercial markets, as well as energy supply roles, to military, transportation, and portable electronics markets.

The hot-swappable fuel supply characteristic of NPWZ’s PowerChip solution is a key advantage to the system that not only resolves the recharge time duration, but offers extended range to the platform where it is applied, reduces swap out time and overall cost, as well as delivers sustained voltage levels over the entire duration of the fuel supply, unlike virtually all batteries, which are prone to voltage drops as the power discharges. Such capabilities are essential in military applications like field-deployed computer systems and modern battlefield hardware. The NPWZ technology also offers the potential to deliver around two to three times as much energy capacity as the military’s standard issue BA-5590 high capacity battery systems, which are used for the vast majority of portable power needs, but are also big, bulky, and require multiple units to be carried on extended missions, adding to already pressing logistical burdens.

Built using established computer chip manufacturing methods, this extremely robust and compact energy supply solution offers significant other advantages over batteries of the same weight and size, particularly in extended use scenarios. And, because the design can be configured for fully-sealed applications using a liquid oxidant/methanol fuel combination, the system is also perfect for subsea and space applications, where long-term use is part and parcel. The PowerChip is made in America at Neah Power’s Bothell, Washington facility, using established techniques that have been in continuous use throughout the semiconductor industry for over three decades, a fact which offers certain key cost-effectiveness and capital efficiency advantages that make the product extremely attractive, no matter what industry we are talking about. The company’s ongoing work with leading small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) developer, Silent Falcon™ UAS Technologies, to incorporate its fuel cell technology into their fixed wing drone platform is currently proceeding apace, and this integration, when completed, will form the basis for similar applications in other UAS/UAV platforms.

Because energy accounts for some $4 billion plus of the DOD budget every year (2013), and Army takes up around $1.3 billion of the pie, while managing some 1 billion or more square feet of building space, power outages on U.S. bases (87 in 2012 alone, costing around $7 million) have become a major keynote for the DOD’s ongoing transition to alternative energy. Fuel cell technology in particular has seen a growing amount of interest amid this push and the DOD’s target for 25 percent of all energy coming from renewable sources by 2025 cannot likely be seriously achieved alongside the need for increased robustness and electrical grid independence, without a sustained move towards localized fuel cell based systems.

This overarching trend is very bullish for fuel cell tech in general when it comes to military dollars, creating a fuel cell ecosystem vector that will no doubt continue to present technologies like NPWZ’s Formira HOD™ (Hydrogen-on-Demand) system with numerous advantages that will bleed over into the broader, planet-wide security, defense, and energy supply markets. The global drive towards renewables is extremely advantageous for a piece of technology like Formira, and Neah Power Systems announced earlier in September that their revolutionary HOD technology has been put up for $3.5 million in EU grant funding, with the ultimate goal of delivering scaled-up implementations of Formira for applications such as dedicated, on-site, premium-power generation at critical load facilities and the like. Such technology is seen as vital by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, a unique public private partnership tasked with advancing fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies in Europe, which was recently reaffirmed as part of the Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative, under the EU Horizon 2020 Framework.

Neah Power Systems is expected to publicly drop some new product videos and spec documents any day now, and the company is already in the preliminary stages of designing larger 1,000W and smaller 10W units for critical off-grid applications. Moreover, the company is well on its way towards the October 2015 target for demonstrating Formira HOD to the Australian Army, as part of the company’s teaming agreement with Tectonica Australia. Another teaming agreement, between NPWZ and Clear Path Technologies, has the company lined up for serious commercial momentum in various regions, and Neah Power has already executed several multi-million dollar proposals as part of the agreement in order to capture demand from potential customers. The company is also in ongoing talks with several entities in China to license and manufacture the technology.

Remote power in emerging markets is one of the key trends for the growing fuel cell technology industry, especially in countries handicapped by antiquated grid architectures such as India, where persistent rolling blackouts have continued to hamper progress, even since the now famous 2012 blackouts, which left over 700 million connected people (mostly in northern and eastern India) without power for days. Despite the seriousness and now inescapability of the national grid infrastructure problem in India, the best efforts by the government have thus far failed to really offset the rapidly growing public’s concerns about the future of the grid, and this is especially true in remote rural regions, many of whom are not yet even powered. It is difficult for remote villages to modernize or have any hope of a future without access to power and the Indian government has really started taking this problem seriously in recent years.

The ability of scalable fuel cell technology to serve as a drop-in solution for remote rural populations is the same feature that makes it ideal for forward bases in military applications, or for off-grid power at corporate installations. NPWZ’s ongoing talks with India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, to finalize a licensing agreement for its PowerChip fuel cell technology, dovetails exceptionally well with PM Narendra Modi’s Make in India program that was launched last year around this time. Third-party validation of the technology from such a high profile global entity is a major coup for NPWZ and the same disruptive PowerChip fuel cell architecture that could soon be bringing power to India’s remotest villages, is also being advanced by NPWZ in the form of a ground breaking porous silicon-chip based battery application, the PowerChip® Battery.

Mobile energy uses for computing are a growth market for micro fuel cell applications like NPWZ’s PowerChip technology, whose development is the result of over $50 million in strategic investment capital from major sector players like chip manufacturing giant Intel’s (NASDAQ: INTC) venture capital arm, Intel Capital, and semiconductor innovators like Novellus, which was acquired by Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) in 2012. The combination of advanced fuel cell technology and cutting-edge battery storage technology could forever change the way we think about power consumption rates in portable electronics and it would be wise for investors to keep an eye on micro fuel cell technology as the centrally disruptive factor in this arena.

The recent announcement of a pivotal teaming agreement with remote, real-time situational awareness technology developer, S4W Worldwide Technologies, to integrate NPWZ’s power generation and porous silicon battery technologies into S4W’s wearable cameras that are designed primarily for police and security markets, is just the latest feather in Neah Power Systems’ cap. This agreement calls for NPWZ to deliver commercial Formira HOD units, in addition to PowerChip fuel cell and PowerChip Battery engineering units to S4W, while also providing the requisite engineering and technical support needed to ensure that these technologies are integrated optimally into S4W’s own industry-leading products. This team-up could provide exactly what the booming wearable camera market has been yearning for, particularly among LEOs and operators in the security market: a reliable, high-performance, long-lasting power supply that will keep a unit running through an entire duty shift.

Learn more, visit NPWZ’s website at www.neahpower.com

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Elephant Talk Communications Corp. was launched fourteen years ago as a result of a merger between Staruni Corporation and Elephant Talk Limited. Staruni Corporation (also known as Altius Corporation, Inc.), through 1997, was positioned as a web developer and Internet Service Provider after the company acquired Starnet Universe Internet Inc. Elephant Talk Limited started operating in 1994 in the international long distance services provider space focused on international call termination into China. Twelve years later, in 2006, Elephant Talk Communications Corp. decided to retire its strategy of focusing on international calls into China altogether.

Staruni Corporation began trading under the stock symbol SRUN in 2000. Replaced by symbol “ETLK” after the merger with Elephant Talk Limited, the symbol changed to “ETAK” when the stock split in 2008.

In the first in a series of acquisitions beginning in 2007, the company acquired Switzerland’s Benoit Telecom and in so doing solidified its position in the European telecommunications market, in particular, the Premium Rate Services and Toll Free Services space and to lesser extent in the Carrier (Pre) Select Services market. Leveraging its human capital, IT resources and acquired software, ETAK obtained the experience, expertise and software vital to highly efficient and robust telecom and multi-media systems, telecom regulations and European markets.

In the spring of 2010, ETAK acquired ValidSoft, an acquisition in line with its strategy to develop and market customized mobile solutions. ValidSoft’s strong suit is in the area of authentication and transaction verification capabilities which allow companies to efficiently implement solutions that protect against current forms of credit and debit card fraud and identity theft. The acquisition combines ValidSoft’s proprietary software with ETAK’s telecom platform to create the best electronic fraud prevention solution available.

Today, Elephant Talk delivers global telecommunication companies a comprehensive suite of services which allows them to offer mobile and landline telecom services as part of their overall business offering portfolio. Integration of their own applications with the telecommunication services provided by Elephant Talk’s Mobile Virtual Network Enabling (MVNE) platform is achieved using market standard Web Services.

In addition to basic voice, data and text services, the company offers an assortment of adaptable products such as premium messaging services, promotions and loyalty programs, subscriptions, location and other value-added services. These services include but are not limited to remote health care, mobile internet ID security, credit card fraud prevention, voice biometrics, mobile banking and remittances/payments in addition to many other emerging customized mobile services. Elephant Talk’s uniquely differentiated application suite of network embedded services and supporting patents are based upon what the company sees as the four main ingredients required for maintaining service value; individualized location, the relevant customer profile, real-time secure connectivity, and Elephant Talk’s platform which is an integral piece to making all of these services work in concert with one another.

Access security and authentication is supported by the company’s security software company, ValidSoft, which was acquired by Elephant Talk in 2010. ValidSoft’s game-changing telecom-based technology is cited as being the only integrated product set that provides card-based and an electronic fraud prevention solution. Regardless, ETAK sees its customer base needing real-time proximity-based card fraud detection, Out-of-Band Man-in-the-Browser protection for internet or mobile based transactions and Voice Verification for Telephone Banking. ValidSoft’s feature set offers what many see as a leading telecommunications-based authentication solution.

Elephant Talk Communications Corp. is a worldwide service provider of mobile, proprietary Software Defined Network Architecture – a platform for the telecommunications industry and cyber security solutions. The company is credited with boosting Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), Enablers (MVNEs) and Aggregators (MVNAs) with a variety of versatile applications, state of the art industry expertise and high quality customer service without the need for an initial, cost-prohibitive investment. Elephant Talk partners with many of the world’s leading MNOs and technology companies such as T-Mobile, Vodafone, Affirmed Networks, HP and Zain.

For more information on the company, visit http://www.elephanttalk.com

Hemp, Inc. issued an update to draw light to the fact that the hemp bill that replaced Senate Bill 313 could put the production of industrial hemp another step closer to legalization in North Carolina. According to an article by The News & Observer, “Hemp Farming Gets Support from NC House Panel” posted yesterday, “if the bill gets through the House and Senate, an appointed N.C. Industrial Hemp Commission would oversee a pilot program.”

According to the article, the appointed commission “would grant applications for hemp farming and coordinate research projects with N.C. State and N.C. A&T Universities.” Notably, in February of last year, President Obama signed the Farm Bill into law, which defines industrial hemp as distinct and authorizes universities or state agriculture departments to conduct research and pilot programs.

North Carolina’s hemp bill, if it passes the House and Senate, would allow for hemp farming in the state. Representative Jeff Collins, sponsor of the legislation, believes North Carolina would be the perfect location for hemp cultivation because his district is home to one of five decorticators in the world. “The Spring Hope facility will give North Carolina farmers a leg up in this industry,” Collins said.

Hemp, Inc. executives also reported today that its multipurpose industrial hemp processing plant in Spring Hope, North Carolina is now 80% complete. German engineer, Jens Kleinert of Temafa Machines, the manufacturer of Hemp, Inc.’s decortication machine, says he was quite surprised that it was able to be installed in such a short amount of time. This is Kleinert’s third time visiting the plant to monitor the re-installation and has since derived a list of final tasks that need to be done.

The processing plant continues to be prepped for maximum operational efficiency. An electrical contractor is currently on site assembling the electrical wiring. Thus far, fifty percent of the wiring has already been laid in the cable trays.

Last Thursday, Schmitt met with an airflow engineering company from Atlanta, Georgia. The airflow engineer spent two days at the processing facility helping to engineer the duct work for the Temafa decortication line. An order is being placed this week for the first phase of the duct work. Once the materials arrive on site (normally within 2 weeks of placing an order), the installation can begin.

While Hemp, Inc. executives expect the plant to be fully operational before the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, there unexpected delays could occur. “It has, overall, taken longer than expected. The National Electrical Code (NEC) changed in 2011, thus requiring a disconnect or ‘cut-off’ unit to be located on the outside of the facility,” said Schmitt.

Typically, power is run underground from the poles to the transformer directly to the switchgear inside the building. However, in the event of an emergency such as a fire inside, NEC now requires that a disconnect unit be placed outside of the facility so that first responders can shut down the power prior to entering the facility. The disconnect serves as a median between the transformer and the switchgear.

That NEC code change caused an 8-week delay because the disconnect unit had to be custom built. The delay before that was the forty-three new poles, spanning 1 1/2 miles down the street, that had to be installed in order to run the 480-volt 3-phase power. This was another unanticipated delay. But none-the-less, those delays are behind us now and the company is moving full speed ahead. “We are almost ready to hit the ‘on’ switch and get this up and running,” said Schmitt. Executives are also informing the shareholders that while they expect to stay on target with the completion time before the end of the fourth quarter, another unexpected delay may push that completion time into the first quarter of 2016.

Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc., said, “Our hemp processing plant is the first and only commercial factory to be built in the United States in almost a century. We have been meticulously building the infrastructure to be able to vertically integrate growing, decortication, and milling and this is no small feat. We aim to spark a new clean green American Agricultural and Industrial Hemp Revolution for the American farmers and hemp product manufacturers. The infrastructure, now being put in place, will also have an astounding effect on the economy, all due to the revival of industrial hemp.”

The fact that hemp is not yet legal in North Carolina played no role in setting up shop in North Carolina. Executives say the company will process kenaf as soon as the decortication machinery is operational. “We expect it to produce millions of dollars in revenue a year just from processing kenaf, which is legal and also very lucrative,” said Perlowin.

From hemp historian John Dvorak’s research, in 1619, it was illegal not to grow hemp in Jamestown, Virginia because it was one of the country’s most valuable resources. Colonists were ordered to grow 100 plants specifically for fiber export. States actually encouraged hemp cultivation. However, marijuana prohibition and the dominance of the cotton industry set in. Today, Americans want to take advantage of the lucrative hemp cash crop.

HempX, the family-friendly free event held a few days ago, is one event of many that is educating Americans on the importance of hemp. HempX sought to educate both young and old about the multiple uses and benefits of industrial hemp. Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc., David Schmitt, COO of Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC, and, Philip Boyer, Director of Operations all attended the HempX event in Asheville, North Carolina.

Perlowin, Schmitt and Boyer met with Kevin Hodge, founder of Hemp Adobe Homes to discuss pouring the foundation pad for Hemp, Inc.’s 12-foot by 60-foot tall silo on the grounds of the processing facility. The silo, when filled, will weigh over 100,000 pounds. Hodge says hemp adobe will be a great option for the foundation material because it is more structural as opposed to hempcrete.

When asked the difference between hempcrete and hemp adobe in the latest video update, Hodge said hemp adobe is a refractory (a substance resistant to heat) made of magnesium. Magnesium, coupled with hemp, makes a very structural substance, whereas hempcrete is more of an insulator. Hemp Adobe Homes is in the process of giving Industrial Hemp Manufacturing, LLC a quote for the project. The foundation pad needs to be completed within 60 days.

Perlowin also met with Brian Bullman, Managing Member of Carolina Canna Distributors, LLC, during HempX. His entire staff was at their booth selling Hemp, Inc.’s cosmeceuticals, along with other hemp products and their line of energy drinks (CannaEnergy). Hemp, Inc. and Carolina Canna Distributors solidified a new distributorship agreement which will put Hemp, Inc.’s products in as many of their 400 store channels of distribution, as possible. Perlowin also met with John Agar, North Carolina representative from District 115. “He was amazed and surprised at the scope of the project taking place in Spring Hope. Being a farmer, he was very receptive to moving the ball forward in legalizing hemp in D.C.”

For more information, visit www.hempinc.com

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Rand Logistics, Inc. is a leading provider of bulk freight shipping services throughout the Great Lakes region. Through its subsidiaries, the company operates a fleet of four conventional bulk carriers and 11 self-unloading bulk carriers – including three integrated tug/barge units. Despite the growing national and international presence of logistics giants such as Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) and FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Rand has established a viable presence in the shipping industry as the only carrier able to offer significant domestic port-to-port services in both Canada and the United States on the Great Lakes. As a result, the company has built a strong client list that includes global brands such as Koch Industries, Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) and Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KHC).

In recent months, Rand has successfully leveraged its strategic presence in the logistics market in order to achieve strong financial growth. During its fiscal quarter ended June 30, the company reported net income of $2.6 million, realizing a year-over-year increase of 47.6 percent. This performance was attributable to a collection of factors – including a 19 percent increase in tonnage carried over the previous year, a 5.2 percent decrease in vessel operating expenses related to a reduction in fuel costs and an overall increase in total sailing days.

“We were generally pleased with our first quarter results,” Ed Levy, president and chief executive officer of Rand, stated in a news release. “Business conditions for the primary commodities that we carry remain satisfactory, particularly in the river class market where we compete.”

Building on these results, Rand plans to introduce its newest vessel into service during the fourth quarter of this calendar year. This new vessel will carry the tonnage currently being handled by a chartered third-party vessel, providing the company with an opportunity to achieve levels of profitability that greatly exceed its current benchmarks.

“We remain focused on developing and executing initiatives to improve our return on invested capital,” continued Levy. “Specifically these initiatives are intended to drive operational excellence, leverage our market position, capture cost savings opportunities and improve the efficiency of our capital spending.”

According to a report by market research firm Kentley Insights, the coastal and Great Lakes freight transportation industry in the United States accounted for approximately $7.5 billion in total sales in 2011, and the industry has achieved an annual growth rate of 6.8 percent in recent years. For prospective shareholders, this favorable market performance is expected to provide Rand with a strong platform upon which to promote sustainable growth. Look for the company to lean on the experience of its management team in order to capitalize on this opportunity moving forward.

For more information, visit www.randlogisticsinc.com

The 2015 Engineering News Record ranking of the top 500 design firms is effectively a who’s who of the engineering and construction industry’s best and brightest. Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR), a leading provider of engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services, claimed its spot near the top of the list through five operating segments – including oil and gas, industrial and infrastructure, government, global services and power. Likewise, Chicago Bridge and Iron Company (NYSE: CBI) and KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) leveraged the viability of the energy market in order to claim spots on the ENR ranking. Listed among these industry giants, ENGlobal Corporation’s (NASDAQ: ENG) innovative, cost-effective approach to EPCM services has helped it thrive in the engineering and construction markets for over three decades.

Through its engineering segment, ENGlobal provides consulting services for the development, management and execution of a variety of construction projects. Over the years, the company has built a reputation for its proficiency in the design of state-of-the-art plant automation systems, as well as its unique ability to deliver complex midstream/downstream projects. As a result, ENGlobal has entered into multiple alliance agreements with leading industry clients, allowing it to achieve steady financial growth.

In the second quarter of 2015, the company successfully translated this established industry position into strong financial results, achieving its sixth consecutive quarter of profitability. Through its engineering and construction segment, ENGlobal achieved an increase in gross profit margin despite difficult market conditions resulting from oil prices hovering near six-year lows. This consistent performance, along with a healthy cash balance and working capital in excess of $25 million, is expected to drive the company’s efforts to develop new business moving forward while its management team also considers growth through strategic acquisition.

In support of its efforts to promote sustainable growth, ENGlobal recently announced the addition of two key professionals to its management team. John Offutt, the company’s new general manager of midstream projects, and Robert Sammons, ENGlobal’s new general manager of automation engineering, supplement the leadership team with more than 55 years of combined industry experience.

For prospective shareholders, ENGlobal’s financial performance despite slumping energy prices demonstrates the flexibility and viability of its business model. Look for the company to build on these results in the months to come as it attempts to capitalize on current market conditions by securing new business and considering the implementation of an acquisition-based growth strategy.

For more information, visit www.englobal.com

Giggles N’ Hugs knows if it asks a good number of parents to describe their shopping experience with children 10 years and under, the word ‘impossible’ pops up over and over again. The reality is that busy parents are commonly faced with the predicament of needing to go to their local mall for one reason or another but also need to watch after their children at the same time. Mix in a sensory overloaded environment, time constraints and the normal hunger pangs that surface around noon or dinner time and parents find themselves faced with one of the more monumental multi-tasking feats this world has ever known.

GIGL has come to the rescue with organic, casual dining for mom and dad, and a huge playroom complete with educational wonders for the kids who get good exercise and entertainment with music, arts and crafts and puppet shows. And if that’s not enough, another big parental concern is addressed in that the kids are served healthy foods that parents can feel good about. Conscientious parents understand that good eating habits established early in life are gateways to a healthy lifestyle for years to come.

This is the type of business that offer’s “wins” for everyone involved – the kids, parents, traffic-seeking mall owners and shareholders. The company has taken serious interest from major mall operators throughout the country like Westfield Group, Macerich Group, Simon Properties and General Growth Properties. Most notably, Simon Properties collectively represents over 550 properties across the nation, each with access to choice demographics.

The company currently has three locations in upscale malls in Los Angeles – Century City Mall, Glendale Galleria and the Topanga Canyon Mall. GIGL is also hard at work scripting plans to expand nationwide with an organic menu aimed to bring customers through the doors; however, it will be the kid-friendly amenities that look to be responsible for drawing shoppers back over and over again. GIGL takes in revenue from restaurant sources like food and beverage, as well as beer and wine, and receives added revenues from admission fees for and one, three and six month membership packages, as well as themed parties

Giggles N Hugs, Inc. is the owner and operator of kid-friendly restaurants complete with play areas for children 10 years and younger in California. The company owns and operates restaurants in the Westfield Mall in Century City, a restaurant in the Westfield Topanga shopping center in Woodland Hills, and a restaurant in the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California. Management is working to bring the experience to many more cities as well. Founded in 2010, Giggles N Hugs, Inc. is based in Los Angeles, California.

For more information on the company, visit www.gigglesnhugs.com

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