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New Energy Blue and ARCO/Murray partner to build biomass refineries to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals

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LANCASTER, Pa. and CHICAGO, June 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — New Energy Blue, the clean-energy developer whose technology converts agricultural waste into lowest-carbon biofuels and biochemicals, and ARCO/Murray, one of America’s largest, most experienced, and fastest-growing construction firms, today announce a partnership to build out the New Energy Biomass Refinery designed platform across the American Midwest. 

ARCO/Murray will construct the flagship New Energy Freedom biomass refinery in Mason City, Iowa, to sustainably process corn stalks into second-generation fuel ethanol and clean lignin at large commercial capacity. The partners have agreed to a $650 million construction contract. In 2023, New Energy Blue completed the design engineering, obtained local permits to proceed, and conducted field trials of new harvesting methods and machinery; in 2024, the project entered the final investment decision (FID) phase. The partners plan to break ground later this year and start up the refinery in 2026.  

The significant economic impact anticipated is comparable to that typically seen with first-generation ethanol facilities. In Iowa, the state responsible for approximately one-quarter of U.S. production, the industry contributes about $8 billion to household incomes annually and 100,000 indirect and induced jobs. The construction of the Freedom refinery in Mason City is projected to generate between 400 and 500 high-paying construction positions over a 20-month period. Refinery operators and feedstock suppliers from New Energy Farmers aggregation team will hold about 70 permanent jobs carrying an annual payroll of $7 million. The economic ripple effects will likely support another 5,000 jobs. Local corn growers stand to benefit by not only selling their excess corn stalks to the refinery but also participating in profit-sharing through the New Energy Farmers business unit. 

Patrick Hidder, Executive Vice President of ARCO/Murray’s Green Infrastructure team, says, “We are excited to partner with New Energy Blue on this groundbreaking biomass refining project, reflecting our shared commitment to sustainability and innovation in the renewable energy sector. We welcome the opportunity to help launch a nascent industry dedicated to decarbonizing this country’s fuel and chemicals.” 

James Foster, Vice President of Construction for New Energy Blue, says the selection of ARCO/Murray as engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor “has paid off immediately. Their involvement is letting us accelerate the project schedule, manage costs, and provide the necessary bonding capacity needed to satisfy finance. ARCO/Murray’s expertise in process piping, water treatment, anaerobic digestion, and power solutions has already added significant value.”  

Following Freedom’s successful completion, New Energy Blue and ARCO/Murray have agreed to extend their partnership to four more New Energy biomass refineries in the next five years, clustered near the first to take advantage of the area’s superabundance of corn stover. Harvesting within a 30-mile radius of each operation makes it possible to build refineries with twice the output of Freedom.   

As the refineries proliferate, New Energy Blue CEO Thomas Corle says he intends to license the technical and business model in order to allow faster replacement of fossil oil and gas-refined fuels and chemicals with biomass-refined. “ARCO/Murray is right-sized to handle the construction–$6.8 billion in revenue in 2023, and a history of 5500 finished projects.” 

Lee Stellakis, Chief Operating Officer of ARCO/Murray, believes the investment made in this partnership presents a huge growth potential in green infrastructure construction, which his management sees as essential to a sustainable future. He’s especially enthusiastic about the important role carbon-zero renewable fuels will play in transforming auto and airline travel by reducing atmospheric emissions.    

The new partners envision exponential growth: 15 biomass refineries operating by 2030, 150 by 2040, and 500 by 2050—generating an annual total of 21 billion gallons of 2G ethanol from leftover stalks and straws as well as perennial energy grasses like miscanthus. Predictions based on New Energy Blue’s latest independent life-cycle analysis are heartening: 500 refineries can keep more than 130 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere every year, an essential reduction in the effects of climate extremes on human health.   

In 2019, New Energy Blue purchased exclusive rights to its Inbicon technology from Ørsted, Denmark’s largest energy company. “Many of us worked on the team to prove and market the original conversion technology and, in 2010, to construct our predecessor biomass refinery in Kalundborg, Denmark. It’s now owned and managed by Meliora Bio, and still processes Danish wheat straw into 2G ethanol and various coproducts,” Corle says.   

New Energy Blue has made important process optimizations over the years. To assure dependable execution of its design, it counts on longstanding relationships with proven suppliers like two European specialists: Processbio for its automated front-end bale-handling system and Valmet for the thermal reactors that cook the biomass. The cooking facilitates the release of cellulosic sugars and the extraction of clean lignin, the woody structure of the corn stalk. The cellulosic sugars are fermented into 2G ethanol for auto fuel or downstream conversion into biochemicals. The extracted lignin is used in the production of polymers and binders, serving as sustainable alternatives in road construction and replacing traditional oil and gas components in the manufacturing of eco-friendly polyesters, polyurethanes, and resins. 

About New Energy Blue: 

New Energy Blue is a clean-energy developer dedicated to designing, owning, and operating next-generation biomass refineries in closer harmony with nature’s carbon cycle. Built on an innovative technical and business platform, the new refineries convert agricultural waste like corn stalks and grain straws into greener renewables like zero-carbon or carbon-negative fuels, chemicals, and plastics that can sustainably and profitably replace petroleum-based products. Offices in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Mason City, Iowa. Learn much more at www.newenergyblue.com.   

About ARCO/Murray: 

ARCO/Murray is a national leader in the design-build construction industry with over 30 years of experience and a commitment to delivering innovative and cost-effective solutions. With 40 offices across North America, ARCO/Murray has successfully completed over 5,500 projects, generating $6.8 billion in revenue in 2023. The company prides itself on integrating design, engineering, and construction services, ensuring a seamless and efficient construction process for clients. 

ARCO/Murray’s Green Infrastructure team is dedicated to supporting companies that are transforming industries for a greener future. Specializing in complex engineering solutions and sustainable construction practices, the team focuses on environmentally friendly projects that drive the adoption of renewable energy and sustainable technologies. Their expertise enables ARCO/Murray to partner with forward-thinking companies like New Energy Blue, delivering innovative facilities that contribute to a more sustainable world. 

Media Contact: 

Roger Moore, New Energy Blue
717-224-0245
rogermoore@newenergyblue.com 

Kelly O’Hara, ARCO/Murray
kohara@arcomurray.com 

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SOURCE New Energy Blue

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QUIGLEY-SIMPSON LAUNCHES NEW AI DISCOVERABILITY AND VISIBILITY OFFERING

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Agency Helps Brands Improve How They Are Discovered, Understood, Referenced, and Recommended Across AI-Powered Platforms

LOS ANGELES, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Quigley-Simpson, the impact-obsessed independent marketing agency, today announced a new AI discoverability and visibility offering designed to help brands improve how they are discovered, understood, referenced, and recommended across AI assistants, large language models (LLMs), search engines, and digital media environments.

As consumers increasingly turn to AI-powered platforms for information, recommendations, and purchasing decisions, brands face a new challenge: ensuring accurate, credible, and authoritative information about their business is available and accessible to both people and AI systems.

“Consumers are no longer discovering brands through search engines, advertising, or social media alone,” said Carl Fremont, CEO of Quigley-Simpson. “AI platforms are becoming an increasingly important source of information and recommendations. Brands must now think beyond traditional visibility and consider how they are represented across the broader AI ecosystem.”

The new capability helps brands understand and improve the signals that influence how AI systems interpret, evaluate, and recommend information. Unlike point solutions focused solely on monitoring AI responses, Quigley-Simpson’s approach combines communications, content, creative, media, analytics, and optimization to help brands actively strengthen their visibility and authority.

Built on the agency’s integrated operating system, the offering leverages expertise from communications, creative, media, analytics, strategy, and technology teams to address this emerging challenge.

“We believe brands now need to market to both humans and machines,” said Jeff Ratner, President, Media, Data & Analytics at Quigley-Simpson. “The information AI platforms use doesn’t appear by accident. It is shaped by content, communications, media signals, authority, and credibility across the digital ecosystem. What differentiates our approach is our ability to move beyond diagnosis and activate solutions through integrated communications, creative, media, and analytics programs.”

Historically, communications strategies were designed primarily to influence people. Today, they also influence the systems increasingly shaping consumer discovery and decision-making.

“Brands have spent decades optimizing how they communicate with consumers,” said Alissa Stakgold, President Strategy and Creative Services, at Quigley-Simpson. “Now they must also consider how they communicate with the AI systems that summarize, interpret, and distribute information at scale. This capability helps brands better understand those dynamics and respond strategically.”

The offering combines proprietary methodologies with leading third-party technologies, including AI visibility and monitoring platforms, while leveraging Quigley-Simpson’s broader media, analytics, and intelligence infrastructure.

Initial services include:

• AI visibility and discoverability audits
• Brand authority and citation analysis
• Competitive benchmarking
• Communications and content strategy
• Creative and messaging optimization
• Media and content amplification
• AI response monitoring and reporting
• Ongoing optimization and measurement

The framework is built around five core pillars: Content, Credibility, Connections, Coverage, and Calibration.

Together, these pillars help brands strengthen the signals that influence how AI systems interpret, reference, and recommend information while improving consistency across communications, content, media, and customer experiences.

ABOUT QUIGLEY-SIMPSON:
Headquartered in Los Angeles, with an office in New York City, Quigley-Simpson is the largest WBENC-certified woman-owned advertising agency in the country and an impact-obsessed marketing partner for brands seeking measurable growth. Its fully integrated offerings span brand strategy, creative development, media planning and buying, digital performance, analytics, and AI-enabled solutions. For 25 years, Quigley-Simpson has helped brands break through growth barriers by connecting brand building with business outcomes. As a full-solutions, full-journey agency, it transforms insights into action and action into measurable impact, delivering results that drive long-term growth and competitive advantage. Clients include industry leaders such as JPMorgan Chase and Procter & Gamble, alongside high-growth brands including Generac, Simply Business, Finance of America, and Kumon. Quigley-Simpson’s approach is rooted in a simple philosophy: be Brand-led, Demand-driven, and Impact-obsessed.

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SOURCE Quigley-Simpson

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Dialogica Emerges from Stealth to Empower Lawyers to Reclaim Their Time

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New class of legal cognition provides fully secure, local platform to remove the rote, non-billable work that slows lawyers down

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Dialogica (“Dia”), the new, voice-first class of legal cognition built to empower lawyers to reclaim their time while preserving legal judgment, trust, and confidentiality, announced its public launch today. The company is supported by Ground Up Ventures, led by Cory Moelis, and global leading lawyers, including Tom Glocer, ex-CEO of Thomson Reuters, and members of the board of directors at Morgan Stanley and Merck, Scott Taylor, former GC of Symantec, Health Ingram, a Top 40 BioTech Regulatory Counsel and Partner at Goodwin Proctor, and partners at various AmLaw 50 law firms.

Dia was built to free lawyers from the rote work that holds firms back, like calendaring, timekeeping, redlining, precedent searching, tracking clients, matters, deals, and cases, and much more, so they can focus on what they do best. Sensitive firm data stays within the firm’s walls, and Dia works seamlessly with the systems and technology already in place. The result is more billable time and revenue per lawyer, and more room for work-life balance that is rarely afforded in the industry.

The launch comes as current ‘last mile’ legal AI tools have focused on the drafting work that lawyers spend years training to do. Dia is focused on the first mile of legal work; this is the high-friction layer where matters start, where time is lost, and where repetitive work slows lawyers down. It operates as a horizontal, voice-first dialogue layer that strengthens what firms already have rather than replacing it, and was built to provide a practical, secure way to give lawyers an intuitive, easy-to-use system while maintaining the standards of security, confidentiality, and control that their clients demand.

“I spent years watching my colleagues, and brilliant lawyers, lose hours every single day to work that had nothing to do with being a lawyer,” said Austin Worrell, Co-Founder and CEO, Dialogica. “We built Dia to give lawyers this time back, without touching their judgment, training on firm data, or asking anyone to change how they work. We want lawyers to be able to focus on counsel, strategy, and client services; the work that defines a great law firm, and that no AI could ever replace.”

“We built Dia to be the first platform that works the way law firms already operate, rather than force them into a new system,” said Joshua Goodman, Co-Founder and CTO, Dialogica. “At the same time, Dia does not compromise on security, ensuring firms get all the benefits without anything leaving their environment. This is an exciting moment to work with firms that want to move now to define the modern legal practice and future-proof their practices.”

Scott Joachim serves as President of Dialogica, and has almost three decades of experience as a corporate attorney. He previously served as Co-Chair of the Global Private Equity Practice at Paul Hastings, an “American Lawyer Top 25” international law firm, and chair of the private equity practice at leading technology law firm Fenwick and West. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Columbia University. “The intersection of law and technology is at a critical inflection point. I joined Dialogica because I’ve seen first-hand the inefficiencies and frictions in law practice that our products solve. The numbers are undeniable.”

“There is nothing in the market right now making non-billable hours more productive,” said Cory Moelis, General Partner, Ground Up Ventures. “In a field where privacy is absolutely critical, you can’t just build using foundational models. Assistants are emerging as the next wave as models become commodities, and that’s why I’m thrilled to be involved with Dialogica, as they are ahead of this curve.”

About Dialogica
Dialogica, Inc. is the company behind Dia, a secure amplified intelligence platform built to help law firms clear the clutter of daily practice while preserving the legal judgment, client trust, and confidentiality that define the profession. Designed for the operating realities of sophisticated firms, Dia is a voice-first dialogue layer that works across existing systems to reduce repetitive, non-billable work and give lawyers more time for the counsel, strategy, analysis, and client service only they can provide. For more information, visit: dialogicaai.com.

Media Contact
Dialogica@5wpr.com

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SOURCE Dialogica, Inc.

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NEUBERGER MUNICIPAL FUND ANNOUNCES MONTHLY DISTRIBUTION

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NEW YORK, June 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Neuberger Municipal Fund Inc. (NYSE American: NBH) (the “Fund”) has announced a distribution declaration of $0.05417 per share of common stock. The distribution announced today is payable on July 15, 2026, has a record date of June 30, 2026, and has an ex-date of June 30, 2026. The Fund seeks to provide income that is exempt from regular federal income tax. Distributions of the Fund may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax for some stockholders.

The distribution announced today, as well as future distributions, may consist of net investment income, realized capital gains, and return of capital. In the event the Fund distributes more than its net investment income during any yearly period, such distributions may also include realized gains and/or a return of capital. To the extent that a distribution includes a return of capital, the NAV per share may decline and an investor’s cost basis of their shares will be reduced. In compliance with Section 19 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, a notice would be provided for any distribution that does not consist solely of net investment income. The notice would be for informational purposes and not for tax reporting purposes, and would disclose, among other things, estimated portions of the distribution, if any, consisting of net investment income, capital gains and return of capital. The final determination of the source and tax characteristics of all distributions paid in 2026 will be made after the end of the year.

About Neuberger

Neuberger is an employee-owned, private, independent investment manager founded in 1939 with approximately 3,000 employees across 26 countries. The firm manages $567 billion of equities, fixed income, private markets, real estate and hedge fund portfolios for global institutions, advisors and individuals. Neuberger’s investment philosophy is founded on active management, fundamental research and engaged ownership. The firm is proud to be recognized for its commitment to its two constituents, clients and employees. Again in 2025, we were named Best Asset Manager for Institutional Investors in the US (Crisil Coalition Greenwich) and the #1 Best Place to Work in Money Management (Pensions & Investments, firms with more than 1,000 employees). Neuberger has no corporate parent or unaffiliated external shareholders. Visit www.nb.com for more information, including www.nb.com/disclosure-global-communications for information on awards. Data as of March 31, 2026.

Statements made in this release that look forward in time involve risks and uncertainties. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the adverse effect from a decline in the securities markets or a decline in the Fund’s performance, a general downturn in the economy, competition from other closed end investment companies, changes in government policy or regulation, inability of the Fund’s investment adviser to attract or retain key employees, inability of the Fund to implement its investment strategy, inability of the Fund to manage rapid expansion and unforeseen costs and other effects related to legal proceedings or investigations of governmental and self-regulatory organizations.

Contact:
Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC
Investor Information
(877) 461-1899

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SOURCE Neuberger Berman

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