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Grace Hill Acquires The Shadow Agency to Leverage Mystery Shopping Expertise

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Move positions Grace Hill to expand and evolve solutions for the multifamily industry

IRVING, Texas, July 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Grace Hill, the innovator of talent and performance management solutions for commercial and multifamily real estate, today announced the acquisition of The Shadow Agency, a full-service mystery shopping company providing services to numerous industries, including multifamily real estate, home building and retail operations. The companies will combine technology, solutions and personnel to offer an elevated mystery shopping experience for its customers.

Mystery shopping captures valuable data about the customer shopping experience across several industries. For multifamily, operators utilize this service to capture essential insights and data about the renter experience, enabling them to gain an accurate understanding of their staff and operational performance. Grace Hill is committed to providing best-in-class solutions to improve property performance and development, and this partnership will enable a superior mystery shopping experience, recorded telephone shopping and traditional onsite evaluations.

“The Shadow Agency CEO Russell Wood and his team have developed a world-class mystery shopping business with a deep understanding of the housing industry, including multifamily,” said Grace Hill’s CEO, Kendall Pretzer. “This acquisition will leverage the expertise of both companies and we are confident that together, we are better positioned to serve the mystery shopping industry as a whole and continue to exceed real estate’s current mystery shopping capabilities. The customer-first approach to service at The Shadow Agency, as well as the company’s core values and mission, align perfectly with Grace Hill’s.”

Established in 1994, The Shadow Agency offers a first-rate customer experience with over a 95% completion rate. The agency pioneered the video mystery shopping industry and then expanded to provide customers with a diverse mix of mystery shops, including video, in-person, phone, virtual and the internet. The Shadow Agency employees will join the Grace Hill brand.

“The decision to join the Grace Hill family was an easy one. Grace Hill and The Shadow Agency both understand the immense value of tangible feedback in multifamily and CRE, as well as building strong relationships with customers. We have come to know and trust the company and its leadership team,” Wood said. “This partnership will enable us to build upon the goal of improving operations while delivering critical insights for owners and operators.”

Grace Hill has created a new mystery shopping department headed by Jennifer Blankenship, who currently serves as the company’s vice president of support services. This latest acquisition by Grace Hill, a subsidiary of Aurora Capital Partners, continues to broaden the company’s mystery shopping solutions. In 2022, Grace Hill acquired mystery shopping provider Ellis.

About Aurora Capital Partners
Aurora Capital Partners is a leading private equity firm focused principally on control investments in middle-market companies with leading market positions, stable industry dynamics, attractive business model characteristics and actionable opportunities for growth in partnership with management. Aurora provides unique resources to its portfolio companies through its Strategy & Operations Program and its team of experienced operating advisors. Aurora’s investors include leading public and corporate pension funds, endowments and foundations active in private equity investing. For more information about Aurora Capital Partners, visit: www.auroracap.com.

About Grace Hill
Grace Hill provides technology-enabled performance solutions that help owners and operators of real estate properties increase property performance, reduce operating risk and grow top talent. Its industry-leading solutions covering policy, training, assessment, survey and data-driven insights are bolstered by years of real estate experience, in-depth service-level expertise and outstanding customer support. Today, more than 500,000 real estate professionals from more than 2,300 companies rely on talent performance solutions from Grace Hill. Visit us at gracehill.com or on LinkedIn.

About The Shadow Agency
The Shadow Agency is a nationwide full-service Mystery Shopping company serving various industries, including property management companies, new home builders and retail operations. Since pioneering Video Mystery Shopping in 1994, The Shadow Agency has led the industry with innovative solutions, including web-based reporting and secure server content distribution. Clients leverage mystery shopping services to capture crucial data on customer experiences in order to enhance performance. The agency offers video mystery shopping, recorded telephone shopping, and traditional onsite evaluations. To learn more, visit theshadowagency.com.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grace-hill-acquires-the-shadow-agency-to-leverage-mystery-shopping-expertise-302204736.html

SOURCE Grace Hill

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Agenda for the 4th Hong Kong Clinical-driven Robotics and Embodied AI Technology (CREATE) Symposium Officially Released

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Leading Experts from Medicine, Research, Industry and Investment Revealed

HONG KONG, Sept. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scheduled for September 22–23, 2026, the 4th Hong Kong Clinical-driven Robotics and Embodied AI Technology (CREATE) Symposium will be held at the Charles K. Kao Auditorium in Hong Kong Science Park. The Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Hong Kong Institute of Science & Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), organizes the event, with co-organization by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP).

The CREATE Symposium is dedicated to building a platform for in-depth dialogue between clinical medicine and cutting-edge technology. Having been held successfully for multiple editions, it has become a flagship international symposium on embodied intelligence in healthcare. This year’s event will focus on the practical clinical needs of more than ten specialties, including neurology, neurosurgery, respiratory intervention, otolaryngology, ultrasound imaging, and sleep medicine. It will bring together world-leading academicians, hospital directors, department leaders, and innovative scholars at the intersection of medicine and engineering to explore clinical applications and translation pathways of AI and robotics technologies, accelerating innovation and industrialization in global healthcare technology.

Symposium Highlights

This year’s symposium features a special “Hospital Presidents’ Roundtable” session. Eight hospital leaders from the Greater Bay Area will engage in in-depth discussions on integrating medicine and engineering, smart hospital development, and practical applications of medical AI.

The distinguished panel includes:

Linbo CAI, President of Guangdong 999 Brain Hospital, Chief Physician, and Doctoral Supervisor at Jinan University.

Kenneth Man-Chee CHEUNG, President and Hospital Chief Executive of The University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital, The Jessie Ho Professor in Spine Surgery and Chair Professor, Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, HKU.

Kin-lai CHUNG, CEO of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Medical Centre.

Xiquan HU, Director, Management Committee of Lingnan Hospital; Director and Chief Physician, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; President-Elect, Chinese Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chinese Medical Association.

Lijian JIN, Dean of Faculty of Dentistry, Modern Dental Group Professor in Clinical Dental Science, HKU.

Wing-yee SO, Hospital Chief Executive of North District Hospital, Hospital Authority.

Kenneth Hing Lim TSANG, Regional CEO of IHH Healthcare North Asia, CEO of Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong.

Yi XIONG, Executive Director of Shenzhen Luohu District People’s Hospital.

The symposium will also launch CARES 4.0, a multi-modal medical AI large model and intelligent agent system for healthcare scenarios. Concurrently, a dedicated MedTech innovation exhibition will showcase cutting-edge medical hardware, AI algorithms, and other innovative achievements, demonstrating the latest capabilities in embodied intelligent healthcare.

As a co-organizer of this year’s symposium, HKSTP will host a special session titled “Empowering Founders, Enabling Growth: HKSTP’s Entrepreneurship Journey from Idea to Commercialization”. The session will introduce HKSTP’s life and health technology ecosystem and startup community, share The Road to Commercialization: Insights and Success Stories from HKSTP Startups, and feature the Roundtable Discussion: Empowering Value Creation and Growth through Strategic Partnerships.

Notably, the CREATE Symposium will debut a new “Roadshow Session” on September 23. The session will connect top-tier investment institutions with innovative companies. Participating companies will showcase products and technologies while receiving professional feedback from leading investors.

Investors from renowned institutions including Guangyuan Investment, Jiuguang Capital, Allwinner Technology, Yuexiu Group, Yanghe Investment, CICC Capital, Jianyuan Tianhua etc. have been invited to serve as judges. Invitations are also being extended to institutions such as Shenzhen Angel Fund of Funds, CCB International etc.

This year’s symposium will fully integrate MEDLing, CAIR’s proprietary intelligent conference assistant. The system has been customized and optimized for medical terminology, providing real-time speech transcription in Mandarin, English, and Cantonese, as well as high-precision transcript recording and simultaneous translation throughout the event. This will enable attendees from diverse fields and countries to communicate seamlessly and enjoy an enhanced conference experience.

Conference Information

Date: September 22–23, 2026 (Tuesday–Wednesday)
Venue: Charles K. Kao Auditorium, Hong Kong Science Park
Event Details and Latest Schedule: https://www.cair-cas.org.hk/article/662
Registration Link: https://forms.office.com/r/ePnu6HMySU?origin=lprLink

This year’s symposium features a dedicated healthcare technology exhibition area in the Atrium Link of Hong Kong Science Park. During the event, multiple guided tours will be organized to facilitate exchanges among attendees, academic experts, and industry representatives, fostering in-depth cross-sector collaboration.

Currently, only a limited number of booths remain available in the corporate exhibition area. Interested companies are invited to review partnership options

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/agenda-for-the-4th-hong-kong-clinical-driven-robotics-and-embodied-ai-technology-create-symposium-officially-released-302876370.html

SOURCE Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR), Hong Kong Institute of Science & Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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Scholarship America Marks 25th Anniversary of 9/11 by Honoring Its Support for the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund

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NEW YORK, Sept. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scholarship America today marks the 25th anniversary of the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which it established and has administered since the fund’s founding in the direct aftermath of the September 11th attacks.

On September 11, 2001, the unthinkable happened, and the nation was forever changed. Thousands of children, including those of Ground Zero first responders, lost a parent or watched one become permanently disabled. In response, Scholarship America helped establish the Families of Freedom Fund to protect the dreams of these students, which it has proudly administered for more than two decades.

In the years since, the Fund’s scope has expanded to include the children of rescue and rebuilding workers who developed long-term and chronic illnesses tied to their service, nearly doubling the number of students eligible for support. Meeting that growing need has required an equally significant response: more than 20,000 individuals, corporations, foundations, and organizations – including longtime supporters Citi and Strada Education Foundation – have contributed to the Fund, helping award $193 million to 3,877 students who lost a parent or had one permanently disabled as a result of the September 11th attacks and the recovery efforts that followed.

“From the moment the horrific attacks unfolded, we knew the impact would echo across generations,” said Brandee McHale, Head of Community Investing and Development at Citi and President of the Citi Foundation. “We are proud of the work we did with organizations across the country to create this Fund, making a lasting commitment to support the educational needs of the children of victims.”

The Fund’s commitment will carry through 2030, when its youngest beneficiaries complete their undergraduate education.

“Twenty-five years later, we still remember how this Fund began—born out of one of the worst days in our nation’s history in an effort to ensure that these victims’ children wouldn’t lose their futures along with their loved ones,” said Mike Nylund, President and CEO of Scholarship America. “A promise was made to these students, and Scholarship America has been honored to help keep it for the past twenty-five years. Watching them graduate, build careers, and give back to their own communities has been one of the great privileges of this organization’s history.  On behalf of every student this Fund has supported, I am incredibly grateful for the generosity that made it possible.”

About Scholarship America

Since 1958, Scholarship America has been committed to breaking down financial barriers to higher education, turning the generosity of donors into life-changing opportunities for students across the country. To date, the organization has distributed more than $6 billion in scholarships to over 3.5 million students, making it the nation’s leading nonprofit scholarship administrator. Scholarship America also partners with individuals, foundations, small businesses, and nearly half of today’s Fortune 500 companies to deliver end-to-end scholarship program management for students pursuing degrees and certifications at technical, vocational, and two- and four-year colleges and universities.

Contacts:

Claire Berge Schmidt
Scholarship America
cbergeschmidt@scholarshipamerica.org

Logan Flynn
Hiltzik Strategies
lflynn@hstrategies.com

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SOURCE Scholarship America

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The 26th CIFIT Opens in Xiamen, Merchants from 129 Countries and Regions Seek Business Opportunities

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XIAMEN, China, Sept. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A report from IQINGDAO:

The 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) opened in Xiamen on September 8. More than 1,200 government agencies and business delegations from 129 countries and regions as well as 30 international organizations gathered at the event to explore opportunities for two‑way investment and cooperation.

As a landmark platform for “Invest in China”, this year’s CIFIT revolves around three major sections: “Invest in China”, “Chinese Investment” and “International Investment”. For the first time, it features Finland and Saudi Arabia as dual Guest Countries of Honor, and Guangdong and Qinghai as dual Guest Provinces of Honor.

Both the exhibition area and the number of exhibitors in the financial zone have doubled at this edition. A special zone for the Cross‑border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) makes its debut at CIFIT. A new special zone for new quality productive forces has been set up, focusing on cutting‑edge sectors including artificial intelligence and low‑altitude economy.

Over 40 key investment‑promotion events will be held during the fair, alongside nearly 100 supporting activities such as capital matchmaking and special‑topic roadshows. The Online CIFIT platform pools resources including investment‑attraction projects, corporate financing and industrial funds. Empowered by digital technologies, it enables easier project sourcing and more efficient capital matching.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/the-26th-cifit-opens-in-xiamen-merchants-from-129-countries-and-regions-seek-business-opportunities-302876390.html

SOURCE Iqingdao

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