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A handful of Philly-area startups are the recipients of investments, thanks to two capital-involved accelerators and funds.

The Bucks Built Startup Fund, in its third round, this summer deployed $125,000 to five early-stage startups. Funded by the Bucks County Industrial Development Authority (IDA), the startups will also receive a years worth of advising, resources, connections and programming from the Bucks Built team, IDA and the broader Startup Bucks community focused on enabling growth and securing follow-on funding.

The startups chosen for $25,000 investments are:

Seven other startups were chosen by Bucks Startup to receive $5,000 grants from Penn Community Bank. Those include AWSM Sauce, Dr. Brownies, Eternally, Forge, Measure Studio, Sage SEO and Vital Start.

In only the second year of the Bucks Built Startup Fund, we are already seeing the impact these investments are having to the growth of the startup community within Bucks County, said Stephen Marzullo, chairman of the board of directors for IDA, in a statement. We hope that through continued funding and support in this innovative program, Bucks County will become the premier destination for new and cutting edge startups to call their home.

And two Philly founders will join the second cohort of Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual and gener8tors Black Founder Accelerator, an initiative to target resources and financing to promising Black entrepreneurs around the country. Cody Eddings, cofounder of SnapRefund, and Tiffanie Stanard, founder of Stimulus, each receive $100,000 through the 12-week business training program.

The program is mostly virtual with a few in-person events including a kickoff in Milwaukee, the Insurtech Connect Conference in Las Vegas in the fall, and a public pitch night in December with both cohorts of five companies that were accepted.

The SnapRefund and Stimulus leaders will be meeting mentors and investors across different industries, and get an executive mentor matched to them based on their strategic goals. gener8tor also make intros to prospective customers, investors and mentors on a wish list that each company submits at the beginning of the program.

[Editors note: Read more about the gener8tor program via Technical.lys This Week in Milwaukee Rising series.]

Eddings said he reached out to a financial advisor at Northwestern last year with a goal of landing them as a client for SnapRefunds life insurance claim payments. That financial advisor connected him to Moiz Dawoodbhai, the assistant director of strategic investing at Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, and the team applied to the accelerator from there.

SnapRefund aims get first-hand insights into the claims payment process and the pain points for a company at the scale of Northwestern Mutual, Eddings said. His team also plans to to expand their roster of businesses to equip with its instant payment processing technology.

One of our major goals in the program is to sign a payment processing deal with a dental carrier, MGA, or TPA, to solve the crippling friction people face today around fee-for-service dental treatment that requires them to pay out of pocket for their visits entire cost and then wait weeks to be reimbursed for the portion owed to them by their dental insurance carrier, the cofounder said.

SnapRefunds cofounders Anis Taylor (left) and Cody Eddings. (Courtesy photo)

Stanard, who hopes to focus on the evolution of partnerships with companies that have a shared mission of building better relationships with their suppliers, said she found out about the program from an investor and friend who went through its previous cohort. Shes excited about gener8tor and Northwesterns teams concierge approach in working with just five startups at a time.

During our time with them in Milwaukee during the kick-off week, it was showcased that Stimulus fits the strategic goals of Northwestern Mutual, as we make the purchasing process more transparent to help various stakeholders collaborate to achieve their corporate goals, such as improving diverse purchasing, Stanard said.

Stanard and Eddings represent Philadelphia in the accelerator, which has three other startups from Atlanta, Boulder and Lexington, Tennessee in the areas of fintech, insurtech, digital health and data analytics.

We are both honored and eager to welcome this years Black Founder Accelerator startups into our portfolio, said Precious Drew, senior managing director of the accelerator, in a statement. This partnership with Northwestern Mutual directly supports Black founders nationally by providing important resources, mentorship and funding these innovative entrepreneurs might otherwise not have had access to. We look forward to seeing how they continue to develop their unique solutions.

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These 7 Philly-area startups are getting big cash infusions from accelerators this summer - Technical.ly

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NEW ORLEANS Here are notable new hires and promotions in the greater New Orleans area:

Tulane Names Abbott to Head Enrollment Management

Tulane University has named veteran admissions leader Shawn Abbott to head enrollment management. He has held leadership roles in enrollment management at NYU, Stanford, Columbia and other top universities. Building the future of Tulane by attracting the best and brightest students from Louisiana, the nation and the world and supporting their success is a central goal of our university, said Tulane President Michael A. Fitts in a press release. The search committee [thinks] that Shawn is the best person to achieve these goals, possessing the experience and passion to grow Tulanes admissions and create classes that will have a profound impact at Tulane and beyond while also increasing access for students from all backgrounds.

Lakeview Regional Medical Center Announces Hires, Promotion

Lakeview Regional Medical Center, a campus of Tulane Medical Center, announced two promotions in the critical care services department. Daphne Guidry is the departments new director, and Katherine Katie West is the new manager. Guidry has more than 24 years of nursing experience specializing in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation. She will provide clinical and operational oversight in her new role and lead patient care, quality, and service initiatives. West has been a nurse for 17 years, most of her time spent in the ICU and cath lab. She joined the Lakeview team as an ICU nurse in 2017 and was promoted to clinical supervisor in early 2020.

Lakeview also announced the recent appointment of Hannah Fowler, RN, as the new outpatient surgery manager. Fowler has worked in the outpatient surgery department at Lakeview Regional since May 2021. Hannah is self-motivated and always delivers a high level of service and support to her patients, said Marc Junot, associate administrator. Her team-oriented approach to leadership makes Hannah an excellent choice for this very busy department. We are thrilled to promote her to this position.

Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects Announces Promotions

Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects is proud to announce the promotion of Madeleine Matchett to director of interior design. She received her Bachelor of Arts in interior design from Louisiana State Universitys School of Interior Design in 2014 and started working for STBA in 2017. She has led the design effort on many of the firms projects, including the Slidell Memorial Hospital surgery addition and Kenner Discovery Health Sciences Academy Middle School Campus. STBA also announced the promotion of Cait Behrens to architect. She earned her Masters of Architecture degree from University of Louisiana at Lafayette and joined STBAs award-winning Healthcare Studio in 2016. B

Greater New Orleans Foundation Welcomes Devon Turner, Dan Favre

Devon Turner and Dan Favre have been named directors of the Greater New Orleans Foundations programs team. Turner is the director of nonprofit leadership and effectiveness. Prior to her arrival at the foundation, she served as executive director of Grow Dat Youth Farm, a local youth leadership development organization that uses food production as a platform to facilitate leadership development. Favre will take over as the foundations director of environmental programs. He was executive director of Bike Easy, the Greater New Orleans bicycle education and advocacy organization.

Zehnder Promotes Georgia Gilmore, Expands New Orleans Team

Zehnder Communications a full-service advertising agency with locations in Louisiana, Tennessee and Florida has promoted Georgia Gilmore to senior art director. Gilmore joined Zehnder in 2007 as a media coordinator. In her new position, she will coordinate equipment and software training updates as well as lead the production of client video shoots. She earned a bachelors degree from Tulane University. Zehnder also expanded its New Orleans team with the hiring of Avery Anderson as a web content specialist in its creative department. Anderson joins the Zehnder team with a bachelors degree from Tulane University. She previously worked as a content and SEO specialist for Online Optimist.

Garrison Joins CenterWell Senior Primary Care

CenterWell Senior Primary Care, a senior-focused and value-based care provider, announced the addition of Dr. Teresa Garrison to its center in Slidell (1300 Gause Boulevard). Board-certified in geriatric and internal medicine, DGarrison has been in the healthcare field for 10 years. Prior to joining CenterWell, she was a primary care physician at a senior care clinic for three years and later was part-time hospice medical director for the LHC Group, where 90% of her patients were seniors. Earlier in her career, Garrison helped develop a successful clinic for medically complex, high-risk adult and senior patients.

Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana Announces 2 New Board Members

Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana has announced the appointment of two new board members: Charique L. Richardson of Digital Innovation Media Group, and David P. Vicknair of Scott Vicknair LLC. Our board of directors is composed of a dedicated team of community leaders committed to providing strength, stability and self-reliance throughout the southeast Louisiana community, said Voris R. Vigee, president and CEO of Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana. We are excited to have Chariques and Davids talent, expertise and energy added to our existing board to help further our mission. Additionally, a new slate of officers took their oath of office at the June board meeting.

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People on the Move, July 18: Notable New Hires and Promotions - Biz New Orleans

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Peak Season Is HereUse Your Member Perks to Make the Most of It - RisMedia.com

Many times I have had the need to take a nap at work. Sometimes, it's been so bad that I have crawled underneath my desk, on a yoga mat, with a small throw pillow from home, and tried to get a little shut-eye to get me through the rest of the day.

Once, a co-worker was so startled when they walked by and saw me curled up under my desk that they immediately tried to wake me up to see if I was ok. They thought I had fallen or had a heart attack or something. The gesture was very thoughtful, but they woke me up which did me no good.

- CNBC

More and more companies and the managers and executives that run them, are trying to make, not only a better work/life balance but a better work environment as well. Many companies not only allow workplace napping but encourage it by providing spaces to do so.

One such company is Google, which has been deemed the wackiest place to work. Google not only provides free gourmet meals, a swimming pool, and putt-putt golf courses, but they also provide napping pods.

- Yahoo

Like my company, your company probably doesn't provide any place at all to nap, no less an EnergyPod. But, a company in Japan has invented a stand-up Nap Box that you could put in the corner of your office.

Two Japanese companies plan to release vertical nap boxes to help with a healthier workplace. Yes, they are vertical, not horizontal, so you stand up and sleep.

- Bloomberg

On the inside of the pod, there are shelf areas to help support your knees, head, and butt.

Take a look at the Nap Box. Much of the video is from a press conference or board meeting. But, you can see the design of the napping pod.

Just in the planning stages, there is no word on price or availability, yet.

READ MORE: See 50 remote jobs that can pay well

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Excerpt from:
Need a Midday Work Nap Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois? A Stand-Up 'Nap Box' is in the Works - wkdq.com

Our series What I Learned... takes a look at those who have pivoted from unusual job roles before settling on a life in adland. This week, we caught up with Alex Moran from Space & Time, who shares his lessons from life as a Ugandan teacher and the lessons for his current position as an SEO lead.

Hi Alex! Tell us a little about who you are and what you do now.

Im the search engine optimization (SEO) lead at growth marketing agency Space & Time. I lead and grow the team by boosting brand visibility and demonstrating to brands the value of SEO across mediums they may not have considered to be part of search. In the past, Ive held roles at Jellyfish, Dentsu and WPP.

And before all that Uganda?

I previously worked as a primary school teacher, with my first role teaching IT in Uganda for a year. I was 23 when I packed my bags and left behind a role in agency sales to move to the Ugandan capital Kampala. While I was there, I also helped market a local home-care charity, taught the basics of business studies, and even coached a local team.

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How did you adjust to the role?

Teaching IT certainly started as a challenge... initially we didnt have any computers. So I had to focus on the things that had become part of our natural language that we havent had to learn. If youve never been around a computer mouse before, you only know mouse as one thing. We later found a scheme online called Computers 4 Africa, which provided laptops for the school.

The other challenge was organizing too many projects at once. It meant I was spread thinly at a young age, at a time when I experienced many changes in my life. On reflection, it might have been more impactful to focus on one or two projects rather than take on too much at once.

What impact did that time in Uganda have on you?

I loved teaching so I went on to do a PGCE afterward. [British educational standards and tests] Ofsted and SATs didnt quite leave me with the same feeling, so with my new skills and life experience of working abroad, I re-discovered agency life with a fresh perspective. I knew from working across digital channels that my passion lay in SEO, and I decided to do what I enjoy the most first and foremost.

Im incredibly lucky to be able to run SEO training courses in my current role, so I can bring my teaching skills to the world of digital. Its a part of my job that I take a lot of enjoyment from. I try to ensure those in my sessions too.

Do your lessons as a teacher still sit with you?

Sometimes, you need a wide lens to find out what you want to zoom in on. The experience helped me understand the value of picking a specialism. Within that, I initially focused on the technical part. While its important to have a broad understanding across channels and capabilities, Id recommend to those starting out to find and develop a specialism.

I was lucky at [previous agency] iProspect to initially work in a technical role, and then move on to local SEO. However, if your company cant offer such varied roles, there is still scope to champion a particular service and become the expert on the Amazon SEO product. Youll soon realize: no matter how niche you go, you arent the only expert out there and theres lots to learn.

Would you recommend working as an international teacher to someone else?

Im not the first or the last person to spend a year working abroad; in fact, my mother and grandmother both worked in Africa in their twenties for a year. Im also not the first or last person to make the move from teaching into the corporate world.

I think a lot of people leave university without a defined job in mind, or the job market doesnt initially facilitate their dreams. Take the time to do something positive and uplifting; it will help you find out what you want to do on a permanent basis. Dont feel like a year out is too much time to give up searching for a career. If you plan to work for another 40+ years, its important to take the time to find the right path for you.

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What I learned... as a teacher in Uganda, with Space & Time's Alex Moran - The Drum