Valley businesses champion annual Grow A Reader virtual book drive

Apr 11, 2023 | Books, Business

The initiative helps Phoenix children and families build home libraries.

Southwest Human Development Grow a Reader

Southwest Human Development Grow a Reader

PHOENIX – April 10, 2023 – PRLog — Local businesses are partnering with Southwest Human Development, Arizona’s largest nonprofit for early childhood development, to “feed the need to read” throughout the month of May by participating in the nonprofit’s Grow A Reader virtual book drive.

For families who struggle to make ends meet, purchasing new, high-quality children’s books simply does not compete with priorities like providing food, clothing and shelter. In low-income communities, three out of every five children don’t have a single children’s book to call their own.

“Children without access to early literacy materials often face challenges as they enter school,” says Jake Adams, chief development officer for Southwest Human Development. “Our partners’ support of our early literacy efforts through this annual drive better prepares thousands of children for success when they enter kindergarten.”

Donating to the Grow A Reader virtual book drive is simple. People can visit a participating Grow A Reader business location, “pick a flower” and purchase books online at swhd.org/GAR to help get children’s books into the hands of kids who need them most. Books start at only $3.99 and are also eligible for a dollar-for-dollar Arizona Charitable Tax Credit of up to $800.

This year’s participating Grow A Reader partners include Arizona Central Credit Union, Century 21 Arizona Foothills, Charro Hipster, CVL Consultants, El Chullo, GM, Lane Terralever, Short Leash Hotdogs and The Joint Chiropractic.

Two of the restaurant partners will host special events in support of Grow A Reader. On Wednesday, May 3, El Chullo will host a happy hour with musical performers at their new location at 4414 N. Seventh Avenue in Phoenix. On Friday, May 19, Short Leash Hotdogs located at 4221 N. Seventh Avenue will host a live music happy hour. Both events are free to attend and open to the public.

Donated books from the Grow A Reader campaign are distributed to families in need who participate in Southwest Human Development’s early literacy programs like Raising A Reader. This program focuses on strengthening family literacy routines and community literacy connections. Additionally, donated books support Reach Out and Read, a national, evidence-based program that promotes early literacy in pediatric offices.

To learn more about becoming a Grow A Reader partner or to donate books, please visit swhd.org/GAR (http://www.swhd.org/gar).

About Southwest Human Development

Southwest Human Development is Arizona’s largest nonprofit dedicated to early childhood development. Recognizing a child’s earliest experiences and relationships establish the foundation for all future development, Southwest Human Development’s more than 40 comprehensive programs focus on young children—ages birth to 5—and their families in the areas of child development, mental health, Easterseals disabilities services, Head Start, early literacy, family support and child welfare, and professional development and training. Founded in 1981, Southwest Human Development serves 140,000 children and families each year. Learn more at swhd.org (http://www.swhd.org/).

WhatsAuto Chatbot App Reached 10M+ Users Globally; Helping Small Businesses Set Up Chatbots for Their Businesses

Sep 17, 2022 | Business

 Every day, a large number of businesses send automated messages to their customers. Even individuals send such messages to their friends, colleagues, and family members. While chatbot applications have existed for a while, they were never found to be too convenient or reliable. However, things have improved for the better with the arrival of WhatsAuto Reply. Using this particular app, more than 10 million users are sending automated messages every day.

Talking about the design of WhatsAuto Reply, an official spokesperson says, “It was designed as an application that would help both businesses and individuals to send automated messages and make their work easier. While using chatbot applications, people often worry about their message not being communicated or represented well. While building this app, our priority was to ensure that it helps the users communicate themselves effectively using automated messages. We offer tour users the assurance of clear communication.”

While WhatsAuto Reply is popular all across the world, the countries where it is used the most are India, the United States, Brazil, Spain and Indonesia. WhatsAuto can connect automatically with social messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, Signal, WhatsApp Business, Twitter, LinkedIn, Viber, and others. The app boasts of a mechanism that instantly replies to incoming messages in an automated manner.

“As an application, WhatsAuto Reply caters to everybody who uses a smart device and maintains personal and professional associations through messaging services. Small and medium-sized businesses like restaurants and educational institutions have benefited greatly by using our app. After installing WhatsAuto Reply on their Android, users can configure their preferred reply messages and custom keywords and activate the auto-reply feature. Once they do this, the app will automatically respond to all of its customers’ inquiries from WhatsApp and other messaging apps,” says the spokesperson.

Putting together a chatbot application and making it usable is a very long and expensive process. That is the reason why many small or medium-sized businesses refrain from installing such applications. WhatsAuto Reply, however, has made it very convenient for businesses of all sizes to reach out to their customers using automated messages. Despite being equipped with advanced features, the app is free to use.

You can find the app in the Play Store at this link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.guibais.whatsauto

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Canada – Businesses offer jobs for Afghan newcomers

May 13, 2022 | International

The Government of Canada is working hard to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan nationals as quickly and safely as possible. Canada has now welcomed a total of 13,050 Afghan refugees, with more arriving every week.

May 13, 2022—Ottawa, Ontario – The Government of Canada is working hard to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan nationals as quickly and safely as possible. Canada has now welcomed a total of 13,050 Afghan refugees, with more arriving every week.

For many newcomers, securing meaningful employment is a critical step in their resettlement journey and is integral to financial independence. It also helps ease Canada’s labour shortages and supports our country’s post-pandemic economic growth by filling vacancies across the country.

Small businesses across Canada have shown incredible leadership in hiring newcomers. On Prince Edward Island, the Immigrant & Refugee Services Association Prince Edward Island (IRSA PEI) helps refugees who want to settle in smaller communities across the province. Mr. Khaled Salar, an Afghan newcomer, secured highly skilled employment shortly after his arrival in Canada after connecting with SpryPoint, a Charlottetown-based company that creates cloud-based software. He was offered a position as a project manager at SpryPoint based on his years of experience. This is a shining example of the powerful impact of matching job opportunities with newcomers’ skills.

Recognizing the contributions that refugees bring to the Canadian workforce, larger employers across Canada have also stepped up their efforts to offer jobs to Afghan newcomers by providing them with the opportunities, skills, and work experience they need to be successful. Here’s how some businesses are doing their part:

McCain Foods/Day & Ross have committed to hiring more than 125 refugees by 2024, with corporate and manufacturing opportunities across Canada.
Maple Leaf Foods has made more than 700 positions available across the country, namely in farming, processing and production.
Commissionaires, a not-for-profit, self-supporting organization and Canada’s largest private sector employer of Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police veterans, has identified positions open to Afghan refugees. Now 22,000 strong across Canada, commissionaires are trained to work as security guards, mobile patrollers, administrative clerks, receptionists, systems security technicians, network cabling technicians, supervisors and more.
Amazon/Amazon Web Services have extended an invitation to Afghan refugees to apply for vacant positions in 12 cities across Canada such as Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Halifax. They also offer support for employees who wish to upgrade their skills.


We continue to see an outpouring of goodwill from Canadians across the country, including businesses. As a business owner, learn about ways you can help engage with newcomers and how they can benefit your business.

Photos of previous arrivals are available in Dropbox for use by media. You can also monitor Canada’s progress on welcoming Afghan refugees to Canada.

“Finding stable employment is crucial to the success of newcomers in Canada, and many are eager to build on their experience and skills in their new communities. I’m thrilled that so many Canadian businesses are providing jobs and mentorship opportunities to the world’s most vulnerable, so they can continue to enrich our communities and help grow our economy.”

– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

“The key to our success is our dedicated people and how they work together to understand the unique needs of newcomers to our Island. The Employment Assistance Service team provides integrated employment support tailored to meet an individual’s needs. It makes our day when we receive the good news that another job offer has been accepted!”

– Bernadette Reynolds, Executive Director, IRSA PEI

Aidan Strickland

Press Secretary

Minister’s Office

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Aidan.Strickland@cic.gc.ca

Ann Marie Puig lays out the various ways businesses can easily increase their revenue

Apr 24, 2022 | Business

Ann Marie Puig, an expert business consultant who works with companies around the globe, explains the different ways businesses can efficiently increase their operations.

San José, Costa Rica – WEBWIRE –

Learn from past customers to attract new customers. Review your customer base to determine why they are drawn to you.



The next step after getting your business started is to figure out how to increase revenue. Ann Marie Puig, a successful entrepreneur and master business consultant from Costa Rica, reveals the secrets to making this happen.


You can do this by expanding your customer base. You’re trying to increase the number of customers. It is clear that more customers will visit your store or your eCommerce platform, which means more traffic, and, ultimately, more revenue.


Puig says, “Learn from past customers to attract new customers. Review your customer base to determine why they are drawn to you.” In addition, if you have conducted a speaking engagement that saw an increase in traffic, then look for other similar opportunities.


Revenue can also be increased by increasing the size of transactions. This means that every consumer who makes a purchase buys more. This can be achieved by upselling, or offering discounts for multiple purchases made in one visit.


You can do this by suggesting complementary products that they might be interested in purchasing. It is possible to make more money by upselling an administration or integral item after you have won a client.


Revenue will be increased if customers make more purchases. For example, a customer who makes a purchase once per month can be a motivator to make more purchases. Retention services can be used to encourage customers to return more often. Don’t forget about past customers.


Puig asserts, “Keep in touch with the business through email campaigns and email newsletters so that their minds will never wander.” It costs less to keep clients coming back than to find new clients, so keep the communication open.


This is the obvious option – raise your rates. It is important to evaluate prices regularly to make sure they are competitive but also to keep them in line with market costs and expectations.


You’ll get more income for each client who buys you. If you accept that your volume, normal exchange size and recurrence are equal, increasing your costs will result in more income for the same amount of exertion.


If you have more experience or new skills, increase your prices. You may initially need lower rates in order to attract customers. However, once your customers understand the value of your products, and your ability to provide exceptional customer service, increasing prices will be justifiable.


You can’t raise prices arbitrarily in most cases. Products must be promoted in a way that increases perceived value. Promote prices along with the value that customers will get for the goods and services they are purchasing. Importantly, however, you must also consider your company’s worth.


Your ideal customer is your target client and has a very specific definition. The ideal customer is someone who buys early and often, is most likely to spend the most, and is willing to pay more for quality.


About Ann Marie Puig 


Ann Marie Puig is a business consultancy expert. She is bilingual in Spanish and English, and provides reliable and expert business consultancy services based on years of experience. She is extremely knowledgeable in current technology, eCommerce and a variety of industries. As a result, her clients are able to trust her to offer a more personal service. When she’s not active consulting for a business, she dedicates her time to her family and her community.

Japan – Looking Toward Strengthening our Existing Businesses and Creating of New, Highly Profitable Businesses Restructuring Hitachi High-Tech Fine Systems

Feb 2, 2022 | Business

Hitachi High-Tech Corporation (“Hitachi High-Tech”) today announced the restructuring of Hitachi High-Tech Fine Systems Corporation (“HFS”) on April 1, 2022, as part of Hitachi High-Tech’s key initiatives for our 2024 Mid-Term Management Plan. Hitachi High-Tech aims to create new businesses that will be a key part of our future, in tandem with the plans to further expand the growth and profitability of our existing businesses.

Through corporate divestiture, HFS will transfer its railroad inspection, HD/FPD(1) and laboratory solutions businesses to Hitachi High-Tech Solutions Corporation (“HSL”) and transfer its manufacturing functions to Hitachi High-Tech Manufacturing & Service Co., Ltd. (“HMS”). Furthermore, the prototyping, development, and other functions of HFS will be transferred to Hitachi High-Tech through an absorption-type merger, with HFS as absorbed company and Hitachi High-Tech as the surviving company.

Business Restructuring Goals

The environment surrounding society is changing every day with developments in digitization and the acceleration of innovations in technology. In order to respond swiftly to the changing market environments, the needs and business challenges of our customers in such circumstances, the Hitachi High-Tech Group is working on enhancing and integrating our core technologies, optimizing our manufacturing frameworks, and accelerating prototype development through Group-integrated business management.

This restructuring is one measure of these key initiatives we are working on, and by utilizing the core competencies (analysis and inspection technologies, production facility engineering capabilities, manufacturing capabilities) of HFS, one of the major group companies, the Hitachi High-Tech Group aims to reinforce our core Measurement and Analysis technologies, further increase the profitability of our fundamental businesses and strengthen the creation of new businesses that will be a key pillar of our future.

Business Restructuring Overview Summary:

1. Railroad Inspection, HD/FPD, Laboratory Solutions
We aim to integrate the laser- and magnetic-analysis technologies of HFS with the measurement and control technologies of HSL, and create new solutions that will be one of the core pillar of our future business.

2. Prototyping and Development
With the integration of the prototyping and development functions of HFS into Hitachi High-Tech, we aim to improve our development efficiency in product manufacturing through accelerated prototype development.

3. Manufacturing Functions
We will achieve high-efficiency manufacturing of Hitachi High-Tech Group products by concentrating our manufacturing functions into HMS.

Through this restructuring, the Hitachi High-Tech Group is looking toward creating new, highly profitable businesses from our core technologies of “Observation, Measurement, and Analysis” along with leveraging the core competencies of HFS to bolster the existing businesses of Hitachi High-Tech. The Hitachi High-Tech Group continues to work on creation of new social and environmental value, and aim to sustainably improve our corporate value.

(1) HD/FPD: Hard-Disk and Flat Panel Display

About Hitachi High-Tech

Hitachi High-Tech, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is engaged in activities in a broad range of fields, including Analytical & Medical Solutions (manufacture and sales of clinical analyzers, biotechnology products, and analytical instruments), Nano- Technology Solutions (manufacture and sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and analysis equipment), and Industrial Solutions (providing high value- added solutions in fields of social & industrial infrastructures and mobility, etc.).

The company’s consolidated revenues for FY 2020 were approx. JPY 606.3 billion [USD 5.7 billion]. For further information, visit http://www.hitachi-hightech.com/global/

Corporate Communications Dept., CSR Div.,
Hitachi High-Tech Corporation
Contact: Nishikawa
Phone: +81-80-9207-5949

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