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Disney Parks and RICE Bring Diverse Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs to Walt Disney World Resort as part of Innovative New Supply Chain Program

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Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Sponsors Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE) Supply Chain Accelerator Program focused on transforming diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla., Nov. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — 10-year-old Zoe Oli of Atlanta arrived at Walt Disney World for the first time a few days ago, not on vacation but as CEO of her start-up business, Beautiful Curly Me, aimed at creating dolls who look like her.

Oli and 58 other Black entrepreneurs got a two-day peek behind the Disney curtain as part of their journey with the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs’ (RICE) Supply Chain Accelerator Program sponsored by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. RICE, a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, is a business generator designed to inspire and support Black entrepreneurs.

Throughout the two days of workshops, panel discussions and networking sessions led by Disney, RICE stakeholders learned best practices from various Disney leaders and the Disney Institute about how to grow their businesses. Participants engaged in sessions focused on storytelling, leadership, customer service, and supplier diversity.

“Disney understands the importance of diversity in business and is helping us create and accelerate opportunities for Black business owners – expanding the possibilities during a time when equitable opportunities have never been more important,” said Jay Bailey, President and CEO, Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs.

The Supply Chain Accelerator Program delivers an immersive learning experience aimed at preparing and positioning diverse entrepreneurs and small businesses for long-term success. The pilot includes 35 companies owned by Black entrepreneurs, 66% of whom are women-owned and featured companies from industries such as consulting, food and beverage, IT and software, media, transportation and retail.

In Oli’s case, her company, Beautiful Curly Me, started when she was six years old. “I did not like my hair and I wished it was straight like my classmates. I found a need for black dolls that looked like me. When we went to the stores and couldn’t find any, I decided I wanted to make my own business and do something about it,” shared Oli.

Oli is proud to say that Beautiful Curly Me is a brand on a mission to empower and inspire young black and brown girls to love and be confident in who they are, and for every doll purchased, one is given to an underserved girl. About her experience at Walt Disney World, Oli stated, “Walt’s vision has shown me the power of teamwork and one dream,” shared Oli. “If Walt can do it, I can too.” 

M-T Strickland, co-founder and CEO of Metric Mate, also is part of RICE’s Supply Accelerator program. “The magic that you feel at Walt Disney World is energizing, and having a group of 60 entrepreneurs here that share that energy just magnified it,” shared Strickland, co-founder and CEO of Metric Mate. “Beyond the curriculum and relationships we built, being able to take a little piece of the magic back home is going to be amazing. Without a shadow of a doubt, every conversation I have from now on will have that twinkling of Disney in the back of my mind letting me know that I can achieve and I can do what I believe.” 

Disney’s sponsorship of RICE’s program is part of its commitment to invest in communities by sharing knowledge and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses. In fiscal year 2021, Disney set a goal to spend at least $1 billion annually with diverse suppliers by 2024, placing the company among the top in spending with diverse suppliers and impacting the communities by creating jobs and opportunities.

“We recognize that supporting suppliers of all backgrounds, sizes and industries makes a profound impact in the community,” said Ralph Sagaille, Director, Supplier Diversity and Sustainability, The Walt Disney Company. “We believe in the power of possibilities and the collaboration with RICE is part of our commitment to invest in supplier diversity while encouraging entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators to dream.”

The second year of the program will expand to 50 participating businesses and an enhanced curriculum. We look forward to continuing to share more stories about our work with RICE. To learn more about Disney’s Supplier Diversity efforts, visit https://supplierdiversity.disney.com/.

Additional Resources:
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About Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE)
RICE is a business generator serving metro Atlanta, created to support Black entrepreneurs in overcoming the unique barriers they face in building thriving businesses. At 54,000 square feet, RICE is the largest center of its kind in the United States. Our BIG IDEAS model meets every business owner where they are on their journey, fortifying them with a community of support, increasing access and exposure, focused on transformational change. RICE honors the legacy and visionary leadership of one the greatest entrepreneurs the city of Atlanta ever produced, the late great Herman J. Russell

About Disney Parks, Experiences and Products
Disney Parks, Experiences and Products brings the magic of The Walt Disney Company’s powerful brands and franchises — including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, ESPN, 20th Century Studios and National Geographic — into the daily lives of families and fans around the world to create magical memories that last a lifetime.

When Walt Disney opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, on July 17, 1955, he created a unique destination built around storytelling and immersive experiences, ushering in a new era of family entertainment. More than 65 years later, Disney has grown into one of the world’s leading providers of family travel and leisure experiences, with iconic businesses including six resort destinations with 12 theme parks and 52 resorts in the United States, Europe and Asia; a top-rated cruise line with five ships and plans for two more; a luxurious family beach resort in Hawai’i; a popular vacation ownership program; and an award-winning guided family adventure business. Disney’s global consumer products operations include the world’s leading licensing business; the world’s largest children’s publishing brands; one of the world’s largest licensors of games across all platforms; Disney store locations around the world; and the shopDisney e-commerce platform.

These experiences are created by Disney Imagineers, the creative force behind experiences found in Disney theme parks, resort hotels, cruise ships and consumer products — including books, games and merchandise.

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SOURCE Disney Parks, Experiences and Products

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Leading Rapid Manufacturer Launches Marketplace, Empowering Entrepreneurs to Monetize Designs

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RENO, Nev., May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — U.S.-based custom sheet metal manufacturer, SendCutSend, announced the launch of the SendCutSend Marketplace, an online platform designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs more easily profit from their custom ideas.

Marketplace allows SendCutSend users to design, create and sell their fabricated product without the need to carry inventory or coordinate shipping logistics.

“It works great for parts that don’t exist anywhere else and parts that solve a specific problem,” said Jim Belosic, CEO of SendCutSend. “When someone buys your product, we’ll make it, package it and ship it to their door. You decide how much profit you want to make on each sale.”

Marketplace officially launched in March, and multiple sellers have already generated thousands in personal profit without having to manage a single order.

“The SCS Marketplace allows me to offer an endless supply of parts without requiring large capital investments, all while saving my most valuable resource—my time,” said Josh Thiede of Harley Designs Inc. “By leveraging their extensive manufacturing and shipping resources, I can get products to customers quickly. It’s a seamless, hassle-free solution that keeps my business running efficiently without the usual overhead.”

SendCutSend Marketplace offers a host of benefits, including:

Simple Startup: Any part previously ordered through SendCutSend can be submitted to the Marketplace for approval. Designers simply select a part, upload compelling photos, craft an engaging description, and set their price.Passive Income: Sellers earn a payout each time a customer orders their product. SendCutSend handles all manufacturing, packaging, and shipping, eliminating the need for sellers to manage inventory or logistics.Complete Ownership: Sellers retain full ownership of their designs, ideas, and intellectual property. SendCutSend acts as a manufacturing and fulfillment partner, ensuring designers maintain control over their creations.

For more information about Marketplace and to see product examples visit, sendcutsend.com/marketplace.

About SendCutSend
SendCutSend is an on-demand, custom sheet metal manufacturing company with facilities in Reno, Nev., Paris, Ky., and Arlington, Texas serving the United States and Canada. Founded by two software engineers frustrated by the lack of access to commercial manufacturing, SendCutSend bridges the gap between quality, speed, affordability and convenience in the manufacturing industry. From its humble beginnings in a garage to landing on the Inc 5000 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500, SendCutSend is proud to now call 59% of the companies in the Fortune 500 customers. SendCutSend offers laser cutting and finishing services for everything from one-off prototypes to sale/assembly ready parts at scale shipped in as little as two days with no minimum quantities. For more information visit SendCutSend.com or follow on Instagram or YouTube.

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SOURCE SendCutSend

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Smartkem Collaborates with Manz Asia for Advanced Computer and AI Chip Packaging Solutions

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Manz Asia will be demonstrating its advanced inkjet metallization using Smartkem’s advanced dielectric materials at SEMICON® SEA 2025 in Singapore, May 20-22, 2025.

Visit Manz Asia at Booth no. L1314.

MANCHESTER, England, May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Smartkem (Nasdaq: SMTK), which is seeking to change the world of electronics with a new class of transistor technology, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Manz Asia, a developer of production solutions for semiconductor advanced packaging manufacturing sectors. The collaboration includes the demonstration of inkjet printable dielectric layers for use in advanced computer and AI chip packaging solutions at this year’s SEMICON® SEA in Singapore, May 20-22, 2025.

Smartkem Chairman and CEO, Ian Jenks, commented: “We’re thrilled to be working with Manz Asia to address a fast-growing opportunity in the market for advanced computer and AI chip packaging. As the demand for AI leads to increasingly complex servers, our materials combined with Manz Asia’s printing technology have the potential to enable large area panel chip packaging beyond the existing constraints of today’s 300mm wafer packaging. Panel level packaging is a market expected to grow to approximately $600 million in 2030, a 27% compound annual growth rate from 2024. “[1]

Manz Asia General Manger, Robert Lin, commented: “Manz Asia is committed to advancing green manufacturing and smart production through the development of high-precision inkjet printing equipment. Our maskless inkjet technology enables accurate material deposition and supports a wide range of inks, making it suitable for various substrates—including PI, ABF, EMC, silicon, and glass—in both wafer and panel formats. The collaboration with Smartkem marks a significant step in demonstrating how our inkjet platform, combined with next-generation dielectric materials, can deliver scalable and sustainable solutions for semiconductor advanced packaging.”

Building on the UV curable dielectric layer chemistry developed at Smartkem’s R&D facility for thin film transistor fabrication, Smartkem has designed ink formulations suitable for use in advanced computer and AI chip packaging applications. These inks have been co-developed with Manz Asia to be compatible with its existing inkjet-based semiconductor production equipment.

Panel level packaging on rectangular wafers offers key advantages over traditional packaging on circular wafers, including:

Higher throughput, as a larger print area means more chips can be packaged simultaneously;Lower cost per chip from economies of scale with use of printed circuit board like manufacturing equipment;Better material utilization from less edge loss compared to circular wafers; andImproved integration supported by complex fan-out wafer-level packaging at a larger scale.

About Smartkem 
Smartkem is seeking to change the world of electronics with a new class of transistors developed using its proprietary advanced semiconductor materials. Our TRUFLEX® semiconductor polymers enable low temperature printing processes that are compatible with existing manufacturing infrastructure to deliver low-cost, high-performance displays. Our semiconductor platform can be used in a range of display technologies including MicroLED, LCD and AMOLED, as well as in applications in advanced computer and AI chip packaging, sensors, and logic. 

Smartkem designs and develops its materials at its research and development facility in Manchester, UK and provides prototyping services at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) in Sedgefield, UK. It operates a field application office in Hsinchu, Taiwan, close to collaboration partner, The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Smartkem is developing a commercial-scale production process and Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools to demonstrate the commercial viability of manufacturing a new generation of displays using its materials.

The company has an extensive IP portfolio including 138 granted patents across 17 patent families, 16 pending patents and 40 codified trade secrets. For more information, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Manz Asia
Manz Asia is a leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductor equipment, driving technological innovation and process excellence within the CoPoS (CoWoS panelization) technology framework for panel-level packaging.

We offer comprehensive equipment solutions encompassing wet chemistry, plating, digital printing, automation, and proprietary software integration for Redistribution Layer (RDL) process—from lab-scale to mass production. Our technologies support key applications in Fan-Out Panel-Level Packaging (FOPLP), Through Glass Via (TGV), and IC substrates, covering critical stages of semiconductor packaging.

By enhancing production efficiency, optimizing process quality, and strengthening market competitiveness, Manz Asia empowers the semiconductor industry to achieve higher standards of excellence. 

For more information, please visit website or follow us on LinkedIn.

About SEMICON® Southeast Asia
Forward-thinking semiconductor organizations are implementing practices to reduce the environmental impact of their businesses and manufacturing operations to ensure their resiliency when disruptive events such as geopolitical conflicts, climate-related disasters, and public health crises strike. Initiatives focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water use, deploying renewable energy systems, and improving the energy efficiency of chipmaking equipment are growing in importance.

To thrive in the coming decade and beyond, companies must look beyond short-term performance and focus on building resilience to better withstand unpredictable disruptions to their businesses, the semiconductor industry and global economies. Visit the website for more information.

Forward-Looking Statements 
All statements in this press release that are not historical are forward-looking statements, including, among other things, its market position and market opportunity, expectations and plans as to its product development, manufacturing and sales, and relations with its partners and investors. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on Smartkem, Inc.’s current expectations, estimates, and projections regarding its business, operations and other similar or related factors. Words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “anticipate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate,” and other similar or elated expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult or impossible to predict and, in some cases, beyond the Company’s control. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update information in this release to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.

Industry Representatives and Media
Selena Kirkwood
Head of Communications for Smartkem
T: +44 (0) 7971 460 364
s.kirkwood@smartkem.com

Analysts and Investors
David Barnard, CFA
Alliance Advisors Investor Relations
T: 1 415 433 3777
dbarnard@allianceadvisors.com

[1] Yole Intelligence: Panel Level Packaging 2025 https://www.yolegroup.com/product/report/panel-level-packaging-2025/

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Reins joins The Blue Collar Success Group® to empower skilled trades business owners

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The leading provider of alternative equity solutions will introduce its innovative employee incentives to The Blue Collar Success Group’s wide membership.

LAS VEGAS, May 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Reins, a pioneering technology firm dedicated to empowering privately owned businesses through alternative equity solutions, announces a new partnership with The Blue Collar Success Group, an international coaching and business development organization focused on the skilled trades. As part of the partnership, Reins will be a preferred vendor for the organization’s broad membership, introducing skilled trade business owners from across the world to innovative employee retention solutions.

“The Blue Collar Success Group knows how to coach business owners to build sustainable growth, to dominate within their markets and ultimately to live the kind of lives they want—and they also know the skilled trades inside and out,” said Chris Buttenham, co-founder of Reins. “This is an organization that’s helped countless entrepreneurs and technicians turn their business dreams into realities, and we’re pleased to be a part of that.”

The Blue Collar Success Group extends its services throughout the United States, Canada and Australia, supporting its membership with custom solutions—ranging from one-on-one coaching to live training sessions, seminars and events.  Members also receive recommendations on the best resources and vendors to help them scale their growth.

“We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all solutions for the home service contractors we serve, which is why we love highlighting innovative tools like the Reins Modern Agreement for Rewards and Equity (MARE) program,” said Chris Crew, president of The Blue Collar Success Group. “For contractors who are looking for outside-the-box options to attract, motivate and retain top talents, what Reins offers is truly remarkable and proven to work in our industry.”

With innovations like MARE, Reins provides skilled trade business owners with unique options to incentive employee tenure and performance, providing a sense of “skin in the game” through phantom stock offerings. Phantom stock allows business owners to provide their employees with the benefits of ownership without having to navigate the hassle of traditional ownership offerings.

For more information about Reins, visit https://www.myreins.com.

About Reins
Reins is an innovative platform that empowers privately-owned businesses to retain key employees effectively by offering owner-like benefits that incentivize employees to contribute to the long-term success of the business. Founded in 2023, Reins’ mission is to help independent businesses remain productive and growing. Reins’ proprietary solution, the Modern Agreement for Rewards and Equity (MARE) program was built by attorneys and is customizable to meet each business owner’s needs. Every plan is legally binding and stored safely in the Reins software for compliance. Using the MARE program, business owners can create and execute a tailored program within minutes. For more information about Reins and the MARE program, please visit https://myreins.com/.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Heather Ripley
Ripley PR
(865) 977-1973
hripley@ripleypr.com

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SOURCE Reins

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