Daily Archives: June 8, 2024

BELLEVUE, Wash., June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --Nintex, a leader in process intelligence and automation, today announced new AI-powered improvements across the Nintex Process Platform that significantly reduce the time required to document, manage, and automate business processes. The new features add to the growing portfolio of AI capabilities across the Nintex Process Platform.

"Business leaders are grappling with complex processes that connect a multitude of technology systems and manage enormous amounts of data, so much so that their productivity is hampered rather than helped. For many businesses, the hardest step in getting started with streamlining how work gets done is understanding, documenting, and managing this complexity," said Niranjan Vijayaragavan, Chief Product Officer at Nintex. "The new AI-enabled capabilities we've introduced today allow teams to easily capture the process complexity within their organizations to build and expand an automation program that helps increase productivity across their teams."

Document processes quicker with AI to launch automation programs

Historically, getting started with process mapping required businesses to manually document processes. The newest process intelligence features of the Nintex Process Platform allow businesses to automate an often cumbersome first step in the process automation process by integrating and automating the creation and tooling of process maps. New capabilities include:

Accelerate workflow creation with Generative AI

The latest workflow capabilities of the Nintex Process Platform leverage generative AI and native data storage to easily generate workflow automation. Businesses no longer require custom design to get started, but instead can simply use natural language to describe what is needed or use process maps to have Nintex automatically generate a powerful workflow to get them started. New capabilities include:

Add chatbots powered by Generative AI models to your applications

Chatbots enable businesses to personalize the customer experience, save costs of customer engagements, and more. The new chatbot development feature of the Nintex Process Platform allows users to leverage their own generative AI models to build chatbots across a variety of use cases.

The new workflow and application development features build upon other AI-powered features recently released by Nintex, including Form Generator, Form Translator, and Nintex Assistant.

To learn more about the new features of the Nintex Process Platform, visit http://www.nintex.com/whats-new.

About Nintex

Nintex is the global standard for process intelligence and automation. Today more than 8,000 public and private sector organizations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Process Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimizing business processes. Learn more by visiting http://www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of intelligent process automation.

CONTACT:Tommy Morgan, [emailprotected]

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Nintex Unveils Latest AI Capabilities to Accelerate Process Management and Workflow Automation APAC - English - PR Newswire

More money brings more problems, as the saying goes. It is something that the treasury and finance functions of mid-size and large enterprises know well.

After all, the larger the scale and greater the diversity of a firms operations, the larger the scale and the greater diversity of their cash management workflows and this complexity can hinder efficiency, increase risks and create challenges in maintaining optimal liquidity.

Cash flow can be a blind spot for the finance team, Noam Mills, CEOatPanax, told PYMNTS, explaining that traditional cash flow management can often be reliant on manual processes and reactive measures.

She noted, drawing on her own experience within the finance function at a global eCommerce business, that treasury teams are often chasing their own tails just to understand where they are and to make decisions.

But with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), modern solutions leveraging the innovation are increasingly playing a pivotal role in automating and streamlining financial processes for complex treasury organizations.

The key word here is complexity. And complexity can arise from many different sources, whether its the holding structure or the nature of the business, said Mills.

She noted that pain points can span from the realities of businesses working across multiple geographies and dealing with different currencies; to others whose pain stems from a multitude of accounts, even in one geography, that can make managing working capital a challenge. Operational and treasury-centric complexities frequently also arise from the usage of credit lines on one hand or interest-bearing account on the other hand.

All these things create the need for more proactive management, said Mills.

And mitigating these traditional headaches with AI can allow for more proactive cash management, significantly enhancing the ability of finance teams to make informed decisions swiftly.

The benefits of artificial intelligence in cash management are manifold. By automating low-level tasks, AI frees finance professionals to focus on strategic decision-making. For instance, Panax uses AI to categorize bank transactions more effectively, ensuring that finance teams have accurate data to base their decisions on. This not only improves efficiency but also enhances the accuracy of financial forecasting and liquidity management.

This shift, Mills said, is akin to moving from using printed maps to leveraging dynamic GPS systems like Google Maps or Waze.

Proactive AI solutions are helping even lean finance teams that dont necessarily have the manpower of large treasury teams to be in control and make more optimal decisions, she said. Its a tectonic shift that is happening rapidly.

One key enabler of these advancements in automating routine tasks and providing real-time insights is open banking, which facilitates secure and real-time access to financial data.

Without such infrastructure, the development of sophisticated AI-driven solutions would be much more challenging, and Mills emphasized that open banking, despite its slow pace of advancement, has been playing a crucial role in providing the necessary data connectivity that AI algorithms depend on.

Looking ahead, Mills envisions a future where AI-driven cash management platforms operate almost autonomously. Finance teams would set policies and guardrails, while AI handled execution, akin to a co-pilot managing the technical aspects of flight. This would allow companies to optimize liquidity, minimize risks and maintain full control over their financial operations.

There is a real paradigm shift from like older solutions that focus more on consolidating the data and function as a reactive platform that still requires the user to monitor, analyze, and make decisions at all levels to a proactive product that serves as a co-pilot, Mills said.

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding AI, Mills acknowledged its limitations and challenges. Data quality remains a significant hurdle, with AI models only as good as the data they are trained on and poor data quality frequently leading to ineffective solutions.

We are dealing with complex decision making in companies that have a lot of complexity, Mills said, stressing the importance of embracing high-value solutions that have both trust and credibility.

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Treasury Services Is Entering Its AI and Automation Era - PYMNTS.com

Too often ITOps teams’ time is not spent adding tangible value to the business, but devoted to repetitive, manual work usually tied to running a production service, which Google describes as “devoid of enduring value.”

It’s easy for ITOps teams to get stuck in a vicious cycle of this labor-intensive work, which means they’re not able to focus on more creative tasks and critical work that drives real value for the organization.

This challenge is only increasing as digital infrastructure becomes more complex to support the seamless experiences customers now demand. It means an over-reliance on subject matter experts (SMEs), such as developers, for even routine tasks — driving boredom and burnout at a time when such skills are already in short supply. Organizations simply can’t afford the status quo. They need to build more automation into processes, especially for labor-intensive tasks like incident response and service management.

But where should the journey to reduce toil begin? Here are five ideas.

Change takes time, especially in modern IT environments where altering configurations can have a domino-like impact on complex dependencies. There may be thousands of such configurations to manage in a typical enterprise, each with a potentially large set of dependencies. Documentation that could help with the process is time-consuming to produce, so it isn’t always available. And change management reviews might require input from multiple decision-makers, adding further delays and overheads to the process.

A better approach would be to build a list of pre-approved and standardized configuration changes into an automation solution. This might include tools, scripts and automation from existing configuration tools like Ansible and Salt. Use of such a repository can be delegated to non-subject matter experts to accelerate change approvals, reduce the opportunity for human error and improve the quality of ITOps. By using a dedicated automation solution, organizations could even trigger an automated process directly from existing tools like Jira or ServiceNow, removing human involvement almost completely. All that will be required is time to create and approve the initial configuration updates.

Provisioning requests are usually handled by SMEs. That’s because platform or cloud engineers are required to complete a set of specialized tasks, from bringing up virtual machines (VMs) to specifying a Linux OS image, attaching storage and then exposing the app’s URL via a load balancer. The problem is that these experts are often beset by repeated interruptions, reducing the time they get to spend on high-value tasks.

Streamline this process with automated, end-to-end workflows dedicated to provisioning and connecting new infrastructure. Pre-approved automation workflows allow developers and others to do the provisioning themselves, without needing to reach out to platform or cloud engineering experts. Even better, they could do so from within the tools they are currently using, like Jira and ServiceNow. Even dependencies can be pre-loaded and security settings applied before developers get access to mitigate governance risk and accelerate the process. Developers can start coding straight away without needing to interrupt the ITOps team.

Once the infrastructure is provisioned, the relevant teams will begin deploying applications to the cloud. Although some use highly automated update mechanisms as part of CI/CD, manual deployment and testing are often used. In some organizations, teams may even still rely on ITIL-based change management processes, which require release engineers, database admins (DBAs) and network/security engineers to deploy packages and rolling updates, and run quality assurance.

Developers could build their own deployment automation in staging and then pass it to ITOps after testing. These same developer teams could define self-service operations tasks and pre-validate system changes using automated runbooks, thereby satisfying change control requirements. Automated deployment workflows can be safely delegated to other teams across the organization as required.

Creating and managing user accounts and permissions within IT infrastructure can be a time-consuming and resource-intensive task. Yet it’s critical to maintain the security and integrity of such systems and the data flowing through them. IT administrators need to be assured that only authorized users have access to this data, according to the principle of least privilege: That is, they only have temporary access to the data they need to do their job and no more. This matters from a security perspective but is also an issue of cost control. If users don’t need access to a particular set of resources, then their account/license could be freed up for a colleague.

By automating user provisioning with workflows, ITOps can create new user accounts and assign roles and permissions based on predefined rules and policies. Do the same with de-provisioning once an employee leaves or changes roles. This will help to accelerate on- and offboarding, reduce human errors, bolster security and compliance, and optimize license and resource usage. These workflows could even be delegated to HR and other teams via self-service capabilities.

Updating software and/or reconfiguring infrastructure is a never-ending but critical task to mitigate security and compliance risks. However, in many organizations, it is still a highly manual process requiring a high degree of system awareness and expertise to ensure updates function as intended without breaking underlying systems. Patches will often need to be applied in groups during the same maintenance window, with third-party dependencies complicating the process further. It’s a highly specialized task that, depending on which assets need to be patched, may require input from a variety of SMEs. Resource constraints can increase the chances of error creeping in.

Instead, consider using an automation platform to schedule tasks and fix vulnerabilities as they are discovered. This will reduce the burden on individual SMEs by removing the reliance on manual tasks and scripts only available to expert engineers. This means they can spend more time innovating and less time on firefighting issues.

Toil is not always unpleasant. However, it is an inefficient use of time for some of the highest-value members of the organization, meaning they are constantly interrupted to fix problems that solve the needs of the few, not the many. This can take a heavy toll on SME burnout and the financial bottom line. Automation is not a panacea, but it does offer a glimpse into a better way of doing things that will help to optimize precious time and resources.

Growing operational complexity may look like a major barrier to automation. In fact, it should be a driver. Start small and choose routine, repetitive IT processes in high-touch functions like incident response. The results should speak for themselves.

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5 Ways Process Automation Can Streamline ITOps - The New Stack

How AI and automation can help overcome labor challenges in Colorado's competitive market.

Colorado business leaders still face persistent labor challenges in 2024.

Compared to other states, Colorados workforce trends younger and more educated than most, but we also have a gap between the availability of and demand for skilled workers. Automation is an attractive option for many employers to bridge that gap.

Automation can streamline work, ease labor challenges, create efficiencies and generate cost savings.

Improved accuracy that comes from automated systems can also help alleviate compliance/regulatory pressures, and improve productivity (e.g., reduced lead times or turn-around time), which is important in the current market given the shortage of skilled labor.

Examples of useful automation include robotic process (RPBA). RPBA bots can mimic human actions in digital systems like data entry to reduce manual effort and errors. In operations, AI-driven analytics can analyze datasets for insights and trends, helping businesses make data-driven decisions faster and with more accuracy.

Forward-thinking Colorado business leaders who want to stay competitive in todays market should embrace automation, but consider these factors before you invest in these solutions.

These resources can be cheaper and more efficient, but they arent a direct replacement for human capital.

Look at automation and human capital as complementary resources both are required for success and ideally, applied proportionately across your business.

To do so, think critically about aspects of your business that need humanized solutions (e.g., critical thinking, complex decision-making and judgments, social/emotional analysis, etc.) versus those where machine learning and automation could prove valuable.

Finance is an area that is ripe for investing in automation. Business owners can alleviate the burden of administration tasks surrounding accounting, tax and treasury functions, enabling employees to use their time and skills on other tasks, to develop their skills, and to take advantage of continuing education programs benefitting employees and employers.

For example, I recently oversaw the integration of an accounts payable optimization and automation system. We were seeing how inefficient it was for our team members to manually manage these tasks. We invested in automation tools and saw improvements in terms of financial control, data consistency and timeliness since completing the integration.

We reduced the amount of manual data entry required of team members, which has also helped eliminate missing invoices and other errors. The project resulted in over 75% time savings, and our employees have also been happy to reallocate that time to higher-priority tasks.

Its a good practice to find intersections like this where people and machines can complement each other. Beyond the transactional wins and cost-savings that automated practices create, workforce development should be included in the integration process.

When we automate tasks, our employees find themselves with more time on their hands.

Its important to direct them to areas where they should spend that time to create long-term value. From a finance perspective, you bank the cost savings created by automated processes and take it a step further to improve ROI by reinvesting time saved back into your workforce development goals.

Although advancements in automation offer ample opportunity to streamline work and improve profitability, be mindful of pitfalls they present, which can threaten your business.

If you dont give clear direction as to where employees should reallocate their time after automating a task, employees may feel undervalued and replaceable. As a business leader, your job is to ensure that real, live people always have a place at work; they are the life force of corporate culture, which is an important asset on its own. Dont lean in so far on automation that you alienate employees and risk depreciating the value of your corporate culture.

Instead, use automation to enhance your company and create more value by integrating it with workforce development goals. Doing so will help your business capitalize on opportunities in a competitive landscape and demonstrate to current and prospective employees that their contributions are still vital to succeed.

Jeff Smith is the CFO of Kodiak Building Partners. He brings an entrepreneurial mindset to his role and oversees finance, accounting, treasury, mergers and acquisitions, and capital formation for Kodiak and its operating partners, including dozens of companies within the building materials industry.

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Addressing Labor Challenges with AI and Automation Where is the Line? - ColoradoBiz - ColoradoBiz

Empowering Cross Application Testing with AI-Driven Automation, Efficiency, and Insights

HACKENSACK, NJ, June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Panaya, the leader in SaaS-based AI-Powered Smart Testing and Change Intelligence for ERP, CRM, and Enterprise Cloud Applications, announces the launch of its latest codeless test automation solution. This new solution solidifies Panaya's position as the go-to SaaS platform for Cross-Application Testing and Change Intelligence. The solution reinforces Panaya's position as the industry frontrunner in testing, having maintained its status as a G2 leader for 14 consecutive quarters.

In today's interconnected digital landscape, organizations rely on multiple applications to streamline operations, ensuring the seamless functioning of critical business processes is paramount. However, testing each application in isolation falls short, as changes in one application can have ripple effects across the entire ecosystem. Panaya's test automation allows organizations to comprehensively validate end-to-end processes, identifying potential points of failure and inconsistencies. This solution provides a holistic view of the business landscape, enabling proactive risk mitigation, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing downtime and errors.

Panaya's testing solution is the only fully SaaS solution, covering all aspects of the testing process including codeless test automation, comprehensive test management and change impact analysis. With its intuitive interface and streamlined onboarding process, users can be up and running in less than 60 minutes. The codeless nature of the solution eliminates the need for technical expertise and makes testing accessible to users of all skill levels. Moreover, Panaya enables collaboration between business and technical users, facilitating seamless communication and alignment throughout the testing process.

Panaya leverages Generative AI to enhance its Codeless Test Automation solution by generating random data, validating complex expressions, and offering an AI co-pilot for product queries. Additionally, GenAI automatically creates test scripts, utilizing a comprehensive understanding of the test repository and thorough data analysis. This approach streamlines automation processes, providing smart automation for SAP and Salesforce environments. Panaya's GenAI ensures increased productivity for testers and ease of use, setting a new standard in efficiency and effectiveness compared to legacy automation tools.

"Our vision is to make it as easy as possible for our clients to grow as fast and as safely as possible," says David Binny, CEO of Panaya. "With our No-Code & Low-Code Test Automation, testing becomes infinitely more accessible for all team members, reducing bottlenecks and reliance on technical experts."

Panaya's Smart Testing Platform is a comprehensive SaaS-native solution that integrates Requirements Management, Test Management, Low-Code & No-Code Test Automation, as well as Change Intelligence. This platform streamlines end-to-end, cross-application testing processes, providing organizations with the necessary tools to ensure seamless transitions during upgrades, updates, or process alterations.

As a recognized leader on G2 with hundreds of positive reviews and a leading 5-star solution in the Salesforce AppExchange, Panaya is celebrated for its excellence, reliability, robust features, and exceptional support. By winning key partnerships and key accounts, Panaya continues to solidify its position as a trusted partner in driving digital transformation and operational excellence.

"Our 15+ years of domain expertise in SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce are amplified by Generative AI and Machine Learning," adds Binny. "This enables our smart engines to understand the interdependencies between critical business processes across different applications, taking automated testing of business applications to the next level." We aim to continue driving growth, profitability, and value for our customers through continuous innovation and leadership in test automation and Change Intelligence technology.

About Panaya

Panaya, a SaaS-based company certified by SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce.com, offers an all-in-one platform for Smart Testing solutions and Change Intelligence tailored for ERP, CRM, and cloud business applications. Panaya accelerates and de-risks digital landscapes with AI-powered Test Automation, Test Management, and Impact Analysis. Panaya's focus on ease of use and an intuitive interface ensures seamless collaboration between business and IT, empowering business users and IT professionals to gain real-time visibility and control over their projects. This capability enables faster releases and continuous delivery of high-quality software.

Since its founding in 2006, over 3,000 companies across 62 countries, including a third of the Fortune 500, have trusted Panaya to drive rapid, quality testing and change management in their enterprise business applications.

For more information, contact Panaya at [emailprotected] or visit http://www.panaya.com.

For media inquiries, contact Dana Averbouch [emailprotected]

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maxon provides motion controllers, and Balluff offers sensors for warehouse automation. Source: maxon motor

When looking to boost productivity and eliminate mundane manual tasks in the warehouse, adding robots is a good start, but its not enough. Speed, scalability, sustainability, and upskilling the workforce are also essential for long-term success. This strategy requires additional forms of automation that are optimized for digital transformation from the controllers to the networks to the interfaces and the cloud.

In this webinar, we explore the many technologies that come together to keep warehouse and fulfillment centers operating at peak performance.

Manufacturers, third-party logistics providers (3PLs), and distribution center operators need tools that enable greater visibility into their processes, offer tighter control of processes, and improve energy management. From sensing to vision systems, motion control, cables, connectors, and more, its advances in components and controllers that power the adoption of automation.

This free webinar on controllers and warehouse automation will be at2:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.Register now, and ask questions during the live discussion. It will be accessible on demand after the initial broadcast.

John Santagateis the vice president of robotics atKrberSupply Chain Software, overseeing strategy for autonomous mobile and warehouse robotics, as well as its robotics partner network. He ensures these technologies drive customer success and integrate with Krbers broader solutions.

With a career in supply chain focused on efficiency and profitability, Santagate previously consulted for Tata Consultancy Services and was a leading industry analyst at IDC.

Stephanie Neilis executive editor for robotics at WTWH Media. She is a seasoned business-to-business (B2B) journalist and Web content expert with over 25 years of experience covering the manufacturing industry.

Neil covers a wide range of topics, such as digital transformation, automation, artificial intelligence, analytics, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, robotics, simulation, and workforce issues. She seeks to share the end-user perspective that reveals the business value of operational processes while exploring how technology affects the way we work.

This webinar is sponsored by motor providermaxonand software and sensors expertBalluff.

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Webinar: From controllers to the cloud: Discovering the cornerstones of warehouse automation - Robot Report

A "cobot" a collaborative robot that is designed to work alongside a human is used in the lab at the Northland Workforce Training Center.

Manufacturers have their share of concerns when it comes to embracing automation and warding off cyberattacks.

But it's not something they should shy away from. That was the message from panelists at a recent Buffalo Niagara Partnership panel on the topic.

Manufacturers shouldn't assume they are immune to a cyberattack that could expose customer information or company research, said Elizabeth Callahan, director of external relations and special programs for EWI, which operates Buffalo Manufacturing Works.

"It's a lot of layers of protection and thinking about all those things, but we need to be one or two steps ahead," Callahan said.

Federal agencies like the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy often have cyber-related requirements to be part of their supply chains, she said. If manufacturers don't meet those standards, they risk missing out on business opportunities.

Manufacturers should consider taking small steps into automation, instead of a big, expensive plunge at the outset, said Scott Pallotta, CEO of Zehnder Rittling, a heating and cooling products company in Buffalo.

"It doesn't need to be, 'Hey, we're going to automate this production line,' or, 'We're going to replace 10 people with robots,' " Pallotta said. "It's not that. It can be very, very small. It's putting in a scanner here. It doesn't seem like a lot, but all of a sudden it's like, 'We have all this information, what do we do with it?'"

When manufacturers introduce automation to the workplace, explain to employees what it will mean for them, said Dave Kegler, director of manufacturing at Sealing Devices in Lancaster.

"They hear the word 'automation,' they hear the word 'change,' they immediately go to defensive mode: Am I going to lose my job, am I going to be put somewhere else, is my job going to get harder?" Kegler said. "We put a lot of focus on having them know, this is about, how do we make your job easier?"

The semiconductor industry will need people with four-year degrees, such as engineers, but there will be plenty of other jobs that don't require that level of formal education, said Stephen Tucker, president and CEO of the Northland Workforce Training Center.

"You're going to need the folks to manufacture the actual components," he said.

Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are trying to create a "semiconductor corridor," with manufacturers and other employers serving that high-tech industry. The strategy is central to their bid for $54 million in federal funding in the tech hub competition.

The region needs to raise awareness of the job opportunities that are coming, Tucker said."As a region, we have to do a better job of telling our story as it relates to manufacturing. We have great companies and products."

Technology will be essential for manufacturers, because there aren't enough new workers coming along to replace all the employees who are retiring, saidAlan Rae, director of the University at Buffalo's Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics.

"We're going to have to use all the tools we can get whether it be cobots or AI to leverage the people we can get in manufacturing," Rae said.

The New York Power Authority will collaborate with Say Yes Buffalo on an initiative to support development of the clean energy workforce.

The Power Authority will provide $600,000 to the Say Yes Buffalo Youth Apprenticeship Program. The program places recent high school graduates in one- to three-year, structured work-based learning apprenticeships at industry partners in high-demand sectors.

"The number of students served will depend on variables, including the number of companies that agree to participate in the program," said Paul DeMichele, a Power Authority spokesman.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's office said the expectation is the program will grow to serve as many as 200 high school students, as it develops.

Want to know more? Three stories to catch you up:

Welcome to Buffalo Next. This newsletter from The Buffalo News will bring you the latest coverage on the changing Buffalo Niagara economy from real estate to health care to startups. Read more at BuffaloNext.com.

Perry's Ice Cream wrapped up an $18 million expansion.

Labatt USA is ditching its offices in the Cobblestone District.

A South Buffalo cannabis facility is getting a new operator.

ACV Auctions' CEO touts the value of a support system for startups.

A new look is coming to the Old Editions bookstore.

Two local community colleges have new presidents.

A Brookings report predicts strong growth for Buffalo Niagara manufacturers.

The senior vice president of marketing strategy and public relations is leaving her position at 43 North.

Rainbow Air is making progress on Niagara Falls helicopter tourism facility.

West Seneca presses Pyramid to sell Seneca Mall site.

Buffalo remains essential to HSBC's everyday operations, said president and CEO of HSBC North America Holdings.

National Grid is looking fora big increasein residential electric rates.

The Hauptman-Woodward research institute ismerging with UB.

HSBC says its Buffalo Niagaraoffice consolidationis complete.

Shake Shack iscoming to Amherst.

Schumer is worried about a Canadian immigration policysnarling bridge traffic.

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1.43North winner Bounce Imaging earns a shot at more work with Department of Defense.

2. Where is all the steel for the new Buffalo Bills stadiumcoming from?

3.'It's terrible':Family Dollar closures will erase six stores from the East Side.

4.Do personal seat licenses hold their value?Here's what's happened in other NFL markets.

5. How one SUNY schoolstands outfor its efforts to get students who dropped out of college to come back to class.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips tobuffalonext@buffnews.comor reach Buffalo Next Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

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How automation is transforming manufacturing - Buffalo News