Month: March 2024

At Quest for 2 years, Marissa McGhee, Patient Services Representative (PSR 1) in Stamford, Connecticut, has grown to have a bit of a local following amongst some patients.

Recently, one of those patients shared their experience with Marissa, saying that she “exhibited customer first” during a life insurance paramedical exam.

“Marissa is a warm and familiar voice to many patients. In speaking with others in the waiting room, they say they come to this PSC because of her,” the patient said.

During the “comprehensive” exam, the patient said Marissa “didn’t skip a beat” in taking their diagnostics information.

“When she finished taking my blood pressure, I saw her eyes go ‘!!’ My blood pressure was unusually high, and I started to panic. Calmly, she said we would stop, wait, and take it again. She made me feel comfortable, and we even had a good laugh too,” the patient said.

After Marissa took the person’s blood pressure again it was still high. She then asked if the patient had any coffee or used the stairs on the way in. The patient said they did both, “unconsciously as it’s a habit.”

Marissa then asked if they could reschedule the person’s appointment for the following week and reminded the patient not to drink coffee or walk up the stairs. She then rescheduled the appointment, and the individual went about their day.

“She looked out for me during my visit, and I am sure she takes care of others this way too,” the patient said.

Marissa’s manager, James Cueto, Patient Services Supervisor, North Region, described her as “very reliable” and doing an amazing job working with patients “with the hustle and bustle atmosphere that is Stamford.”

“She has always shown care and empathy with her patients as well as explained the process to them in a way they can easily understand. She is ALWAYS in a positive mood when she comes to work, and she knows how to handle each situation that she is faced with,” James added. “She genuinely cares about each patient that sits in her chair.”

Marissa’s actions are a prime example of demonstrating The Quest Way and many of the behaviors we value at Quest, our 5Cs: Customer First, Curiosity, Care, Collaboration and Continuous Improvement.

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 26, 2024 /3BL/ – Inogen Alliance, denxpert and HPC have been shortlisted for our ESG Pre Screening Tool in the Environment Analyst (EA) Sustainability Awards for the category of Digital Innovation: Recognizing products and services accelerating ESG goals through digital innovation. Environment Analyst’s Sustainability Delivery Awards recognise ESG innovation, achievement and leadership, and celebrate those organisations who have made significant advances in progressing towards a sustainable transformation and achieving climate and net zero goals. Find the full shortlisted entries here.

We are also excited to announce two more Associates of Inogen Alliance who have been shortlisted for the 2024 EA Awards including Antea Group USA (Transformational Partnership award) and Tonkin + Taylor, New Zealand (Sustainability Impact, Creating Resilient & Sustainable Communities, and Transportation Project of the Year).

​The submission for Inogen Alliance, denxpert and HPC jointly is for our ESG Pre Screening Tool which launched in the fall of 2023. The content of the tool was created with the expertise of HPC AG and brought to life through the digital solutions developed by denxpert. This tool has been strategically marketed globally through Inogen Alliance, and can be found on our global resources page here.

The ESG Pre Screening Tool can support companies from all sectors and sizes in a rapid way in achieving their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. By improving the accessibility, transpar-ency, and comparability of ESG efforts, it enables a quick overview or “snapshot” of associat-ed ESG risks and areas for improvement. Our vision is to drive positive change in companies by promoting responsible business and sustainable practices among industry peers. The tool is free and available for anyone globally. Companies who submit the questionnaire automatically receive within minutes a free snapshot of their ESG performance indicating risks and opportunity areas including recommendations for improvement via email. The tool follows our global privacy policies so companies can be sure of the secure handling of their data.

We have been able to evaluate the ESG performance of at least 100 companies, in over 33 countries around the world, with positive user feedback.

“Thank you for the tool, it helped us to get an overview of the topics we need to invest more, our focus was more on the E part but we realized we needed to give more attention also to the S and G in ESG. This helped us to bring it to the discussion table with management,” – an international automotive client.

We look forward to the Awards Ceremony in Boston, Massachusets on 25, June, along with the Global Summit.

Inogen Alliance is a global network made up of dozens of independent local businesses and over 6,000 consultants around the world who can help make your project a success. Our Associates collaborate closely to serve multinational corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations, and we share knowledge and industry experience to provide the highest quality service to our clients. If you want to learn more about how you can work with Inogen Alliance, you can explore our Associates or Contact Us. Watch for more News & Blog updates here and follow us on LinkedIn.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., March 26, 2024 /3BL/ – Today U.S. Soy announced the national innovative winner of the NEXTILE: The Soy in Textiles Design Challenge. In its inaugural year, the NEXTILE Design Challenge invited design students across the country to leverage their creative and problem-solving skills to produce the next sustainable innovation in textile design. The catch? Students must create their products using one versatile ingredient — soybeans. Each participating individual or team received a design kit including seven sustainable, soy-based materials: soy thread, soy leather, soy French Terry, organic pigment and other soy products. Project submissions leveraged one or more of these ingredients to produce new textile threads, dyes, paints, designs and more.

U.S. Soy has long been a key ingredient for product innovation, going all the way back to Henry Ford who used soy-based paints, textile materials and plastics for automobile design. And today, U.S. Soy is used in more than 1,000 products on the market — from tires and shoes to fabrics and artificial grass. As a renewable crop grown on U.S. farms, and replenishing the soil annually with each growing season, soy is an important frontier for biobased products.

We are proud to announce the national winner is Kasandra Wright from University of Arkansas, for her stunning moth design textile sample, symbolizing transformation, survival and new beginnings.

“Throughout this experience, I learned about the importance of what soy-based products can provide in the apparel and textile industry,” Wright said. “Soy fiber has an excellent drape and is a beautiful alternative to protein fibers as a sustainable material for apparel.”

As the winner, Wright will receive a $1,000 scholarship.

“I was very impressed with the whole thought process of Kasandra’s end product using the soy-based material that was provided,” said Kathryn Phillips, chief curator at Springs Creative Product Group who served as a judge of the competition. “I truly believe this soy-based textile design has a broader commercial appeal in apparel as well as home products.”

The judging panel was so impressed with the competitors, they elected to award a $500 scholarship to the second-place runner-up, Anna Stuffelbeam of North Carolina State University for her foliage appliqué sample inspired by the plants that made up her fabric’s materials — soy, pomegranate and madder.

The national winner was chosen from a pool of students who advanced past the first round of judging, which included students from six schools across the country. Judges from Levander Design, Springs Creative Products Group, United Soybean Board and Modern Meadow chose the winner and runner-up.

“It’s been incredible to see how our soybeans come to life in the creative hands of these talented students, especially Kasandra and Anna,” said Carla Schultz, Michigan soybean farmer and United Soybean Board director who served as a judge of the competition. “I’m so impressed with their designs — they were artful, progressive and captivating. I’m beyond excited by the creative thinking we saw in the inaugural NEXTILE Challenge. I’m excited for the future of each competitor who participated and for the future of soy.”

U.S. soybean farmers and industry partners consistently push the limits of innovation to discover and deliver solutions to the biggest challenges our world faces, such as food security and climate change. NEXTILE was created to put sustainable soy materials into the hands of the brightest young minds in design to create the next generation of eco-friendly textile solutions.

Learn more about NEXTILE, the participating schools and students, and the next round of U.S. Soy-based sustainable innovation at www.ussoy.org/nextile.

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About U.S. Soy

Representing the positive global human impact of soy grown in the United States, the U.S. Soy brand exists to carry forward soy’s promise to transform global nutrition, provide climate-forward solutions, and support progress for people and their communities. U.S. Soy is powered by the innovation of the industry; the unsurpassed quality, reliability and sustainability of the soybeans grown by our farming families who invest through checkoff dollars; and the commitment of the organizations that raise awareness, build demand, develop new markets and discover new uses for soy and soy products. U.S. Soy envisions a world where soy is a fundamental ingredient in solving the broad challenges of humanity. To learn more about U.S. Soy visit ussoy.org.