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New Season Trek for Damon Racing and LTK Ford Mustang Team
 

Bow, N.H. - January 27, 2020 - Hailing from the Granite State and demonstrating remarkable resilience throughout a challenging season, it was only fitting that Tom Sheehan was honored at the 2019 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship banquet with the Iron Man Award. For 2020 and looking ahead, Tom is determined to climb the Championship table and the Damon Racing team appears to have left no stone unturned in their quest for power, pace and points. We spoke to Tom recently about the season ahead and he was full of optimism while fully appreciating the scale of the challenge.

 

"The 2019 season is behind us,” stated Tom Sheehan, driver of the No. 97 LTK Ford Mustang. “Damon Racing is in full preparation for the 2020 TA2 Championship. The break over the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holiday has been a busy time for our team. We've been building a new Cope Ford and freshening our 2019 Cope Ford car for TA2. We've overhauled our race hauler and finished up a couple of Late Model cars. That keeps the team occupied counting the days to the Sebring opener."

 

On a personal note Sheehan added, “I have been focused on improving fitness and staying sharp. I took an opportunity to head back West to Laguna Seca and spent a few days there testing at the iconic West
Coast National Tour venue. We made the trip last season only to DNF with a lap 2 mechanical failure. TA2 is extremely competitive, and because the west coast date last season was cut short, I felt it was
my least familiar track. Six laps total at Laguna in 2019."

 

Emphasizing the crucial importance of time spent behind the wheel he added, "Track time is so valuable. A few days out at Laguna in our off season will improve my familiarity with the circuit so I'm ready to perform when it counts. It's all part of our focus for 2020."

 

No driver can compete without the right team behind him, and Sheehan was quick to acknowledge this, “It was a trying 2019 season for Damon Racing, but the team are drawing strength from the challenge. Jamie, Jeff, Matt and myself had post season meetings to identify strength and weaknesses in the program. The team had a tough luck season. The racing gods are being asked to shine favor. It's always helpful to have luck on your side, but you can make your own luck as well. Hard work and focus pays a dividend. We will be ready to capitalize."

 

2019 was the first year that Tom and Damon Racing switched the Ford Mustang from the Chevrolet Camaro of previous seasons and with a year under their belts, the experience should prove invaluable. Tom paid tribute to the Mike Cope organization when he added, "Mike Cope and his team, Jason, Travis and company - we really have formed a great working relationship. Mike has an impressive organization; a great program and our team learned a lot in 2019. The world of racing champions requires an innovative component. Sometimes you get blinded by the new thing or on adapting and innovation. It's tough when you outsmart yourself!"

 

Developing the relationship with Mike was crucial in the decision to build a new car, "Having the opportunity to field a Mike Cope Racing car clarified our decision to build our second Cope Ford in 2020. Mike Cope is the standard we want to achieve. Cope's support kept us learning - what we could build on and what we need to improve on. Mike was an open book we kept tweaking our setups. Ultimately, we ended up exactly where Cope wanted us from the first lap. The car came alive. It was our own doing to be rouge for most of the season, but we learned a lot. In hindsight we could have stuck to Mike from day one. He has a great knowledge of the platform."

 

Of the season ahead, Tom and the Damon Racing team are under no illusions as to the size of the task and he went on to mention, "2020 is going to be a lot of hard work. We are ready for the challenge.
Racing is life for all of us. I am focused on 2020. The TA2 field will be strong. Damon Racing is ready to compete. We will leave it all at each event. 100% team effort that’s what we will bring. New season new start."

 

The kick-off for the season and the rest of the 2020 Trans Am presented by Pirelli TA2 Class field is February 29 at Sebring International Raceway in Florida for practice and qualification with the first race of the season on March 1. One thing is for certain, Tom Sheehan and Damon Racing will be ready.

 

Keep up with Trans Am driver Tom Sheehan on social media – Faceboo page is Damon Racing; Instagram is TomSheehanTA97 and Twitter give us a follow @TomTA2_97.

 

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United Nations Declares 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health

 

USDA Kicks Off Awareness Efforts in the United States

 

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 27, 2020 – Plants make the oxygen we breathe and give us 80 percent of the food we eat. But plants are under attack by invasive pests. These pests destroy up to 40 percent of the world’s food crops and cause $220 billion in trade losses each year according to the United Nations (U.N.). That leaves millions of people worldwide without enough food to eat and seriously damages agriculture—the primary source of income for rural communities.

 

To bring worldwide attention to this challenge, the U.N. has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health. They are calling on people, organizations, industries, scientists, and governments to work together to protect plants against the introduction and spread of invasive pests. The U.S. National Plant Protection Organization—the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Plant Protection and Quarantine—is leading the effort in the United States.

 

“At USDA, we do all we can for our farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers so that they can continue to feed and clothe this nation and the world,” said USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach. “That’s why we’re urging everyone to take this issue seriously and to do their part. Protecting plants from pests and diseases is far more cost effective than the alternative.”

 

According to USDA, everyone can help avoid the devastating impact of pests and diseases on agriculture, livelihoods, and food security. You can get started today by taking a few important actions, including:

 

• Look for and report unusual signs of pests or disease in trees and plants to your local Extension, State department of agriculture, or local State Office.
• Don’t move firewood. Instead, buy heat-treated firewood or responsibly gather wood near the place it will be burned to ensure tree-killing beetles hiding inside can’t spread to new areas.
• Always declare food, plants, or other agricultural items to U.S. Customs and Border Protection when returning from international travel so they can make sure these items are free of pests.
• Contacting your local State Office before you buy seeds or plants online from other countries to find out if they need to be inspected and certified as pest free or meet other conditions to legally bring them into the United States.

 

To learn more about the International Year of Plant Health and how you can help stop destructive invasive plant pests, visit USDA’s website at www.aphis.usda.gov/planthealth/2020.

 

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Are Growing Pains Afflicting Your Business? How To Successfully Scale Your Company

Ambitious entrepreneurs often are determined to grow their businesses by expanding into new areas, adding new products, and increasing the size of their workforce.

But growth comes with potential hazards, which is why one of the leading causes of business failure is overexpansion – growing too much too fast.

“There are so many complexities involved with growing a company” says Shawn Burcham (www.shawnburcham.com), author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success, and founder and CEO of PFSbrands, the parent company of Champs Chicken, Cooper’s Express and BluTaco.

“If you’ve been a parent and raised kids, you can relate it to the various ages of kids. Much like your kids need different things at different ages, your business has different needs at different stages of growth.”

To stay on track with those needs, Burcham says business leaders need to:

• Constantly evaluate employees. When a company is growing and improving, employees need to do the same, Burcham says. He’s an advocate of lifelong learning and expects employees to commit to continual personal improvement through reading, seminars or other educational efforts. In addition, while Burcham likes to promote from within, he will look elsewhere when necessary. “Scaling requires your team to evolve, but it also requires new blood,” he says. “As a company is growing, sometimes you have to go out and recruit the talent to help you get to that next level.” 

• Protect the brand. As the business grows, it’s crucial to adhere to standards and have quality controls in place. Otherwise, the business won’t build brand loyalty. “If you go into McDonald’s and you get a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder, you want that Big Mac or Quarter Pounder to taste the same in every location,” Burcham says. “That’s ultimately what every national brand is working toward.” In his own business, he has seen competitors of PFSbrands locate in supermarkets and convenience stores with loose standards.  “In some cases, we lose business to these competitors who are lenient and have lower standards,” Burcham says.

• Embrace the future. Scaling is all about embracing the future, and that includes understanding millennials who will make up 75 percent of the workforce by 2025, Burcham says. “Younger generations want to know why they’re doing something, and that makes a lot of sense when you think about how they grew up with their electronic devices,” he says. “They have been able to get answers anytime they want them.” Burcham’s company uses an open-book management approach that fits well with the transparency younger workers desire, he says. “Personal growth, education, and continuous learning are also things they are looking for. If companies today want to scale, then they need to embrace millennials and work to create an environment where they are engaged.”

• Take their time back. “To be an effective leader as your business grows, you need to consistently work on time management,” Burcham says. He has five steps for doing this. 1. Decide what’s important and focus on two or three top priorities each day. 2. Stop doing some tasks. Instead, delegate or automate them. 3. Start on the most important thing first. 4. Learn to say no. 5. Block out time for self-improvement and life needs. 

“Scaling is a process, not a destination,” Burcham says. “If you really want your business to grow, you need to be constantly moving, constantly evaluating and constantly improving.”

About Shawn Burcham

Shawn Burcham (www.shawnburcham.com), author of Keeping Score with GRITT: Straight Talk Strategies for Success, is the founder & CEO of PFSbrands, which he and his wife, Julie, started out of their home in 1998. The company has over 1,500 branded foodservice locations across 40 states and is best known for their Champs Chicken franchise brand which was started in 1999. Prior to starting PFSbrands, Burcham spent five years with a Fortune 100 company, Mid-America Dairymen (now Dairy Farmers of America). He also worked for three years as a Regional Sales Manager for a midwest Chester’s Fried chicken distributor.

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With Super Bowl LIV just days away, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Best & Worst Cities for Football Fans as well as accompanying videos, together with its Super Bowl LIV By The Numbers infographic.

To determine the best places for loving on America’s favorite sport, WalletHub compared more than 240 U.S. cities with at least one college or professional football team based on 21 key metrics. The data set ranges from number of NFL and college football teams to average ticket prices.

Make sure to check out the infographic for cool stats about the biggest sporting event of the year.
 

Best Cities for Football Fans

 

Worst Cities for Football Fans

1. Pittsburgh, PA

 

236. El Paso, TX

2. Boston, MA

 

237. Lawrence, KS

3. Dallas, TX

 

238. Louisville, KY

4. Green Bay, WI

 

239. New Britain, CT

5. New York, NY

 

240. Columbia, SC

6. New Orleans, LA

 

241. Ithaca, NY

7. Miami, FL

 

242. Davidson, NC

8. San Francisco, CA

 

243. Providence, RI

9. Philadelphia, PA

 

244. Valparaiso, IN

10. Oakland, CA

 

245. Brookville, NY

 
Best vs. Worst

• The New Orleans Saints’ performance level, 77.10 percent, is 3.1 times better than the New York Giants’ 25.00 percent.
   
• Dallas has the highest NFL team popularity ranking, 1st, while Kansas has the lowest at 31st.
   
• Buffalo, New York, has the lowest average ticket price for an NFL game, $71.08, which is two times less expensive than in Los Angeles, the city with the highest at $141.93. 

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit: 
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-for-football-fans/9691/

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NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release: 27th January 2020

Hybrid cloud services to drive APAC enterprise cloud services revenue to US$256bn by 2023, says GlobalData

The marketplace for enterprise cloud computing related services in Asia-Pacific (APAC) is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% from US$107.6bn in 2018 to US$256.4bn in 2023, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s latest report, ‘Cloud Computing in Asia Pacific: Telco Cloud Offers, Best Practices and Market Opportunity’, reveals that the market will continue to be led by software as a service (SaaS) offerings. However, growth rates from infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) will exceed the growth from SaaS during the forecast period. 

IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION – Please click this link for the chart 

Malcolm Rogers, Senior Technology Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “In the cloud marketplace, SaaS has been widely adopted by enterprises looking to take advantage of the simplicity of service delivery and flexible pay-as-you go pricing that cloud delivered software offers. 

“Increasingly enterprises are also looking to build in agility to their IT infrastructure by moving proprietary software workloads and data storage off of on-site data centers to cloud providers, which will drive the growth in IaaS and PaaS space.”

China and Japan are the dominant cloud markets within APAC with China accounting for 34% of the total APAC cloud market, followed by Japan with 25.5% in 2019. 

China is home to cloud hyper-scale provider Alibaba Cloud while Japan has a mature ecosystem of cloud providers with a strong focus on the Japanese market.

Rogers continues: “In order to grow their revenue from the cloud marketplace, telecom operators in APAC are increasingly beginning to offer cloud management platforms and integration services. Rather than competing with hyper-scale providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Alicloud, telcos are bundling cloud services from multiple providers with connectivity and offering management tools through a single platform.

“For operators, the managed services component and cloud optimized networks are increasingly important.  Enterprise cloud environments are growing in complexity with most businesses using multiple public clouds as well as private cloud environments. 

“The ability to manage various cloud environments with a single view while providing a high performance and dynamic network is the differentiator for operators in a competitive APAC cloud market.”

Emerging APAC markets in South East Asia are also increasingly targeted by the world’s largest cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Alibaba.  Governments and enterprises around the region are increasing scrutiny around data sovereignty requirements, which has prompted the hyper-scale players to begin building out data centers in the region. Telecom providers in the region are responding to the changing dynamic in the region accordingly.

Rogers concludes: “Given the increasing competitiveness and market dominance from pure-cloud players such as AWS and service providers such as IBM and Microsoft in the IaaS market, telcos are expanding their reach in the enterprise cloud computing space by acting as integrators of multi-cloud platforms and providing consulting, implementation and management services.

“The cloud market is quite saturated with a number of providers, including webscale players, IT vendors and system integrators. Carriers can position their network advantage such as integrated cloud and network services or software-defined capabilities to differentiate in the market

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