Okay, so good morning again like to bring you greetings. My name is Eric Miller. I'm the contracting and compliance manager in the equity and inclusion department. I'm here before you today at this exciting time as we're able to bring back med week. Last year we were unable to come together and celebrate this important time in our community but we're excited that due to technology and really an opportunity that we all didn't want to pass up we decided to come together today and celebrate. So I'd like to bring you greetings and few things administrative wise. The fact that this is a webinar. Most of the attendees won't have full zoom capabilities. So you will be unable to unmute yourself and manipulate the camera, but you will be able to view all of the events. The panelists have been provided with access to those capabilities so you at any time that you're on the agenda that you have that you'll be making remarks you'll have the ability to share your screen. Unmute mute yourselves and also manipulate your camera. So just wanted to put that out there. If you have any questions or run across any challenges. Please feel free to use the chat box we have a support staff available to kind of assist you with those issues. Now in terms of another initiative item because of bandwidth issues for those who are panelists, we are asking that you disable your camera if you're not currently presenting just because we do have challenges with bandwidth from time to time and that does help to assist when we encounter those challenges. So thank you all in advance for accommodating that request. So in terms of why we're here today. This is a unique opportunity for us as a community to continue to support the accomplishments and achievements of our minority business communities. We've had a series of events that we will be using to highlight that. The first was the meet the team event that we had last night, which was excited that we was able to come together and provide access to connect with some of the collaboration partners that have committed to supporting the work within the city and the county of life. Today we have the med week luncheon. Tomorrow we're going to be able to come together and talk about some of the regional and local economic growth that the city is experiencing and how you as a business owner can try to gain access and be able to participate in some of that growth as well. Thursday night we're going to have a minority business fair where you'll be allowed the opportunity to basically provide a one to two minute pitch about some of the things products and services that you provide. Use that as an opportunity to connect with potential suitors for your services. And then on Friday, we're going to close out this week's event with a discussion about cybersecurity threats and some of the things that we can do in terms of preventative measures to protect against those threats that have really been more prevalent here in the last few years. What I'm going to do now is transition this portion of the ceremony over to my colleague at the county, Keisha Davis, and she's going to give us the occasion. Thank you, Keisha, and then she's going to be followed by Tammy Hall, the director at the North Carolina hub office. Thank you, Eric. I'm happy to be here. My name is Keisha Davis. I am the Durham County MWB coordinator. And I would like to share the occasion with you why minority enterprise development med week matters. In 1983, the president of the United States has proclaimed a national med week observance to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of minority business enterprises, and to honor those corporations and financial institutions supporting minority business development. The med week affirms local government, business and community organizations commitment to economic equity and inclusion. The mission of the med week in the city of Durham is to recognize and celebrate the contributions and achievements of minority and women owned businesses. This year has not been without its challenges. However, we continue to strive forward in our collaborative efforts to virtually present this week's series of events to encourage minority enterprise development and continue to grow. The theme of Durham's med week this year is thriving through adversity. This year's med week is even more special to those of us who have come together to collaborate and plan this year's event because our med week leader, the esteemed director of the city of Durham's department of equity and inclusion. Deborah Giles is retiring next year, and this will be her last med week leading us. Miss Giles has been a leader, a mentor, a friend, and a fierce advocate for minority enterprise development for many years and no med week occasion would be complete without us giving Deborah her flowers while she can still see them and saying thank you Deborah for your leadership and guidance. I will now turn things over to the director of the hub office miss Tammy hall. Thank you. Good morning, and thank you so much, Pisha thanks Eric for the invite. You know it's always a privilege to be here and participate in Durham's med week. Why because Durham is my home and Durham is where I have lived. My kids have gone to school there and it is just a great place to thrive and prosper so it is most privilege for me to be here, participate in support Deborah and all that she has done for the city of Durham. So that being said, I am here today to share with you that for every year under Governor Cooper's leadership, we have increased our spend with minority and women owned businesses. That is a huge plus that could not have been done without many of you that are participating this morning with us as we celebrate. I look forward to seeing many of you on Friday as well as we open the MBDA Minority Business Development Agency Center here in North Carolina and the RTP. This is such a huge honor for the hub office. And I look forward to celebrating it as well with you. So now I will present to you and my team, my staff will put in our chat, the proclamation from Governor Roy Cooper. Governor Minority Enterprise Development Month 2021 by the governor of the great state of North Carolina, a proclamation, whereas diverse entrepreneurship encourages progress towards innovative solutions to the problem of economic growth and stability, and supports the promise of thriving communities that embrace inclusion and a better life for all families and whereas the state of North Carolina recognizes minority owned businesses as key drivers of economic success at the national, state and local levels, and the urgency to aid such businesses in post pandemic recovery. And whereas COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted communities of color across the United States. Many of these individuals experience higher illness and death rates and more severe economic complications in minority owned businesses have also declined across the country, as many are unable to financially stay afloat due to the pandemic. And whereas, according to a report from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research from February to April of 2020, the number of active business owners in the US decreased by 22%. The largest on record since the onset of the pandemic, black owned businesses declined by 41%. Latino owned businesses decreased by 32%. Asian owned businesses dropped by 26%. And women owned businesses failed by 25% nationwide. And whereas the Andrea Harris social, economic, environmental and health equity task force was established under executive order number 143 to address the social, environmental, economic and health disparities in communities of color disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 in North Carolina. The Department of Administration's Office of Historically Underutilized Businesses, better known as the hub office, will operate the first North Carolina state business enterprise program to promote the usage and support of small contractors and businesses to competitively participate in procurement opportunities within the state of North Carolina. Whereas the North Carolina Department of Transportation and CDOT Office of Civil Rights is committed to enforcing federal laws, state laws, regulations that prohibit discriminant discrimination for customers and employees participating in North Carolina programs that receive federal and or state funding. And whereas the state of North Carolina recognizes and celebrates the achievements of minority owned businesses and encourages participation in programs that will honor the contributions of minority owned businesses and impact the expansion of access to economic opportunity statewide. Now therefore, I, Roy Cooper, governor of the state of North Carolina do hereby proclaim October 2021 as minority enterprise development month in North Carolina and command its observance to all citizens. Thank you. And I will turn this back over to Eric Miller. Thank you very much. Thank you, Miss Hall. Now we're going to have greetings and proclamations from the mayor, Steve Shul. Yes, Mr Miller. It's great to be here with you all. I really appreciated Miss Hall's proclamation from the governor I want to say that Tammy Hall represents the city of Durham on the Raleigh Durham airport authority. And we're really proud to have her as a representative. Thank you for your proclamation. I want to just say two things. First of all, this is the first time I have publicly heard the announcement about Miss Giles about Miss Giles retirement Miss Giles could you come on the screen for a moment. If you don't know Deborah Giles and most of you do. You are missing, knowing a great leader. I have known Miss Giles for for decades Miss Giles and worked closely with her for many years and her capacity on the county commission and with the city. And she is a wonderful leader. And I've so appreciated the words that have already been spoken about her as a mentor and a leader. Miss Giles, you will be sorely sorely missed in the city. But I know you're heading for a well deserved retirement. And that means you and I can have a cup of tea together. And I look forward to it. But thank you so much for your service it has been extraordinary. And I just wanted to appreciate that. Thank you so much for your kind words. I also will say that we have to this year has has taught us many things and Miss Hall's what Miss Hall read about the loss of minority and women owned businesses is critically, critically important, and one of the things that we did this year during the pandemic was with our friends from Duke University, and our friends from the county. We put together $3 million actually later on added some cares act funding about three and a half million dollars to assist small businesses and more than two thirds of those businesses were women owned and more than two thirds were minority owned most of them African American. And I'm very proud of that. But what it says to me as it shows the way for what we can do in the future. This can't be a pandemic only something we do only during pandemics we have to figure out ways to get much needed capital to women owned black and brown owned businesses, and I know that we can do that here. And I'm a proclamation, whereas one of the city's primary goals is to have a strong and diverse economy which reduces poverty and enhances the quality of life of its residents. And whereas the ingenuity innovation and tenacity, many minority and women entrepreneurs have courageously met the challenges posed by the pandemic. We're shining examples of the 2021 minority enterprise development week theme, thriving through adversity, and whereas minority and women owned businesses are helping to power the engine of economic recovery for the city, state and nation. And whereas the city of Durham is committed to the ongoing evaluation of its policies procedures and practices. So this business is conducted in a manner that ensures minority and women business businesses receive equitable access to all available opportunities. And whereas minority and women entrepreneurs are to be honored, not only as valued resources for the provision of goods and services, but as vital to our economic success. Hi, I'm Stephen M. Shul, Mayor of the City of Durham, North Carolina, who hereby proclaim October 4 to 8 2021 as minority enterprise development week in Durham. And hereby urge all residents to take special note of this observance, participate in many scheduled activities, and fully utilize the wide array of minority and women business enterprises in our community. Witness my hand this the fourth day of October 2021, Stephen M. Shul, Mayor. Thank you all so much for being here today. Thank you for including me in this wonderful occasion. And I look forward to the rest of the rest of the activities for minority enterprise development. Thank you Mayor Shul for those comments and reading of the proclamation. It was very much appreciated. Next we're going to move on and we're going to have greetings and proclamations from County Commission chairwoman Brenda Howerton. Hi everyone. It is indeed a pleasure to be with you this morning and I too want to extend my congratulations to Deborah Giles in retirement and knowing Deborah for quite some time. It's, it's absolutely a joy to know her and knowing that she's begin to take some time for her. I know and take care of those grand babies. So congratulations Deborah. So, and as the mayor talked about the funding, you know, the business, I just want you to know it was a collaboration between the city and the county and it never is enough. It never is enough that we do for our businesses. So the proclamation Durham Board of County commissioners proclamation minority enterprise development week 2021, whereas it is a policy of the county of Durham. They're purchasing by the county and contracts with the county be open to all people and be free of discrimination on the basis of race and gender. The Durham County minority and women enterprise witness section eight, that's 132 provides minorities and women equal opportunity to participate in all aspects of the county's contracting programs, including, but not limited to employment. Construction projects and or materials and service contracts consistent with the law and whereas diverse entrepreneurship encourages progress towards innovative solutions to the problem of economic growth and supports the promise of thriving communities that embrace inclusion and a better life for all families. And whereas, according to the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research, the impacts of the COVID-19 have contributed to a staggering 41% drop in African American business owners. 32% decline in Latinx business owners 22% in Asian business owners and a 25% reduction in women owned businesses nationwide. And whereas GS 143-128 provides for good faith efforts to be made in an effort to ensure fair participation of minority and women businesses owners in all county projects. And whereas it is farther the policy of the county to conduct is contracting programs so as to prevent such discrimination, correct present discrimination, and to resolve claims of such discrimination. And whereas the County of Durham is a sponsor of the minority enterprise development week, and whereas during minority enterprise development week, we recognize that our county and our economy are strong because of the hardworking men and women who comprise America's minority business community. They constantly demonstrate the courage it takes to overcome adversity, seize opportunity, and contribute to our shared prosperity. Now, therefore, be it resolved, I, Brenda Howerton, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, and on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners, do hear back the claim October 4th through 8th, 2020 as minority enterprise development week. In Durham County, the 27th day of September, 2021. Brenda Howerton, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners. Thank you. Thank you, Chairwoman Miss Howerton up for those comments and proclamations. We really do appreciate their involvement of our city and county officials in the process. We understand how much how busy you all are so we appreciate you making that time of your schedule to support today's event. Thank you I look forward to seeing you in some of the events over the next few days. Thank you again. And so now we're going to move on to the recognition of our honor guests and sponsors. We're going to have Mary Crawford for Duke, assist us with that. Thank you, Eric. Thank you, Mr Mayor, Tammy and Keisha as well for those heartfelt sentiments that we all share as we wish Deborah her best. I would like to warmly welcome and extend special recognition to each person in attendance at this year's virtual Med Week honor ceremony. Thank you to the executive department heads and staff from federal, state, county and city government who are present. Now I'm unable to identify all of you by name. Please accept this acknowledgement, along with our gratitude that you took the time from your busy schedules to join in the celebration. This year, the sponsors represent entities whose staff participated in planning all of the Durham med week events. A special thanks this year goes to the city of Durham, Durham County government, historically underutilized business organizations like SANSKA, Samet Corporation, Lachace, Durham Public Schools, Duke University, Duke Health, SAS, the current consulting LLC, the greater Durham Black Chamber of Commerce, the greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, and the National Institute of Minority Economic Development. If any of us on the med week planning committee, please enjoy the celebration today. Thank you Mary for that for those recognitions and in considering that we're operating in a virtual environment, the importance of the collaboration and the support of our sponsors was key to being able to deliver an event and a week that really highlights, you know what we're trying to celebrate. The significance of those relationships were clearly evident and being able to do something in this environment, which we all felt was important. So I want to extend a special appreciation to those sponsors and planning committee members again. Thank you Mary. So now we're going to have the introduction of our keynote speaker and that's going to be done by Denise Barr. She's the regional diversity manager with the Chase construction, Denise. Good morning. Thank you, Eric. Good morning everyone. It is a great honor and a pleasure to be here today. And definitely our honor to introduce our speaker for today. Mike Areola is the district director of the Small Business Administration. Mike oversees an office that drives economic development by assisting local entrepreneurs were starting and growing their business. Mike also directs the implementation of SBA programs related to access capital, business advising and government contracts. The SBA operations in North Carolina consists of the district office in Charlotte and satellite office in Asheville, Raleigh, and Wilmington. I'm going to be into the point so I want you all to please welcome me and give it a warm welcome to Mike Areola. Thank you so much, Denise for that introduction and my thanks to the team for med week 2021 for having me today. Just a second so that I can share my screen. Okay, it is med week so I want to welcome everybody and wish you all a very happy med week. It is also I hope you can see my screen is as it transitions. It is also National Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as women's national national women's small business month so special welcome to our Hispanic and women owned small businesses as well. We have a recap of where we've been the last 18 months in terms of our COVID relief programs and where where the SBA is is going forward. And so just by way of a recap with all of the various programs that we've had going on. Okay, we've done about 268,000 PPP loans totaling about 18 billion in an ordinary non COVID year SBA does about 1 billion and lending to all kinds of small businesses through our various SBA loan program so we we've managed to squeeze 18 years of lending into this period since the inception of the PPP program so far we've done almost 100,000 direct economic injury disaster loans to help folks recover from the after effects of the COVID pandemic. We've given out 140,000 advances another 20,000 in targeted advances that's free money that folks do not have to repay shuttered venue operators grants totaling just over 400 for live entertainment venues of all kinds throughout the state of North Carolina. And the restaurant revitalization fund finally went to about 3000 restaurants and other food service enterprises of all kinds across the state of North Carolina. The only programs that are available now are the economic injury disaster loan and the associated targeted events and supplemental targeted advanced programs so those are still available, and I'll say a word about those in just a moment. Let me talk briefly about the PPP program because it's had its reach has been very far and wide, but still towards the inception of the PPP program I think it was pretty clear that SBA needed to improve its reach to minority and women own small businesses and so that's exactly particularly with the second round. SBA was very intentional about doing even more outreach to minority communities. We improved our collection of racial and demographic data as well so that we can better assess the degree to which we are reaching minority small businesses. We improved our efforts to reach out to and to actually generate applications from the self employed. And finally, we did a pretty good job in enlisting lots of community financial institutions to come on board with PPP lending in order to help our minority or firms. Let me give a quick update on the COVID idle program this is the one that's still available we're accepting applications until December 31. So folks that were not able to get a PPP loan folks that are a little bit apprehensive about whether or not there's going to be restaurant revitalization I want to let you know that the COVID economic injury disaster loan program is still very much available up until December 31. These are very low interest rates interest rate loans up to 30 years, plus your first two years of payments are deferred so you have a two year break before the loan payments start to kick in. Again, over 30 years. So the monthly loan payments are very, very low, and small businesses can use COVID idle funds for really any ordinary type of working capital purpose. One of the things that we did to enhance this program is that we allowed for the repayment of debt as well and I'll go into that in the next slide, but you can apply at sba.gov slash EIDL. Minimum credit score of 570 so we've relaxed that quite a bit. 625 for loans greater than 200,000. Sorry, greater than 500,000. We did increase the loan amount from 500,000 to 2 million very recently and we're going to start approving those $2 million up to $2 million applications beginning October 8. But the part that I really wanted to point out is now you can actually use an economic injury disaster loan to pay off your commercial debt. So if you have relatively high rates of interest that we're taking out for business purpose just know that you can use an economic injury disaster loan to repay that going forward. So this is my personal outlook for the SBA in terms of our mission for the state of North Carolina. I just covered all of the various COVID relief programs that have been available I mentioned briefly about the fact that the COVID idle program is still available for small businesses as well but what have we seen at the SBA and what kinds of things do we need to take into account going forward. And I think it's I think it's important for me to let you all know that my personal mission is to insert the SBA in such a way as to make a difference in conversations about income inequality and economic empowerment because if there's one thing that we learned from our experience over the last 18 months or so that is not everybody has fair and equitable access to capital. So my main mandate for myself is to position the SBA in such a way as to be a lot more active in those conversations and wherever we can come up with solutions that can provide even better access to capital because it's access to capital is an ongoing and an enduring thing that takes into account some of the historic injustices that communities of color have experienced over generations. This impact on folks ability to access capital now. And I guess what I'm saying is that it's important for the SBA to be involved in those conversations to do what we can to ensure fair and equitable access to sources of capital to small businesses of all kinds of community black and brown communities. And so with that my intention is to do even more robust outreach to black Hispanic Asian American Pacific Islander communities to women audiences and to the LGBTQ plus community in particular where we can let them know about the programs and services that are available to them. If there's any one thing that comes up in my own discussions with small businesses about the SBA is they sort of know maybe what the SBA does but they don't know exactly how useful some of our programs can be. So that's what I would like to do continue to do even in a more vigorous way is to let folks know that the SBA is here and available for their assistance. And that means deploying our programs to just these kinds of communities that I mentioned among which are regular loan programs SBA loan loans operate in partnership now with lending partners not just banks but also credit unions financial technology companies and all of the community development financial institutions institutions that we can list. We also have 504 loans that are available for folks wanting to expand purchase of building fixtures and equipment at very low rates of interest and with a low down payment. And finally there are SBA microloans available through qualified intermediary lenders across the state of North Carolina. And you can find them through SBA.gov slash lender match so these programs are going to get a lot more attention over the course of this post pandemic environment and at the SBA, we're actually seeing an increase in calls and emails wanting from folks wanting to know how do I get a business plan done. Where can I get capital to start my business. What is the best type of SBA loan to expand my business so it's very hardening it's very refreshing to see that the volume of polls that we're getting are starting to shift from you know hey I need my PPP loan or I needed idle to more regular types of inquiries and that's a very good sign that we're seeing in terms of the overall health of the economy. So we've got financing programs available. We've also got certification programs available for folks wanting to tap into the very lucrative federal contracting marketplace. Federal spending account amounts to about $700 billion a year for goods and services of all kinds. And our four primary programs can help make those happen for our small businesses. Our flagship 8A business development program where there is a preference target of 3% of all contracting dollars should go to socially and economically disadvantaged businesses such as those under our 8A program. The HUBZone program has a preference target of 3% also of all federal contracting dollars. Women owned small businesses 5% and service disabled veteran owned small businesses can take advantage of 3% of all federal contracting dollars. The percentages seem a little bit small but when we're talking about contracting opportunities of several hundred billion dollars, the opportunities for procurement contracting are actually pretty significant. And what the SBA does is we help with the certification of these small businesses so that they can tap into the $700 billion a year marketplace. So that is available for folks as well. And finally, we have an entire ecosystem of counseling and training resources. We have the Small Business and Technology Development Center which is a partnership between the SBA and the University of North Carolina system with 15 SBTDCs across the state, full-time paid counselors to help with all aspects of starting and expanding a business. We also have the 10 chapters of score which are volunteer mentors. We have the one veteran business outreach center at Fayetteville State University for our veterans audiences. And finally, we have the five women's business centers across the state of North Carolina in Charlotte Fayetteville, Asheville, Durham, and most recently at Winston Stadium State University, our very first SBA women's business center to be co-located at an HPCU and we're very excited to have them on board. So going forward, I would say that our mission, the SBA's mission, broadly speaking, is to insert the SBA, like I said, in conversations of economic empowerment across the state of North Carolina through our financing programs, through our federal procurement programs, and finally through the counseling and technical assistance that we provide through the SBA, as well as through our various partners so that we can make a difference in the lives, particularly of our minority-owned businesses. And so with that, I want to thank you so much for having me today. I wish you all again a happy Med Week and visit us sometime at SBA.gov.nc. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you, Mr. Ariola, for that insightful and informative message. On behalf of those in attendance, I would certainly like to extend our appreciation for taking the time to share that information with us. For me, a few takeaways, I think there's a certain intentionality that we need to have in our approach to ensure that the targeted assistance is reaching those intended communities. It's important that I think people are aware that there are still loan programs out there to support our business owners as you try to transition out of the impacts from the COVID pandemic. And also, you know, be knowledgeable of local resources. A lot of times, I think we lose sight of the impacts that our communities have and the resources that they can provide to support our efforts moving forward. And then I think it's a hopeful takeaway for us that maybe we are getting to a point where we can transition out of some of the needs that, you know, we were encountered with during the pandemic and focus on really building more sustainable operations moving forward and being able to tap into the expertise and resources that are available for all of us. So thank you again, Mr. Ariola, for your presentation and for your time as well. So now what we're going to do is transition over to the awards presentation portion of the ceremony and we're going to end Mr. Ariola is sharing information about the slide presentation and SBA resources in the chat for those who are interested. So now we're going to transition over to the awards presentation, which is going to be headed up by Dan Stafford. Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Eric. And also, again, thank you, Director Ariola for that great informative information. As I said, I'm Dan Stafford with the National Institute of Economic Development. Some may have also may not still be familiar with the name which is still as was the North Carolina Institute of Minority Economic Development. We're going to focus on the years in the MBDA Minority Business Programs and the SBA Women Business Center programs, but we want to focus today on the event, which is really the, if I can say it is really the heart and soul of med week where you get down to the actual businesses that have put in the grit and the effort to get things done. As we know, there's probably over 9.2 million minority business enterprises around the United States that support jobs and generate more than over 1.8 trillion in our economy, sorry, every year. And during Minority Enterprise Development Week, our nation recognized the importance of these minority businesses, the impact they've had on our communities. As Akeesh had mentioned earlier, of course, you know that med week was an issue at 90 speed during the growing sustainable event on national, regional and local levels. In med week, we recognize are those hardworking minority men and women who have comprised America's minority business community, where they've demonstrated the courage where it takes overcome adversity sees opportunities, contribute to the shared prosperity. And locally here in the city of Durham, it had they have the city itself has been the forefront in North Carolina as an advocate of minority businesses through the med week observances. The city of Durham through Deborah Giles leadership has kept minority and women on the mid business community challenges opportunities impact alive and is a vital part of North Carolina's economy. And because of the sustained commitment, we have seen over the years, grassroots minority enterprise events that have arisen in other North Carolina communities whether they be Charlotte Asheville Greensboro Greenville Fayetteville Jacksonville Raleigh Wilmington Shelby and it keeps going on and on. So to Mr. Giles and to the city of Durham, we are extremely grateful and always will be to your said fast devotion to this calls. So let us now celebrate some of these local business successes. And we will have a tie here in our first category. And let me go ahead and probably mentioned to that of course since we are virtual, which means we are not physical. These awards will be actually mailed to the recipients. Shelly McFader began bridge point general contract in 2007. Today bridge point is grown into three companies bridge point construction services bridge point general contracting and bridge point civil. All the combined revenues of over $30 million bridge point based in Durham, North Carolina is the woman owns a pub certified firm focusing on commercial and healthcare renovations. Now the firm has also been a contractor for Duke for many, many years and their relationship there is strong. It's a, it's a we are always in this together mentality that ensures projects are completed correctly on time. And they willingly will make sure they'll go those extra miles to ensure tenants and others are not interrupted in the work as it progresses and goes on. The companies receive the Durham magazines 2021 best in Durham award the 2020 triangle business journal fast 50 award 2019 triangle business journal leadership triangle impact award and many others. Shelly is would be considered stuff is a commanding theme is a commanding female success in a male dominated industry being quite construction is she's found that people have asked her these questions over and over. She said like being a woman at the construction table, which now just makes her kind of laugh and respond, not belonging to the table. Well my gosh I never ever crossed my mind. So let's switch congratulations to bridge point general contracting. Shelly McFader for the Durham 2021 med week outstanding achievement award in construction. There's a way that we can. Yeah, hey, thank you very much. Yeah, very thrilled to have been nominated by by Mary and Duke. We have been doing a lot of work for them and it was just I was thrilled to get nominated for the award and just wanted to say thank you to so many people that are on this call. Deborah Giles for sure in the early days of me getting started, helping to make sure that you know I had all my paperwork done that we were staying on top of it and to like bring us into awareness of opportunities that were there. Eric as well and Tammy hall, both supporters of bridge point thank you very much. You know I always just wanted to grow a company that one people wanted to work at. And I do think I have a very strong staff and in a very busy market, you know they stick with me and I think it's about culture and then I think that culture translates to our clients and and luckily we do do a lot of private work, but we're all we've done work for during public schools for the city of Durham for wake tech for NC State. So we do, we do dabble in the public realm as well but I have, I just want to say thank you very much we're very thrilled for the recognition Thank you so much. Durham based firm SGS contract founded 2014 is a license general contractor in North Clare. I'm sorry North Carolina and South Carolina and the firm's a mission to transform designs into reality. The core values of integrity trust customer service effectively executing those projects and developing lasting relationships. As President Brant Smith is over 15 years construction management experience has worked in numerous industries in fields of the K 12 schools the higher education research laboratories hospitality, municipal mixed use properties parking structures, I mean very versatile activities. Durham graduation from hillside high school finance degree out of Hampton University, master's in construction management from Western Carolina University, and I have to pause and which is shout out to a fellow Western Carolina University alumni. Brant saw the rising construction growth impact in Durham and decided Durham would be the home SGS. Right for a while now SGS has had a growing relationship with chase construction working on UNC Duke and Durham public school projects. So another congratulations if you will SGS construction, Brant Smith of the Durham 2021 med week outstanding achievement award in construction. Thank you, Brant. Thank you there brand. Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity. And the acknowledgement, I'd like to thank the chase for for nominating me in the city of Durham. Glad to be a part of med week look forward to continue to grow in SGS and building Durham. I would also thank Eric Miller. He was a part of starting. He was there when I first started SGS, and he has assisted us in growing SGS and we look forward to continue to grow in the future. Okay, again, thanks to SGS CSGC construction. Evoke is a Durham based architectural firm. Specializing in architecture, design, visioning and master planning. Its principles are licensed in North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Texas. And evoke believes that the remarkable architecture enhances the lives of its occupants. And then directly on projects through places such as NC, North Carolina Central University, the box yard and Durham public schools. And equally important to their designs is their community engagement with organizations in the area such as the Durham smart initiative. And then the minority contractors of North Carolina, Durham Rotary Club Durham Chamber of Commerce preservation Durham, the minister for Stephen Ministries and big brothers big sisters. Thank you. So would you relevant, would you wish you congratulations to evoke architecture, Terry Canada for Durham 2021 med week outstanding achievement award in professional services. I do not believe that Miss Canada is an attendance today. Eric Miller will accept the award from Miss Canada on her behalf. Atlanta's graphics, which don't doing business as universal printing and publishing under Bob Moore has been serving the Triangles in 1999. Universal provides design print mailing communication services to the firms throughout the triangle area. More started the business in 1979 and Cameron village in the Cameron village area in Raleigh in a 400 square foot space. But he's always stayed on top of innovative technology and now the business sets in a 17,000 square foot facility out in rock research triangle park. Also adding fulfillment warehousing services to the very instrumental to Duke University during the early days as well as continued days now of the COVID pandemic providing staffing, staffing plans, contingency staffing plans to making sure timely delivery of medical forms were able for progress and procedures. Universal's value promise to his customers is unyielding when making you look better on paper on time. So congratulations to Bob Mora, Atlantic graphics, doing business and universal printing for Durham 2021 Med Week Outstanding Achievement Award non professional services. Joe Moyet would be accepting in Bob Murray's behalf, and we will make sure again our congratulations to universal printing and publishing will make sure they definitely will receive their award. Keisha Davis has been with the Durham County government since 2012. Currently serves as the minority and women business enterprise coordinator for Durham County's minority and women bits enterprise program. She is the county's internet internal departments and external minority women business owners communications. She facilitates minority women business enterprise. She is the county's private sector counterparts to do that want to do business with the county to ensure there's a strong understanding and adherence to the county's MWB program. At the same time, she strives to provide those these business enrichment resources to existing and inspiring small minority women owned firms were designed to contract with local government specifically of course county Durham County to help cultivate a more robust small and minority women own business community. For Durham, Keisha created a social media presence for the MWB program with the implementation of a dedicated Facebook page, YouTube channel, help get the Durham County's MWB website up running. And Keisha's commitment to social equity and the response of overseeing of Durham County's hub spending has demonstrated her leadership and excellence in promoting any of the inclusion and the advancement of minority women owned businesses. So to honor please Keisha Davis in WB coordinator for Durham County government Durham 2021 individual diversity advocate of the year. Thank you Dan, and thank you for my to all my colleagues who nominated me. And my honor to serve Durham County government in the capacity that I have as MWB coordinator, and it has been a privilege to work along with so many of my colleagues. I'll be remiss without mentioning Deborah again who took me under her wing so many years ago, Tammy Hall, Eric Denise, so many of you have, it has just been a privilege to work with you all and to be recognized is a great honor and my organization the support that I have received from the commissioners on down and working with the city Mayor Scholl with the Bloomberg initiative. I just want to say thank you for the recognition. And Joe Moy has joined, and maybe you can recognize him. Oh, that's what yeah, please go ahead and give a brief statement thank you again for on your on your honor. Thank you for giving award non professional services. Joe you ever come on Joe you should be able to unmute yourself and turn your camera on so you might be recognized. It appears he's having technical difficulty. So we'll move forward. Again, the congratulations to the Bob Moore and Joe for that for that award. That's always the benefits of live TV and the National Institute of Economic Development, also formerly known as a North Carolina Institute of Minor Economic Development, also known as the Institute is a nonprofit economic development organization that for 35 years has helped clients harness the power of diversity for chief business and economic objectives. The program is founded in 1986 as a North as the North Carolina Institute of Minor Economic Development with a grant from the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation, and the North Carolina Association Minority Business to diversify the North Carolina business base as a strategy for expanding economic opportunity business, government, many leaders, all recognized in the globalization changing demographics technology we're rapidly changing the game, replacing traditional industries with new ones that require different skills and strategies. And there was a need to engage significant untapped segments of the population, women, racial and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, rural residents and others. This was a business imperative. So the Institute would be the force that would lead the way. And more than 30 years later the Institute remains the only organization of its kind in the country, focusing on economic growth to effective business diversity. North Carolina's model of collaboration and a successful sexual ecosystem are recognized as a model for other states and regions. Through its four primary work centers, Center for Entrepreneurship Center for Community Investment Research Policy Center Center for Professional Services, as well as its documented impact over the years of a billion dollars in financial and contractual awards to small diverse businesses, over 10,000 clients, the creation of over 3000 jobs. It continues to work with small businesses, supplier diverse firms, organizations, large multinational corporations, local governments, state federal leaders to open doors of opportunity, create an environment where business of all kinds can grow and thrive. So let's wish if you would with me now congratulations to the National Institute of Minority Economic Development, Kevin Price, Presidents and CEO for the Durham 2021 Medway Agency Diversity Advocate of the Year. I don't believe that Mr prices logged on. I don't, or is there anyone else who will accept on behalf of the Institute. I'm not answering the question just yet because I don't see if there's anyone else there at the Institute, before I would. There may be a lot of representation from the Institute but they don't have the ability to, to speak in this format. Well then, of course, and in lieu of that, you know, in support for the for Kevin price of the rest I accept that award and with great honor thank you so much. This is our ending of our award presentations. So I will turn it back to Eric. Thank you Dan, and I would like to, on behalf of all of our attendees today to congratulate again all of the award recipients. It certainly is an accomplishment in light of, you know, our current circumstances to be able to succeed. We're dealing with those additional challenges that, you know, most small business owners confront on a regular day these obstacles that we've been confronted with over the past few years and certainly made things more of a struggle and so we want to again extend our congratulations to all of the awardees who will deserve recipients. And thank you again Dan. So we have reached the portion of our program where we really want to, again, thank you all who have been involved in the pulling together this event in the virtual format as you see there are always challenges when you're dealing with these events live. We hope to be able to recognize and recognize and, you know, recognize and provide notification to those individuals who were unable to attend today and for those who weren't that we did accept the award on their behalf we would certainly like to extend appreciation on their behalf to the committee as well. And so in terms of closing comments, there's a few things that I wanted to highlight. Again, I want to thank Mr Ariola for that very appointed message I think the timing is relevant. And it really resonates with some of the things that we are dealing with as a community, and I think it's important that we continue to keep all of this in context and see how we fit in the process and how we can support continuing to work. And also again I would like to extend congratulations to all of the award recipients, and to highlight again where we are in this week's event, in terms of events and what we have slated for the remainder of the week. We'll close out today, the lunch and ceremony tomorrow we'll have a discussion about the regional and economic growth that we're seeing in the area and some of the ways that we as business owners and advocates and you know just interested individuals can find out about what's going on in our community and how we can participate. Then we're going to have the minority business fair, followed by the cyber security discussion which is very important I'm looking forward to myself. Also, you know, in terms of where we're at. We're certainly at a point in our communities where it's important that we continue to support one another and that's really the message of this week want to figure out what we can do as collaborative partners to continue the work. Find out creative innovative ways that we can support one another, create more sustainable partnerships and be able to do, you know, establish relationships that can go long beyond, you know we're at today, and to that end, I think we're making a lot of steps in that direction. So I really want to thank you all for your attendance because it makes it possible for us to continue to do the work of the support, and I would be remiss if I didn't again extend my recognition of Miss Giles and the impact that she's had on all of us in this space and her contributions to the community. I think it's very individual to endure more specifically. I think she certainly left an impression on those that she's encountered. She certainly left behind is going to leave behind a legacy. And it's something that we should continue to celebrate. And I think that we all in that vein to continue the work and show our support by continuing to support what she started to build in our own ways. I'd like to thank you all again. This event is being live stream and a lot of the information that was shared via the panelists and presenter is also going to be accessible via links in the chat so feel free to access those. If you have any questions, have any follow up feedback that you would like to share. Certainly our committee will be around for the remainder of the week and all of our events so please pull one of one of us aside reach out to us. Let's continue the conversation. Thank you again, and look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. And that event tomorrow will begin. That's going to be the regional. So I want to make sure that I have until that event actually will be utilizing the zoom link that we sent out for the Monday event as well so if you have that one will be the same zoom link that will be utilizing. That event will begin promptly at one o'clock and it'll go to 2pm. So if there's nothing else I would like to thank you all again and look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Thank you.


Trying to make this deployment, you know, the best opportunity possible for myself and also for the people around me on this team. So I want to do everything I possibly can to make this team better and keep everyone prepared and make myself better too while I'm out here. He's just been known as Doc Brute. Every time that we go down there, they always bring it up, Doc Brute. And they say that he has an outstanding mustache. You know, Petty Officer Chris is never really concerned about awards. He's never really concerned about getting accolades. That's just a byproduct of his character.  You know, our medical section is doing a phenomenal job.  I've definitely appreciated making some friends with the A&A medics and that. They're really, really, they're great guys. It's an honor to work alongside of them, especially to see the guys that really want to see change in their country. So, it's been eye-opening. He's highly respected by them. They value his opinion when it comes to anything that has to do with medical, trauma-related, preventive medicine-related, and trainee-related. Music has always been a part of my life. It's an easy way to kind of just forget about what's going on. I got Mr. Potato Head one day when I was feeling a little kooky and I made it look like me, so he's my buddy. I like to keep morale high. I like to always joke around and I like to be, I like to always be somebody that the Marines will come to, either for a laugh, whatever they need. He's a great guy to work with. I've been in charge of many, many second classes and below. He, by far, outshines them all. It's always an adventure. It's an adventure.


Bookmap's icebergs on-chart indicator displays native CME iceberg transactions directly on the price chart with precision. This indicator uses the same engine as the stop and icebergs indicator displayed in the sub-chart. However, it is a separate file you will add into Bookmap. This indicator is included with the MBO bundle subscription, which can be found on the Bookmap Marketplace. Please note, all MBO bundle indicators work with both Bookmap Global and Global Plus and require rhythmic data for CME group instruments only. Let's take a quick look. The indicator displays the numerical values of the iceberg transactions right on the chart. Values above price are sell icebergs. Values below price are buy icebergs. It looks rather chaotic at the moment, so let's go to the settings in the configure add-ons tool. Play around with the icon sizes and offsets. Note the color settings match those in the sub-chart iceberg indicator. At the moment, every single iceberg transaction is being displayed, and this can create a lot of unnecessary noise. We'll reduce this noise through the size threshold setting. You'll need to play around with the setting to find what works best for you. We're looking at the ES in this example. I'll input 200 and you'll immediately filter for individual iceberg order transactions that are at least 200 in volume. We'll cover the checkbox settings in just a moment, but recommend that you have them all checked. Let's close the settings window and go over an example. See the horizontal blue line here? This is a buy iceberg. Notice how you can see all of the nuances of this particular individual iceberg order. It was detected here with 109 transactions. Over an hour later, the iceberg was moved several times while other transactions unfolded. Note how well these on-chart iceberg transactions coincide with the sub-chart iceberg indicator. In this example, we're in replay mode, but notice the open status of the live iceberg order. It currently displays an aggregate of 1,242 transactions. This is because the active status box is selected in the settings. Let's play forward and you'll see how the transactions aggregate in real time while recording the history of the precise areas of these transactions. Once the blue line terminates, then this particular iceberg order is either canceled or completely executed. If we zoom in, we can see all the transaction details are recorded and note the letter C at the end of the blue line. This signifies the iceberg order was canceled. If it displayed an E, then it was fully executed. For more details, go to bookmap.com, click on the More button, and select Knowledge Base, and then search for icebergs on-chart indicator. We're happy to offer unique tools that provide such an amazing level of market transparency. We are constantly improving these add-ons and expect new features for this particular add-on soon. We'll keep you posted.


In this study, Fourier transform infrared, PFTAR, spectroscopy was used to analyze the composition of biomass and its derivatives during processing. The results showed that solvents, chemicals, enzymes, and potentially formed degradation by products were present in the biomass conversion process. These findings will help researchers better understand the FTR analysis results of processed biomass. This article was authored by Jingxuan Zhuang, Mili, Yunchao Pu, and others.


The World Economic Forum is delighted to host this meeting on financing the Amazon's transition to a sustainable bioeconomy. In support of the important regionally led efforts, aiming to build constructive partnerships at different levels and to provide real, innovative and integral solutions for the sustainability of the Amazon. We're particularly building on the long-standing work of the Amazon Corporation Treaty Organization Act, the strides of the Letitia Pact process, and the significant role of the Inter-American Development Bank. These efforts have stressed the need to mobilize multi-stakeholder resources founded on the importance of protecting and restoring the Amazon basin and its vast nature, with a unique ecosystem that hosts around one-fourth of all the world's species, while also primarily addressing the needs of 38 million people from 420 different indigenous and tribal communities living in the Amazon with remarkable cultural richness and diversity. Indeed, the impact of the pandemic on the Amazon is a reminder of the urgent need to strengthen capacities further, to deliver enhanced social services, advance people's livelihoods, and ensure the community's well-being. Along with important work being laid by governments, communities and civil society, conscious and responsible private sector engagement is also key to realize the potential of the Amazon's bioeconomy, which can combine nature's conservation and restoration with job creation, business opportunities, and social value. Understanding what a sustainable path for the Amazon and its bioeconomy concretely means and finding convergent paths to mobilize responsible local, regional, and international resources is fundamental, particularly at this challenging time when collaboration based on trust and respect are needed, and public-private cooperation is essential to catalyze and enhance impact. We have a stellar cast of committed leaders to guide us through these issues, who I will gradually introduce and bring into the conversation as we advance. I'm really delighted to introduce the President of Colombia, Ivan Duque. Mr. President, it is an honor to have you with us again and to learn about your vision and current priorities towards mobilizing resources for a sustainable future for the Amazon. Mr. President, please. Be here with you. I want also to express my gratitude to the President of the IDB, my good friend Mauricio Clavercaron. I also express my salute to Vice President Hamilton Mural from Brazil, and my salute as well to Maria Alexandra Moreira, the Secretary of OTCA, and also the fellow panelists that are joining us from the private sector and from the non-profit sector. I may begin by saying, Marisol, that the Amazon is one of the most important treasures of the world, and although it is clear that we have a sovereign attitude towards the Amazon because it's part of our territory, it's a richness that we share with the world. And some people might not know, but the Amazon has a size that is almost 7 million square kilometers. That's twice the size of India. We also look at the Amazon and we found out that it captures year over year more than 100,000 million of carbon dioxide metric tons. So the Amazon is not only the host of biodiversity and that hosts 10% of the biodiversity of the world, but it's also essential to protect the world from the effects of climate change. But the Amazon also has another reality. It has more than 33 million living inside and something close to 2.6 million indigenous people from different communities. So this is a land that we all have to protect, and this is a land that we all have to value. But in order to value, to understand its potential, we need to be clear which are the major threats the Amazon faces. And I would say that the main threat is deforestation, deforestation that comes from illegal crops, from illegal mining, from illegal wood development, and also for illegal cattle production. So all the countries share the basin, we all have to focus to face those threats. And the best way to do it is to understand what the Amazon represents in terms of nature-based solutions. So that's why we launched the Leticia Pact almost three years ago, and we launched it in order to have all the countries that share the Amazon basin with their specific objectives. And those objectives are facing deforestation, reducing it, be able to create the concept of nature-based solution contracts with the indigenous communities, and be able to turn the cities that are in the Amazon bio-diverse cities, which are cities that in the concept of development are pretty much intertwined with the idea of protecting bio-diversity as a treasure, and bio-diversity as something that is essential for different purposes. And that means that those areas have to move a line with clean mobility, have to move a line with reducing, reusing, recycling, circular economy, and it also has to do with understanding that there's a value in regular Amazonic products that managed in a responsible way can open working opportunities for communities. So when we look at this event, this event has a very important value because we're calling multilateral agencies like the IDB that has been participating in the Leticia Pact and putting together the objectives for all the countries, WEF, obviously, as the host of this event. That is thinking of how the private sector can contribute to the protection of the Amazon and obviously the nonprofit sector. The private sector is so conscious about the importance of the Amazon, and it puts resources that can be linked to nature conservation contracts with communities. What we will do is that we will be able to protect the areas that have been affected and put in place the strongest plan ever to reforest the areas that have been badly affected in the Amazon in the last decades. And the second most important element is that we need to combine that the investments that are aimed to protect the Amazon can easily be valued internationally in the carbon and the CO2 market around the world. Either it's the Chicago market or the European market, or we can build a regional market. But that's important because the contribution can help have net effects on the emissions and in other places of the world, other companies are creating. And I should mention as well that the other biggest challenge in terms of the transition in Amazon is to find out the important that the Amazon has in all the water cycles around the world. Colombia has only 6% of the Amazon basin, but that's 6% that we have in the Amazon basin represents 35 of the Colombian soil. And that implies that the most important contribution to protect the tropical forest that we can do is to connect the conscience of Colombians around the country and understand that the cycles of water from high altitude ecosystems is also linked with the Amazon and the capacity of the Amazon to protect integrally our territory. So when we put all this together, there are three purposes that we think we have to accomplish fast. Accelerate private sector participation, mobilize nature, conservancy, contracts with local communities. And how do we link the protection of biodiversity with innovation? And that's the idea that we have also presented before the Leticia Pact and is to have more eco-business, biobusiness that can use the richness of the Amazon in a sustainable way so that we show to the world that those products have value in health, value in nutrition. And if they can be maximized and they can be exponentially maximized, it can also connect the world with consuming sustainable projects from the Amazon that can give communities a lasting form of living that is in accordance with the idea of protection and not being tempted by the effects of businesses like illegal mining or illegal crops or just even illegal cattle development. With that, the compromise that we have from Colombia, it's clear. And I value as well that the WEF and the IDB are joining us in the idea of biodiverse cities so that all the cities and all the communities that are involved as part of the Amazonic basin can have that seal that they will be considered around the world a symbol of nature-based solution. That's my call. And I think this event, having leaders from all the sectors, can accelerate the participation towards the next event that we will have in the WEF and launching today the idea of biodiverse cities where we all join to protect the treasure of the Amazon. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. That was such a very eloquent and very necessary call. You can count with the World Economic Forum's contributions to support those objectives in bringing private sector into the support that is needed for the Amazon working with innovation and also bringing in the communities. It's also a great pleasure to introduce the Vice President of Brazil, Vice President Hamilton Morão. I had the honor to visit you in Brasilia over a year ago and we hosted you during our Sustainable Development Summit last September. How has the Amazon agenda been impacted during these past months and what is your current vision and priorities to mobilize resources for a sustainable future for the Amazon and its inhabitants? Mr. Vice President? Thank you. Mr. Ibanduki, President of the Republic of Colombia, Mrs. Maria Alejandra Moriera Lopez, Secretary-General of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, Mr. Mauricio Claver Caroni, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Marisol Argueta from the World Economic Forum, ladies and gentlemen, good day. I would like to thank the World Economic Forum for organizing, once again, a gathering where high-level stakeholders truly committed to bringing about the sustainable development and preservation of the Amazon can openly discuss the future of this important bio. 2020 has been, without any question, the most challenging year in recent history, not only to our populations and economy, but also to the environment. Despite limited availability of resource due to the pandemic, Brazil has worked nonstop in order to curb illegal fires and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. It has been indeed a worse cause, but not an easy one to achieve. Not with understanding current difficulties, our government has continued to demonstrate our commitment to the international sustainability and environmental agenda. This past December, Brazil has announced in the scope of the Paris Agreement that it will end for carbon neutrality by 2060. Moreover, Brazil will lead the UN high-level dialogue on energy in 2021, when we will seek innovative solutions, investments and multi-stakeholders partnerships. Even though the task before us is enormous, we are putting forward our best efforts in order to come up with ways to implement policies and projects that will allow the Amazon region to reach its full potential for the benefit of the Brazilian population and of the world, while preserving its natural wealth. A continuous and reliable work in addressing development and preventing environmental illegalities in the region depends on having pragmatic policies aimed at land regularization, economic and ecological zoning, and the payment for environmental service. We have been working on a plan to secure the needed conditions for our environment agencies to resume at the best of their capacity operations and incursions into the forest. Operation Green Brazil 2, coordinated by the Minister of Defense, will conclude on next April 30. At that point, we are to resume regular enforcement operations led once again by Brazilian environment agencies. The National Council for Amazon is supported as a pilot project, a promised initiative called Economic Development and Environment Preservation Zone of the states of Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia, or simply known as the acronym of AMACRO. A regional planning strategy that aims at establishing non-polluting development programs. Furthermore, the Minister of Economy is working on the new Green Amazon project. We serve you to implement concrete measures to improve business environment and attract more investments to the region. Our additional endeavors this past year, especially after the re-establishment of the Council, have yielded positive results, mainly in the second semester when we managed to cut down deforestation by 17%. On the other hand, even though international interest in the status of the Amazon forest has sharply increased, the same cannot be said of the financial and technical international cooperation provided in the area, which we have felt short of current needs. It is clear to us that without a joint effort from partners both from the public and private sectors, we will not be able to achieve our main goal to have a soothing, prosperous, and preserved Amazon region. We know that the only way forward is to combine sustainable development and preservation measures. Let's be honest, our governments have the main responsibility in the protection of the environment in our countries, but it is sustainable development, particularly in the case of the Amazon region, we will only succeed with greater engagement from the private sector. We are seeing a variety of Amazon-driven financial endeavors being put together in order to turn policies and projects into reality. For instance, the ambitious program led by the Inter-American Development Bank called Amazon Initiative, which Brazil has supported from the beginning, focus particularly in the establishment of a bio-academy fund. I look forward to listening to Mr. Claver Caron's remarks today and learn the latest developments on that front. A long-established and quite innovative initiative is the Amazon Fund, devised in 2008 in partnership with the governments of Germany and Norway and managed by the Brazilian Development Bank. The fund has had an important role in the implementation of crucial projects in the Amazon region. We serve you to keeping this good record of accomplishment. We have been in negotiations with those two governments in order to resume the fund's financial outputs. Nevertheless, our efforts have not been enough. The Amazon Council is examining proposals and projects that will help us bring the Amazon to the new era of the knowledge-based economy and bio-academy. We envision that such projects must embrace biodiversity innovation and a great deal of technology to reach their full potential and at the same time preserve our environment. International investments are vital for these initiatives to prosper. We cannot rely solely on governments to promote innovative bio-based economies, to make them viable and profitable. Investors, business persons, farmers, workers, scientists, consumers and other private actors have to be committed and ready to act. I have maintained an agenda of virtual meetings with Brazilian and foreign business leaders to explore ways in which our combined efforts may result in consistent benefits for the Amazon region. What I have gleaned from these exchanges is that there is a clear willingness from the private sector to take part of these efforts. On the other hand, we must have sound and attractive financial mechanism capable of channeling donations and investments towards projects that benefit the Amazon. We are also looking at possible partnerships with the Bank of Amazon and the Brazilian Bank of Development with states and municipalities and with the Manaus Free Trade Zone Authority and the Amazon Development Authority. Finally, let me say that the mapping of bio-academy value chains will allow us to address snags and to expand competitive sectors such as fish farming, bio-farmaceuticals, Amazon nuts and fruits, amongst others. Such sectors have shown impressive return rates for investments. We already count on a network of research institutions dedicated to the Amazon, allowing the region to find its own technological solutions to development challenges. Innovation is key to achieving the transformation that is needed to boost local enterprise. It is crucial that private business takes the lead in financing research and scientific programs for the region. Governments, especially in the post-pandemic economic scenario, will not have available surplus to direct large sums to these kind of activities. Also, on the technological aspect, the use of e-commerce platforms seems to be the best way to achieve fair trade and facilitate financial flows for the local production. During the pandemic, e-commerce has proven that it is a well-established and reliable instrument in maintaining commerce and market dynamics. We should take advantage of such tools to make available to the world authentic and sustainable Amazon brand products. Brazil looks forward to working with all partners who are interested in the preservation and sustainable development of the forest, bringing security and equitable opportunities to the more than 29 millions of Brazilians who live there. I invite all participants to engage with the Amazon Green Recovery Agenda. And I look forward to discuss the follow-up initiatives aiming at mobilizing investments and support for the bioeconomy in the region. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. We also recognize your efforts with such responsibility and commitment. And we value the work that you're leading in the Amazon and they look forward to contributing to all the initiatives that we may have available for the sustainability of such an important asset. Let me now turn to the president of the IDB, Mauricio Claver Carone. The IDB group has been a long-standing, very valued foreign partner. And it is my pleasure, Mauricio, to welcome you in your first participation as president of the bank. We're looking forward to learning about your institutional priorities and needs to contribute towards a regional and as mentioned by President Duque and by Vice President Moreau, a multi-stakeholder contribution to enhance that agenda for the Amazon. Well, first of all, thank you so much, Mauricio. And thanks to the World Economic Forum for the invitation and for the opportunity to be here. I want to thank President Duque and Vice President Moreau and all of the guests. And let me start with a broader context as regards our priorities. I mean, as you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Latin America and the Caribbean harder than any region in the world. Latin America and the Caribbean is about 8% of the world's population, but 27% of all of its COVID deaths. And meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean's GDP has collapsed by nearly 8%. The IDB's immediate priority is to help the region's recovery from this historic social economic crisis. As I say, the worst social economic crisis in the 61-year history of this bank. So we're tackling a major issue. As we help promote the recovery, though, we see opportunities for innovation and for growth in the bioeconomy. So there's a critical opportunity. And it's critical because Latin America and the Caribbean that Caribbean increasingly faces challenges related to climate change. And as we saw recently with the two hurricanes in Central America, climatic events can quickly create and worsen social economic problems. So we need to move fast in order to spur recovery and to help prevent and mitigate future crises. The Amazon, as was said by President Duque and Vice President Moreau, is key to the region's social economic recovery. Its sustainability and first environmental resilience. To preserve this ecosystem, we need to implement sustainable development models that work for more than 30 million people who live in the Amazon. Through the Leticia Pact, Amazon countries have created momentum and political support for the region's sustainable and inclusive development. And these countries have asked the IDB to help make this a reality through an Amazon-driven initiative and specific funding instruments. And that's what we're gonna do. The IDB's working closely with the authorities from Brazil, Colombia, and other Amazon countries. And we're gonna present our initiative, our Amazon initiative, as Vice President Moreau alluded to, to our board of directors in mid-March. And then we're gonna present it to our governors in Barranquilla, Colombia, President Duque, at the end of March. So without stealing the thunder, per se, from the annual meeting in Barranquilla, we will be announcing the details of this Amazon initiative. Let me preview a few aspects and kind of the thinking behind it. So we're working with our regional partners, like the Amazon Cooperation Treat Organization, to enhance regional synergies and knowledge platforms, complimenting each Amazon country's sovereign agendas. But just as importantly, we're working a pair of technological advances and private sector engagement to boost the Amazon's bioeconomy. And we are working day and night to prepare this initiative for its launch and for its board approval. This type of collaboration is key. Many organizations already are doing excellent work for the Amazon, and we wanna build on that. And here at the IDB, we have the experience and have created and managed innovative, sustainability-based, focused funds, already with partners, including Canada, France, the UK, and we've mobilized hundreds of millions of dollars. We also have robust partnerships with the leading climate funds, including the Global Environmental Facility and the Green Climate Fund, where we're actually the fourth-largest partner. We have experience mobilizing these diverse multi-sectorial partners to join us in an ambitious initiative and sustainable urbanization, agriculture, climate change, and many other topics. And all of that said, we're working on this, we look forward to launching it, we look forward to the partnership, and we appreciate the partnership we've had with President Duque, with Vice President Mural, and their governments. We look forward to announcing this initiative in Barranquilla at the annual meeting at the end of March. And for now, for the rest of the participation, I really look forward to learning, as we do here at the IDB, from the stakeholders and other partners, learning from all of you, to see how we can best help the Amazon by working together. That's our goal, and that's what we're committed to do. Thank you, Mauricio. The work of communities and civil society is also extremely relevant. We're very excited about the preview that you have shared with us with regards to the initiative that you're launching in Barranquilla. We appreciate your remarks very much and also look forward to joining efforts with you and other stakeholders. Let me remind our audience that English, Spanish, and Portuguese interpretation is available. Alexandra Moreira is the Secretary General of the Organization for the Treaty of the Amazon Cooperation. This was created in 2002 with the consent of its eight state parties in order to implement the treaty that was signed in 1978 and then amended in 1998 for the promotion of the sustainable development of the Amazon Cooperation. Alexandra, what are the priorities and the current needs of the organization that you preside over? Thank you very much, Marisol. Good morning and good afternoon. Mr. President Iván Duque from the Republic of Colombia and Mr. Vice President of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Mr. Hamilton Morao, Mr. President of the Inter-American Bank of Development, Mauricio Carone, you in the World Economic Forum, Marisol, a pleasure to be here again and all those who are not well. Allow me to continue in English. The Biodiversity Potential is the main differential of competitiveness in our Amazon countries and bio-economy may become an important driver to the internal development of our region. We understand bio-economy in our least-eager way as the economy of living in harmony and balance among the people and nature. This road concept enables to coordinate two apparent conflicts approach, economic growth and ecosystem integrity conservation. Through promoting virtuous process basis on the use of innovative biodiversity models, driving an economic model, more harmonies with nature and helping to reduce the Amazon regions outside of socioeconomic inequality. In this context, greater opportunities and mutual benefits for ecosystems and people may result in promoting the conservation of forests, water resource and biodiversity. In summary, bio-economy can become a powerful instrument for economic growth and poverty reduction in the Amazon region. Additionally, bio-economy must be developed through inter-scientific dialogue combining the high innovation and technology of modern science with traditional and local knowledge. The implementation of bio-economy will consider the development of industrialization and transformation of unique produce from our biodiversity in an inclusive way. Coordinators, small, medium and large-scale initiatives and encourage sustainable inter-pernorship. As an economic driver, we did the local, regional, international arenas. The bio-economy will allow us to put aside our country's economic dependence from the primary raw material producing sectors that are affecting many of our ecosystems and particularly our Amazonian population. Right now, we are working with a cooperative agency and strategic partners such as IDV within the converge of the Amazon Cooperative Treaty and the Leticia PAC Initiative. ACTO is working since 1978, inviting the urgency to develop practical actions of modern machos such as biodiversity in order to reduce the existing asymmetries and improve the living condition in the Amazon. Currently, the A-member countries are discussing the Biodiversity Regional Program having among its central themes the promotion of bio-economy in this broadcast concept. In this part, I want to request to the President Duque of Colombia to join us approve urgently this important program within the framework of ACTO. Also, I want to notice that the ACTO approved last week the preparation of the first rapid assessment of biological diversity and ecosystem service under the methodology of the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform Platform of Biodiversity and Ecosystems. That's a low lead to show and to know better the more specific values of our biodiversity. And just for example, and finally, for example, the Asaipo, Jasmine and Cocoa and many other existing products throughout the Amazon region have a significant economic value along with a high potential for biodiversity conservation. For example, within an agroforestry production system, the Asaipo offers for farmers a profit stability around the five to 10 times higher the livestock's production and two to four times more than the soybean productions. So working in the region is not easy. And it's a worldwide challenge because our goal is not only better well being for people and nature in the Amazon but also for the planet as a whole. Thank you very much. Thank you, Alexandra. We're short of time. So I would like to invite the vice president of Brazil and the president of Colombia for very short closing remarks. We understand that we need committed leadership and multi-state cordial participation together with private investments involving the communities and innovation so that we can harness that potential of the bioeconomy of the Amazon which is fundamental for people and for nature and for the planet as well.  What type of public-private partnerships will be required to realize that vision? And what are those very specific opportunities to engage? The sustainable future of the Amazon depends on the expansion of the bioeconomy. This will only become a reality with the participation of the private sector. We know that curing conditions for investing in the region are not ideal in view of the lacking infrastructure. Our government is engaged in promoting an attractive business environment and boosting economic sectors. The ministry of private interest to profit projects in the region. A project called New Green Amazon is in the works with a view to strategy for sustainable development in Brazil. The establishment at strategic points of value concentrating units, the so-called bio factories, seems to be a good way to combine public and private efforts. The Açaí Berry is an interesting case study. It is a world-known Amazon product that is already widely spread through global markets. Production is scattered all over the Amazon, sometimes deep into the forest where the Açaí tree grows. Public and private investments in the sustainable production, market and drainage of the Berry have been helping local populations to be part of the procession of the good, adding value to their work, allowing adequate incomes and allowing the world to benefit from an extraordinary product from the Amazon. Thank you. Very loud and clear, Mr. Vice President. Thank you very much. President Duque challenges and opportunities in the forest agenda are plenty. What are your perspectives on the partnerships and the financial needs? And would you please, again, share your call of action? Thank you so much, Marisol. And also my thank you to Vice President Morao and President Chavez-Cono from the IDB and Alexandra. And my message is this. The most important thing that we have accomplished in the last two years regarding the protection of the Amazon is the Leticia Act. And why do I mention that? Because this strategy has been elevated to a presidential level. We have all the presidents from the Amazon have been signed the Leticia Act. We have had for two years a follow-up with clear objectives and the support from the IDB and OTCA. And where do we have to focus? I will mention the following. Five key forestation. And we can only be successful. First, if we recovered land has been affected, but if we also involve communities in nature-based solutions, conservation contracts. The second thing, the concept of biodiverse cities. Cities in the Amazon, we have to make them greener, cleaner transportation, reduce, reuse, recycle, circular economy. We have to get them more involved in the uses of non-conventional renewable energies. And we have to teach children, for instance, very early childhood, how to protect the biodiversity. The third element, bioeconomy. We need to connect the richness of the region with sustainable development of products from the Amazon. And we have to make them being conscious in the world that they are important. Like we're talking about Kamukamu, we're talking about Sachaichi, we're talking about, for example, Arasah, products from the region that can reach the world industry in a sustainable way. Bio and ecotourism. We need to link the local communities and communities to be the promoters of sustainable tourism in the Amazon. Financing. And this is very important. We want to have the IDB, and I'm very happy to hear that President Claver Caron is launching this in Barranquilla, because we need to have the tools for the private sector, but also for the public sector, not only for central governments, but for local governments. So the investment can be connected to the projects that are going to protect the Amazon basin. Local production, which is very important, and is how do we create the concept that we can produce conserving and conserve-producing industry. And last but not least, the whole idea of nature-based solution connected with the protection of the Amazon as the most important place in the world for the capture of carbon dioxide. We're talking about 100,000 million of CO2 metric tons that are captured every year. So if we protect the Amazon with this content, what we're also contributing is to protect the whole world. So the Laticia Pact is the umbrella so that all these elements that I have just mentioned will have an impact in the following years. And having the private sector, the public sector, and civil society is going to make this bigger, stronger, and this is a must. Thank you, Mr. President. Indeed, consensual agreements are fundamental as it is to bring all stakeholders together into joint action for the Amazon and its sustainability of such an important... Yeah, Mr. President. Just 20 seconds. Something I also want to reiterate. The importance of OTCA and how the Laticia Pact and the participation of the IDB has to be the element to give OTCA a growing space around the Amazon countries. It was signed almost 42 years ago. And this institution has to become the number one coordination policy for the Amazon in the countries with the IDB and with the help of all the countries that have signed the Laticia Pact. Sorry for that. No, Mr. President, very important that the relevance of OTCA was reiterated. That was my next line. So working together with the IDB, with the governments, with OTCA, and other stakeholders will be certainly part of a very interesting agenda. And we look forward to responding to that call of action, Mr. President. We realize how relevant the sustainability of the Amazon is for the region, also for the planet. Thank you very much for sharing all these very insightful and valuable contributions for this agenda.


This paper reviews the literature on Stevens-Johnson syndrome, SJS, and toxic epidermal necrolisis 10, 2 rare but serious skin conditions caused by an acute exposure to ultraviolet radiation, UVR. It summarizes the common features of these cases, including the delayed onset of symptoms after UVR exposure, the presence of a non-linear distribution of target-like lesions, and the absence of a flu-like prodrome. Additionally, it discusses the potential pathogenesis, differential diagnoses, and proposed diagnostic criteria. This paper provides valuable insight into the potential link between UVR exposure and SJS-10, which could lead to improved preventative measures and better treatment options. This article was authored by Blake Geoffrey McKinley, Mitchell Edger Allen, and Nicole Michels.