The darkest days of winter may have passed. Still, keeping the lights on and the laptops running is front of mind and that’s been showing in the mergers and acquisitions activity over the past ten months. It coincides with the push for expansion that is creating larger and larger multinationals.

Trilliant, North Carolina-based a provider of digital metering and smart grid systems for utility solutions has announced the acquisition of PrimeStone, a private intelligent data collection and analytics company based in Bogota, Columbia. The company says the acquisition will expand Trilliant’s purpose-built product suite and enable it to optimize an entire utility value chain.

Press release: https://trilliant.com/trilliant-acquires-primestone/

Securing a secure place to call home may have gotten harder in this crazy real estate market, especially since home is where the office is too.

The Victoria-based startup Certn has secured a $9.5 million CA in a Series A+ funding round to continue screening potential tenants, among other tasks. This latest round of funding brings their total seed fund up to $43 million. The company’s Human Risk AI solution is used by organizations to acquire candidate intelligence and complete background checks.  The company’s work focuses on real-time candidate background screening solutions for technology, retail, property management, financial, and the gig service industries.

Corporate site: https://certn.co/

While we’re talking about necessities, let’s talk about the supply chain that gets food on everyone’s plate. Starting in the fields, it looks like the labour market is about to get even tighter in the agricultural sector, especially in New York state.

According to Cornell University agricultural workforce specialist Richard Stup, farm operators in the Empire State can look toward a tight labor market and rising wages this year. Pandemic precautions combined with debate over immigration reform and potential changes to overtime pay are to blame.

“Ag labor is going to remain scarce due to … underlying demographics and labor market factors, even if we get immigration reform,” said Richard Stup. “Wages are going to continue to climb from both market and regulatory pressure.”

Press release: https://www.newswise.com/articles/scarce-labor-higher-wages-in-store-for-nys-farms-in-2021?sc=cwhr&xy=5044666

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Kate Baggott is a former Managing Editor of B2BNN. Her technology and business journalism has appeared in the Technology Review, the Globe and Mail, Canada Computes, the Vancouver Sun and the Bay Street Bull. She is the author of the short story collections Love from Planet Wine Cooler and Dry Stories. Find links to recent articles by following her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-baggott-9a0306/