Different places have different levels of educational achievement.

The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual survey run by the Census Bureau to allow the government, corporate and academic researchers, and anyone who is curious about demographics to better understand the population of the US. Among many other subjects, the ACS includes questions about respondents' education levels.

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It’s no secret that a healthy diet and plenty of exercise are key to good health, as study after study continues to show. But the latest analysis puts some hard numbers on just how big a benefit they can have on the brain, by possibly reversing some of the effects of aging.

In a study published in the journal Neurology, researchers led by James Blumenthal, professor in psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, found that even among a group of older people who already show signs of thinking problems, exercising regularly over six months and eating more healthfully can improve their performance on cognitive tests.

Having analyzed the trends and the shifting winds in the payer marketplace, it’s time to gaze into the crystal ball and see what the future has in store.

More M&A in the payer space This year’s mega-mergers have created large scale behemoth companies that may be difficult to compete with as a small carrier or health plan. With insurers increasingly looking to integrate with providers and other sites that can deliver more effective care at lower cost, we’re likely to see a new raft of M&A deals in the year ahead. One potential candidate on the docket could be the rumored tie-up between Humana and Walgreens.

Though federal agencies are hungry for new technology solutions, a report from the Government Accountability Office says they may be missing out on a key avenue of innovation.

The Dec. 21 report found that in past three fiscal years, less than three percent of grant funding from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to went to companies that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital companies, hedge funds or private equity firms, despite being provided the authority to work with such businesses.

You’re sitting at your desk one day, and a light bulb goes off for a business idea. After a couple of days spent contemplating the idea, you decide it’s not worth pursuing.

While the idea might not have been as great as you initially thought, the reality might be that you’re uncertain if  you are cut out to be your own boss. After all, starting and running a business isn’t for the faint of heart.

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were the richest person alive? Some of us couldn’t even dream of what to do with just $1 billion. However, we can take a look at what the actual richest man alive does with his money.

Image: Seattle City Council | Wikimedia Commons via GOBankingRates

As 2018 was a banner year for venture capital funding in the healthcare sector, it was also a record for private equity deals. 715 private equity deals had closed as of mid-December for a combined value of $103.72 billion, according to PitchBook. In 2017 there were 709 deals worth $88.87 billion, and 651 deals worth $70.5 billion in 2016. That’s up from 413 deals worth $31.52 billion in 2013.

The key to fostering a more educated populace is not financial – it’s cultural.

In measuring performance in education or healthcare, societies often mistakenly focus on inputs rather than outcomes. That is, it is common to erroneously measure success by counting the resources devoted to it. But expenditures do not equal success. Indeed, societies would like to spend – for an equivalent outcome – as little as possible.

Closing your books on an eventful year can be a daunting endeavour, but it doesn’t have to be. While it’s tempting to get caught up in the joy and excitement of the winter holidays, there’s also no better time to get your finances in order, setting you and your business up for a stress-free holiday season and successful new year. Here are three tasks entrepreneurs should prioritize to jumpstart their end-of-year accounting:

We’re almost at the end of another year, which means that it’s an excellent opportunity to reflect on our achievements and set goals for the year ahead. If, like many people, you’re hoping to enhance your job prospects in 2019, then strengthening your resume should be at the top of your New Year’s resolutions list.

The process of planning, launching and running your own business is a heady time, full of long hours and exciting challenges. Pure adrenaline, excitement and sometimes lots of caffeine propel new entrepreneurs through hazy days that often run into one another. Some days, it feels as if there isn’t time to breathe, much less reflect.

In this age of constant market evolution and new technology, there is no such thing as a static business that is self-sustaining. The traditional approach of implementing stable and repeatable processes, so that your business can run itself, no longer works. Just ask former big brand companies, like Blockbuster, Kodak, Lehman Brothers, and Sears, what happened to them.

Moguls like Richard Branson and Shaquille O'Neal are asked for advice every day, but they too once sought guidance from more experienced business leaders. Years later, even with all of their accomplishments, certain lessons they were taught early on have stayed with them.

Here, Branson, O'Neal, and other top entrepreneurs and Advisors in The Oracles share the No. 1 piece of advice they received from their mentors.

Image: The Oracles

Corporate investment in research and development appears to produce an inadvertent outcome: employees leaving to start their own entrepreneurial ventures. Those startups, in turn, enjoy a significant advantage in attracting venture capital investments, according to a recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.

If Uber goes public as planned in 2019, nine years and billions of dollars worth of investments will be returned to investors smart enough — or lucky enough — to have made a bet on the company's success.

But some of those investors are luckier than others.

Investors in its most recent round, a $1.25 billion Series G1 led by SoftBank, bought their shares at a $68.33 billion valuation. But it was just nine years ago that Uber raised a $1.57 million seed funding round, which valued the company at $3.86 million.

“If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me,” Banquo beseeches the witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” seeking insight into the future for himself and his closest friend Macbeth.

Biopharma industry watchers, executives, and especially investors often display that same desire as a year comes to a close, which explains why there’s typically a wave of news articles and commentaries attempting to divine events of the coming year based on the 12 months that are coming to a close.

For many new businesses with big dreams, and limited funds, the holy grail and key to making their dreams come to life lies in landing a sponsor.

The barrier to entry however, is high especially for businesses with no track record, or clear value proposition. But there is a pathway to progress, as outlined during a recent panel discussion hosted by C-Suite Coach during their holiday party. Gene C. Waddy, CEO of Diversant LLC an IT staffing company, Amina Cush events manager at Oscar Health, and Lily Doxy, Marketing Manager Verizon.

Happy New Year from Rich Bendis and the Innovation America Team!

We are all aware that the likes of big U.S. cities like Boston, Las Vegas, Miami and San Francisco that boast an endless supply of world-class tourist attractions. But what about the rest of the USA? This is a huge country, the third biggest on our planet in fact, and an incredibly diverse one at that. Without further ado, here’s our top 10 underrated cities for you to add to your travel itineraries.

Go to any conference these days and innovation is almost sure to come up. When it does, you can be just as sure you will see something Steve Jobs said, something Elon Musk did (or plans to do) and some doomsday scenario about how robots will make us all obsolete (if they haven’t already).