Skywalker Roofing voted BEST Roofing Contractor in Rockingham County NC

That’s right, the readers of Rockingham Now have cast their votes, and the winner of the 2020 Readers’ Choice Award for BEST Roofing Contractor is none other than Skywalker Roofing!

Over 105,000 votes were cast in this year’s contest, making it the largest participant pool ever. Readers of Rockingham Now had the opportunity to vote for their favorite businesses and organizations among a number of categories, including Eats, Drinks & Treats, Entertainment/Arts & Culture, Financial, Health, Beauty & Fitness, Pet Picks, Professional Services & Shopping, and Wheels & Deals. Skywalker Roofing was honored to garner the most votes in the Roofing Contractors entry of the Professional Services & Shopping category for 2020. In fact, this is now the 5th year in a row that Skywalker Roofing has been chosen as the best roofer in Rockingham County!

While Skywalker’s main office is located in Stokesdale, this isn’t the only area we serve. Our service area has now expanded to include the entire Piedmont Triad, the Piedmont Triangle, the Charlotte Metro/Lake Norman region, and the Roanoke, VA area. That being the case, you might assume that an award based solely in Rockingham County wouldn’t necessarily matter a whole lot to us.

But if you make that assumption, you’d be wrong! For the team at Skywalker, we consider it a pretty high honor to be voted for this award. Why? Because Rockingham County is home base for us!

This is a tight-knit community where folks really know one another. While Skywalker serves clients across most of North Carolina and southwestern Virginia, at the end of the day Stokesdale is where we live and work. To be tapped by the folks who know us best as the preferred roofing contractor for our local area is really one of the highest accolades we could ever hope to receive!

At Skywalker, we do more than just providing the best roofing, windows, siding, and other valuable improvement services for homeowners and businesses alike. We’re really all about helping people, making personal connections with our customers & clients, and working to help benefit the communities in which we serve. We conduct business in an intentionally impactful way by following these three essential Skywalker Roofing Core Values: Servant Hearts, Integrity, and Endless Pursuit of Excellence.

Ready to learn more about what Skywalker can do for you in NC or VA? You can check out our Roofing site at www.skywalkerroofingnc.com, and you can also check out our Windows & Siding site at www.skywalkerwindowsandsiding.com. Want to start a conversation with us?

To see our Rockingham Now 2020 Readers’ Choice award, you can head over to:
https://greensboro.com/rockingham_now/special_sections/readers-choice/page-021/page_56cfb472-8239-5aeb-b6ad-ffd67c8ef85d.html?

The Financial and personal benefits of Filing a Marital Separation Agreement

14 Sep 2020, USA

Legal separation is quite different as it is perceived to be. It is a challenging, emotionally draining decision. Through this process, the marriage is ended with the intervention of the official court.

Marital Separation Agreement puts to an end few obligations and may create many others at the same time. As you may be knowing, Kentucky is a ‘no-fault’ state; thus, no one is brave for breaking down a marriage. One must have valid reasons to believe that there is no scope of reconciliation in the marriage, and the relationship has suffered permanent damage.

Defined:

A legal separation agreement is a written deal filed with the court to addresses the rights and responsibilities of a married couple once they decide to live apart. Matters that can be addressed by the court during the process of separation include:

• Child custody and support
• Division of assets and debts,
• Visit schedules
• Alimony, etc.

Almost all the counties in the United States validate and justify a legal separation agreement except for the states of Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Here are the other Legal Requirements needed to fill a Legal Separation Agreement Form:

• One of the spouses needs to be a resident of the concerned county for at least six months or 180 days before filing a petition.
• Wife can’t be pregnant. If she is, the Separation Agreement can only be filed after the child has taken birth or the lady is in the last months of her pregnancy.

These requirements can, though, be avoided by using affidavits.

Far from the truth, and legal separation is entirely different and can have various kind of benefits for the partners. The prime concern is that you wish to have a legal separation that can protect you in case your spouse fails to fulfil their obligations as stated in the agreement. The agreement can be held in the court of law and enforced. Apart from peace of mind, there are a few financial benefits of a legal separation agreement that will protect you as well.

Tax Advantage while paying Spousal Support: If you have been ordered by the court to pay spousal support, you can claim a deduction during taxation. This only implies if the payments are part of the legal separation agreement.

Some Marital Benefits Retained: A legal separation agreement retains certain marital benefits. In a legal separation agreement, written consent can be mentioned to continue benefits like health insurance plans, etc. Also, you can file taxes with a marital status instead of single.

The Financial Obligations are Outlined: Who pays for what can be outlined in the legal separation agreement if you lived in your home with your spouse. A legal separation agreement lets you outline the responsibilities of each partner towards every portion of the home to keep it maintained.

The functioning of Joint Accounts Clearly Stated: For couples having joint checking, savings, and credit accounts, a legal separation agreement defines if both spouses can have access to any joint accounts. The court orders may require to close all joint bank accounts. All issues related to monetary expenditures and financial responsibilities are well outlined to protect both parties’ interests.

Apart from these financial benefits, as the definition of legal separation suggests, the couple lives separately while not breaking threads of marriage. There can be many reasons for a couple to do this. Either way, there are personal advantages to legal separation too. It opens doors to constraints for co-parenting, child support, and spousal support.

Another incomprehensible potential benefit of legal separation is that it allows separation between partners in a quicker way than divorce, which can be a periodically lengthy and emotionally tiring procedure.

While a divorce, the couple need to wait for the statutory period set by the court of law for marital status termination. Legal separation can cut short those sore times and have you and your spouse separated smoothly as compared to a traditional divorce.

Sankalp Successfully Appraised at CMMI Maturity Level 3

Software Development, including mobile app development, covers various projects, ranging from creating universal apps to custom apps that are complex and take a longer time. Similarly, it includes quick software projects that can be handled by one developer and delivered within a week's time. Then there are sophisticated software projects that go on for months that require big and dedicated teams for development, testing, and service delivery.

There are many companies out there that offer software development. It becomes difficult for a potential customer to know whether the software development company is the right one for their organization. Looking at the experience or testimonials might not be enough for potential customers to choose the right developer. This is where the CMMI Maturity Level 3 certification could be handy in finalizing the right software developer. 

Let's delve deep into details of CMMI Maturity Level 3 and the benefits of doing business with a company that has been appraised at CMMI level 3.

Let's understand CMMI

CMMI stands for "Capability Maturity Model Integration" and is a model that offers evaluation and training for process improvement in organizations. CMMI was first conceptualized by Software Engineering Institute (SEI). It happened as a result of research into organizations that consistently delivered quality software within the stipulated timeframe and the approved budget. 

SEI studied the companies that did very well in timely software delivery against the ones that fared poorly in the same parameters. SEI began documenting their findings shared by the top-performing companies, which eventually became the benchmark for CMMI. SEI also began offering training on how to become a top-performing company with well-defined goals for the purpose.

CMMI can help improve a person's capability, a department, a particular project, and the whole company.

Let's talk about CMMI-DEV

There are three models of CMMI:

  • Services (CMMI-SVC)
  • Acquisition (CMMI-ACQ)
  • Development (CMMI-DEV)

While the CMMI-SVC model gives direction to companies that provide services within their organization and to external customers, the CMMI-ACQ model lends guidance to companies and their leadership teams to make informed acquisitions.

The CMMI-DEV model is used for process improvement in organizations that develop products, such as Sankalp. CMMI for development contains best practices covering entire customer life cycle management project management, which includes all the facets of product development ranging from process management to software development to service delivery and maintenance.

The practices of CMMI-DEV are suitable for wide-ranging industries, including product and service development. They provide standardization of all the processes against which the company can compare itself. When a company is said to be appraised at CMMI for Development, it means the same has been thoroughly trained, evaluated, and assessed in product and service development.

A company needs to meet all the parameters for the level to be appraised. For example, for Maturity Level 3 (ML 3) in CMMI-DEV, Sankalp met all the below-mentioned process areas:

  • Decision Analysis and Resolution (DAR)
  • Integrated Project Management (IPM)
  • Organizational Process Definition (OPD)
  • Organizational Process Focus (OPF)
  • Organizational Training (OT)
  • Product Integration (RD)
  • Requirements Development (RD)
  • Risk Management (RSKM)
  • Technical Solution (TS)
  • Validation (VAL)
  • Verification (VER)

Sankalp having being appraised CMMI-DEV (v1.3) Maturity Level 3, means that as a company, we adhere to the detailed process guidelines of ML2 and ML3. This means we use the CMMI best practices for product and service development throughout the customer life cycle.

Guarantee for Customer Delight

Corporate Quality Certification brings pride and adds to the responsibility of delivering uncompromising quality to the customers, something Sankalp has been doing for around two decades now. The company has achieved great success in providing excellent customer service to its clients. The company also provides training to its employees on how they can improve their performance.  

  • After this certification, the customers can look forward to:
  • Further improvement in quality throughout the project lifecycle.
  • More value for money.
  • A thorough evaluation of various approaches for a given project and choosing the best of the lot.
  • A review of customer feedback and proactive steps to eradicate the chances of any forecasted issues.

What the certification means to Sankalp

The certification is a reassurance for the cutting-edge processes that they follow at each step. This certificate will inspire them to re-dedicate themselves to the utmost quality and performance improvement to delight the customers at each stage of the project. 

As a team, they are determined to get better in everything they do. Which means:

  • More defined processes.
  • Process adherence at every stage without a compromise.
  • Higher predictability for consistent quality in projects of all sizes.
  • High quality at every step.
  • Lessened re-works.
  • Decreased turnaround time.

Benefits of doing business with a company that has been appraised for CMMI

When you do business with a company that has been evaluated for CMMI, you have many benefits:

  • Assurance of quality products.
  • Predictable and realistic service delivery timelines.
  • Best value for money.
  • A thorough evaluation of each project and advising the best option.
  • Reduced instances of customer issues as the company proactively works to reduce the probable problems.

Tasha Schuh Receives Prestigious SAVE Certification on Mental Health Curriculum

Tasha Schuh – Speaker, Author, and Resilience Expert – Receives
Prestigious SAVE Certification on Mental Health Curriculum

 

(WISCONSIN) September 2020 – Tasha Schuh, who specializes in building resilience for mental and emotional health, recently received the SAVE Certification on her PATH Curriculum. This curriculum is designed for educators to teach in grades 6-12 in online, in-person, or hybrid learning environments. It is a complete resource on mental health, suicide awareness, and social-emotional learning.

This certification recognizes prevention-focused public messages on the topic of suicide. Certified materials meet or exceed evidence-informed best practices and standards. Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE) is a leading organization dedicated to the prevention of suicide.

Jennifer Owens, Program Manager for SAVE, had this to say about the PATH Curriculum and Tasha’s dedication to bringing mental health education to schools nationwide:

“We are very pleased to see you did your homework on how to safely talk about suicide – especially with such a vulnerable age group. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to this topic and beyond. Resilience needs to be taught and your curriculum does a great job in introducing the topic and giving real tools to prepare for and overcome life's inevitable adversities.”

In addition to her work on this critical curriculum, Tasha is an in-demand speaker who delivers a powerful message to schools, youth conferences, and other organizations across the nation. Her keynote message also received the SAVE Certification, earlier this summer.

According to SAVE.org, “Certification distinguishes suicide prevention messages that have been rigorously tested for safety from other suicide prevention communications that may contain harmful content for someone at risk of suicide. Safe messages matter. In an age of advanced communication technologies where pictures, news and videos spread rapidly, how we communicate about suicide and the content of our messages matter. Although safe messaging is only one component of a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention, it’s one of the most important measures messengers can take when talking publicly about suicide or suicide prevention.”

Tasha is currently booking speaking engagements for the 2020/2021 school year. With the COVID-19 pandemic placing many restrictions on schools, she has designed hybrid presentation options to meet each organization’s specific needs. The PATH Curriculum is also available for sale at www.tashaschuh.com and can be taught by any teacher, whether the classroom is online, in-person, or a hybrid model.

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About Tasha Schuh

After a tragic theater accident left her paralyzed from the chest down, Tasha discovered valuable lessons that resonate with audiences of all demographics. Since 2007, she has been traveling across the country, inspiring and challenging her listeners to overcome and persevere, no matter what life throws their way. In 2020, Tasha released a six-lesson curriculum designed for teachers to use in grades 6-12. Learn more at www.tashaschuh.com.

ADOPTED COUSIN OF BLACK LOS ANGELES DODGERS COACH TO PRODUCE PERIOD FILM ABOUT LATE WHITE ACTIVIST AUNT

Dan Danielson and NAACP President of Stamford, CT, Guy Fortt team up to honor late civil/women’s rights activist, Posy Lombard Black Privilege. White Power. is inspired by the life of Posy Lombard, a young affluent white Smith college student from Massachusetts whose courage and dedication helped SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and the Freedom Riders in the deep south during the Civil Rights Movement.
 
The film is in pre-production, under DFC MEDIA GROUP LLC. However, the screenplay received excellent reviews on Blacklist Hollywood and was a finalist in the Big Apple Film Festival Los Angeles earlier this year. The piece is written and directed by Lombard's nephew, Daniel Danielson, who’s also Black, and the adopted son of Posy’s older sister, Esther Lombard Danielson.
 
Black Privilege. White Power. explores themes of political justice, friendship, love, loss, and integrity in a period setting. During her time at Smith College, Lombard traveled deep into the southern states of Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, during the 1960’s, oftentimes coming face to face with the KKK and the law, to organize and participate in protests. Lombard marched alongside many civil rights icons, including John Lewis and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights hero, voting and women's rights activist, is the other lead role in the film. Lombard worked closely with Hamer during Freedom Summer and played a significant role in securing the entrance for Hamer at the 1964 Democratic Convention, where Hamer would deliver a historical speech describing voter suppression and subjugation.
 
As co-executive producer and consultant, Guy Fortt, believes the story will resonate with today's youth. Fortt adds “...in the story, the fight for racial justice was met by major opposition, and those who looked like Posy who stood up, were met with great divide. The 2020's uprisings resemble those of 1919, 1943, and 1968 in certain respects - they grow out of simmering hatreds seeded by the long festering history of White violence and police brutality against African Americans.”
Posy Lombard’s three children Matthew, a Los Angeles attorney, Rosemary, managing director at the Center of Mind-Body Medicine, and George first base coach of the Los Angeles’ Dodgers are proud their mother’s story is being told, especially during this time. George Lombard reflects, “Doing the things she did, when it was unheard of for a lot of people at the age of 22, going to Selma, going to Montgomery, going to Atlanta and during those tough times, standing up for rights when she wasn't even African American...it's powerful.” “She just wanted everyone to be treated equally. Where would we be without people like my mother?”
 
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About DFC Media Group DFC Media Group is an independent media production company founded by Daniel Danielson and Josephine Webb. The dynamic duo husband and wife team cross multiple platforms to create and share dynamic stories with passion and cinematic flare. Side by side, the couple continues to show that it takes a special brand to create the quintessential project.
 

Daniel