Archive for April, 2014

Congratulations to our friend and Advisor, Harry Newton

April 24, 2014

 

General Employment Enterprises, Inc. forms Advisory Committee, names Harry Newton Its  First Member 

NAPERVILLE, IL, April    22, 2014 – General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE MKT: JOB)   (the “Company” or “General Employment”) today is pleased to   announce that the Company has formed an Advisory Committee and named   successful entrepreneur, investor, and financial blogger, Harry Newton, as   its first member.Andrew   Norstrud, Chief Executive Officer of General Employment Enterprises,   commented, “Given current plans for expansion and our estimated growth   trajectory over the next several quarters, it was crucial to augment and   diversify the expertise of our team. The new Advisory Committee will be   comprised of individuals with acumen and know-how that range from general and   specific business knowledge to specific industries, and/or operational   skills which management believes to be critical to the success of   the Company. Harry, our first member of the committee, will focus on marketing   of General Employment’s services to potential customers. The Company is   currently reviewing additional candidates and expects to name more members to   the Advisory Committee shortly”.Harry Newton is an entrepreneur who sold his publishing company in 1997   for north of $130 million. Then he became an investor in, and occasionally   chairman of companies he invested in. His expertise is overall business   strategy, marketing and technology integration. He writes a daily financial   blog called – www.InSearchOfThePerfectInvestment.com.   He is also the author of Newton’s   Telecom Dictionary, a best-selling work now in its 27th   edition.

Newton founded and grew seven monthly   magazines — Call    Center,   Computer Telephony, Imaging, LAN (later changed to Network   Magazine), Teleconnect, Telecom Gear and Technology   Investor. He also founded and grew the immensely successful   conventions/ trade shows Call Center Demo and Computer   Telephony Conference and Exposition, which, in its   last year under his control, attracted 26,000 people. He published over 40   books on networking, imaging, telecommunications and computer telephony. In   September, 1997, Newton   and his partner sold the publishing company to Miller Freeman (soon CMP and   now part of United Business Media).

Newton was also a popular public speaker for the telecommunications,   networking and technology industry and provided consulting services to many   telecommunications companies, including some that were later sold (to   companies including Intel) or successfully went IPO. Newton   has an Economics undergraduate degree from Sydney University, Australia and   an MBA from Harvard    BusinessSchool. Mr.   Newton is a referral from Wellfleet Partners, the Company’s new consulting   and advisory firm and is an investor in General Employment’s recent   financing.

More   information on this release can be found on file with the Securities &   Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov.

About General Employment

General Employment is the successor to employment offices doing business since 1893. It was formally incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1962. The Company now provides staffing services through a network of 22 branch offices located in eleven states. The Company operates in two industry segments, providing permanent professional staffing and light industrial temporary staffing.

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements.  Such forward-looking statements often contain or are prefaced by words such as “will” and “expect.” As a result of a number of factors, the Company’s actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Certain factors that might cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those factors set forth under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements” in the Company’s  annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2013, and in the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The Company is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaims any such obligation to) and does not intend to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

GREENBANK ENGAGES WELLFLEET PARTNERS AS ADVISORS

April 21, 2014

GREENBANK ENGAGES WELLFLEET PARTNERS AS ADVISORS

Toronto, Ontario, April 17, 2014 – GreenBank Capital Inc (CNSX: GBC) (“GreenBank”) announces that it has engaged Wellfleet Partners Inc (“Wellfleet”) as advisors and consultants with respect to fundraising strategies.

Wellfleet is a New York based boutique financial services and consulting firm, which provides small and mid-size emerging private and/or publicly traded growth companies with financial, and strategic advisory services. Wellfleet, through its funds or its managements’ investment banking relationships, engages in a variety of consulting activities related to finance, venture capital, short-term bridge loans, convertibles and related activities. Over the course of 16 years, Wellfleet has advised in over 600 transactions with publicly traded and private companies from around the globe.

“We are delighted to be working with Wellfleet as we seek to strengthen our corporate finances in anticipation of our intended application for a medical marijuana producer license and our proposed commercial medical marijuana growing operations” said Danny Wettreich, CEO of GreenBank.
About GreenBank

GreenBank is a corporate finance investment business investing in Canadian small cap companies. GreenBank’s subsidiary Canada Marijuana Agricorp intends to be a commercial producer of medical marijuana, and GreenBank’s subsidiary Bitcoin Angel Capital is seeking to make investments in early stage Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency companies. For more information please see www.GreenBankCapitalinc.com or contact Danny Wettreich at (647) 931 9768 or dw@GreenBankCapitalinc.com

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business and trading in the common stock of GreenBank Capital Inc. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the company’s management. Although the company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

The CNSX has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the content of this press release

Arava Power-Post Launch Update and Video

April 9, 2014

Arava Power-Post Launch Update and Video

Update on Arava Power Portfolio Company

April 8, 2014

Arava Power Company, responsible for Israel’s first medium-sized solar field, will be launching six such new projects.

Israel’s power grid will receive a boost this week, as 11 new solar power plants go online in the Negev and Arava.

On Monday evening, Arava Power Company – the firm responsible for Israel’s first medium-sized solar field at Kibbutz Ketura – will be launching six such new projects, throughout the Negev and Arava. The following day, EDF Energies Nouvelles (EDFEN), a subsidiary of Electricite de France, will be launching its first five solar fields.

Arava Power’s new fields will generate a total of approximately 36 megawatts worth of electricity, while those of EDF-EN will produce 32 megawatts.

“It’s a wonderful accomplishment for Arava Power Company and the State of Israel that multiple medium-sized fields are being launched simultaneously,” Arava Power co-founder and executive vice-chairman David Rosenblatt told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. “It shows that Israel is at the start of beginning to bring scale to its solar program.”

While Arava’s launch ceremony will be held in the northern Negev’s Kibbutz Shoval, its six new projects are spread throughout the region. One of the six, however, is the 6.4-megawatt Shoval Sun.

At a cost of NIS 88.9m., the field will offset the production of approximately 162,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 20 years, with emission reductions equivalent to the planting of 233,000 trees, according to the company.

Maslul Sun, located at Moshav Maslul in the northwestern Negev, is the largest of the new Arava Power fields at 8.9 megawatts and costs NIS 123.6m. Three of the other projects include a NIS 96.5m., 6.8-megawatt site at Kibbutz Yotvata; a NIS 88.5, 6.4-megawatt facility at Kibbutz Grofit and a NIS 105m., 7-megawatt site at Kibbutz Elifaz – all in the Arava.

The five aforementioned fields included equity investments from Arava Power, the NOY fund, and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael- Jewish National Fund. Arava Power was responsible for development of these sites, while Siemens Israel oversaw engineering procurement construction. Maslul Sun received 80% of its funding in loans from Bank Hapoalim, Migdal insurance, and Amitim pension company.

A sixth, smaller project developed by Arava Power is the 0.45-megawatt Erez Rooftops venture, which is already producing electricity for the grid. All engineering procurement construction for Erez occurred through the firm NEXTCOM.

Arava Power Company launched the country’s first medium-sized solar field, the 4.95-megawatt Ketura Sun, in June 2011, after being founded in 2006 by Rosenblatt, Kibbutz Ketura resident Ed Hofland, and American-Israeli solar entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz.

“It’s really a compliment to the talent in Israel and mission-based business that Arava Power is, that we were able to gather so many talented people to reimagine israel’s solar energy policy,” Rosenblatt said.

For its part, EDF-EN will be launching its five new fields on Tuesday, all in the Negev Desert, and amounting to an approximately NIS 330m. investment in total. The largest of the facilities is an 8.5-megawatt field in Kibbutz Gvulot, located in the northwestern Negev in Eshkol Regional Council.

The other four fields include a 7.8-megawatt site at Kibbutz Mishmar HaNegev, a 6.4-megawatt site at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, a 6-megawatt site at Kibbutz Nahal Oz and a 3.2-megawatt site at Kibbutz Lahav.

In addition to these five fields, which are being connected to the grid this week, EDF-EN also has four other completely constructed facilities that will soon be connected as well, the company said.

These include an 8.8-megawatt site at Kibbutz Bror Hayil, a 10.8-megawatt site at Kibbutz Samar, a 10-megawatt site at Moshav Talmei Eliyahu and a 7-megawatt site at Mitzpe Ramon.

“We believe there is real intrinsic potential for solar energy in Israel,” Ayalon Alain Vaniche, CEO of EDF-EN Israel, told the Post on Monday.

In addition to its solar activities, EDF-EN will over the next year also be focusing its on developing wind energy fort northern Israel. EDF-EN, 85% owned by the French government, first entered Israel in 2009.

While Arava Power and EDF-EN are launching their many solar fields one day after the other, the two companies actually have a long history of working together.

Arava Power remains an investor in three of the EDF-EN fields, including two that will be launched on Tuesday and one of the future sites: Mishmar HaNegev, Kerem Shalom, and Bror Hayil. While Arava now only has a 5% stake in these projects, the company was the initial developer of these projects prior to EDF-EN purchase.

EDF-EN is also a partner in the engineering work and financing of Arava Power’s future 40-megawatt solar field at Kibbutz Ketura, which is in the race to become the country’s first large-scale solar field. The partners have received NIS 250m., or 80% of the project’s total cost, from Bank HaPoalim.

The large field will be ready for grid connection by the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015, Rosenblatt said.

While Rosenblatt stressed that Monday will be “a day of celebration” for Arava Power, there is still much work that needs to be done in Israel’s solar industry, particularly in terms of establishing additional quotas and regulations.

“We would like that scale to grow rapidly for the benefit of Israel and the economic development of the country that it represents,” he said. “We would hope that Israel makes it easier and faster to do the next five, six fields.”

Arava Power, he explained, has a pipeline of projects that extend into double- digits, but these projects are stuck due to lack of government regulation.

Vaniche expressed similar sentiments, adding that EDF-EN too has a series of projects that are simply “waiting for a decision from the regulator.”

“We are all in the same situation, where we have projects in the waiting list for which we have invested hundreds of thousands of shekels,” Vaniche said.

While the Interministerial Committee for Renewable Energy in February approved the transfer of around 300 megawatts worth of renewable energy quotas from other sources to the photovoltaic industry, Rosenblatt said that it is still unclear as to when a decision will occur as to how these new megawatts will be allocated.

“For an industry that has been waiting more than two years at this point for the right to build new fields, it’s a very long time,” he said.

Emphasizing how Israel’s strong sunlight “perfectly matches” the country’s additional energy needs, Vaniche added, “I am just sorry as a citizen that the existing potential and the existing projects are not used as quickly as possible.”