CyberSecurity Announces Root9B Technologies, Inc. for Q1 2016

Posted on January 15, 2016

ANNOUNCING THE CYBERSECURITY 500 LIST FOR Q1 2016

The Definitive List of the World’s Hottest and Most Innovative Cybersecurity Companies

Menlo Park, Calif. – Jan. 15, 2016

Cybersecurity Ventures announces the Q1 2016 edition of the Cybersecurity 500, a global compilation of leading companies who provide cybersecurity solutions and services.

The Cybersecurity 500 is online at www.Cybersecurity500.com

The Cybersecurity industry is growing from $75 Billion in 2015 to $170+ Billion in 2020, according to consolidated estimates by IT research firms and analysts cited in the Cybersecurity Market Report, published quarterly by Cybersecurity Ventures. There are many new entrants as well as M&A, investment and IPO activity, that is constantly changing the vendor and service provider landscape.

The Cybersecurity 500 creates awareness and recognition for the most innovative cybersecurity companies – ranging from the largest and most recognizable brands, to VC backed start-ups and emerging players, to small firms with potentially game-changing technologies, to solution providers poised for growth around productized or vertically focused services.

root9B Tops the List

root9B, a cybersecurity consulting and operational support firm with corporate headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., and regional offices in San Antonio, Texas, New York City, N.Y., and Charlotte, N.C., plus local cyber staff in other regions, is the No. 1 listed company on the Cybersecurity 500 for Q1 2016.

“In 2016, we are placing a greater emphasis on ‘pure play’ cybersecurity firms that focus mainly on advisory, consulting, specialized staffing, and support services” says Steve Morgan, Founder and CEO at Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-In-Chief of the Cybersecurity 500. “root9B brings a rare combination of extensive real-world cyber defense experience, senior level cyber experts with backgrounds protecting U.S. federal agencies and commercial enterprises, deep subject matter expertise in the most important cybersecurity disciplines, a local presence in key U.S. regions with plans and the financial ability to expand into other regions, international exposure, and their own state-of-the-art adversary pursuit center. They have a very well thought out model for proactively hunting down and stopping network intruders for their clients” adds Morgan.

The cybersecurity workforce shortage has resulted in one million job openings in 2016. Pure play cybersecurity firms are providing essential cyber defense talent to small-to-mid sized companies, Fortune 500, and Global 2000 corporations that are struggling to staff up to the cyber threats they are facing.

“We are honored to be recognized as the Cybersecurity 500’s top cyber firm” says Eric Hipkins, CEO at root9B. “This shift of pure play cyber companies clearly documents the requirement for innovative, security-for-a-service companies.” adds Hipkins.

Moving up the List

Companies already on the list who have moved up within the top 25 for Q1 2016 include:

  • IBM Security (Waltham, Mass.) at No. 5
  • Forcepoint (Austin, Texas) at No. 8
  • BT (London, United Kingdom) at No. 10
  • Sophos (Abingdon, United Kingdom) at No. 17
  • IKANOW (Reston, Va.) at No. 19
  • Dell SecureWorks (Atlanta, Ga.) at No. 22
  • Thycotic (Washington, D.C.) at No. 25

Selection Criteria For The Cybersecurity 500

“We continuously look at thousands of companies for inclusion in the Cybersecurity 500, by soliciting feedback from CISOs, IT security practitioners and service providers, and researching hundreds of cybersecurity events and news sources that we follow” says Steve Morgan, founder and CEO at Cybersecurity Ventures, and Editor-In-Chief of the Cybersecurity 500.

Selection Criteria

The selection criteria for the Cybersecurity 500 is subjective and includes some or all of the following when evaluating each company:

  • Cybersecurity Sector (market category)
  • Problem(s) Solved
  • Customer Base
  • Feedback from CISOs and Decision Makers
  • Feedback from IT Security Evaluators & Recommenders
  • Feedback from VARs, SIs and Consultants
  • VC Funding
  • Company Growth
  • Published Product Reviews
  • Demos and Presentations at Conferences
  • Corporate Marketing and Branding
  • Media Coverage
  • Notable Implementations
  • Founder and Management Pedigree
  • Interviews with Senior Management

The Cybersecurity 500 does not rank companies by revenues, employees, or annual growth. “We do not think a list of the largest cybersecurity companies is useful to our target audience of cyber and IT security decision makers, evaluators, and recommenders” says Morgan. “They already know who the biggest vendors are. Instead, we give a nod to the hottest and most innovative companies”.

Searchable Directory

The Cybersecurity 500 is both a list and a keyword-searchable directory. Users can type in a cybersecurity term or acronym i.e. ‘malware’, ‘incident response’, ‘threat management’, ‘encryption’, ‘mobile security’ etc., and then view a list of companies who provide solutions in that category. A link to the corporate website is displayed next to each company that is listed.

“The driving force behind the Cybersecurity 500 was providing something useful to the CISOs and security decision makers, evaluators, and recommenders” said Morgan. “Our compilation lets them search and find specific types of solutions from the most innovative Cybersecurity companies in the industry.”

Quarterly Editions & Monthly Updates

Cybersecurity Ventures publishes a new edition of the Cybersecurity 500 each quarter. The revised quarterly editions have new companies coming on the list, others dropping off, and changes to the listing order, to accurately reflect the current hottest and most innovative companies. There are also monthly updates to the list, with specific market sectors and geographies being reviewed by Cybersecurity Ventures’ editors.

Premium Listings

The Cybersecurity 500 is not a ‘pay-to-play’ list. There is no cost for a company to be listed, and every company on the list has been selected based on merit according to the selection criteria. After a company is selected and listed, there are paid premium listings and advertising opportunities – but that should not be confused with paying to get on the list which is against Cybersecurity Ventures policy. Premium listings are limited to specific positions for each company on a case-by-case basis, based on a range where they qualify to be listed.

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Payment Data Systems (Nasdaq Listed)

Posted on January 15, 2016

mark & nasdaq

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Wellfleet’s Intern Kyle Lieberbaum, Summer 2015, Grandson of Former beloved partners, Shelly Lieberbaum

Posted on June 16, 2015

Lieberbaum & Grandson

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Bobby Blair, Multimedia Platform, Chris Lahiji, LD Micro Conference 2015 President and Our Chairman

Posted on June 3, 2015

Bobby Blair

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Joshua Scheinfeld, Chairman/CEO Lincoln Park at LD Micro Conference 2015

Posted on June 3, 2015

Josh Scheinfeld

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Mike Pruitt, CEO of Chanticleer Holdings, presenting at LD Micro Conference 2015

Posted on June 2, 2015

MIKE PRUITT

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At the LD Micro Conference 2015 in LA with our Chairman Aaron Dobrinsky, CEO of Signal Systems and Advisor to Wellfleet.

Posted on June 2, 2015

LD MICRO

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Carlos Falchi Passes Away

Posted on March 30, 2015
We want to acknowledge the passing of an old Friend, Carlos Falchi. His company was the First Private Placement that  Axel Mehrle & I closed in my career, April 1986 at Emanuel & Co.-Mark I. Lev, esq, Chairman & CEO of Wellfleet Partners, Inc.

Carlos Flachi

IMAGE: GETTY

Legendary handbag designer Carlos Falchi passed away on Friday at the age of 70. During his career, starting in the late 60s and stretching over several decades, the Brazilian-born bag maker’s unique patchwork method garnered attention from some of the industry’s most influential tastemakers, launching him from obscurity to the creator of some of the most coveted bags in fashion. His work has been seen on the arms of such iconic clientele as Jackie O, Tina Turner, Blake Lively, Mary J. Blige and Rihanna.

Falchi’s bags have been sold at retailers like Henri Bendel and Saks Fifth Avenue, and his work has won him accolades from the Independent Handbag Designer Awards (2007), the Accessories Council of America (2004) and more.

The designer has had his share of ups and downs in his career. After enjoying overwhelming popularity in the 80s, Falchi expanded his business too quickly and began to lose money, causing him to shut down his company in the 90s in order to get back on his feet. His label was purchased in 2009 by Windsong Brands LLC and Marvin Traub Associates, who resurrected his line as Falchi Holdings LLC, taking the designer on to once again serve at the helm of his own label.

Falchi will always remain one of the most iconic handbag and accessory makers of his generation and will be forever remembered and sorely missed.

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Congratulations to the Management of General Employment Enterprises, the stock is up 900% since our investment in early 2014

Posted on January 5, 2015

General Employment Enterprises Acquisition of Scribe Solutions Provides Entry into Healthcare Market, Strengthened Balance Sheet, Improved Profitability Plus Visionary and Proven CEO

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE MKT: JOB) (“the Company” or “General Employment”) a provider of specialty staffing services provided an update and additional information regarding its outlook for the remainder of its fiscal year ending 2015 and the acquisition of Scribe Solutions, Inc. (“Scribe”).

Andrew Norstrud, Chief Executive Officer, stated, “As we enter the new year, we wanted to take the time to review the positive changes our Company has initiated and to further outline our objectives as we move into 2015. The recently announced acquisition of Scribe is a milestone and transformational event which provides General Employment entry into a fast growing market sector, significantly enhances our management team, and bolsters our balance sheet. The Company will now have a strong platform upon which to execute an organic and acquisition growth strategy going forward.”

Scribe Acquisition Provides Entry into the Fast Growing Healthcare Staffing Market

Scribe provides General Employment access to the growing healthcare staffing market. The healthcare solutions provider serves the needs of emergency departments (ED) of hospitals, urgent care centers and physician practices and specialty medical clinics.

By way of background, emergency departments are fast paced environments in which ED physicians take multi-tasking to the extreme, and they often find themselves performing data entry and clerical duties. As the emergency room physician takes more and more time to document in the electronic medical record (EMR) he or she spends less time caring for patients. In fact, ED physicians now spend 45 minutes of every hour documenting or performing clerical duties. This results in decreased productivity, decreased patient satisfaction, decreased relative value units (RVUs), decreased turnaround times (TAT) and poor patient care.

Scribe offers emergency department medical scribes to allow the ER physician to spend less time on clerical duties and more time caring for patients. Scribe’s clinical information managers (scribes) provide specific emergency department services to aid doctors in documentation and minimize their clerical duties. Not only does Scribe offer physician assistant (medical scribe) services to emergency departments, but also to busy specialty physician groups and medical clinics. Physicians in these specialty practices and clinics benefit from scribe services by spending less time on charting and more time on providing quality patient care.

In addition, Scribe provides an online and live didactic series designed to develop quality scribes. Scribe’s personnel have an excellent knowledge base and can adapt to any documentation system.  The scribes also perform other services such as tracking labs, transcribing radiology reports and helping physicians organize data.

Acquisition Brings Visionary and Proven CEO

In conjunction with the closing of the Scribe acquisition, anticipated to occur during the Company’s second quarter ending March 31, 2015, Derek Dewan will become Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Andrew Norstrud will resume his duties as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  Derek is an industry visionary and former Chairman and CEO of MPS Group, Inc. (MPS). After taking MPS Group’s predecessor AccuStaff Incorporated public in 1994 and subsequent successful follow on stock offerings of $110 million and $370 million, Mr. Dewan led the organization to a prestigious ranking in the Fortune 1000 and inclusion in the Standard and Poors (S&P) Mid-Cap 400. Through significant organic growth and strategic acquisitions, MPS became a world-class, global and multi-billion dollar staffing services provider. MPS Group grew to include a vast network of offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, including providing services to customers in Asia and Australia. MPS Group experienced many years of continued success during Mr. Dewan’s tenure. The company or its predecessor was on the Wall Street Journal’s “top performing stock list” for three consecutive years.  In 2009, Mr. Dewan was instrumental in the sale of MPS Group to the largest staffing company in the world, Adecco Group, for $1.3 billion. General Employment’s current CEO, Andrew Norstrud, commented, “I am looking forward to working with Derek as we enter 2015. His staffing industry expertise and business acumen will assist our Company to significantly accelerate the implementation of our internal and acquisition growth strategy and help us in the execution of our plan to achieve improved profitability.”

Enhanced Revenue, Profitability and Significantly Strengthened Balance Sheet

With the anticipated closing of General Employment’s previously announced preferred stock financing and the pending closing of the Scribe acquisition, the Company, on a pro-forma basis, will have more than $1.7 million in positive working capital and shareholder’s equity of more than $10 million. After consummation of these transactions, on a pro-forma basis, General Employment will have a debt to equity ratio of approximately .3 and a quick ratio of approximately 1. After completion of the aforementioned transactions, the Company will have a very strong balance sheet which can be used to execute its business plan. On a pro forma consolidated basis, revenue for the year ended September 30, 2014 would have been $43.5 million and the combined company would have reported income from operations of approximately $57,000 versus an actual loss from operations of $641,000 for General Employment. Andrew Norstrud added, “With strong gross margins and the expectation of general and administrative expenses continuing to decrease, the 2015 fiscal year has great potential to be a breakout year for the Company.”

Positioned for Future Growth

With an enhanced set of service offerings, an improved management team and fortified balance sheet, the Company is well positioned to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions.

The staffing industry has more than $100 billion in annual sales and is expected to grow at a rate greater than 10% per year.  This outlook is only expected to improve with anticipated additional governmental regulation, such as the new health care requirements and as companies increase their use of staffing companies to augment their human resource requirements.

General Employment is focused on select attractive market verticals. Targeted for growth by the Company are the professional services staffing segments in information technology, engineering, legal, accounting and healthcare. The Scribe acquisition accelerates our entry into the growing healthcare staffing space.  Furthermore, there is a severe shortage of IT workers in the U.S., and the maturing engineering workforce means new engineers will be aggressively sought.

In the field of light industrial staffing, the Company is focused on manufacturing, construction and logistics.  Manufacturing staffing is a core vertical for General Employment and the U.S. is benefiting from the sustained “Made in America” renaissance.  An additional opportunity exists in the logistics vertical driven by just-in-time production and the need for flexible work forces as well as warehouse expansion due to ecommerce growth; this will lead to further growth in the light industrial division.

Acquisitions will play an important role in General Employment’s growth strategy. The Company is well positioned to leverage its cost structure and grow by acquiring other staffing companies.

General Employment will seek to acquire companies that (i) are cash flow positive and are accretive to the Company’s net income, (ii) provide additional services to sell through our current infrastructure, (iii) strategically align with our culture, and (iv) provide or align with core technology, infrastructure and management.   Additionally, the Company will seek to expand its geographic footprint.

About General Employment Enterprises, Inc.

General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1962 and is the successor to employment offices doing business since 1893.  The Company provides staffing services through a network of offices located in the United States. The Company operates in two industry segments, providing professional staffing services and solutions and light industrial staffing services through the names of General Employment, Ashley Ellis, Triad and Omni-One.

About Scribe Solutions, Inc.

Scribe Solutions was formed in 2008 to meet the demands that physicians face with overcrowded waiting rooms, and to overcome the challenges presented by electronic medical records (EMR), and the rising cost of quality patient care. By providing physicians with personal assistants (medical scribes), Scribe offers turnkey programs where it recruits, qualifies, hires, and trains resources to serve as scribes at sites across the United States, and alleviates the burden of documentation and clerical duties. Scribe Solutions has developed a low cost staffing solution that improves productivity by providing scribe programs to emergency departments, physician practices, and outpatient and inpatient facilities.

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.

SOURCE General Employment Enterprises, Inc.

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General Employment Enterprises to Acquire Scribe Solutions, Inc.; Former CEO of MPS Group to be Appointed Chairman & CEO

Posted on December 16, 2014

General Employment Enterprises to Acquire Scribe Solutions, Inc.; Former CEO of MPS Group to be Appointed Chairman and CEO

 

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Dec. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ – General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE MKT: JOB) (“the Company” or

“General Employment”) a provider of specialty staffing services today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Scribe Solutions, Inc. (“Scribe”), whereby General Employment will issue Series A Convertible Preferred Stock of the Company in exchange for one hundred percent of Scribe Solutions’ common stock. Under terms of the agreement, the exchange ratio is based on Scribe having a value between $6.4 and $7.9 million as determined by an independent appraisal firm. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of each Company and a majority of their respective shareholders. Upon completion of this transaction, Scribe Solutions, Inc. will become a wholly owned subsidiary of General Employment Enterprises, Inc. The stock exchange agreement is subject to certain regulatory and other approvals. Closing of the acquisition is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2015. After consummation of the transaction, Andrew Norstrud, current Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will continue as Chief Financial Officer of General Employment. Derek Dewan, current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Scribe Solutions, Inc. will become Chairman and CEO of General Employment. Mr. Dewan was previously Chairman and CEO of MPS Group, Inc. In January 1994, Mr. Dewan joined AccuStaff Incorporated, MPS Group’s predecessor, as President and Chief Executive Officer, and took that company public in August 1994. Under Mr. Dewan’s leadership the company became a Fortune 1000 world-class, global multi-billion dollar staffing services provider, through significant organic growth and strategic acquisitions. MPS Group grew to include a vast network of offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Asia and Australia. MPS Group experienced many years of continued success during Mr. Dewan’s tenure and he led successful secondary stock offerings of $110 million and $370 million. The company was on the Wall Street Journal’s “top performing stock list” for three consecutive years. In 2009, Mr. Dewan was instrumental in the sale of MPS Group to the largest staffing company in the world, Adecco Group, for $1.3 billion. Andrew Norstrud commented, “The acquisition of Scribe brings to General Employment sustained profitability, one of the best CEOs in the industry and entry into the growing healthcare staffing market. With the addition of Derek’s expertise, we will accelerate our efforts to build out the Company’s service offerings in the professional and other staffing segments. In particular, I am excited about the Company’s entry into the higher margin and fast growing healthcare staffing market. Additionally, I am looking forward to working with Derek; his extensive experience in the staffing industry will be key in propelling our organic growth and leading a strategic acquisition strategy. We welcome the entire Scribe team to the General Employment family.” Derek Dewan added, “I am thrilled to become a part of General Employment, a pioneer in the staffing industry. Having been in operation since 1893, the Company has a reputation for outstanding customer service and I look forward to continuing that legacy.” Dewan continued, “Andrew and the hardworking employees have achieved much success in building a great staffing company which will serve as the foundation and platform for General Employment to execute its strategy. The Company is well positioned to increase its breadth and depth of service offerings, fuel internal growth, and acquire the best operating companies in the staffing industry. I look forward to assisting General Employment in achieving its strategic goals and increasing shareholder value.” Mary Claire Menze founded Scribe Solutions in 2008, and she will assume her previous role as President of Scribe, following the completion of the acquisition.

About General Employment Enterprises, Inc.

General Employment Enterprises, Inc. (the “Company”) was incorporated in the State of Illinois in 1962 and is the successor to employment offices doing business since 1893. The Company provides staffing services through a network of offices located in the United States. The Company operates in two industry segments, providing professional staffing services and solutions and light industrial staffing services through the names of General Employment, Ashley Ellis, Triad and Omni-One.

About Scribe Solutions, Inc.

Scribe Solutions was formed in 2008 to meet the demands that physicians face with overcrowded waiting rooms, and to overcome the challenges presented by electronic medical records (EMR), and the rising cost of quality patient care. By providing physicians with personal assistants (medical scribes), Scribe offers turnkey programs where it recruits, qualifies, hires, and trains resources to serve as scribes at sites across the United States, and alleviates the burden of documentation and clerical duties. Scribe Solutions has developed a low cost staffing solution that improves productivity by providing scribe programs to emergency departments, physician practices, and outpatient and inpatient facilities.

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.

 

CONTACT: Andrew J. Norstrud, Chief Executive Officer, Phone: (813) 803-8275, andrew.norstrud@genp.com;

John Nesbett/Jennifer Belodeau, Institutional Marketing Services (IMS), Phone: 203.972.9200, jnesbett@institutionalms.com

 

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