A Kentucky city partnered with eBridge to purchase their road salt in preparation for the winter months. eBridge ran this same bid last year and the city knew the reverse auction process was necessary for their city to purchase the salt at a competitive price point.
eBridge’s team of purchasing professionals sourced suppliers for this bid, with four being chosen by the city to participate.
During the bidding event, a total of 160 bids were placed among the four suppliers, resulting in 80 first place turnovers and 59 extension of the clock, indicating the suppliers were ready to compete for this business.
At the conclusion of the bid, the city had realized a 10% savings versus last year’s pricing, indicating that while they purchased competitively last year through the reverse auction, they achieved true market value for their purchase for both this year and last.
Brings Fortune 500 executive experience and innovation to leadership team
Louisville, KY- September 27, 2010– eBridge Business Solutions, a leader in fully managed business solutions and recently named one of American’s fastest growing companies by Inc Magazine for 2010, today announced the formation of the Board of Directors.
Members include James Headlee, Gregg Dedrick, Neil Ramsey and Miguel A. de Jesus. The formation of the board comes after the development of the eBridge brand and explosive growth through their cost reduction strategies including reverse auction solutions and the addition of two new services, managed merchant card processing and web based payroll.
“Forming a Board of Directors with this caliber of seasoned professionals ensures the company will continue to benefit from a diversity of knowledge and opinions. Because of their strong leadership skills, extensive management experience, and proven track records, they make an excellent team to lead eBridge,” said Steve Lewis, President.
About the Board
James Headlee is eBridge’s Chief Executive Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the strategy and direction of the company. Jim leverages 25 years of experience in procurement strategies, negotiation and consulting to bring foresight and depth to the eBridge Board of Directors. Prior to eBridge, as the founder and CEO of Summit Energy, Jim spent 17 years leading the organization’s explosive growth, developing energy solutions for Fortune 500 companies and employing more than 325 staff members across seven international offices.
Gregg Dedrick is co-founder of Whole Strategies, an organizational consulting firm. Prior to Whole Strategies, Gregg was President and Chief Concept Officer at KFC where he led the development of the company’s grilled chicken product. Gregg has held senior executive positions at KFC, Yum Brands, Pepsi-Cola and Pizza Hut and brings nearly 30 years of experience in operations and organizational resource planning.
Neil Ramsey is President and Chief Executive Officer of Ramsey Quantitative Systems, Inc. (RQSI), a Louisville, Kentucky-based private investment firm. Neil is primarily responsible for the leadership of quantitative strategies development and providing strategic direction for RQSI. Prior to forming RQSI, he was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group where he worked with both domestic and foreign multi-nationals in developing corporate strategies.
Miguel A. de Jesus is a highly accomplished, results-oriented senior-level leader with more than 20 years experience leading business management and development, and global sales and marketing with two Fortune 500 companies. Miguel is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC)- an ICF accredited program from the College of Executive Coaching. He is also an MBA business consultant and executive level business and career coach, dedicated to helping others achieve greater traction in the direction of their dreams.
About eBridge
eBridge Business Solutions, LLC provides fully managed cost reduction strategies including reverse auction procurement, managed merchant card and web based payroll services. eBridge was recently named one of America’s fastest growing companies by Inc Magazine.
Louisville, KY- September 13, 2010- eBridge Business Solutions, a leading provider in outsourced purchasing solutions, today announced the promotion of Stephen Lewis to President. Lewis will be responsible for developing the overall strategic business initiatives and growth strategy for eBridge Business Solutions. He will also be responsible for developing and overseeing eBridge’s marketing and brand strategy and sales force across the country.
Lewis first joined eBridge in February 2010 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, where he helped develop eBridge’s go-to-market strategy and implementation of additional services including web based payroll and managed merchant card services. Lewis has also laid the foundation for recruiting top tier sales professionals and a rigorous training program.
Stephen has brought leadership and innovation to eBridge,” said James Headlee, CEO, “Because of his background and experience we have added additional services and been able to attract a top tier sales force in the market today.”
“I look forward to continuing to provide value and leadership to eBridge customers and team members in this new role through our robust product offering that delivers measurable results,” said Lewis.
Brings proven record of sales development and training experience
Louisville, KY- September 7, 2010- eBridge Business Solutions, a leading provider in outsourced purchasing solutions, today announced a new Vice President of Sales, Matt McGeary. McGeary joins eBridge in a leadership, training and management role for development and execution for sales efforts.
McGeary is an experienced sales leader, bringing 10 years of sales development and training experience to the eBridge team. McGeary first joined eBridge in March 2010, serving a business development representative in the Chicago area.
“Matt’s background and proven skill set in training and inspiring sales teams make him a vital part of our sales expansion and growth,” said eBridge CEO Jim Headlee.
Prior to eBridge, he served as a district sales manager for Paychex, where he was tasked with increasing revenue production for two districts with a history of under achievement. McGeary has developed multiple strategic selling and training programs that helped produce over 50% revenue growth for his territories.
“The market needs our services,” said McGeary, “And with the proven leadership team and value of our product offering this company is poised for success. I am thrilled about joining eBridge and leading our sales efforts with this group of seasoned professionals.”
A large hospital system enlisted the expertise of eBridge Business Solutions to purchase new, state of the art radiology equipment for one of their hospitals, utilizing the reverse auction process. The purchase included four line items along with installation costs.
eBridge sourced five suppliers to participate in the event.
During the course of the bid, the five suppliers placed a total of 52 bids. The final low bids were 30% below the hospitals’ budget amount for this purchase and are poised to run several auctions for additional equipment before the end of the year.
eBridge purchasing professionals provided guidance to the hospitals’ purchasing staff throughout the process. With the expertise and strong partnership with the innovative team of purchasers at the hospital, the event was a success and delivered bottom line savings to the hospital organization.
The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, also known as the “jobs bill,” is a plan to create jobs by providing a temporary tax break to companies that hire the unemployed. The bill also extends federal highway programs through the end of the year.
Below is some additional information about the bill and what you need to know as an employer. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Jacquelyn Campbell at 502-491-1980.
Click here to view the entire Act from the IRS’ website.
Fill out and print the Form W-11: HIRE Act Employee Affidavit.
National Payroll Week celebrates the hard work by America’s 156 million wage earners and the payroll professionals who pay them. Together, through the payroll withholding system, they contribute, collect, report and deposit approximately $1.7 trillion, or 71.9%, of the annual revenue of the U.S. Treasury.
As a payroll provider, eBridge recognizes that payroll has evolved into a commodity based solutions and we have structured our payroll service to provide all the features and functionality to effectively pay your employees at a very competitive price point. Whether you pay one employee or 1,000 employees, we can help you maximize your payroll system capabilities with a personalized implementation plan.
Below is a link to the National Payroll Week website, where you can find excellent resources and extensive information about the payroll industry.
http://www.nationalpayrollweek.com/index.cfm
For the second year in a row eBridge Business Solutions partnered with a midwestern city to purchase three new dump trucks. eBridge ran this same event last year with many of the same suppliers participating.
During the 2010 event, four suppliers competed for the three dump trucks. The four suppliers placed 19 total bids, with first place changing hands 10 times. At the conclusion of the event, first and second place suppliers were separted by a mere 0.17% between the two, indicating that true market value had been found for dump trucks in 2010.
In 2009, the total for three trucks came in at approximately $267,000 and in 2010 the final bid came in at approximately $290,000. Although the trucks came in at $23,000 higher than in 2009, the reverse auction process helped the organization achieve true market value at the current point in time for their purchase.
This event is a prime example of what the reverse auction process ultimately does: finds true market value.
eBridge Business Solutions provides leadership in helping our customers operate more efficiently and profitably. We promise to do what we say we will do to achieve remarkable results- like we did today and always!
Nicholas Cucci of Network Merchants Inc, writes and excellent article about the latest trends in credit card fraud. Even Google Inc has recently be a victim, so be sure to check out the entire article so you can protect your organization from fraud.
Financial fraud is a large business domestically and internationally. It accounts for more than $200 billion in losses each year in the United States alone, according to Symantec Corp., a provider of information security software and services.
The number of fraudsters has grown exponentially within the last five years, and they have become more sophisticated in how they steal and sell credit card information.
The buying and selling of credit card information has become so widespread that the British Broadcasting Corp. reported that U.K. credit card information is now for sale in India.
According to the BBC, a man named Saurabh Sachar told two undercover BBC reporters in Delhi that he could supply them with hundreds of credit and debit cards each week at $10 USD per card.
He claimed to have obtained the card data from call centers handling mobile phone sales and payments for phone bills and hotels. After receiving sample credit card numbers, the BBC reporters found they were valid.
Understanding fraud techniques
A powerful way for the payments industry to fight back is to understand how fraudsters work. One technique described by First Data Corp. is the use of fraud forums. These are highly popular web-based forums dedicated to individuals and groups that perpetrate fraud and provide a convenient way for them to exchange stolen information.
People looking for stolen data or interested in stealing and selling data themselves need only create a username and password on these websites to gain access to the goods. The sites provide how-to guides and even specialized venues for specific countries or regions. I was able to find within minutes people willing to sell malware to obtain information illegally for $35 to $500 USD.
No fraudulent act is complete until a “cash-out” on the stolen data occurs. This is when the “cashiers” and “money mules” come into play. They are available for hire to act as intermediaries in converting information into true currency. There’s even another business inside of this business; the fraudsters basically have their own fraud-support teams.
Intermediaries will transfer funds from stolen accounts into legitimate currency for a commission on the amount transferred and, for a nominal fee, will even help validate cardholder verification value code numbers against their corresponding credit card numbers and expiration dates. You can even request a cashier’s check for a specific location, nationality or gender to match the identity of the victim to minimize suspicion when withdrawing funds. The sophistication with which fraudsters conduct their business is unbelievable.
With technology advancing daily, it simply cannot be stressed enough that today’s criminals are more adept and organized than ever. We need to continuously evolve our methods to keep ahead of the fraudsters.
People from all walks of the payments industry need to understand that fraud is still a two-step process for the perpetrators. The first step is stealing the data; the second is converting the data into money through various means. Following are the current top five fraud trends, based on information I gathered from Symantec, the Internet Crime Complaint Center and First Data Corp.
Malware attacks
Malware is short for “malicious software” that is designed to gain access to, and potentially damage, the victim’s computer without the victim’s knowledge. In 2009 the number of attacks was 10 times greater than in 2008. Most malware attacks today are intended for financial gain.
Malware escapes detection while collecting and transmitting sensitive data such as users’ bank account information, passwords and card details.
Criminal hackers create new malware Trojans daily, exploiting new vulnerabilities before they can be detected and fixed. Keeping your anti-virus software up to date gives you the upper hand. Vulnerabilities are usually found in out-of-date virus detection systems.
Advanced phishing, SMSishing and whaling
Pretending to be a trustworthy entity such as a bank or credit card company, phishers send out emails and instant messages that prompt users to send sensitive information to confirm they are the actual owners of the accounts. Phishers even send out text messages now, too – a practice called SMSishing.
Whaling in the fraud world occurs when high-worth accounts are targeted. Usually this is through social networking sites such as LinkedIn and even Facebook. Whalers target profiles with certain descriptors, such as vice president, chief executive officer, chief financial officer and so forth.
Google was recently hacked via a PDF file sent to its executives that, when opened, caused a vulnerability on each user’s computer so hackers in China were able to grab information. Google believes the hack stemmed from, or was at least approved by, the Chinese government, but the company cannot prove with 100 percent certainty the Chinese government’s involvement.
Phishing can happen to anyone; according to Gizmodo.com, the key is to always stay on top of everything and delete, without opening, any file that you do not completely recognize.
ATM skimming
In this type of fraud, skimmer devices are placed directly over the slot where customers swipe their cards to get cash from an ATM. The skimmer reads and stores sensitive personal information kept on the bankcard’s magnetic stripe. The skimmers are so small that authorities have a hard time finding them. Skimming has been around since the early 90s.
SQL injections
SQL stands for structured query language, a language used for database programming. Hackers inject SQL into web forms containing login fields or browser addresses to access and manipulate the database being utilized by the site or system. These attacks allow criminals to access restricted data, such as credit card details and PIN data. This is becoming a more popular attack because of its versatility.
Counterfeiting in non-EMV countries
Many countries outside of the United States have adopted the Europay/MasterCard/Visa smart card standard. This allows for a more secure chip and PIN technology. This technology deployment has resulted in a higher level of security and caused the basis points on card transactions in the United Kingdom to drop from 18 in 2001 to 12 in 2008. I hope it is only a matter of time before this method is adopted in the United States.
Leading business solution provider ranks #344 on 2010 Inc. 500
Louisville, KY- August 24, 2010– eBridge Business Solutions, LLC, a provider of fully managed business solutions, announced today that it has been named to the 2010 Inc. 500, a prestigious list that ranks the most entrepreneurial and fastest-growing private companies in America. Ranked No. 344, eBridge is making its first appearance on the list after experiencing 851 percent revenue growth from 2006 through 2009.
“eBridge continues to differentiate itself in the market place with our fully managed business solutions, delivering remarkable results to our customers,” said Jim Headlee, Chief Executive Officer, “Thank you to our eBridge employees and customers who have been a part of our growth. We look forward to continuing to deliver results with our purchasing expertise, merchant card management and web based payroll solutions.”
“Fast growth at any time is a big achievement; fast growth during the past few years is just short of miraculous,” said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. “The Inc. 500 consists of these just-short-of miraculous companies, the ones that through ingenuity and ambition have increased revenue, hired employees, and experienced fast growth in difficult economic times.”
The list represents a comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Companies such as Microsoft, Zappos, GoDaddy, Zipcar, Clif Bar, American Apparel, Oracle, and many other well-known names gained early exposure as members of the Inc. 500.
The 2010 Inc. 500, unveiled in the September issue of Inc. magazine (available on newsstands August 24 to November 16 and on Inc.com), is a group of companies that are smaller but much faster-growing than last year’s crop. Aggregate revenue is $11.3 billion—down from last year’s $18.4 billion—but median three-year growth is 1,231 percent, substantially up from last year’s 880.5 percent. The companies on this year’s list employ more than 45,000 people.
To see eBridge’s ranking on the Inc. Magazine website and to learn more about the rankings visit: http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/ebridge-ky