Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2006)
Page 7 July 20, 2006 Spíly^y Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon Software company sees results after working with Ventures B y M aren Cohn Warm Springs Ventures Recent events at Bend-based Cort Software are encouraging its p aren t com pany, W arm Springs Ventures, to forecast a profitable year for the subsid iary. Ventures CFO Jeff Anspach says that Cort is reporting dras tically improved results over last year. “We’re very excited about their prospects,” Anspach says. “With a new release of its hu man resources software almost ready, Cort is poised to bring financial benefit to the Confed erated Tribes.” This news marks an impor tant turnaround at Cort, which Ventures acquired in 2003 after several years o f flat sales and ineffective management. Early efforts under Ventures to increase revenues and reverse sales trends made some im provements, but did not suffi ciently address core issues. After funding Cort losses for two years, Ventures grew rest less about continuing its support and contemplated selling it off in 2005. When the Tribal Council de cided to restructure Ventures late last summer, it made ad dressing the situation at Cort a major priority. V en tures’ new lead ersh ip team, led by Clyde Hamstreet, tackled the issue. “The way we looked at it,” says Hamstreet, “We could either sell Cort right away at its current value, man age the slow liquidation of the company without attempting to restructure it, or restructure it to build value and then sell it at a much higher price.” A fter careful assessm ent, V entures recom m ended the third alternative. “ S ellin g C ort last year wouldn’t have brought in much money,” Hamstreet says. “Cort didn’t score well in the three criteria that determine the price a buyer is likely to pay for a soft ware company like Cort.” He continued, “Its software didn’t meet current web-based standards, revenues were not growing and most importantly the company was losing money.” “At the same time, Cort had a lot of potential, which made the op tion o f restru ctu rin g much more attractive than a m anaged liq u id a tio n ,” Hamstreet added. Nevertheless, the restructur ing task posed a challenge. The Tribal Council made it clear that Warm Springs would not continue to fund Cort’s op erations. Several factors contributed to V entures’ assessm ent that Cort was well worth this effort. Starting out 30 years ago with a unique and powerful payroll product, Cort had built up a strong brand image, loyal cus tomer base, and a solid reputa tion. It was on the verge o f clos ing its largest sale ever, and had plans to develop a promising new web-based human capital man agement product. “The m arket for w hat we offer is huge,” says Cort presi dent Gary Lawrence. “Every company out there needs pay roll and human resources func tionality of some kind, and our focus is on a giant segment of that m arket, companies with between 200 and 10,000 em ployees.” “T he o p p o rtu n ities for growth are trem endous, and Cort was already w orking to capitalize on them,” he added. Lawrence’s presence at Cort’s helm was another reason for Ventures’ confidence in moving forward with the restructuring. H ired d u rin g the fall o f 2005, Lawrence brought vision and discipline to the flagging company. Under his leadership, Cort closed the prospective sale and attracted an investment partner, Jim Cajacob o f Inform ation Concepts, Inc., to share in de veloping the new w eb-based product. “M aking that sale and at tracting the development part ner were key factors to us in deciding what to do with Cort,” says Anspach, who spent six weeks last fall assessing the com pany and helping to design the reorganization. “W ithout that infusion of outside capital, I’m not sure we would have gone forward,” he added. The restructuring plan pre sented last December limits Ven tures contributions to the com pany in 2006 to u nder $100,000, and req uires that Cort show positive financial numbers during the year. Cort was required to cut its costs drastically while develop ing the new web-based product. Cort m anagem ent has ap plied this strategy vigorously. Led by Lawrence, the com pany reduced staff by 40 per cent. It reshaped its sales and Issue of casino dicussed in governor candidates, debate W E LC H E S (AP) - Gov. Ted K ulongoski and GOP ri val Ron Saxton scrapped last week over some o f the most contentious issues facing the state - including the Columbia gorge casino, proposed govern m ent spending lim it, and re form s to the state em ployee pension system. In the first face-to-face de bate between the two leading g u b e rn ato rial can d id ates, Kulongoski portrayed Saxton as a tool o f corporate interests, w hile Saxton shot back that Kulongoski is a weak governor who wants to raise Oregonians’ taxes. Both used the occasion to try to define K ulongoski for voters. Kulongoski said he’s always fought for working families, the e ld e rly and the needy. He charged that Saxton, a Portland lawyer, has catered more to cor porate interests, as evidenced by his opposition to tougher auto tailpipe emissions standards and moves to rein in payday loan shops. Saxton, calling the election a referendum on K ulongoski’s performance in office, sought to portray the incumbent as a “status quo” figure whose re rm iän sponse to all problems has been to try to raise taxes and to pro pose canceling Oregonians’ in come tax “kicker” refunds. In th eir ho urlo n g debate sponsored by the Oregon News paper Publishers Association, the two clashed over an initia tive m easu re aim ed at this November’s ballot to clamp a tight new spending limit on state government. Kulongoski said the measure would make it impossible to pro v id e ad eq u ate fu n d in g for schools or to put more Oregon State Police troopers out on the h igh w ays to p ro tect p u b lic safety. “It would be a stranglehold on the state,” he said. Saxton, while saying he didn’t plan to actively campaign for the measure, said state government has plenty o f revenue already and that state officials simply have to be more efficient with taxpayer dollars. “We have a serious money management problem ,” not a revenue shortage, Saxton said. copies o f pay stubs, see how much vacation time they have left, or manage their 40Iks,” he says. Lawrence notes that Cort’s flexibility' in tailoring its product to cu sto m er req u irem en ts makes its software ideal for na tive nations in tracking and man aging membership data. The Confederated Tribes is one of his company’s many cus tomers. P rofessional sports team s offer another good example of what Cort’s software can do. “We have NFL teams on our customer list,” Lawrence says. “Every time a team plays, the host city and/or state taxes the p layers for the m oney they make there. And ever}7 city and state is different in how it struc tures those taxes and calculates the amounts.” “Our product handles all that and saves the adm inistrative staff a lot of headaches,” he says. Cort products assist sports organizations in other ways as w ell. The D enver Broncos, B uffalo B ills, and St. Louis Rams all use Cort products. Over the past six months, the Ventures team has helped Cort take major strides forward in continuing to provide its distinc tive service to customers. “I’ve been very pleased with the way Cort is responding to our re stru ctu rin g , e ffo rts,” Hamstreet says. “We still have much work to do before we can claim success, but w e’ve come a long way with Cort.” “I expect the value o f the Tribes’ investments in the com pany to grow significantly over the next year,” he said. Automotive andTowina f$ r , 24- Hour Towing 24- Hour a day road service If you don't have AAA, we have applications Serving Warm Springs and Madras since 1975 C o m p l e t «: A u t om o ti v e R ep ai r « Ooumity ....... f Automotive & Towing Is Y our C a r R e a d y fo r h ot w e a th e r? All Major & Minor Repair Import & Domestic 24-H our Tow ing by C e rtifie d O perato rs 12-month/12,000 mile nation wide warranty. All work by certified technicians. All manufacture warranty maintenance available here with electronic record keeping 755 S.W. Hwy 97, Madras, OR 97741 CALL 475-6663 Or stop by for an appointment Tribes’ casino plan On the gorge casino topic, Saxton said that as governor, he would not approve a move by the C o n fed erated T ribes o f Springs M àrktf ArCs C n ä ràfis 2132 Wärm Springs St- Wärm Springs, 02 97T61 ($41) S53-1597 Next deadline to submit items for publication in the Spilyay Tymoo is Friday, 28. Thank you. }■ ,JVarm Springs to build a casino on off-reservation land in Cas cade Locks. Saxton also said the state has become addicted to lottery rev enue to fund schools and other programs, and that he would oppose any expansion o f the lottery. Kulongoski noted that the lottery now raises $1 billion for schools and other program s, money that has helped replace revenue schools lost when vot ers cut property taxes. The D em ocratic governor said he intends to allow the Warm Springs tribe to put a ca sino in Cascade Locks because otherwise the tribe might build a casino on a far less desirable site on tribal land upstream in Hood River. marketing approach and man aged day-to-day costs aggres sively, thereby lowering costs to the breakeven point. Meanwhile, the software de velopment has proceeded for ward and the product is slated for release later this summer. The new release will continue to offer the flexibility Cort is known for, w hile answ ering market demands for increased functionality and the ability to perform operations online. The goal is to make existing web-in terfaced products more truly web-based. “Employers want to be able to advertise jobs and manage ap p lican t pools o n lin e ,” Lawrence explains. “They want to track employ ees through hiring and training all the way to retirement. The system serves workers, too, who can go online to file W-4s, get Entrees Roasted Daily Featuring Hand Cut U S D A Choice Steaks BREAKFAST - LUNCH - DINNER a X itr All Major Creda Cards Accepted w • Senior Menu * Children's Menu * Daily Specials 237 S.IV. 4th Street, Madras » 475-6632 OPEN 6 m - to pm DAILY
