CMIT Solutions Media Hightlights by Lucia Wylie-Kellermann

MEDIA

HIGHLIGHTS NOVEMBER ‘12 – MAY ‘13

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Kelly has long dreamed of being a businessman. He has not been disappointed. His animated chatter about CMIT accompanies him home. His wife, Lisa Jo, tells him, “You’re having so much fun.” —

VIRGINIAN PILOT

With CMIT, “I don’t think about anything when it comes to computers,” Rosenblum said, noting the monthly retainer he pays is “worth every penny.” —

LONG ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS

Mr. D’Accordo says he chose CMIT Solutions of Austin, Texas, “because I come from a conservative family and I didn’t want to take a big risk. This is a recurring-revenue type of business and does not require a bricks-and-mortar location.” —

WALL STREET JOURNAL

“There is no arguing that we are in a Golden Age of technology advancement,” said Jeff Connally, the company’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Costs are coming down and new solutions arrive nearly every day.“However, to keep pace and ensure business continuity without disruptions, (small and medium businesses) need” customized support for their tech systems. —

PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL

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Can smarter machines do your job? ART Liscano knows he's an endangered species in the job market: He's a meter reader in Fresno, California. For 26 years, he's driven from house to house, checking how much electricity Pacific Gas & Electric customers have used. But PG&E doesn't need many people like Mr Liscano making rounds anymore. Every day, the utility replaces 1200 old-fashioned meters with digital versions that can collect information without human help, generate more accurate power bills, even send an alert if the power goes out. "I can see why technology is taking over," says Mr Liscano, 66, who earns $US67,000 ($63,500) a year. "We can see the writing on the wall." His department employed 50 full-time meter readers just six years ago. Now, it has six. From giant corporations to university libraries to start-up businesses, employers are using rapidly-improving technology to do tasks that humans used to do. That means millions of workers are caught in a competition they can't win against machines that keep getting more powerful, cheaper and easier to use. To better understand the impact of technology on jobs, The Associated Press analysed employment data from 20 countries; and interviewed economists, technology experts, robot manufacturers, software developers, CEOs and workers who are competing with smarter machines. The AP found that almost all the jobs disappearing are in industries that pay middle-class wages, ranging from $US38,000 to $US68,000.

CAN SMARTER MACHINES CORPORATIONS STRIVE TO RALLY URGES PUTTING DO YOUR JOB? EMPLOY MORE VETS VETS TO WORK Jobs that form the backbone of the middle class in developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

In the US, half of the 7.5 million jobs lost during the "Great Recession" paid middle-class wages, and the numbers are even more grim in the 17 European countries that use the euro as their currency. A total of 7.6 million mid-pay jobs disappeared in those countries from January 2008 through last June.

Goal: Jeff Connally Goal: CMIT Solutions Those jobsPosition are being replaced in many cases by machines and software that can as a leading IT industry supports transitioning U.S. national expert. military veterans.

CMIT SOLUTIONS MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Goal: CMIT offers discounted franchise to U.S. military veterans.

Posted on Tue, Dec. 18, 2012 Don’t be a stranger: Many prefer face-‐to-‐face meetings By CINDY KRISCHER GOODMAN balancegal@gmail.com Holiday time can bring you in contact with customers or clients you may not see the rest of the year. But if you’re expecting to be greeted with cheer you may be surprised. Frustrated business owners and senior executives say they are turned off by being the customers of a service provider who communicates mostly by email. Business owners and executives have a Although that type of message for their service providers: communication is efficient, a Communication by email and texting can leave CEO recently told me, “I see you faceless. them as a commodity — faceless and easy to replace.” More often, executives complain, they have never even met face to face the actual person on their account — a lawyer, accountant, account executive — leaving them asking: Is this the new way of doing business? Alejandro Fernandez, a senior executive at a Florida industrial parts company, says he hasn’t seen a few of his service providers all year and won’t let that happen again in 2013. “I’m not saying I need to go to lunch with you every day but if I’m dealing with you for a year, come out and meet me,” he says. “How do they know all the issues they could be addressing if they are just answering the question I ask?” Of course, business owners and high level managers are busy, and many time-‐ pressed clients even will say they prefer texting to emails or calls.

Should Your Business Go PC-Free? Small businesses are starting to replace employee PCs with tablets and smartphones — and they're saving time and money, while helping employees be more customer-responsive. In the spring of 2010, when the Apple iPad was released with overwhelming fanfare, analysts and pundits across the board quickly dismissed its business relevance. True, it was a groundbreaking information access and entertainment device, but that was the extent of it, many said. Yet today, large companies such as Roche, United Airlines, Medtronic and Sears have deployed thousands of the devices among their workforces.

The newer story is that smaller companies with high percentages of mobile employees and an affinity for cloud apps can feasibly run their entire businesses on tablets and phones.

IN THE TECH SERVICE SECTOR, REAL CROWDSOURCING

DON’T BE A STRANGER: SHOULD YOUR BUSINESS MANY PREFER FACE‐TO‐ GO PC-FREE? FACE MEETINGS

Goal: Discuss growth in small business IT services.

Goal: Position CMIT Solutions CEO as an IT industry expert.

What's made this viable is the large number of business tools and apps now available for tablets, the prevalence of cloud-based services for rote, PC-intensive tasks such as invoicing and billing, and business-friendly add-ons such as wireless keyboards and digital pens for users who hate small touch-screen typing. The Microsoft Surface tablet, the first to offer a built-in keyboard, hit stores in late October, promising to further grow interest in business tablets.

Businesses transition to tablets Doug Grabowski used to be a "big Windows PC guy" Goal: CMIT Solutions isofthe but is now a tablet devotee. He and the handful employees at Ubiquitour, a managed tech services company he founded, use iPads and smartphones heavily during the workday. small business IT expert. In fact, he's ditched his beloved laptop altogether. He uses a Bluetooth keyboard and Pages on his iPad for light word processing, such as writing and editing proposals. He still needed his PC, however, for managing financials and QuickBooks. To solve that problem, he loaded an old PC with QuickBooks and Office and uses PocketCloud Remote Desktop to dial in and view company financials using his iPad. He’ll also be moving his company to the Web-based version of QuickBooks soon, he says. “I’ve built my own dashboard on the tablet so I can see all status updates on my clients and I can remote into their environment to help out with a problem if needed," he adds.

THE ESSENTIAL UTENSILS HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED VETERAN’S BUSINESS TO START A FRANCHISE? DREAM GETS LIFT FROM PATRIOTIC DONOR Goal: Position CMIT Solutions and CEO as IT industry experts.

Goal: The franchise opportunity attracts talented, transitioning corporate professionals.

Goal: Inspire business leaders to share in CMIT’s appreciation for U.S. veterans.

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20,000,000+ IMPRESSIONS VIDEO: HOW TO TEST MEMORY (RAM) Goal: Position CMIT Solutions as a national authority on small business technology.

CMIT SOLUTIONS MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Get the Most from Your iPad for Your Small Business Do you use your iPad primarily to check email or surf the web? Or perhaps you use it mostly to entertain yourself with books and movies while traveling for business? The iPad is indeed a great tool for keeping in touch with people and entertaining yourself. But you can also use it to attract new clients, provide excellent customer service, and even increase your productivity at work. Here are five tasks you can do on your iPad to help grow your small business: 1. Download catalogs and product information. Do you carry catalogs to client meetings or look up product information once you get back to your desk? Kevin Baker, managing partner of tech services firm CMIT Solutions of Pleasanton, Calif., says the iPad can make these tasks far more efficient. For example, he recommended that one client upload three bookshelves of industrial-equipment catalogs and other materials onto the sales representatives’ tablet computers. “Instead of having to go back to the office to look up part numbers, sales representatives can now work with the customer to get the right equipment and parts without having to go back to the office,” Baker says.

VIDEO: HOW TO FIX VIDEO: TOP WAYS TO BROWSER ERROR CODES BACKUP YOUR DATA Goal: Position CMIT Solutions as a national authority on small business technology.

GET THE MOST FROM YOUR iPAD FOR YOUR SMALL BUSINESS

2. Collect client feedback. Surveys are a great way to solicit customer input on your products and services; however, it can be a challenge to get people to actually complete your questionnaires. One solution is to upload surveys to your iPad and then personally hand the device to customers. (Tip: To make taking the survey even more enticing, consider entering anyone who completes it into a drawing for a prize.)

3. Prepare and deliver invoices. Visiting clients? Instead of hand-writing bills or waiting until you’re back at the office to generate invoices, use your iPad. You can go over the details with customers on the spot and then email them the invoice. This allows you to save time and paper and gives the customer an opportunity to discuss any issues that they have then and there. (Tip: Many small-business owners find that an external keyboard for their tablet can be very helpful when doing invoices or other tasks that require

Goal: Position CMIT Solutions as a national authority on small Goal: Position CMIT Solutions business technology. as a national authority on small business technology.

“Kevin Baker, managing partner of tech services firm CMIT Solutions of Pleasanton, Calif., says the iPad can make these tasks far more efficient.” — Intuit Small Business Journal

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10,000,000+ IMPRESSIONS FINDING HIS NICHE; KIP LYNCH SETTLES INTO THE FAST-PACED IT WORLD Goal: Highlight franchisee Kip Lynch’s path to CMIT Solutions.

CMIT SOLUTIONS MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Carmichael Times Page 10

December 12, 2012

Why Should I Care?

Disaster Averted after Fire at Parisi Insurance With the support of the CMIT team and advances in cloud technology Parisi’s staff members were able to conduct business from the day of the fire and until their move to a new location. Instead of a complete business debilitation, CMIT was able to get Parisi’s infrastructure hosted remotely allowing them return to business at 2pm the day of fire and have full access to their server by the next morning. “They (CMIT) ordered and set up the new computers in the new office- as well as the phonesand were instrumental in getting furniture, paintings, phones From Rosie Gillam and paper files. Without their us back to normal” Hart said. CARMICHAEL, CA – (MPG) infrastructure Parisi’s business “Everyone was wonderful parA natural disaster can be a crip- was facing potential standstill. ticularly Mark (Trim) and Sal pling blow to a business. A fire, Luckily they had the CMIT (Hekmatzada) who had to deal with earthquake or flood can leave Guardian protection to get them the most whining” quipped Hart. As for other businesses Hart a business without access to back up and running. CMIT vital information and commu- rushed to aid in recovery. Systems had a few words of advice “back nication with customers. One Engineer Randy James helped lead up your digital data off site, keep of CMIT’s long standing cli- the recovery just a few hours after as little as you can on paper, and ents, Parisi Insurance, is a perfect the fire was reported to Parisi. Vice keep your paper data in metal example of how a disaster does President of Parisi Insurance Joe drawers. Also, have your phones not have to debilitate business. Hart explained that “CMIT had us default to employee cell phone In the early morning hours store our data ‘in the cloud’ so we numbers if there is a break in serof September 24th experienced were able to get up and running vice.” Parisi Insurance has now a disaster. Fire that had broken very quickly using our remote moved into their new location out two doors down spread and server for a little over 2 weeks”. in Gold River, California and we wish them the best of luck. destroyed their office, computers,

By Karen Anderson That deep ripping of the heart can be one of the most painful experiences in your life. When you watch someone you love slowly slip away to the inevitable, what do you do? No matter what you do or think, nothing will change the outcome. That is what I experienced through this last year, and it tore me apart. My thoughts were, “She is so young; this can’t possibly be happening to my best friend and love. It just isn’t fair! My heart is dying with her. I don’t want to be here without her.” It wasn’t just the fact that I knew she would be missed; it was because I was angry with her and not willing to forgive her for leaving me all alone. God, it just wasn’t right.

in my heart. There seemed to be no way back to reality and to my life. The pain in my heart was so strong it felt like I was having a forever heart attack…it never let up. I realize now that it was the anger and resentment I had against my girl for giving up, and at God for not stepping in and healing her. He could have, so why didn’t He? Didn’t He know how important she was to me? I was so wrong in this, but I really felt like, “If He didn’t care enough do help in this matter, then why should I care?” I wanted answers, and I wanted them right now. I was so unwilling to surrender my pain and anger. It seems that I was wearing it like some badge of honor. What a ridiculous thought.

bring me back to Him so that I could continue the path He has laid out before me.

This has been a tough road for me and I’m not all the way back yet, but I have realized that I am now blessed for the experience. Now that I have given her back to Him, I can enjoy the memories of the short time we had together. I am reminded that God says, “Relax, everything’s going to be all right; rest; everything’s coming together; open your hearts; love is on the way!” This is so true, and I will count on Him to help me for the rest of this journey I am on. If you have someone dear to you that you have lost, I pray these verses will bring comfort to your life. Remember that in those times of At the deepest part of my darkest feelings, you are never black hole, God’s Word finally alone. He is there with His big started to work its way into that strong arms waiting to envelope place that was so dark and fore- you with love, warmth, and the boding. “God, my shepherd! I assurance that He is with you, don’t need a thing. You have no matter what. It may not be bedded me down in lush mead- the death of someone you love, ows;; you find me quiet pools to but maybe it’s a dream that is drink from. True to Your Word, gone, or a relationship, your You let me catch my breath and home, finances…you know what send me in the right direction. it is. It may be difficult for you Even when the way goes through to see God’s hand in your situaDeath Valley, I’m not afraid tion or why it has happened, but when You walk at my side. Your He is there. We will never totally trusty shepherd’s crook makes know the purpose for these trials, me feel secure. You serve me a but God still loves you no matsix-course dinner right in front ter what. Reach for Him as I did; of my enemies. You revive my you won’t regret it. drooping head; my cup brims PASSAGE: with blessing. Your beauty and Matthew 11:28 (NLT) love chase after me everyday of Psalm 23 (The Message) my life. I’m back home in the Jude 1:2 (The Message) house of God for the rest of my Karen Anderson is an life.” What caught my attention was His promise that He would accomplished speaker, author, address my physical needs first, and chaplain. Receive a copy including a time to rest and catch of her latest book, “Nikki’s TailWaggin’ Lessons” and “The my breath. During all this time, He would walk with me through Little Book of BIG Thoughts.” the darkness of my life, and start Leave a message or questions to repair the black hole of my for Karen through her website heart. In the end, God would www.doablesteps.com/contact.

IT SOLUTIONS FIRM IS DISASTER AVERTED AFTER SAM GUPTA PLANNING FOR EXPANSION FIRE AT PARISI INSURANCE IN FORT COLLINS Sacramento County DA Reports Recent cases of interest

Goal: Highlight franchisee Del Hunter and CMIT’s expansion in Fort Collins.

CASE: Dion Tolliver (12/05/12) PROSECUTOR: Deputy District Attorney Jeff Harry District Attorney Jan Scully announced that Dion Tolliver was convicted by jury of rape, sodomy, sexual penetration on an unconscious victim, aggravated sexual assault and lewd & lascivious acts on a child under age 14, and sexual penetration of a child under age 10. The jury also found the multiple victim enhancements to be true. From January 1998 through January 2009, Tolliver sexually assaulted five victims. The victims were family members and friends of the family. At the time of the offenses, they ranged in age from 7 to 16 years old. Deputy District Attorney Jeff Harry states, “It has been my privilege to get to know and work with the courageous young victims that were sexually abused. Now that justice has been served, they can close this chapter of their lives and continue to heal knowing that the defendant will never again harm them or anyone else.” Tolliver faces a potential maximum sentence in excess of 300 years to life in prison. Sentencing is set for January 11, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. in Department 26 before the Honorable Michael Savage.

Goal: CMIT Solutions franchisees & clients benefit from the company’s disaster recovery services.

Should Your Business Go PC-Free?

CASE: Jose Moreno (12/04/12) PROSECUTOR: Deputy District Attorney Michelle Restrepo District Attorney Jan Scully announced that Jose Moreno was convicted by jury of 21 counts, including stalking, first degree burglary, wiretapping, and installing spyware. When the victim ended her relationship with Moreno in July 2010, he repeatedly broke into her home, stole personal items, installed spyware on her computer, and installed hidden cameras in her bedroom. When the victim found the hidden cameras, she left her apartment and stayed with a friend. Moreno tracked her down at her friend’s house and spent hours photographing her without her knowledge. The victim then obtained a restraining order and moved to another residence with an alarm system. Moreno again tracked her down at the new residence, where he disabled her alarm, removed the locking mechanism from her back door, and created a key allowing him access to her house. He repeatedly burglarized her third residence, including taking personal items and installing a camera in a heater vent. On October 2, 2010, Moreno was arrested inside the victim’s home. Two search warrants of Moreno’s residence revealed multiple items of the victim’s property and computer devices revealed Moreno’s stalking efforts, including a folder entitled “Stalking” containing pictures of the victim. Deputy District Attorney Michelle Restrepo states, “I commend the hard work and investigative efforts of Sacramento Police Detectives Natalie Medeiros, Eric Schneider, Ritch Gilleland, Brian McDougle and other patrol officers, which resulted in guilty verdicts on all counts.” Sentencing is set for January 4, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. in Department 17 in front of the Honorable Ernest Sawtelle.

WE RID YOUR HOME OF PESTS!

Small businesses are starting to replace employee PCs with tablets and smartphones — and they're saving time and money, while helping employees be more customerresponsive.

I did turn to the Bible for comfort. Jesus said, ”Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” In my head I knew this was true, but my heart couldn’t accept it. I was just too angry. As my love’s life slipped slowly from her, I, too, went into a deep, debilitating depression. As we, together, went through the six months of slow death, I isolated myself from everyone. I didn’t dare be away from my precious one for even a moment. What if she needed me while I was gone? I just couldn’t do it. My life was put on hold. After her passing, it was time to get back into my life, right? Wrong…I couldn’t close the black hole that had grown

Goal: Highlight the early successes of CMIT Solutions franchisees.

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$ GUARANTEED ANY ONE TIME SERVICE In the spring of 2010, when the Apple iPad was Since 1978 released with overwhelming fanfare, analysts and CALL NOW pundits across the board quickly dismissed its 916-512-3722 FOR OUR business relevance. True, it was a “GIVE US A RING” groundbreaking information access and entertainment device, but that was the extent of WWW.BELLPEST.COM WINTER SPECIAL it, many said. Yet today, large companies such as Roche, United Airlines, Medtronic and      EARWIGS  RATS   FLEAS AND  ANTSBLACK WIDOWSROACHESMICE MORE Sears have deployed thousands of the devices among their workforces. The newer story is that smaller companies with high percentages of mobile employees and an affinity for cloud apps can feasibly run their entire businesses on tablets and phones.

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Businesses transition to tablets

Doug Grabowski used to be a "big Windows PC guy" but is now a tablet devotee. He and the handful of employees at Ubiquitour, a managed tech services company he founded, use iPads and smartphones heavily during the workday.

In fact, he's ditched his beloved laptop altogether. He uses a Bluetooth keyboard HOLIDAY HOURS DECEMBER 1ST-24TH: and Pages on his iPad for light word processing, such as writing and editing proposals. SUN 11-4 • MON 11-5 • TUES-FRI 10-6 He still needed his PC, however, for managing financials and QuickBooks. To solve that problem, he loaded an old PC with QuickBooks and Office and uses PocketCloud SAT 10-4 Remote Desktop to dial in and view company financials using his iPad. He’ll also be Ask about our Mail Order Service! moving his company to the Web-based version of QuickBooks soon, he says.

Goal: Highlight franchisee Goal: Highlight franchisee (916) 349-9493 5859 Auburn Boulevard www.sacgermandeli.com Phil Bush of CMIT Solutions of Cheryl Nelan andsacgermandeli@sbcglobal.net her ongoing “I’ve built my own dashboard on the tablet so I can see all status updates on my clientsSacramento, CA 95841 and I can remote into their environment to help out with a problem if needed," he adds. Denver as technology expert. successes with CMIT Solutions Moving away from his clunky laptop has helped his business grow in surprising ways. When he walks into meetings with prospects and quickly gets to his desktop and client desktops using only his Android phone or the iPad, the prospects want to know howof they Monroe. can do it too, he says.

Goal: CMIT Solutions franchisees & clients benefit from the company’s disaster recovery services.

OPENINGS BIG NEWS

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1,000,000+ IMPRESSIONS BEHIND THE COUNTER: IT MANAGEMENT BUSINESS OPENS GRANBY OFFICE Goal: Announce the opening of Paul Marzo’s CMIT Solutions of Hartford.

CMIT SOLUTIONS MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

CMIT Solutions opens fourth franchise in St. Louis

River Forest resident launches IT-help firm

Technology services company CMIT Solutions Inc. has opened its fourth franchise in Eureka.

RIVER FOREST — Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and reliable computers are the backbone of small businesses. But what if that backbone develops a slipped disk? Xavier Matesanz and CMIT Solutions are there to help. CMIT is an Austin, Texasbased managed information technology franchise serving about 2,000 businesses; most of those are smaller firms, typically with five to 99 employees.

Xavier Matesanz of River Forest runs his CMIT Solutions franchise out of his home. He launched the business this year and enjoys being his own boss. CMIT specializes in support for small companies.

“The strength of this is I am here in this community. I am a part of this community,” the River Forest resident said. “I can’t run away if something goes wrong.” Matesanz set up shop in his home, opening for business at the beginning of the year. His independently owned CMIT franchise, one of 140 nationwide, covers six ZIP codes, a territory that includes Melrose Park, Elmwood Park and River Grove.

The company has additional franchise offices in Chesterfield, Clayton and St. Charles. CMIT Solutions provides small- to midsized companies with IT consulting services and technology solutions.

Granby's Paul Marzo opens computer business in Hartford GRANBY — After years in the corporate world perfecting his trade as an information technology expert, Paul Marzo has settled down in Granby and opened up his own area firm in Hartford, working with small and medium-sized businesses.

Nick LaRosa, president of CMIT Solutions of St. Louis Southwest

Nick LaRosa, president of CMIT Solutions of St. Louis Southwest, said each office is staffed by a CMIT Solutions representative. The four offices share two technicians. LaRosa said they are looking to hire one more technician in the region. To launch, franchisees pay $110,000 to $150,000, which includes a $45,000 training fee. LaRosa has about 15 clients and said each payment plan is customized depending on the client’s needs. LaRosa said for an houly rate he charges between $110 to $120 an hour.

Marzo recalled working with computers back to his high school days, saying his father was into computers.   “I would work on my old Commodore 64 computer,” said Marzo. “I would write programs at my high school for other students.”   He would move on to college at Clemson in South Carolina and obtained a degree in mathematics with a minor in computer science. Marzo said he would start by working with Electronic Data Systems, working on application development and custom solutions for companies. He would eventually become an information technology consultant, doing work for insurance companies.

Paul Marzo, of Granby, has opened up CMIT Solutions of Hartford, a branch office of the CMIT company, to offer information technology services to small and medium-sized businesses.

“I traveled all over the place, from Denver and Los Angeles to Dallas to Washington, D.C.,” said Marzo.

RIVER FOREST RESIDENT CMIT SOLUTIONS OPENS GRANBY’S PAUL MARZO LAUNCHES IT-HELP FIRM FOURTH FRANCHISE OPENS COMPUTER IN ST. LOUIS BUSINESS IN HARTFORD A native of Palencia, Spain, Matesanz moved to the United States as a child. A job transfer for a previous employer in 2001 brought the international business developer to River Forest from Miami Beach.

Late last year, Matesanz decided to strike out on his own.

Austin-based CMIT Solutions employs 20 workers at its local headquarters and has more than 130 franchise owners, who employ 750 workers nationally.

More recently, Marzo decided to exit the insurance field in favor of entering the IT field as a business owner. He opened up CMIT Solutions of Hartford, a branch office of the CMIT company. CMIT has offices in several areas in Connecticut, including an office in Stamford.   Marzo said he has a group of three local technicians to assist his clients, but the networking provided by CMIT allows him to pool more resources when needed.

“That’s the key thing for the businesses,” said Marzo. “We have people local and we also have a dedicated help desk for our customers to utilize, and other resources we can

“I’ve always been interested and intrigued with owning my own business,” he said. “What I do here will be predicated on my own performance, not what

someone else thinks of me.” Goal: Announce the opening As he researched CMIT’s business fundamentals, Matesanz said he was of Xavier Matesanz’s CMIT Solutions of Chicago, Oak Park.

Goal: Announce the opening of Goal: Announce the opening Nick LaRosa’s CMIT Solutions of Paul Marzo’s CMIT Solutions of St. Louis Southwest. of Hartford.

“With the larger corporations, you don’t usually see that end result of the customer being happy. With CMIT, you get the satisfaction of bringing a frustrated customer to a happy solution.” — The Granby News

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500,000+ IMPRESSIONS FAST-RISING COMPANY EARNS NATIONAL HONOR Goal: Announce the national honor awarded to Bob Riesenbach of CMIT Solutions of Cherry Hill.

CMIT SOLUTIONS MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

IT BUSINESS AIMS TO HELP CHAMBER HONORS OTHER BUSINESSES SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR Goal: Announce the national honor awarded to Emory Simmons of CMIT Solutions of South Charlotte.

Goal: Announce the national honor awarded to Doug Bates of CMIT Solutions of Fayette/ Coweta.

“The winner in the growth category was CMIT Solutions of Fayette/ Coweta. ‘We’re very proud of what we have done. We’ve got a great staff, a great team.’” — Newnan Times-Herald

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5,000,000+ IMPRESSIONS IT outsourcing company CMIT plans franchise expansion in Sacramento

Austin-based CMIT Solutions is targeting the Sacramento area for five franchises of its outsourced information technology services business in the next few years. The company has added 17 new franchises across the country this year, bringing the company up to 137 locations, according to Sheri Vandermause, vice president of franchise development. CMIT offers its clients outsourced computer management, storage, help desk and other services so the clients can fully outsource their IT needs. Its clients tend to be businesses or offices with fewer than 200 employees who decide to outsource computer, networking and technology needs. “We bring the technical resources of a big company to small companies.” Vandermause said. CMIT offers its clients redundant around the clock computer information backup. Founded in 1997, CMIT originally was called Completely Managed IT, but it moved to the CMIT name a decade ago. The company has established ties with — and its clients get deals from — Intuit Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. CMIT requires a $50,000 franchise fee and the company likes to see its franchisees have about $80,000 in working capital. The franchisees are not typically technicians or programmers, Vandermause said, adding that many have corporate experience with management and finance backgrounds. Thor Severson runs an existing 9-year-old CMIT operation based in Carmichael, which is doing business in eastern Sacramento County, Reno and Irvine. It is one of the top three CMIT offices in the nation. The new Sacramento region offices would be set up to target business in Roseville, Elk Grove, downtown Sacramento, Stockton or elsewhere in the Central Valley, Vandermause said. The company also is trying to expand in Detroit, Las Vegas, Southern California and Washington, D.C.

TEXAS’ CMIT SOLUTIONS TECHNOLOGY COMPANY IT OUTSOURCING LOOKING FOR A PORTAL AIMS TO EXPAND COMPANY CMIT PLANS TO THE ABQ MARKET IN LAS VEGAS FRANCHISE EXPANSION IN SACRAMENTO Goal: Promote opportunity in Albuquerque to open a franchise.

Goal: Announce plan to open four to five new offices in Las Vegas.

CMIT SOLUTIONS MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

Goal: Announce plan to open five new offices in Sacramento.

CMIT Solutions expanding in crowded IT market A Texas-based provider of small-business IT solutions is rolling out an ambitious Long Island growth strategy, but the basic law of supply and demand might not compute. Austin’s CMIT Solutions already has six Long Island franchises – in Merrick, Roslyn, Five Towns, Melville, Northport and Garden City – and it’s hungry for more. Armando D’Accordo, president of the Merrick franchise and CMIT’s area developer, said he’s looking to develop six new Island operations. The typical franchise can install, monitor and maintain 100 servers and 1,000 desktop computers, while offering cloud-computing services for email hosting and data backup. CMIT “fills a need in the small-to-midsize business market,” D’Accordo said. “The small business owner really doesn’t have anywhere to turn for quality, enterprisegrade technical support.” The idea is to provide big-time support on limited IT budgets – precisely the experience of Charles Rosenblum, partner at the Merrick general practice law firm Krohn, Rosenblum & Rosenblum. Since 2008, CMIT has maintained the firm’s local server and 10 computers, a small but critical network that handles everything from email to database searches to electronic court filings. “If we’re out for 10 minutes, we’re paralyzed,” Rosenblum said. “We’re married to these keyboards and monitors. And without CMIT’s support, we’d be in the Stone Age.”

CMIT HEADS TO OREGON CMIT SOLUTIONS AUSTIN-BASED TECH FIRM EXPANDING IN CROWDED EXPANDING INTO PHOENIX IT MARKET The firm has always farmed out its IT work, but its last two providers – one a company like CMIT, another a solo shop – “just weren’t working out,” Rosenblum said. With CMIT, “I don’t think about anything when it comes to computers,” Rosenblum said, noting the monthly retainer he pays is “worth every penny.”

Goal: Announce plan to expand in Portland.

D’Accordo and an uncle paid $200,000 in 2007 for exclusive CMIT development rights to Long Island and the five boroughs. They bought in, he said, because

Goal: Announce plan to open five new offices in Phoenix.

Goal: Announce plan to expand in Long Island.

Start-ups poised for strong growth in Gwinnett January 2013 Special Focus: Business Outlook & Networking

IT support firm plans rapid expansion A Texas-based IT support company plans to open four additional offices in Fairfield County. Currently CMIT Solutions has one office in Norwalk, but under a new aggressive growth strategy, the company will be expanding its presence. Each office will hire about eight people.

The year 2013 may prove to be very kind to existing small businesses and new companies entering the Gwinnett market. A number of national franchises successfully operate their brands here and others are exploring expansions. “Gwinnett County has a growing number of thriving small businesses that need marketing support,” says Ralph Askar, president and CEO, Instant Imprints. “We know that as competition grows in the area, businesses will need our services. We have plans in place to rapidly expand our presence here.” Sheri Vandermause, head of franchise development for CMIT Solutions, comments, “Gwinnett business owners have clearly taken a shine to our services.

“For quite some time, Fairfield County business owners have been crying out for We have a strong presence in the market locally and are looking to build off that technical support for their employees,” said Jason Gilbreth, a spokesman for themomentum in 2013.” company. “Business owners realize that if they spent more time working and less time trying to fix their technology issues, their business would be in much better“Gwinnett County is an ideal market for new business growth – there aren’t many like it in the country,” says Kent Reed, business transfer specialist for Murphy shape.” Business & Financial Corporation. “It’s a region where business, housing, retail and entertainment come together to form a bustling and vibrant local economy.

Gilbreth said the success of the Norwalk office is fueling the company’s growth Plus, in the values of both the business and residential communities are strong.” the area. Kona Ice Founder and President Tony Lamb agrees. “Gwinnett County is an

attractive market. We have one existing franchisee in Gwinnett that is doing extremely well. Given the number of growing families in town, Kona Ice plans to add two to three trucks in the market in the coming months.”

IT SUPPORT FIRM PLANS START-UPS POISED RAPID EXPANSION FOR STRONG GROWTH IN GWINNETT

Another national brand planning a Gwinnett presence is Children’s Lighthouse Learning Center. According to Stephen Dixon, vice president of franchise development, “We know that families are selecting the area in ever-increasing numbers and there is a strong need for educational childcare. Our long-term plan is to open seven to 10 franchised locations and we are looking to bring around 200 jobs to Gwinnett County.” Reed adds, “While it would seem like the deck is stacked against business growth

Goal: Announce plan to open four new offices in Fairfield County.

CMIT Solutions aims to expand in Fort Collins

FORT COLLINS - CMIT Solutions hopes to open a franchise in Fort Collins this year, the company said Friday. Franchises typically employ about eight people, CMIT Solutions said. The Austin, Texas, company offers information technology services to small- and medium-sized companies. The franchise company also wants to expand in Colorado Springs and Grand Junction. CMIT Solutions operates nine franchises along the Front Range. CMIT's plans follow growth of 20 percent more than the company projected for 2012, the company said. Revenues from October 2011 through September 2012 spiked an average 32 percent at CMIT Solutions offices open for more than two years.

CMIT SOLUTIONS AIMS TO EXPAND IN FORT COLLINS Goal: Announce plan to expand in North Colorado.

Goal: Announce plan to expand in Gwinnett County.

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