The Sewerage and Water Board, Veolia Water, Limitless Vistas and BFA Partner on Water and Wastewater Treatment Job Training

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) August 22, 2011

Earlier this month at-risk youth from Limitless Vistas (LVI), a job training non-profit, started the second phase of a summer internship program designed to introduce them to real and sustainable entry level job opportunities in the water and wastewater utility sector. This program was designed by LVI and partner BFA Environmental, as a way to help fill the tremendous employment needs in the environmental utility industry as baby boomers enter retirement age.

The effort began over a year ago, recalls Patrick Barnes, founder of LVI and president of BFA, in a meeting with the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (S&WB). The S&WB through Executive Director Ms. Marcia St. Martin first expressed an interest in assisting LVI by providing training facilities and staff. Their interest quickly expanded into support, culminating in internships for 10 students at Veolia Water North America Operating Services, LLC (Veolia) and S&WB facilities.

Limitless Vistas is an organization that was founded in 2006 to train inner city youth for careers in the environmental and green jobs industry. This program exists for the benefit of our students, not for profit, said program Director Matilda Tennessee. Students are introduced to the technical aspects of environmental work as well as the value of working in their communities, through service learning. LVIs training techniques include classroom and hands on application in the following areas; home weatherization, construction, coastal restoration brownfield site assessment and clean up, and since 2010, water and wastewater treatment operations. This is the only youth program in the New Orleans area that is preparing inner city youth for jobs in the water and wastewater industry. Graduates earn a variety of technical certifications, scholarships and credentials and upon graduation will earn an average starting salary of $ 12.50/hr. Since its inception LVI has provided job training for over 250 at-risk young people in the New Orleans area.

What the Students Feel

Calvina McDowell, an LVI participant who is currently working as an intern at the S&WB, has used LVI scholarship money to attend summer classes at Delgado Community College and plans to apply for an internship at the EPA next summer. The classes we took with Mr. Simon (Geologist and LVI Instructor) helped us be more familiar with the verbiage used in the industry before working at the plants, she said of the classroom portion of the LVI Program. This summers programs started when ten students took a tour of the East Bank water treatment facility operated by Veolia. Subsequently nine were selected for summer internships in the areas of operations, maintenance, wastewater, and administration. The first phase of observational internships at Veolia was completed in mid July and the students are currently working at the Carrolton and Algiers treatment plants rotating through duties which include taking water samples and testing the water for various chemicals used in the water purification process.

I enjoyed working at Veolia, it was very interesting. You dont always think about where the water goes when you flush the toilet and now I know, Ms. McDowell said. Another student, Territa Fleming added, Interning at Veolia and the S&WB has taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance. Seeing first hand the rewards of hard work and perseverance gives me inspiration to keep moving forward toward my goal of obtaining a post-secondary education and having a successful career. When asked what type of work she did, she replied, I mostly shadow the employees, but some of my duties in the laboratory have included observing and recording turbidity readings of influent & effluent water at the Carrolton Water Purification Plant. I have also measured and recorded the pH of the effluent & influent water. I also observed and recorded the loss of head at each filter, the psi for the entire filter gallery and the level of the water in the filter gallery. The experience our students gain from hands-on learning and a real-life work situation is invaluable, added Ms. Tennessee.

Partners Look to the Future

Sam Reynolds, EPA Region 6 Job Training Grant Project Manager and a key LVI sponsor, said he was highly encouraged that S&WB and Veolia Water would take such an active interest in reaching out to the LVI Water and Waste Water program. He added, its critical that industry and other end users of EPA funded programs be at the table and engaged and this partnership accomplishes that.

The S&WB has been in operation since 1899 to handle the unique drainage and water purification needs of the city. The S&WB now treats waste and provides clean water to approximately 497,000 people through two water treatment plants, Algiers and Carrolton, on the East and West banks of the city. The S&WB contracts with Veolia Water to operate the Eastbank and Westbank Wastewater Treatment Plants. Veolia, founded in 1853 and operating in 67 countries, is the leading global operator of water services.

Kevin Servat, the Senior Project Manager at Veolia Water- New Orleans, sees these internships not only as a way to help his community but also ensure the growth of his company, Certified water and wastewater operators are difficult to find. The water and wastewater workforce is getting older and new younger skilled laborers are needed in the field. Veolia is the worlds leader in the water and wastewater field and strives to give back to the communities that we serve and live in. There is no better way to give back than to invest in the education of the citys youth.

Through these internships LVI graduates will build lasting connections with the S&WB and Veolia Water, potentially providing them with long term career choices. We are certain this experience will also serve as a bridge to family sustaining employment opportunities in the environmental industry.

Mr. Barnes is confident that with the help of Veolia Water and S&WB and other municipal, state and federal partners, LVI can expand their program to reach, train and reconnect more youth to opportunities in the environmental industry.

For more information about our partners, you can visit the following websites:

Limitless Vistas, Inc. http://www.limitlessvistas.org

Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans http://www.swbno.org

Veolia Water http://www.veoliawaterna.com

BFA Environmental http://www.bfaenvironmental.com

Environmental Protection Agency http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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Credit.com And BillFloat Partner to Offer Better Way To Pay Bills

San Francisco, CA (Vocus) October 1, 2010

Credit.com, a leading credit education and financial services company and BillFloat, the first and only provider of consumer-centric small-dollar loans for bill payment, will announce a strategic partnership next week at Finovate 2010 in New York.

Credit.com visitors will have access to the first small-dollar lending solution that offers consumers more time to pay their bills to over 3,000 billers including utility, cable and satellite, cell phone, auto lease,, housing, and insurance payments. In contrast to payday lenders that have encountered resistance from State and Federal regulators for high cost lending practices, BillFloats solution embraces the FDICs Small Dollar Loan Template. BillFloat will be featured alongside Credit.com tools, consumer credit news, a selection of credit cards, credit scoring products and unbiased product reviews by its team of experts.

Millions are struggling to stay current with their bills during these financially turbulent times. Their credit situation is taking a nosedive and their lives are being turned upside down, said Credit.com Chairman and Co-Founder Adam Levin, who is a former Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. BillFloat gives consumers a safe and secure way to better protect their credit by avoiding score killers like late fees, overdraft charges, service termination, and high cost payday loans.

BillFloat offers a compelling, consumer-centric alternative in the $ 50 billion small-dollar loan market. The payment service gives consumers trapped in a short-term cash crunch much needed breathing room to manage their bills responsibly.

We focus on delivering the best way for consumers to get ahead of their bill payment obligations. Our partnership with Credit.com allows our customers to build and maintain good credit scores and graduate to traditional financial offerings, said Ryan Gilbert, BillFloat CEO. We provide consumers relief from the $ 32 billion in overdraft protection, non-sufficient funds, and late fees that are paid by American families every year.

About Credit.com, Inc.

Credit.com provides straightforward education and products to help consumers make better financial decisions. Credit.com was established in 1995 with the goal of helping consumers with any credit standing to establish, rebuild, enhance and effectively use credit. Cited by Money and Fast Company for its innovative Credit Report Card, our industry experts create clear paths for consumers looking to improve their finances. For more information, go to: http://www.credit.com.

About BillFloat.com

BillFloat was founded in 2009 by a team of experienced financial services entrepreneurs with investment and technology backing from First Round Capital (http://www.firstround.com), PayPal (http://www.paypal.com), and Venrock (http://www.venrock.com) and angel investors. Consumers use BillFloat to pay bills and avoid late fees, overdraft charges, service termination, and high cost payday loans. Billers including utility providers, cable companies, and insurers accelerate their cash flow through BillFloats easy to implement and secure system. The service is available on billers websites and through financial services partners including prepaid and debit card issuers, payroll services, walk-in payment centers, and http://www.billfloat.com.

Contacts:

Peter Mansfield

(310) 910-9133 office

(310) 245-9600 mobile

pmansfield(at)billfloat(dot)com

and/or

Tony Berlin

(212) 317-9179 office

(201) 705-8209 mobile

tberlin(at)credit(dot)com

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Workshare Awarded Microsoft Certified Gold ISV Partner Status

San Francisco, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) March 02, 2011

Workshare, a leading provider of document collaboration software, today announces it has been awarded Microsoft Certified Gold ISV Partner status in the Microsoft Partner Program. A Microsoft Gold partner since 2005, Workshare has once again achieved the highest level of Microsoft certification as a Gold ISV partner and met the new, even more rigorous, Microsoft Partner Program requirements.

The Gold ISV certification requires the highest level of competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies, and the distinguished partners who achieve this level are recognized by Microsoft as elite partners who leverage best-in-class technology.

"The Microsoft Partner Network is designed to empower solution providers to succeed in today's business environment. By achieving the prestigious Gold competency, participating companies are provided with a rich set of benefits, including increased customer visibility through branding and accessibility, training and support," said Jon Roskill, Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. "We are proud to put forth a program that provides the right resources to help a company develop the expertise customers demand in today's competitive market and also provides the community and infrastructure that can connect them to one another, lowering costs for all parties."

This new Gold level of certification from Microsoft represents the high level of commitment Workshare has to Microsoft products, said Scott Smull, CEO of Workshare. Our partnership with Microsoft enables us to provide an extremely high level of satisfaction to customers leveraging Microsoft products and technology.

In addition to the certified gold partner status, Workshare is also an active member of the Microsoft TAP (technology adoption) program. TAP is a program for select Microsoft partners and customers who receive access to news about new features and development status of relevant products and can offer input on interfaces, APIs and other product elements.

Workshare's software solutions provide accurate comparisons of Office and PDF file formats, document control for easy and secure management of multi-person document reviews, hidden data (metadata) removal, secure PDF creation and sharing, and enables users to retrieve and file content to Microsoft SharePoint without leaving Microsoft Office applications. The software allows users to easily manage and collaborate on changes to contracts, documentation, financial filings and other documents when sharing between email, web portals and document repositories.

About Workshare

Workshare provides document collaboration software to enable business professionals to accurately create, collaborate and control high-value content more efficiently. More than one million professionals rely on Workshare solutions to increase productivity and safeguard their confidential information, ultimately securing their intellectual property, customer relationships and the organization's reputation. Workshare's comparison and collaboration solutions provide risk management and security to over 18,000 organizations worldwide and easily integrate with line-of-business applications. Stay informed by following Workshare on twitter, http://www.twitter.com/workshareinc, or visit http://www.workshare.com for more information.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

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Safeway Earns Easter Seals' All-Time Top Corporate Partner Designation

Chicago, IL (Vocus) May 21, 2009

Safeway (NYSE:SWY) captures Easter Seals' highest honor after raising a record $ 10.2 million for the organizations' services for children and adults with autism and other disabilities in 2009 alone and by exceeding the $ 100 million milestone for lifetime contributions. The national nonprofit recently designated Safeway its "All-Time Top Corporate Partner" during an awards ceremony recognizing Easter Seals' entire family of corporate partners.

This past April, for the fourth year, Safeway stores in the U.S. and Canada raised funds for people with disabilities, inviting customers to support Easter Seals services for children and adults with autism and other disabilities at checkout. The campaign coincided with Autism Awareness Month and Easter Seals' efforts to raise awareness about the services and treatments the organization provides to families living with autism.

In just one month, Safeway raised $ 8,824,141 through the April in-store fundraiser. Safeway employees also raised an additional $ 1.4 million through local market events, golf tournaments, galas and fundraisers--bringing the company's 2009 grand total for Easter Seals services to $ 10.2 million.

Safeway's Impact on Families Living with Autism and Other Disabilities

"Ten million dollars can literally change the lives of thousands--and it does," says James E. Williams, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals. "Safeway's commitment to Easter Seals and the millions of families we serve runs far beyond the annual fundraising campaign--it's business. Today, the company employs more than 10,000 adults with disabilities, giving many a career and a means to live independently."

This year, funds raised will support a variety of Easter Seals services across the country for families living with autism including:

First Book and Books for BratsTM Partner to Donate Deployment Picture Books to USO

Miramar Beach, FL (PRWEB) May 28, 2009

Books for Brats, the first series of picture books for military brats, has partnered with First Book to continue its mission to donate their titles to military families.

Books for Brats' publisher, Little Redhaired Girl Publishing and First Book will be launching their partnership with a donation of "You're My Hero!" titles to the USO. "Daddy, You're My Hero!' and "Mommy, You're My Hero!" are the first children's picture books to help children coping with deployment of a parent.

"We have been making donations to FRGs and other military organizations since the books were first published," said author Michelle Ferguson-Cohen. "It is exciting to find a partner like First Book who shares in our mission to get books in the hands of children who so desperately need them."

The first donations will be made to the USO of Metropolitan Washington for its Deployed Family Fun Day. The free event will take place on May 30, 2009 at Fort Meade help support families coping with deployment as part of the USO's mission to "Serve those who serve, and their families."

About Books for Brats and Little Redhaired Girl Publishing

Little Redhaired Girl Publishing is home to the first book series for children of military personnel, Books for BratsTM. "Daddy, You're My Hero!" and "Mommy, You're My Hero!" two titles from the series published in 2001 are the first children's picture books for children coping with deployment of a parent. Acclaimed by educators and childcare professionals, the books have been used as therapeutic and educational tools around the world. Both titles are written and illustrated by Michelle Ferguson-Cohen, a self-professed military "brat" and the child of a career Army officer and Vietnam Veteran. To learn more about Books for Brats TM go to http://www.BooksforBrats.com

About First Book

First Book provides new books to children in need addressing one of the most important factors affecting literacy - access to books. An innovative leader in social enterprise, First Book has distributed more than 65 million free and low cost books in thousands of communities. To learn more about First Book, please visit http://www.FirstBook.org.

About USO of Metropolitan Washington

USO-Metro is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and receives no federal, state or local government funding. Our mission is "Serving those who serveand their families" in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Northern Virginia. It is through the generous financial support of individuals and organizations in the local community that USO-Metro is able to fulfill its mission. With the help of over 2,000 dedicated USO volunteers USO-Metro provides programs and services for active duty troops and their families at the area's military hospitals; through their Mobile USO program; at six USO family support centers and four USO airport lounges strategically located throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. For more information please visit http://www.usometro.org.

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Fred Astaire Flair: Stinson R. Ely Resurrects Hollywood Waistband Slack Astaire Dubbed His "Third Dance Partner."

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 10, 2011

Freshman designer, Andy Stinson, may be the gutsiest designer since Ralph Laurens own contrarian gamble on the wide-tie struck pay dirt in the late-60s.

No shrinking violet, the one-time brand image guru turned luxe designer pinned his collections success - along with the future of his Stinson R. Ely brand - on a sink-or-swim redux of the 1940s-era, Hollywood Waistband slack, an Americana fashion icon that hasnt been voguish in 70-years.

Like Laurens own wide-tie wager, Stinsons high waisted, full-cut slack gambit cuts cross grain against prevailing fashion trends and pits his full-cut, Hollywood Waistband slack against the opposite and still red hot, plain-front, slim-cut silhouette.

With pleats only now flirting at fashions leading edge, Stinsons mostly 2-pleat-front line-up is already a high- stakes bet on a pleat-front revival. But its Stinsons most aggressive model, his four-front-pleat, Astaire Collection, that ranks his boldest, and certainly most audacious, risk. Named for the legendary dancer, Stinsons four-pleat Astaire group is modeled after Fred Astaires own re-design of the Hollywood Waistband slack, a pant he called his "third dance partner."

Once the signature of Hollywoods most dashing, Silver Screen legends, thank the Hollywood Waistbands physique flattering, sleight-of-hand knack for transforming the eras most debonair cinema icons into slim waisted, long-legged, he-hunk Adonises for its movie star cachet and eponymous, "Hollywood" sobriquet.

Inspired by the slacks from the Duke of Windsors famed "Drape Suit," the Hollywood Waistband slack boasts a tall waist and full-cut thighs stylishly enhanced by dropped belt loops. Absent a waistband, a fluid, uninterrupted drape sleekly tapers from its high waist to narrow, pegged cuffs. The figure flattering lines of its tall, streamlined, "V"-shaped silhouette creates an athletically masculine look that magically slims the waist and adds the illusion of long legs.

Hollywood Waistbands heyday was also the salad days of song-and-dance musicals and tinsel towns top "hoofers," from Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, instantly made the Hollywood Waistband slack their own. Beyond its physique flattering look and illusion of longer legs, the slacks one-piece design, pleated front and full-cut leg delivered an rivaled freedom of movement and comfort that dancers found irresistible. Fred Astaire, added his own twist: To its sometime one, but typically two-pleat-front, Astaire added still two more pleats; his totaling four-front-pleats, a hat trick that gave Astaire the freedom to work his legendary dance magic.

Drawing on two-decades of archival film and vintage studio stills that spanned the early-'30s to the mid-1940s for its design inspiration, Stinson R. Elys Astaire Collection includes both a belted style and another configured for braces, its tab buttons rigged for outside placement ala '30s style.

Astaire, tells Stinson, wore both styles with equal aplomb, favoring the added freedom of suspendered versions for suit scenes and belt loops for slack-and-sport shirt shots. To his casual scenes Astaire, added yet another flair that became his personal signature: A silk four-in-hand tie threaded through his belt loops. Still another Astaire-created fashion twist, one that sparked its own craze, was a traditional belt but buckled at his left side, rather than at the front.

About Stinson R. Ely:

Born from the 22-year-old, Stinson/R. Ely & Partners, Inc. - the brand imaging firm formed in 1988 by Andy Stinson and Robbi Ely - the debut collection of their luxe menswear brand features neckwear and pocket squares, dress slacks, sport coats, hosiery and dress shirts. Bereft of basics, its a dandys collection, exclusively, its designs inspired by the Duke of Windsor and popularized by Hollywoods dashing, Silver Screen idols.

Stinson R. Ely - along with its parent, Stinson/R. Ely & Partners - is headquartered in San Diego, California, at 8775 Aero Drive. Zip code is 92123. Website is http://www.stinsonrely.com. Fall-Winter 2012 "look book" is available in print or PDF versions. Phone for Stinson/R. Ely & Partners corporate offices, Stinson R. Ely, or its co-designer, Andy Stinson, is 858-573-1698.

Stinson R. Ely is a founding member of the Alliance of American Luxury Makers (ALM). http://americanluxurymakers.tumblr.com/

Contact:

J. Andy Stinson, co-designer

858-573-1698

http://www.stinsonrely.com

Bobbi Koller, associate designer

858-573-1698

http://www.stinsonrely.com

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Church Web Works and Splat Interactive Partner to Reach New Devices Including iPhone, iPad and Yahoo! Connected TV

Renton, WA (PRWEB) March 9, 2011

Church Web Works, an industry leader in web content management for faith-based organizations, today announced a strategic partnership with Splat Interactive to extend their platform to Connected TV and to smart phones. Their partnership with Splat will enable CWWs broad customer base of churches and other Christian non-profits to reach new devices beyond the web.

Consumers expect to access the information they need whether on the web, a Connected TV, or a smart phone, explained Splat's Chief Technology Officer Stephen Fishburn. Church Web Works has an easy-to-use but sophisticated CMS platform that enables Christian organizations to publish to the web. For thousands of churches, our partnership extends that platform to the living room and to the purse or the pocket.

Churches today are actively trying to reach their members and the community at large wherever they are. CWW Version 5, which was released to select customers in January, supports a media center with video and audio streaming, advanced tools to manage a unique look-and-feel for each churchs web site, online form creation, calendaring, and deep integration with Facebook and Twitter.

Church Web Works is pleased to partner with a leading technology company like Splat, said Gavin Fysh, CWWs Chief Executive Officer. Our platform is used by thousands of churches every day to reach their members and their communities. Using the same CWW user interface our customers are familiar with today, well now be able to extend their reach to the three screens people use every day to keep informed, inspired, and entertained.

The three-screen user experience will be launched this spring on the web and Yahoo! Connected TV as well as on iPhone and iPad with New Life Church in the Seattle area and with World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.

Church Web Works has done a great job helping us connect with our community through our web presence, said Pastor Loran Lichty at New Life. We love Church Web Works, and were looking forward to extending our web presence to the TV and to smart phones.

In addition to enabling new features on the web with Version 5, features unique to Connected TVs and smart phones will be implemented including a store front for distributing small group content, mobile giving, video streaming, and audio streaming of Christian radio stations.

About Church Web Works

Church Web Works develops creatively inspired software for churches and faith-based organizations, cultivating connection and empowering people. The company builds simply powerful websites on its content management platform, which places easy-to-use tools in the hands of people and allows any church to have an engaging web presence.

For the latest demonstrations of Church Web Works Version 5 platform, please visit http://www.churchwebworks.tv.

Church Web Works is a Razor Planet, Inc. company.

About Splat Interactive

Splat Interactive offers applications and development services in Connected TV and mobile to consumers and media companies throughout the world. The company operates both professional services and consumer products divisions including the entertainment application Splat.TV, an app that makes TV more social. The companys blog, TekNerve, offers daily news and opinion on industry trends.

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