Webb on Romney

Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a Democrat not running for re-election, has made it clear that he has some reservations about some of President Obama's policies and legislative plans.  Last week, though, Webb had some harsh words for Mitt Romney's comments on 47% of the population being dependent on the government.  Webb is a veteran and outspoken on veterans benefits.  You can read the full story on Politico, "Webb drops the hammer on Romney," by Charles Mahtesian, 9/27/2012.  Here is an excerpt:

Those young Marines that I led have grown older now. They’ve lived lives of courage, both in combat and after their return, where many of them were derided by their own peers for having served. That was a long time ago. They are not bitter. They know what they did. But in receiving veterans’ benefits, they are not takers. They were givers, in the ultimate sense of that word. There is a saying among war veterans:  “All gave some, some gave all.”  This is not a culture of dependency. It is a part of a long tradition that gave this country its freedom and independence. They paid, some with their lives, some through wounds and disabilities, some through their emotional scars, some through the lost opportunities and delayed entry into civilian careers which had already begun for many of their peers who did not serve. 

One in Ten Million

According to Politico ("Obama campaign closes in on 10 million donations"), President Obama's campaign is close to receiving 10 million donations.  The campaign says this counts "grassroots" donations in 2012.  That's a lot of donations.  I think the "grassroots" part refers to donations under $200.00.  I've donated to the campaign this year so count me as one of 10 million.

CeaseFirePA Update

Our friends at CeaseFirePA (www.ceasefirepa.org) are announcing a change in leadership.  Max Nacheman is leaving the organization and the Board of Directors has selected Shira Goodman as the new Executive Director; the changeover will occur on October 15.

CeaseFirePA is committed to reducing gun violence in the state.  For the past 10 years, Goodman has served as Deputy Director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC), a nonprofit, nonpartisan court reform organization. Prior to her work at PMC, Goodman worked as a management-side labor and employment lawyer at the Philadelphia-based firm Ballard Spahr LLP.

New Obama Ad

The Obama campaign has produced a two minute ad which will air in selected swing states, New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and Colorado.  It's well done.  Obama talks to the camera and describes his plans for a second term.  You can watch it on You Tube.   

Chris Cillizza, of the Washington Post's blog The Fix, wrote a post today on the ad, outlining five questions and answers on the ad. 

Yolanda Barber Was Robbed!

It was brought to my attention this week an injustice was done.  It was, to be sure, one of
mymany injustices done this week.  This particular occurrence happened on "The View," an American Idol-like show / contest.  The judges / coaches sit with their back to the contestants.  If they like the sound of a singer's voice they turn around and push a big red button, indicating interest in having that person on their team.

This week a contestant, Yolanda Barber, beautifully and forcefully sang her heart out (listen here).  Barber had worked as a singer and performer on cruise ships for something like a decade but was recently laid off.  She is now driving a school bus.  Ms. Barber is around 50 and some of her life experience can be heard in her voice.  She sings like a mature woman not an ingenue.  Not one of the four judges turned around or pushed their button.  A young woman with a good but quavering voice was chosen instead.

I buy about two cds a year.  This year I'm saving a spot on the assumption that some enterprising music company will sign Ms. Barber up and produce an album in some format or another.

A Russian Proverb and Mike Fitzpatrick

I thought I saw two people walking down the road but it was only a man and his wife -- Russian proverb

The  Morning Call posted an interesting story this evening.  "Democrats try to use U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick's recorded words against him in Bucks," by Scott Kraus (9/26/2012) reports on remarks made by Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, of Pennsylvania's 8th district (Bucks County).  He spoke at a fund raiser organized by the Kitchen Table Patriots, a Tea Party group.  The remarks were taped and distributed to news outlets (and blogs) by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.  The tape clip is of Fitzpatrick saying:

And one of the principles is that we need to support people who have a history and know what it is like to sign the front of a paycheck, not the back of a paycheck, the front of a paycheck also includes you took a risk and you build a business on your own without the federal government standing next to you as you're signing a personal guarantee it's just you and your wife and your banker, you know that's it. Taking that kind of a risk.

 The Morning Call article explains that the remarks were referencing the beliefs of a group he sometimes meets with.

There are three things about his remarks that bother me:
1) I am sooooo tired of the "if you don't own a company you don't count" refrain.  
2) How many business owner sign the checks themselves?  After a certain number of employees the signatures are printed on or a company employee signs them.  How many business owners have time to sit down once or twice a month and sign 50 checks?  I thought Paychex and ADP took care of a lot of that.
3) "Your wife." Really?  Only married men own businesses?  Or are married lesbians included?  Language and word choice have meaning.  Was the audience completely male?  Is the group he meets with all male?  Why else would you say "you and your wife and your banker"?   How you word these things matters.

Sales of Presidential Campaign Merchandise at Cafe Press

Our friends at Cafe Press track sales of campaign-related merchandise.  If you aren't familiar wth Cafee Press, the company allows people to custom design t-shirts, mugs, etc., and set up an online business selling it.  The firm says

With an average of over 130,000 new designs uploaded every week, CafePress is often seen as a Cultural Barometer^®. The Meter graphs track merchandise sales trends for each presidential candidate and believes that how people spend money on political merchandise says a lot about a candidate’s supporters and the way they will vote.

So what are they seeing these days?

The first image is of sales of candidate merchandise in some battleground states.  Blue is Obama merchandise; red is Romney.

The second image is pro Romney and anti-Romney merchandise sales in selected states:

The third image is pro Obama and anti Obama merchandise sales in selected states:

 What does it all mean?  I'm not sure but it will be interesting to compare sales to election results in November.

Misleading Mailer

This weekend our household received a large postcard in the mail telling us to make sure we have proper id to vote.  Nothing wrong with that except the card has incorrect, or rather incomplete, information on it.  The cards lists acceptable photo ID's for voting.  Among them:
Issued by accredited PA public or private colleges, universities or seminaries
Notice anything?  It doesn't say these IDs have to have an expiration date on it somewhere (printed, sticker, etc).  The listing for military IDs includes wording on expiration dates so I don't know why it isn't included on the student ID listing and I wonder how many students will go to the polls and find out their ID isn't sufficient to let them vote. 

It is increasingly clear that the voter ID legislation was not thought through and not planned well.  There's no reason to start it in such a short time. 

If you have a famous son you can get quick individual service and get an ID in short order (See "Jim Cramer  solves his dad's voter ID mess in 7 hours," by Ryan J. Reilly, TPM Muckracker, 9/13/2012), or if you are suing the state ( see "Pennsylvania voter ID plantiff gets card amid appeal," 8/17/12) you can get an id without the required paperwork.  But if you are just an average retired CEO you might be in trouble (see Annette John-Hall's article in the Inquirer on 9/25).

Botched mailings and bumbled public statements do little to add credibility to this mess.  Let's remember this mess when the people who passed voter ID are on the ballot (as many will be this November).  

Commerce Energy Visits

I was out most of the weekend.  Apparently there was some excitement.  A man knocked on the door, implied that he worked for PECO or some government agency, but his hat and badge said Commerce Energy.  He wanted to see a recent utility bill and said it was to make sure we weren't being overcharged for energy costs.  Mr. J refused and shut the door.  The man knocked again but Mr. J didn't answer.  Some research shows that this is a fairly common practice for Commerce and it is a ploy to switch your account to their company. 

You can read more online.


Vulnerable people, the elderly, lonely, and anyone not paying careful attention to fine print could easily find themselves customers of Commerce without intending to.  It is a slimy business practice. 

Adel Ebeid Honored

from the inbox:

On Tuesday, September 25, the White House will welcome Adel Ebeid as one of 13 Local Innovation Champions of Change who have committed themselves to creating a more open and innovative government through entrepreneurship. Whether making local government information and public data more accessible; creating local environments to encourage and support entrepreneurs; or developing workforce programs to provide residents with skills for the high-tech economy, these champions of change work tirelessly to build a better future for the citizens they serve, create jobs in their community, and ensure more efficient and effective government.

Ebeid's biography

Adel Ebeid

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

As the City’s first Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), Adel Ebeid, is responsible for leading the City’s IT innovation strategy to advance the City’s digital quality of life. A passion for using technology to bring people closer to their government, Adel continues to be a strong advocate for open data and government transparency.  In addition to overseeing the City’s IT innovation agenda, Adel is also responsible for the traditional IT portfolio that includes infrastructure services, application development and maintenance, Geographic Information Systems, public safety communications and the City’s web presence. Prior to his appointment with the City of Philadelphia, Adel was the Chief Information and Technology Officer for the State of New Jersey until 2011.  He also held leadership positions with the Motor Vehicle Commission as Chief Operating Officer where he led the development of New Jersey’s first digital driver license, and CIO for Environmental Protection where he led the development of the NJ Environmental Management System (NJEMS) – a system that was later adopted by 8 other states as the platform of choice for the consolation of environmental data.

 

Local History Geek Heaven

from our friends at the Economy League:

We put summer intern Christian Cortes to work at the scanner in order to add to our online library of Economy League research. With a body of work back to 1909, we didn't get everything uploaded; however, for the first time we can offer a list of reports published by the Economy League and our predecessor organizations Pennsylvania Economy League and the Bureau of Municipal Research. Also now online is a list sortable by subject (zoning, health and safety, planning, pensions/labor, budget, etc.) of Citizens' Business newsletter topics from 1911 to 1987. We hope that you'll find it useful.

I skimmed through the list of older reports and could easily spend weeks or months reading through them.  The raw material for several doctoral dissertations are in there.  

Two PA Historic Black Universities Receive Funds

from the inbox:

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in 19 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands will be able to strengthen their academic resources, financial management systems, endowment-building capacity, and physical plants as a result of a $227.9 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education today.

 

The five-year grants—Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities— will include activities such as curriculum reform; counseling and student service programs; establishing teacher education programs designed to qualify students to teach; acquiring real-estate property in connection with construction, renovations, or additions that may improve campus facilities; and funding faculty and staff development. In addition, funds may be used for the purchase, rental, or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment and the development of academic instruction in disciplines in which African Americans are underrepresented.

The two Pennsylvania schools and amounts are:

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania / $1,712,647
Lincoln University of Pennsylvania / $2,081,149

White House on Veterans Jobs Bill

from the inbox, statement from the White House Press Secretary:

No veteran who fought for our nation should have to fight for a job at home, but Republicans in Washington are blocking a common sense plan to create the Veterans Jobs Corps and put tens of thousands of veterans back to work.

 

Working with Democrats and Republicans in Congress, the Obama Administration has already made real progress to help veterans find jobs. We passed tax credits to encourage employers to hire veterans and released new tools to connect veterans with employers. And thanks to the First Lady and Dr. Biden’s Joining Forces Initiative, more than 2,000 businesses have hired or trained more than 125,000 veterans and military spouses in the past year. But we can do more and Senate Republicans should not block legislation that includes many of their ideas and stand between veterans and good jobs protecting and preserving America.

Bain in PA: SunGard

Introduction:

This post is part of a series in an attempt to understand the influence and involvement of Bain Capital (and venture capital / private equity generally) in Pennsylvania. 

To do this I searched through newspapers and business databases to locate the names of Pennsylvania  companies that had some connection to Bain, then looked for general information on those firms.  Chain stores do not count unless the company is headquartered in Pennsylvania.

I have made a concerted effort to confirm information found in the press but sometimes this was not possible.   A similar effort was made to construct a search strategy in such a way that published corrections would also be found.  That being said, I am working primarily with self-reported corporate information and published media, not from original research.  Citations are provided so interested parties can reviews the research for themselves, and they are encouraged to do so.  This is not intended to be exhaustive research, though the intent was to be thorough. 

SunGard

SunGard is a software and technology firm with a corporate headquarters in Wayne, Pennsylvania.  According to the history section of Sungard’s website (www.sungard.com), it was spun off from Sun Oil Co. in the 1970’s.  From 1986 to 2005 it was a publically traded company.  In August, 2005 the company was taken private by “Kholberg Kravis Roberts, Silver Lake Partkners, Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Providence Equity Partners, and Texas Pacific Group” (Parker, 08/21/2006).  An article in the Allentown Morning Call said it was the second largest buyout of a public company by a private investor, costing $11.4 billion (“Sungard,” 3/29/2005).  An article in Euromoney said 

“At $3.5 billion, it was the largest equity cheque written for an LBO, the largest ever buyout of a technology company, and included the largest ever consortium of sponsors.  On top of that, it was the biggest buyout since the RJR Nabisco deal 16 years earlier” (Tully, 2/2006). 

 The difference between the $3.5 billion check and the $11.4 billion cost was borrowed (“Sungard,” 3/29/2005). 

That loan has had long term ramifications.  As noted by the Inquirer in 2011: 

“The company has reported a lost each year since 2005.  [Sungard spokesman Brian] Robins says that’s due partly to amortization of the $11 billion that Silver Lake Partners and other buyout firms paid to buy SunGard that year.” (DiStefano, 5/17/2011). 

 A company profile by MarketLine published in 2012 gave a SWOT analysis of the firm.  It is overall positive.  The only weakness listed is a high debt level, a result of the company being taken private (SunGard, 7/17/2012)

Research uncovered several articles providing employee numbers but a correction in the Inquirer on July 21, 2011 (“Clearing”) states that Sungard does not release the number of employees for any given site, so none of that data will be provided here.  Interested parties are encouraged to search for that information themselves.

Sources

“Clearing the record,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 21, 2011

DiStefano, Joseph N., Conde to leave as head of SunGard Data,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 17, 2011

Parker, Akweli, “Sungard’s CEO relishes private ownership,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 21, 2006

SunGard Data Systems Inc.  MarketLine, July 17, 2012.

“Sungard’s CEO relishes private ownership,” Akweli Parker, Philadelphia Inquirer, August 21, 2006

Tully, Kathryn, “Sungard Data Systems $11.3 billion LBO,” Euromoney 37 #442, February, 2006.

 

Bain in PA: Stryon (Trinseo)

Introduction:

This post is part of a series in an attempt to understand the influence and involvement of Bain Capital (and venture capital / private equity generally) in Pennsylvania. 

To do this I searched through newspapers and business databases to locate the names of Pennsylvania  companies that had some connection to Bain, then looked for general information on those firms.  Chain stores do not count unless the company is headquartered in Pennsylvania.

I have made a concerted effort to confirm information found in the press but sometimes this was not possible.   A similar effort was made to construct a search strategy in such a way that published corrections would also be found.  That being said, I am working primarily with self-reported corporate information and published media, not from original research.  Citations are provided so interested parties can reviews the research for themselves, and they are encouraged to do so.  This is not intended to be exhaustive research, though the intent was to be thorough. 

Trinseo (formerly Styron)

Bain capital bought Stryon from Dow Chemical in March, 2010 for $1.63 billion (“Merger,” 3/03/2010).  Stryon, which is currently changing its name to Trinseo, works with plastics and chemicals used in home appliances, cars, carpets, and consumer electronics.  In 2011 the firm moved its corporate headquarters from Michigan to Berwyn in Chester County, PA. (Armstrong 4/22/2011).  The company chose this area because of the access to an international airport and the quality of life (Fernandez, 7/24/2010).  The firm has over 2,000 employees worldwide, but according to the corporate website last month, only about 15% are in the United States, and there are five other North American locations besides the headquarters in Berwyn.

The year after Bain bought it, Stryon took out a $1.4 billion loan to, in part, pay shareholders a dividend (Sheahan, 11/21/2011).  In early 2012 there was talk of an IPO but nothing seems to have come of it (“Facebook,” 2/06/12).  A March, 2012, press release from Moody’s downgraded the company’s outlook from stable to negative (Moody’s 3/26/2012).

Sources

Armstrong, Mike, “New headquarters, new name:  Styron to become Trinseso,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 2011

“Facebook may kickstart a sagging market for IPOs” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 6, 2012

Fernandez, Bob, “Styron LLC to move headquarters to Philadelphia area,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 24, 2010

“Merger activity lifts stocks for 3^rd day,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 3, 2010

“Moody’s changes Trinseo’s outlook to negative,” Moody’s Investment Service, March 26, 2012

Sheahan, Matthew, “Four Issuers Add $1.9B to HY Calendar,” High Yield Report, 22 #47  11/21/2011

Bain in PA: Tengion

Introduction:

This post is part of a series in an attempt to understand the influence and involvement of Bain Capital (and venture capital / private equity generally) in Pennsylvania. 

To do this I searched through newspapers and business databases to locate the names of Pennsylvania  companies that had some connection to Bain, then looked for general information on those firms.  Chain stores do not count unless the company is headquartered in Pennsylvania.

I have made a concerted effort to confirm information found in the press but sometimes this was not possible.   A similar effort was made to construct a search strategy in such a way that published corrections would also be found.  That being said, I am working primarily with self-reported corporate information and published media, not from original research.  Citations are provided so interested parties can reviews the research for themselves, and they are encouraged to do so.  This is not intended to be exhaustive research, though the intent was to be thorough. 

Tengion

Tengion was founded in 2003.  On the corporate website (www.tengion.com), the business is described as "a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company."

Prior to 2006 the company raised $39 million in private equity funding.  In 2006 it had 60 employees and received $50 million from private equity investors, from, among others, Bain Capital and Quaker BioVentures.  In part the money would be used to develop a manufacturing plant in East Norriton (Loyd 6/27/09).  A year later the company had 80 employees and raised an additional $33 million in private equity funding (Loyd 10/16/07).  In 2008 the company brought in another $21 million from seven venture capital firms, including Bain Capital (DiStefano, 11/20/08).

In late 2009 Tengion announced its intention to launch and initial public offering (IPO).  The previous private equity / venture capital money had been raised “by selling convertible preferred stock” (Brubaker 12/25/09).  In Sept 2008 the company had 68 employees, down from a high of 100.  Research setbacks accounted for layoffs. (Armstrong, 12,28/09).  The IPO raised $30 million, with a lower than expected starting price of $5.00 / share (“Tengion,” 4/10/10).  

The stock price went down over time and in February, 2011, Tengion announced that it would shortly run out of money if it did not receive more funding.  Medtronics was among those coming to the rescue.  The company “received $31.4 million from private investors in return for 11 million shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 10.5 million more.”  The price was $2.88 a share (Maykuth, 3/02/11).  Later that year the NASDAQ threatened to de-list the company because of a consistently low, less than $1.00 / share price (Sell, 10/07/11).  The company appealed this.  In November, 2011 another 30 employees were laid off and only a handful were left in Pennsylvania (Armstrong 11/16/2011).  In January, 2012 the company formally moved its corporate headquarters from Pennsylvania to North Carolina where its research facilities are. 

As of this writing the stock is trading at $2.00 / share, after a reverse stock split in May.  According to an August, 2012 financial report on the firm’s website, the company currently has a product in clinical trials and another in preliminary studies.  [Update:  On Sept. 4^th NASDAQ notified Tengion that it’s stock could no longer be traded on NASDAQ.  Instead it will begin trading Tengion stock on OTCQB tier of the OTC Marketplace.]

A report in the Mergent database lists those with significant ownership and Bain was not among them.  I don’t know when, how, or if, Bain stopped having a relationship with the company.

Sources:

Armstrong, Mike, “PhillyInc: A local innovator is downsizing again,” Philadelphia Inquirer,  Nov 16, 

2011 

Armstrong, “Remember initial public offerings?” Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec 28, 2009 

Brubacker, Harold, “Montco biotech firm to go public,”  Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec 25, 2009

DiStefano, Joseph, “New local money for biomedical innovator,”  Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov 20, 2008

Loyd, Linda “Developer of alternate organs gets $50 million,”  Philadelphia Inquirer, June 27, 2006

Loyd, Linda, “Tengion raises $33 million in private equity,”  Philadelphia Inquirer Oct 16, 2007

Maykuth, Andrew, “Tengion to get $31.4M in financing," Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2, 2011

Sell, David, “Tengion's shares face delisting,”  Philadelphia Inquirer, October 7, 2011

“Tengion shares begin trading,” Philadelpia Inquirer, April 10, 2010

 

       

From website:  Tengion, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company, is focused on developing its Organ Regeneration Platform™ to harness the intrinsic regenerative pathways of the body to regenerate a range of native-like organs and tissues with the goal of delaying or eliminating the need for chronic disease therapies, organ transplantation, and the administration of anti-rejection medications. An initial clinical trial is ongoing for the Company's most advanced product candidate, the Neo-Urinary Conduit™, an autologous implant that is intended to catalyze regeneration of native-like urinary tissue for bladder cancer patients requiring a urinary diversion following bladder removal. The Company's lead preclinical candidate is the Neo-Kidney Augment™, which is designed to prevent or delay dialysis kidney transplantation by increasing renal function in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. Tengion has worldwide rights to its product candidates.