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3.1.11 Ascend Partners with Folsom Bluze to Extend Service Offerings For Small Businesses

Charlotte, NC, DATE — The economic disruption that we have faced for several years has had many impacts on businesses, communities, as well as on  personal and professional lives. This disruption has been a major reason for the dramatic increase in the number of new businesses being formed, as well as burgeoning reality that existing businesses need to redefine themselves to stay competitive in this economic environment. Ascend Management Group and Folsom Bluze have announced a strategic alliance to provide compelling solutions to the business challenges many small business and non-profit firms are facing in today’s competitive marketplace.

To complement Ascend’s existing strategic planning, project management and marketing and communications expertise, Folsom Bluze will provide much needed execution capabilities in the core areas every small business or non-profit organization needs to be successful. Specifically, Ascend and Folsom Bluze customers can benefit from website development and design, search engine optimization, online marketing and document management and 24X7 maintenance and support.

Ascend CEO Dave Maddaluna is excited about the prospects for his clients resulting from this partnership. Says Maddaluna ”many of our clients are individuals or small businesses who are in start-up mode and can’t allocate a large budget to IT needs. With Folsom Bluze, we now have the partner to deliver the technology and tools to meet their needs. All a business needs is an internet browser, and they can access everything they need to run and manage the business, anytime, and from anywhere. Its simple, its affordable and its scalable to meet your business needs, all the things that are important to the small business owner.

Folsom Bluze is pleased to be partnering with Ascend Management Group and their diverse client portfolio. Say Charles Jones, CEO of Folsom Bluze, “Ascend, much like Folsom Bluze,  has clients ranging from the sole proprietorship to Fortune 100 companies, and regardless of the size of your company, Folsom Bluze offers end-to-end solutions to optimize the IT spend in any firm to positively impact the bottom line.   Our model offers targeted, enterprise-designed solutions to smaller businesses and non-profits.  Depending on the application and the client’s needs, these solutions may be efficiently deployed in the cloud.”

Small business owners who are not already on board the “cloud” may be missing out on a great opportunity to improve their business operations as well as profitability. Cloud computing has changed the landscape of business dramatically in the past few years. Why Ascend into the Clouds? Says Maddaluna “Cloud computing and IT outsourcing are a natural way for small businesses and non profits to scale Information Technology to meet their business dynamics.”  

1.3.11 Ascend CEO Dave Maddaluna contributing to INC and Entrepreneur Magazines

Dave Maddaluna, CEO of Ascend Management Group, has been selected to be a contributing author to both Entrepreneur and INC. magazines starting in 2011. The focus of the articles will be geared towards emerging and existing small businesses and non profits with advice and best practices to help them succeed in our tough economy. Published articles will be posted on our BUZZ site, as well as posted on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN for all of Ascend’s clients and followers to read when available. The first article is slated for March 2011 in Inc. Magazine

12.21.10 Ascend CEO quoted in Entrepreneurial Publication

Carol Roth, author, speaker, and entrepreneurial expert who is a frequent guest on MSNBC, FOX, and on radio and television shows across the country, reached out to our CEO, Dave Maddaluna, to offer his best piece of advice for business owners as they enter 2011. Link to article is below, Ascend’s contribution is #45. http://www.carolroth.com/unsolicited-business-advice/?p=3863  

11.15.10 Ascend Completes 2 major engagements with Fortune 100 Companies

Ascend Management Group recently completed 2 major engagements with SunTrust Bank and Bank of the West. SunTrust engaged Ascend to develop their strategic roadmap for Cross Channel Strategies and Integration, helping ensure the all stakeholders are keenly aware of current state and where the Bank is headed to become best in class in the distribution channel space. Bank of the West engaged Ascend to provide thought leadership and tactical execution on planned enhancements to the Bank's planning processes, leading up to the 2011 Planning cycle. Said Dan Beck, Controller at Bank of The West "We engaged Ascend to provide thought leadership related to enhancements to our financial planning processes, as well as to provide the tactical support to assist our team in building actionable business requirements to get things done. Dave and his team at Ascend were able to deliver solid results for Bank of the West and helped bring our Finance capabilities to a higher level". Ascend is excited to be a go to strategic partner for these two organizations.

10.19.09 Dave Maddaluna, Ascend CEO named to James Madison University Business Case Competition Panel

James Madison University's College of Business, which BusinessWeek has ranked third on the public schools list and fourth out of all undergraduate business schools in the U.S. for return on investment, has tapped Dave Maddaluna, Ascend Management Group CEO, for his expertise in entreprenuership and business strategy to help serve on a panel to evaluate undergraduate and graduate level business case competitions. Years before Donald Trump created The Apprentice and made "You're fired!" part of the pop-culture lexicon, professors in JMU's College of Business were already using some of the show's concepts in an academic setting. Their idea: Create a 12-credit class with a practical centerpiece that requires student teams to build a business from the ground up. While tamer than Trump's reality-TV version, the course features aspects of the show, such as long hours working on what at times seems an impossible task, tense arguments as students vie for places on a team or deal with fellow students who have not lived up to expectations and, in the end, the exhilaration of completing a project that has consumed an entire semester. Students complete the business plan while learning the fundamentals of finance, management, marketing and operations during 12 hours of classroom work each week. Robert Reid, the college's dean, describes the class -- required of almost all business majors and taken junior year -- as the "gateway" into the college, taken as the first class before a student's major curriculum. In 2006, BusinessWeek magazine cited the class and its simulated real-world project, which this fall will have been required for a decade, as a reason why the college is ranked in the top 5 percent of undergraduate business schools. "We are pleased to have former Alumni, such as Dave Maddaluna, willing to give back their time and talent to support JMU's College of Business and our business students", says Dean Robert Reid.

06.01.09 Ascend Management Group Is Launched

Charlotte, N.C. – Oct. 17, 2009 – Seventeen year finance and marketing specialist, Dave Maddaluna, announced today the launch of a strategic consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, marketing, communications and project management. The company, Ascend Management Group, LLC, will be headquartered in Charlotte, NC. Ascend Management will offer one-stop access to multi-faceted marketing, financial, and operational expertise to businesses who want to launch or grow new businesses or charitable foundations. According to Maddaluna, president and CEO of Ascend Management, several factors lead to the creation and launch of Ascend. Three, however, stand out as most prominent to him: economic uncertainty, company downsizing and the widespread creation of foundations and other charitable endeavors. “The economic disruption that we have faced for more than a year has had many negative impacts on businesses, communities, as well as on individual’s personal and professional lives,” said Maddaluna. “This disruption has been a major reason we are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of new businesses being formed. Ascend wants to be a major player in this shifting dynamic.” Maddaluna noted that another burgeoning reality is that many surviving firms have been down-sized and need specialized expertise they can’t afford to hire permanently, or they need to recreate themselves based on the new economic realities they face. Finally, and what Maddaluna finds most satisfaction in, is the many individuals who have walked away from climbing the corporate ladder, to start charitable foundations that leave a legacy, and impact people’s lives in positive ways.