News - mid-market thought leadership for technology-enabled business services.

Media Contact
Charles Bedard
Email: bedard[at]ephorgroup.com
Main: 1-(800)-379-9330
Fax: 1-(866)-878-5814
24 E. Greenway Plaza Suite 440
Houston, TX 77046

Read the Ephor Blog: Solving the Value Equation



Ephor Group News and Announcements

October 2009 – High Performance Workforce Attributes Research Findings  
Prosperity has no doubt been suspended for the near future and clearly the funding dynamics and capital options for small business desires to grow has changed. Organizations that will prosper for the near-term have put their stakes in the ground by planning and making the change necessary to succeed.  Research findings and executive report is available for download at http:www.ephorgroup.com/highperformanceworkforce.asp  


September 2009 – Small Business Playbook for the New Economy Presented at UT Club Seminar
Ephor Group’s Garry Meier presented on the topic "Small Business Playbook for the New Economy" highlighting the current affect of the Stimulus Bill on small business, forecasting the state of the union for small business, and sharing the Ephor Group’s Small Business Playbook of top ten best practices for small business executives to create wealth in the new economy.     The presentation is available for download at http:www.ephorgroup.com/resources.asp

August 2009 – Ephor Group Releases article on "The Role of the Chief Strategy Officer"
A “Chief Strategy Officer” (CSO) can create and enhance all the elements of a relevant strategy resulting in additional strategic alternatives, scenario planning, insuring that there is indeed a direct connection of the strategy elements to the daily execution of the business, and finally the financial forecasting mechanism. The article is viewable here: http:www.ephorgroup.com/chiefstrategyofficer.asp

July 2009 - Ephor Group Attends 2009 SHRM Annual Conference
Once a year HR professionals gather for the world’s largest HR conference to network with participants from over 140 countries, including prominent business, policy, and HR thought-leaders.  This year in New Orleans, SHRM’s (Society of Human Resource Management) annual conference  attendees acquired tools, got questions answered, and participated in more than 150 learning sessions. Read more: http://www.ephorgroup.com/enews.asp

June 2009 - Ten Common Private Company Board Mistakes
Now more so than ever, private company Board of Directors are being called upon to provide leadership and skills that go beyond traditional governance activities and ineffective Company Boards in this economic environment can prove disastrous. Read the full article, “Ten Common Mistakes of Company Boards” which provides a set of guidelines for directors, including highlighting the most common mistakes made by board leadership that reduce a board’s effectiveness and hinder the company’s success.

March 2009 - Small Business Management Best Practices from Garry Meier. Prosperity will no doubt be suspended for the near future. Clearly the funding dynamics and capital options for small business desires to grow has changed at least for the near-term. Organizations that will prosper for the near-term have put their stakes in the ground by planning and making the change necessary to succeed.   Change is upon us and those that embrace “Change” and make it an asset will enjoy opportunistic times.  Read more....

February 2009 - Garry Goes to Washington to further Ephor Group’s commitment and mission to be a: “Small Business Advocate,”  Garry Meier joined nine (9) other notable small business leaders in Washington DC the week of 2/9/09 to offer input on how-to best stimulate and support small businesses in the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009. Read more...

October 2008 - Ephor will be speaking at the Fourth Annual Marketing Excellence Luncheon; the presentation is titled "SPEAK LOUD: small budget Marketing Secrets You Can Afford." Download the Ephor Group Greater Houston Partnership Marketing Excellence presentation here.

Ephor Group investment Achilles Group named in Fastest's Growing Top 100 as #28 with over 100% growth! Congratulations to the entire Achilles Group team!!

Perquest, industry leading online payroll services provider, to present at the 7th Annual Technology and Paperless Office Demo Day. October 23, 2008 http://www.cpatechday.com

Serenity Systems launches ERP IT Services for manufacturing and distribution businesses. http://www.serenitysystems.com

HRAdvance's Plan-Smart, dependent eligibility audit verification, expands to Midwest and West Coast.

Domestic Auto Experts - Trust in the Services Industry! Spring 2008

January 2008 - Ephor Group Provides Growth Equity Financing and Management Services to Provide HR Services to Small Business

August 2007 - Risk Management's Role in Improving Portfolio Equity Valuation. Live webinar discusses optimizing portfolios for insurable and uninsurable risk. Because valuation arbitrage is less certain today improving EBITDA by mitigating insurable and uninsurable risk is a requirement for venture capital and private equity portfolio managers.   Watch the presentation: 'Risk Management's Role in Improving Portfolio Performance.' Download the complimentary report: 'Total Portfolio Risk Management.'

January 2007 - Maximizing Shareholder Value Checklist for Service Based Businesses. Ephor Group, has created a checklist entitled “Maximizing Shareholder Value Checklist” to assist managers of these firms.

January 2007 - Board of Directors Are Moving Beyond Governance: Top Ten Mistakes Made by Company Board of Directors . Because moving beyond traditional governance activities is uncertain ground for many Boards and Board members, Ephor Group has created “Top Ten Mistakes Made by Company Board of Directors” to guide private board directors. This article identifies prevalent board mistakes and details how to avoid common traps.



Looking for a speaker or an expert point-of-view for a story? We have spoken on the following topics at industry and business events, panels, webinars, and trade shows:

• Technology and business services valuation

• Customer acquisition economics

• Human capital best practices

• HR strategy including workforce effectiveness, process optimization, shared services, outsourcing, and technology assessment

• Labor and workforce planning

• Outsourcing (BPO/FAO/HRO/RPO) selection and evaluation

• Service business performance improvement  

• Value creation and wealth creation for founders and stakeholder's

ephor[at]ephorgroup.com