The New England Energy Council names BigBelly Solar as the 2011 Emerging Company of the Year.

Emerging Company of the Year: BigBelly Solar
BigBelly Solar, a global provider of innovative and sustainable solutions for the management of waste & recycling, was named Emerging Company of the Year for its dramatic growth and substantial global influence in increasing resource efficiencies and reducing environmental impacts in the waste management industry. BigBelly Solar saw a significant expansion around the globe in 2011, highlighted by the City of Chicago’s decision to convert their entire downtown operations over to the system, with subsequent expansion into other agencies of the City. BigBelly Solar will finish the year with more than 13,000 waste & recycling stations deployed worldwide.

The New England Clean Energy Council has chosen BigBelly Solar Inc. as its “Emerging Company of the Year.”

And before anyone starts wondering if this business will go the way of Solyndra, well, they’re not even remotely similar.

Solyndra is known as the big solar panel-making bust. BigBelly is known as the maker of solar panel-powered trash compactors.

The Newton company, originally called Seahorse Power, has been making trash collection more efficient and reducing sanitation department costs since 2003. (I remember then-Worcester Mayor Tim Murray checking out a prototype outside the DCU Center back in 2005, years before he joined the Patrick administration’s clean energy agenda.)

The privately held company said it had a “significant” expansion this year, including Chicago’s downtown-wide rollout of BigBelly cans, and now counts 13,000-plus units deployed worldwide. Boston, MIT and Boston University are customers.

In announcing the award picked up at the council’s “Green Tie Gala” on Wednesday night, BigBelly CEO Barry Fougere noted the company’s recent shift to an information services company - a type of “smart grid” that provides wireless connections and software to analyze waste disposal and recycling rates.

Introduced today and showcasing at MILCOM 2011 booth #2025 in Baltimore, Maryland USA, the VFH3225 is a low-power device with CMOS output and supply voltages of 3.3V, 2.8V, 2.5V or 1.8V. Typical current consumption is as low as 8 mA and to minimize battery drain the device also has an output enable/disable option. Its miniature size, 3.2 x 2.5 mm, allows for efficient use of board space and product designs expansion.

“At Valpey Fisher, our products continue to evolve to meet the needs of many applications,” says John Fortune, Director of Sales and Marketing for Valpey Fisher. “The new frequency range of the VFH3225 allows the part to be in more industrial and military designs where board space is at a premium and high temperature operation is a requirement.”

Valpey Fisher: Eight Decades of Innovation in Oscillators
Hi-Rel/COTS oscillators are quartz oscillators that work in tough, environmentally challenging applications typically associated with mission-critical military uses.

Valpey Fisher offers a complete line of Hi-Rel/COTS oscillators (XO and VCXO) available in industry standard packages including the latest 3.2 x 2.5mm design. By supporting wide temperature ranges and high frequencies, Valpey Fisher’s Hi-Rel/COTS products offer a competitive advantage to our customers when confronted with extreme conditions.

Customers worldwide use Valpey Fisher Hi-Rel/COTS products to enable a wide range of applications for military communications, munitions and guidance systems. Please visit Valpey Fisher’s website for information on our Military and Hi-Rel/COTS products. Samples are available upon request. Please contact your local representative or email sales@valpeyfisher.com for data sheets, samples and pricing.

About Valpey Fisher:

Valpey Fisher Corporation (NASDAQ: VPF)is a global leader in the design, development, and manufacture of high-accuracy subsystems integrated into digital and optical telecommunications systems in use throughout the world for voice, data and military communications. For more than 80 years, customers have chosen Valpey Fisher as their preferred supplier of the electronic components and subsystems that drive their business.

Companies pick Valpey Fisher for its long history of technology innovation, its high-quality precision products, and its top-to-bottom commitment to customers to provide and support custom solutions that meet their evolving needs. The Company’s products enable communications system vendors to increase network data capacity and improve voice and video quality.

Through its broad range of timing, control and measurement solutions that deliver high performance, uncompromised precision, and consistent reliability - Valpey Fisher partners with customers to help them succeed in the markets they compete in including wireless and wireline infrastructure, microwave radio, military communications, instrumentation, imaging and industrial applications.

Valpey Fisher’s global customer base of original equipment manufacturers (including Alcatel-Lucent, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Google, IBM, Juniper Networks, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon) and electronics manufacturing services companies are served by direct sales personnel, independent manufacturers’ representatives, and distributors worldwide.

For more information on Valpey Fisher’s innovative products please visit www.valpeyfisher.com.

Contacts:
Press: Patrick Rafter for Valpey Fisher, 617-901-2697 pr@valpeyfisher.com
Investors: Michael J. Kroll, CFO, Valpey Fisher Corporation, 508-435-6831

Introduced today and showcasing at MILCOM 2011 booth #2025 in Baltimore, Maryland USA, the VFH5070 offers output frequencies from 1 MHz to 80 MHz in a LVCMOS output with supply voltages of 3.3V, or 5.0V. For tracking accuracy of a PLL design, the device’s absolute pull range minimum is ±100 ppm. The device meets military standard Group A, B, and C testing requirements.

“Design engineers in the military market continuously look for components that perform efficiently and accurately through stringent conditions,” says John Fortune, Director of Sales and Marketing for Valpey Fisher. “Valpey Fisher VFH5070 maintains excellent APR across the military temperature range of -55°C to +125°C which offers great benefits to military applications. In addition, the device meets military standard testing to ensure the highest quality and performance.”

Valpey Fisher: Eight Decades of Innovation in Oscillators
Hi-Rel/COTS oscillators are quartz oscillators that work in tough, environmentally challenging applications typically associated with mission-critical military uses.

Valpey Fisher offers a complete line of Hi-Rel/COTS oscillators (XO and VCXO) available in industry standard packages including the latest 3.2 x 2.5mm design. By supporting wide temperature ranges and high frequencies, Valpey Fisher’s Hi-Rel/COTS products offer a competitive advantage to our customers when confronted with extreme conditions.

Customers worldwide use Valpey Fisher Hi-Rel/COTS products to enable a wide range of applications for military communications, munitions and guidance systems. Please visit Valpey Fisher’s website for information on our Military and Hi-Rel/COTS products. Samples are available upon request. Please contact your local representative or email sales@valpeyfisher.com for data sheets, samples and pricing.

About Valpey Fisher:

Valpey Fisher Corporation (NASDAQ: VPF) is a global leader in the design, development, and manufacture of high-accuracy subsystems integrated into digital and optical telecommunications systems in use throughout the world for voice, data and military communications. For more than 80 years, customers have chosen Valpey Fisher as their preferred supplier of the electronic components and subsystems that drive their business.

Companies pick Valpey Fisher for its long history of technology innovation, its high-quality precision products, and its top-to-bottom commitment to customers to provide and support custom solutions that meet their evolving needs. The Company’s products enable communications system vendors to increase network data capacity and improve voice and video quality.

Through its broad range of timing, control and measurement solutions that deliver high performance, uncompromised precision, and consistent reliability - Valpey Fisher partners with customers to help them succeed in the markets they compete in including wireless and wireline infrastructure, microwave radio, military communications, instrumentation, imaging and industrial applications.

Valpey Fisher’s global customer base of original equipment manufacturers (including Alcatel-Lucent, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Google, IBM, Juniper Networks, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon) and electronics manufacturing services companies are served by direct sales personnel, independent manufacturers’ representatives, and distributors worldwide.

For more information on Valpey Fisher’s innovative products please visit www.valpeyfisher.com.

Contacts:
Press: Patrick Rafter for Valpey Fisher, 617-901-2697 pr@valpeyfisher.com
Investors: Michael J. Kroll, CFO, Valpey Fisher Corporation, 508-435-6831

“The need for compliant, effective health benefits communications continues to grow, particularly in light of proposed new 2012 regulations, such as the Summary of Benefits Coverage, that may increase the communications burden on employers,” said Kim Buckey, SPD Practice Lead, HighRoads. “The HighRoads Compliance Assessment Tool is an efficient way to get a sense of how well your company is performing in meeting the communication needs of employees, and the specific requirements of federal agencies,” Buckey added.

The HighRoads Compliance Assessment examines four major activities that are essential to communications compliance. Each section is graded Poor, Okay or Good based on user responses. 

• Content: Must be thorough, understandable and include all required language.
• Process: Historical and current versions need to be readily available. Using vendor supplied material for SPDs (Summary Plan Description) runs the risk of noncompliance. SPDs should be distinct from the actual plan document and should reflect the company’s communications brand, tone and style.
• Timing: Updated materials are distributed on a timely basis in accordance with regulatory requirements. Ideally, some of these processes are automated.
• Distribution: Electronic distribution of plan information should be verified with confirmation of delivery to an email address. Paper distribution must be available should electronic delivery fail.

HighRoads serves a large number of employers which offer self-insured employee benefits plans. On behalf of these companies, HighRoads prepares Summary Plan Documents (SPDs) and Summary Material Modifications to communicate with the employers’ plan participants, and provides an automated system to ensure timely, accurate distribution and updating.

“As we head into the next year of reform, HighRoads thought it was the right time to offer companies a free checkup on their communication practices. Based on HighRoads research we know there is still considerable variance in the methods used to achieve full compliance regarding SPDs, for example. This assessment gives companies a benchmark by which to consider areas of improvement,” said Buckey.

Mass. Capital is pleased to announce a new investment in Steffian Bradley Architects (SBA). SBA was founded in Boston in 1932 and today is a worldwide award-winning architectural firm with a special emphasis on healthcare and academic architecture. The Company has capabilities across all aspects of projects, from front-end strategic planning, to design and plan, to construction management. Design work is done on both interiors and exteriors. The Company currently has offices in Boston, Enfield, Connecticut, the United Kingdom and China. Proceeds from the financing are being used to help support the Company’s growth.

For more information on Steffian Bradley Architects, please visit www.steffian.com.

Dallas, TX and Worcester, MA - November 1, 2011 - World Energy Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: XWES), a leading energy management services firm, today announced it has purchased GSE Consulting, LP (GSE), a TX-based energy management and procurement company, for approximately $8.6 million at closing plus a potential earn-out. The acquisition provides World Energy a major foothold in Texas, the largest de-regulated electricity market in the U.S., and a significant presence in the fast-growing small and medium-sized market. World Energy expects the transaction to positively impact top-line revenue, EBITDA and backlog in 2012.

“With GSE, we gain a proven winner in the competitive Texas marketplace with a large pool of customers and a top flight sales team,” said Richard Domaleski, CEO of World Energy Solutions. “This transaction caps off a series of strategic acquisitions we have made over the last several weeks that we believe are ‘game-changing’ for us. Together these moves advance our consolidation of the energy procurement space, broaden our customer target set and geographical reach, and increase our energy management capabilities. Consolidating these companies will accelerate our growth and enhance our EBITDA margins.”

Added Brian Dafferner, President, GSE: “We see tremendous upside for our customers and employees in joining forces with a national leader like World Energy. The Company’s vision for lowering total energy costs, and its ability to execute that vision, will be well received by the hundreds of businesses we serve. Not only do we see an opportunity to cross-sell new services into our existing customer base, but we believe our knowledge and relationships will help World Energy penetrate additional Texas-based and national accounts.”

Formed in 2002 following the inception of electricity deregulation in Texas, GSE has become one of the premier energy consulting and management firms in the country. World Energy will retain the services of more than 20 GSE employees across three offices: Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston.

Today’s deal marks the third in seven weeks for World Energy, which recently announced the acquisition of Co-eXprise’s energy procurement business and energy efficiency firm Northeast Energy Solutions.

Management at World Energy will discuss each of its recent acquisitions, and review their impact, on the Company’s Q3 2011 earnings call, November 3rd at 10:00 a.m. ET. Interested parties can dial in at 1-866-352-2112 and enter passcode 7674892#. International participants may access the call by dialing 1-630-691-2779 and entering passcode 7674892#.

About World Energy Solutions, Inc.
World Energy Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: XWES) is an energy management services firm that brings together the passion, processes and technologies to take the complexity out of energy management and turn it into bottom-line impact for the businesses, institutions and governments we serve. To date, the Company has transacted more than $20 billion in energy, demand response and environmental commodities on behalf of its customers, creating more than $1 billion in value for them. World Energy is also a leader in the global carbon market, where its World Energy Exchange® supports the ground-breaking Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s (RGGI) cap and trade program for CO2 emissions. For more information, please visit www.worldenergy.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the following: our revenue and backlog are dependent on actual future energy purchases pursuant to completed procurements; the demand for our services is affected by changes in regulated prices or cyclicality or volatility in competitive market prices for energy; the effect of acquisitions on revenue, growth, EBITDA and backlog; and there are factors outside our control that affect transaction volume in the electricity market. Additional risk factors are identified in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For additional information, contact:

Dan Mees
World Energy Solutions, Inc.
(508) 459-8156
dmees@worldenergy.com

Erika Moran
The Investor Relations Group
(212) 825-3210
emoran@investorrelationsgroup.com

Source:  World Energy Solutions, Inc.

“Social continues to be a rapidly evolving marketplace.  We have made, with valuable feedback from our end-users, several timely updates to the MessageMaker Social platform” said Chris Heitmann, CMO of One to One Global. “Clients can now easily drive engagement and increase sales conversion from dormant Pages and also manage and monitor social communications from a single dashboard.”

Key platform updates include the following:

• Expanded Dashboard: The new dashboard is simple, efficient and more informative.  It provides marketers with increased analytics and performance metrics as well as one click access to the most commonly used features-approvals, keyphrase alerts, to-do lists and messages.

• Custom Content Streams: A common challenge for marketers has been to encourage more publishing and engagement on sales reps’ Pages. MessageMaker Social’s new subscribable content feed helps sales reps publish relevant content, sell more effectively as well as drive SEO.

• Enhanced Language Support: Language support for messaging has been added for the top 23 languages on the Internet, including Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic and German.

For additional information please visit www.messagemaker.com or follow us on Twitter @msgmkrsocial.

About MessageMaker Social/One to One Global
MessageMaker Social is a web-based social media management system (SMMS) used by Fortune 1000 clients in the financial services, consumer and direct marketing industries.  MessageMaker Social was developed by One to One Global, an interactive marketing and social technology firm, with offices in Boston, London, and Singapore. Founded in 1997, the firm has worked with companies such as UPS, SunTrust, Comcast and Gap Inc.-strengthening brand relationships by delivering measurable content and messages across a broad spectrum of permission marketing channels including Web, social, email, mobile and apps. For more information please visit www.onetooneglobal.com or follow us on Twitter @onetooneglobal.

Media Contact:
Martha Keeley
mkeeley@onetooneinteractive.com
m. 978.356.4208

BURLINGTON, MA - November 1, 2011 - Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AZPN), a leading provider of software and services to the process industries, today announced financial results for its first quarter of fiscal 2012, ended September 30, 2011.

Mark Fusco, Chief Executive Officer of AspenTech, said, “The first quarter was a strong start to the new fiscal year.  The September quarter is typically a seasonally weak quarter, but we generated increased growth in our license total contract value as compared to the first quarter in recent years.  We believe the packaging and subscription licensing model of our aspenONE suite, combined with our efforts to increase our sales organization’s focus on expanding customer relationships and driving greater product usage, are having a positive impact on our business.”

Fusco added, “The Company met or exceeded its financial guidance across all key financial metrics for the first fiscal quarter.  We also generated positive free cash flow during our seasonally weaker cash generation period, and believe that AspenTech remains on track to generate free cash flow in the mid-$70 million range for fiscal 2012 and $100 million in fiscal 2013.”

First Quarter Fiscal 2012 and Recent Business Highlights

o    The license portion of total contract value was $1.31 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, which increased 2.2% sequentially and 12.3% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

o    Total contract value was $1.46 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, including the value of bundled maintenance, which increased 2.7% sequentially and 17.0% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2011.

o    The company announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a $100 million share repurchase program.  This replaces the prior share repurchase program, which had approximately $20 million of remaining capacity as of the end of the first quarter.

Summary of First Quarter Fiscal Year 2012 Financial Results

AspenTech’s total revenue of $51.2 million increased 19% from $43.1 million in the first quarter of the prior year.

• Subscription and software revenue was $31.9 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, an increase from $19.0 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 and $28.7 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.
• Services & other revenue was $19.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, compared to $24.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2011 and $23.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2011, AspenTech reported a loss from operations of $15.6 million due primarily to the multi-year revenue model transition following the introduction at the beginning of fiscal 2010 of the company’s aspenONE subscription offering, which has ratable revenue recognition.  This represents an improvement from a loss from operations of $19.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2010.

Net loss was $11.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2011, leading to net loss per share of $0.12.  This represents an improvement from a net loss per share of $0.17 in the same period last fiscal year.

Non-GAAP loss from operations, which adds back stock-based compensation expense and restructuring charges, was $12.0 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, an improvement from a non-GAAP loss from operations of $16.9 million in the same period last fiscal year.  Non-GAAP net loss was $9.2 million, or ($0.09) per share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, an improvement compared to a non-GAAP net loss of $12.8 million, or ($0.14) per share, in the same period last fiscal year.  A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is included in the financial tables included in this press release.

AspenTech had a cash balance of $145.4 million at September 30, 2011, a decrease of $4.6 million from the end of the prior quarter due to the fact that the company used $9.2 million in cash to execute against the previously announced share repurchase program.  The company generated $5.3 million in cash flow from operations and had $0.6 million in capital expenditures and capitalized software, leading to free cash flow of $4.7 million for the three months ended September 30, 2011.

Board of Directors Approves $100 Million Share Repurchase Program

As mentioned above, AspenTech’s Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program for up to $100 million. The timing and amount of any shares repurchased will be determined by AspenTech based on its evaluation of market conditions and other factors. Repurchases may also be made under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, which would permit shares to be repurchased when AspenTech might otherwise be precluded from doing so under applicable insider trading laws and regulations. The repurchase program may be suspended or discontinued at any time. Any repurchased shares will be available for use in connection with AspenTech’s equity incentive plans and for other corporate purposes.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains “non-GAAP financial measures” under the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Non-GAAP financial measures are not based on a comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. This non-GAAP information supplements, and is not intended to represent a measure of performance in accordance with, disclosures required by generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.  Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or superior to, financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP.  A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is included in the financial tables included in this press release.

Management considers both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results in managing AspenTech’s business.  As the result of adoption of new licensing models, management believes that, for the next few years, a number of AspenTech’s performance indicators based on GAAP, including revenue, gross profit, operating income (loss) and net income (loss), will be of limited value in assessing AspenTech’s performance, growth and financial condition. Accordingly, management instead is focusing on certain non-GAAP and other business metrics, including the non-GAAP metrics set forth in this press release, to track AspenTech’s business performance. None of these non-GAAP metrics should be considered as an alternative to any measure of financial performance calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Conference Call and Webcast

AspenTech will host a conference call and webcast today, November 1, 2011, at 4:30 p.m. (Eastern Time), to discuss the company’s financial results for the first quarter fiscal 2012 as well as the company’s business outlook.  The live dial-in number is (877) 245-0126, conference ID code 17045138. Interested parties may also listen to a live webcast of the call by logging on to the Investor Relations section of AspenTech’s website, http://www.aspentech.com/corporate/investor.cfm, and clicking on the “webcast” link. A replay of the call will be archived on AspenTech’s website and will also be available via telephone at (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406, conference ID code 17045138, through November 8, 2011.

About AspenTech

AspenTech is a leading global provider of mission-critical process optimization software solutions, which are designed to manage and optimize plant and process design, operational performance, and supply chain planning. AspenTech’s aspenONE® software and related services have been developed specifically for companies in the process industries, including energy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and engineering and construction. Customers use AspenTech’s solutions to improve their competitiveness and profitability by increasing throughput and productivity, reducing operating costs, enhancing capital efficiency, and decreasing working capital requirements. To see how the world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.

© 2011 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech, aspenONE and the Aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

The second and third paragraphs of this press release contain forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Actual results may vary significantly from AspenTech’s expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation: demand for, or usage of, our aspenONE software declines for any reason; AspenTech’s failure to realize the anticipated financial (including cash flow) and operational benefits of the aspenONE subscription offering; unforeseen difficulties or uncertainties in the application of accounting standards; weaknesses in AspenTech’s internal controls; and other risk factors described from time to time in AspenTech’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

AspenTech cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. AspenTech expressly disclaims any current intention to update forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

For more information on AMP, please visit www.ampagency.com