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11/1/2007
APOGEE Interactive Announces National Certification as Woman-Owned Business
APOGEE Interactive staked its claim as a pioneer in online solutions in 1994 when it brought interactive CD and Web-based energy efficiency training and content to the utility industry. Getting credit for being a pioneer of another kind - as a woman-owned business -- didn't even register on the company's radar screen back then, said APOGEE Interactive president and chief executive officer Susan Gilbert.
Today, with a client roster of more than 200 utilities and 14 years of successful operation under its belt, APOGEE Interactive recently pursued the certification process and gained national certification as a Women's Business Enterprise by the Georgia Women's Business Council, a regional certifying partner of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. "This simply makes official what our corporate structure established at the very start of APOGEE," Gilbert said.
"Our passion has been to help utilities with their energy efficiency programs, employee training and customer satisfaction," Gilbert explained, a co-founder of the Atlanta-based company. "We recognized electronic media would be essential in bridging the knowledge gap that was increasing as corporate classroom training began shrinking," Gilbert explained. "We started with portable CD technology and quickly migrated to Web-based solutions."
Just as the country's recognition of minority-owned businesses has evolved into full-fledged supplier diversity programs over the years, APOGEE's online training for utilities naturally grew into broader Internet-based tools that reach millions of utility consumers directly. Featured on the utilities' websites, APOGEE's applications include online energy calculators, reference libraries and even a kid's learning site, where consumers can quickly assess their energy use and find ways to save cost-effectively in their homes. Commercial and industrial utility customers can also tap into energy
calculators, receive detailed billing analysis and participate in real-time demand side management platforms with APOGEE's online business modules.
"Many of our clients are large, investor-owned and municipal utilities that have formal supplier diversity initiatives," said Gilbert. "We finally realized that gaining this certification would not only be beneficial to our business but to our customers' businesses as well."
APOGEE Interactive, Inc. (www.apogee.net ) is a leading provider of online solutions for the energy industry. Headquartered in Atlanta, APOGEE's web-based content and tools reach millions of energy consumers daily. Customers comprise a wide range of energy utilities such as American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), Entergy (NYSE: ETR), FPL (NYSE: FPL), CPS Energy, and Jackson EMC. The company also provides eLearning systems, call center programs and demand response platforms to utilities and their trade associations.
The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (http://www.wbenc.com) is the nation's largest third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. WBENC's national standard of certification involves a thorough review of the business and an onsite inspection to confirm the business is at least 51 percent owned, operated and controlled by a woman or women. WBENC is a resource for the more than 700 US companies and government agencies that rely on WBENC's certification as an integral part of their supplier diversity programs.
