Education Management Corporation: Operator of Higher Education Systems

Although currently in deep financial problems, Education Management Corporation continues to provide the best education they can deliver to its students through its four higher education systems. The business is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Created in 1962, the business is owned in part by Goldman Sachs, who currently has about 43% voting stake in the venture. As of, there are about 110 schools that the company operates, although it has significantly cut off about 2,600 positions across its managed universities. Its education systems include the South University, Argosy University, Brown Mackie College and The Art Institutes. In total, they have about 120,920 students who are currently enrolled in their numerous degree programs.

With over 23,000 associates currently employed, the business continues to survive in the education industry. By the end of the last quarter of 2014, Education Management Corporation is slated to be delisted from the NASDAQ, where it publicly trades under the symbol EDMC.

EnerNOC: Technology for Energy Conservation

Running a business entails a lot of expenses that owners need to control. The biggest chunk of the generated sales would likely go to the maintenance of the operations and to the utility bills. With the emergence of smart technology, the latter can be easily controlled. Companies like EnergNOC, Inc. offers energy intelligence software (EIS) that provide businesses the applications that would help them manage their utility bills, purchase energy better, manage peak demands and optimize their energy consumption.

Considered as one of the largest providers of energy intelligence software in the world, the company offers their products and services to various institutional, industrial and commercial customers. Even utility and power grid operators have advocated the usage of the applications provided by the company. Their services strongly underscore the process of demand response and maintains a real time balance between the demand and the supply of electricity. They also provide insights and other solutions for efficiency and energy conservation. This is one of the selling points of the company as they not only provide the application, they also help companies earn their renewable energy credits.

David Brewster and Timothy G. Healy started the business in 2001 and the company incorporated in the state of Delaware in 2003. Based on their reports, they have over 10,000 sites that are using their products and service as of March 2011. These locations include supermarkets, industrial sites, commercial buildings, hospitals and even universities. Their product portfolio includes energy supply management (SupplySMART), energy efficiency (EfficiencySMART), greenhouse gas emissions management (CarbonSMART) and demand response (DemandSMART).

The name EnerNOC stands for Energy Network Operations Center. Their highly advanced technology has received numerous citations and the operations of the company have been highlighted for its excellence in industry leadership and world class customer service. The company has a strong presence in the United States, in Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and in New Zealand.

Dice.com: A Career Website for Technology Professionals

Compared to other career websites, Dice.com strongly offers its services to those technology and engineering professionals. The website is owned by Dice Holdings, Inc. which started operating in 1990 and was created by Diane Rickert and Lloyd Linn.

There are approximately 60,000 technical job listings that the website features. This was surpassed by their advertisement in 2014, which opened more than 80,000 job listings every day. The company reported that they have about 3 million registered technology professionals, of which 75% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. They added that 65% of their registered population have experience of more than 10 years in the field. It is also worth mentioning that compared to other job search engines, the company boasts that they have about 2 million unique visitors every month.

The job postings and their registered users are not concentrated within the United States, but are coming from different parts of the world. These hopeful applicants/users are being assisted by their more than 500 employees, who help run their website.

Dorman Products, Inc.: An Automotive and Heavy-duty Truck Parts Supplier

One of the most lucrative businesses in the automotive parts industry is Dorman Products, Inc. This American company is a supplier of automotive hardware, brake products, automotive replacement parts and household hardware. The company offers their products internationally to the automotive aftermarket and mass merchandise markets.

There are more than 150,000 products that the company carries and these items are marketed through their family of Dorman Brands. The business carries 7 brand names, including Dorman Solutions (automotive hardware parts dealer), Dorman Help! (merchandized replacement parts and repair solutions), Dorman Renew (remanufactured dealer only hard parts), Dorman Auto Grade (automotive hardware), Dorman First Stop (brake hardware and various hydraulics), Dorman Conduct Tite (electrical maintenance parts) and Dorman Techoice (value-priced hard parts).

The product portfolio of the company includes oil cooler lines, radiator fan assemblies, window regulators, intake manifolds, door hardware, interior trim parts, retainer rings, battery hold-down bolts and repair kits, radiator parts, power steering filler caps, replacement parts and several other automotive hardware parts. All these products are categorized by the business into four classes: hardware, chassis, power-train and automotive body. All of these products are marketed across the United States, in Canada, Europe, Mexico, the Middle East and in Asia. Their items are distributed through national, regional and local warehouse distributors, specialty markets, aftermarket retailers and salvage yards.

Through the constant development of the business and its dedication to innovation, they remain to be the preferred automotive and heavy duty truck replacement parts and service supplier in numerous countries around the globe. The growth of the business is not only caused by its organic growth, but also through strategic acquisition of similar businesses that compete in the market.

Dorman Products, Inc. is a publicly held company, with stocks traded in the NASDAQ. The company is a component of the Russell 3000 Index and holds its headquarters in Colmar, Pennsylvania.

Cerus Corp: Enhancing the Safety of Blood

The INTERCEPT Blood System is an innovation based on the proprietary technology of Cerus Corporation, a biomedical products company that is headquartered in Concord, California. The company has operations in Europe, in the Middle East and in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The mission of the company is to enhance the safety of blood. Through its technology, they are able to control the biological replication and inactivation of blood-borne pathogens. This process filters and eliminates the presence of bacteria, parasites and viruses in blood while maintaining and preserving the therapeutic components of plasma, red blood cells and platelets. This system is most useful, especially during blood transfusion. Their INTERCEPT red blood cell system is one of their products that is currently in its clinical development phase.

Cerus Corporation partners with other biopharmaceutical companies like Baxter International to enhance and hasten the process of development some of its novel products. The company markets its platelet and plasma systems through their distributors and direct sales force around the globe.

Concho Resources: An Independent Oil and Natural Gas Company

One of the independent oil and natural gas companies that operate in the Permian Basin is Concho Resources. The company’s primary operating areas lie in the West Texas regions and the southeast locations of New Mexico. The business was formed in 2006 as a result of the merger between Concho Equity Holdings Corp and some of the oil and gas properties of Chase Oil Corporation.

Concho Equity Holdings Corp. was created two years before the merger and the company is considered to be the third business to focus its operations on the Permian Basin since 1997. The first year of the company was spent acquiring oil and natural gas properties and was successful in taking over the business of Lowe Partners, LP for about $117 million. The business continues to expand its operations by acquiring and developing other companies that are in the exploration of oil and natural gas business.

With a capital budget of more than $1.8 billion, the business produces more than 33.6 million barrels of oil equivalent. It continues to grow its production and increases its crude oil delivery by 25% year after year. In 2013, they have reported to have doubled their drilling operations and has identified over 22,000 locations with more than 502.9 million barrels of oil equivalent in estimated proved reserves. The expansion of its operations was strongly attributed to its successful takeover of Three Rivers Operating Company in 2012. With this acquisition, they have added to their core operations locations in Midland Basin Wolfberry play and the Midland Basin horizontal Wolfcamp play.

The business strategy of the company relies heavily on the acquisition of properties, especially those that are located in prolific oil plays in the country. Through this method of approaching the trade, they are not only able to increase their reserves; they are also able to secure strong production and cash flow for their stockholders and business partners.