Steve Baldwin and his partners all have worked for Apptis Inc., a Chantilly, Va.-based IT firm. Baldwin was part of a team that bought Intellisys Technology Corp. in 1998. By 2005, the renamed Apptis reported gross revenues of $700 million, with 1,500 employees in 40 states and six global offices.
Apptis customers included the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, State Department, Federal Aviation Administration and the Washington Redskins, the company said in 2004.
The Qbase transaction hadn’t completely closed Wednesday afternoon. Legal documents are being finalized, Mills said.
“I will be assuming the role of chairman of the board, and Steve Baldwin will be assuming the role of president and chief executive, if the transaction closes, which I certainly anticipate it will,” Mills said.
Mills said Qbase founder and CEO Bill Pardue “will be involved in business development.” He declined to elaborate.
The investment wins Baldwin and his partners control of a company that saw revenues from non-profit and commercial customers fall from $798,000 between July and November 2008 to $173,000 in the same period in 2009, according to Qbase’s recent proxy statement to shareholders.
However, Qbase revenues from government sales increased “by approximately 129 percent” between July and November 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, “but that increase did not entirely close the revenue gap,” the proxy document said. The proxy did not disclose the dollar value of those government sales.
“It’s obviously the need for additional investment capital and a new direction,” Mills said.
According to John Landess, executive director of the Turner Foundation, the foundation decided to absorb $1.2 million in debt from Qbase in an attempt to retain jobs and tax dollars. The foundation was an early Qbase supporter, giving the company $4 million, Pardue has said.
“It’s a combination of things,” Landess said. “The county, city and (Community Improvement Corporation) are partners receiving tax revenue, so that would be a loss. They (Qbase) are in our building at Nextedge (Applied Research and Technology Park), so if they aren’t alive and running, that’s empty space.”
Public and private investments and loans to Qbase since its founding in 2005 exceed $13 million.
The Turner Foundation, Wittenberg University and Clark State Community College also are stockholders, so the overall value lost to the community would be great if Qbase folded, he said.
Staff Writer Elaine Morris Roberts contributed to this story.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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