Gold Bridge Partners is very excited to announce it has contracted with the State of Montana to conduct an analysis of their need for a Grant and Scholarship Management System. The Montana Guaranteed Student Loan Program (MGSLP), a department in the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE), manages fourteen scholarship and grant programs that provide aid to qualifying Montana residents pursuing higher education. The administration of these programs is presently a relatively manual process. Over the next eight weeks, Gold Bridge will be working with Montana to design a customized solution that will meet their business needs and their budget.

The proposed software will award and track students and funds through the entire process from application, to initial award to graduation and repayment. It is expected that the system (once implemented) will increase the efficiency and accuracy of all records, provide ease of use for administrators, institutions and students, increase the ability to project award allocations, and provide means for obtaining and extracting more detailed information on trends and demographics.

Earlier this year, Gold Bridge Partners, Inc. (Gold Bridge) underwent a Type II SAS 70 examination of its Financial and Delivery Software Services. It is our pleasure to report successful examination results.

What is a SAS 70?
SAS 70 (or Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70) examinations are designed to report on the internal control over financial reporting at service organizations. SAS 70 examinations are widely recognized audit standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

What does this mean to Gold Bridge’s clients?
The examination reports on Gold Bridge’s internal controls and their operating effectiveness. GBPI’s SAS 70 helps demonstrate that Gold Bridge operates as a trusted third-party service provider that meets the standards established by the AICPA. According to Durward Ferland, who leads the IT Advisory & Assurance Services at Macdonald Page & Co LLC, “The use of SAS 70 examination reports has greatly expanded and is often used by user entities as part of their third party due diligence activities. More organizations are relying on controls at Gold Bridge, increasing the need for a SAS 70 examination. Macdonald Page & Co LLC is highly qualified to perform SAS 70 examinations.”

Gold Bridge was pleased to work with Macdonald Page & Co LLC, as they are one of the largest certified public accounting firms in Northern New England, providing Information Technology Advisory and Assurance Services, Business Advisory Services, Accounting, and Tax Services to clients nationwide. Their professional team has extensive experience with IT assurance services, including IT general controls and SAS 70, SSAE 16, and ISAE 3402 examinations.

Specialty Products Company (SPC) delivers components for highly engineered industrial applications requiring precision metal parts. This Maine-based company has been serving the needs of global industries for over a decade.  Recently, SPC contacted Gold Bridge to inquire about our Virtual IT services.  Gold Bridge met with the business owners to extract and prioritize their business and technological needs. SPC is looking to upgrade their IT infrastructure in an effort to streamline their business processes and remain competitive in their industry.  This will include a custom solution for Disaster Recovery.  Each proposed upgrade has been prioritized and is tied to a specific business objective.  The upgrades will be implemented in phases and will be followed by ongoing support.  For more information about our Virtual IT Services, visit our Virtual IT web page or contact us for a free consultation.

Gold Bridge’s new partnership with PC Pal Solutions, Inc. will expand our offerings in the educational arena.  Headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, PC Pal Solutions, Inc. has been working with educators to improve teaching and learning and increase student achievement through the implementation of technology based solutions.  Together, PC Pal and Gold Bridge Partners will work to serve current clients, increase product functionality and expand our client base while preserving a shared mission to support education.

As a result of this partnership, Gold Bridge is offering a suite of new products:
Student Assessment Online is a tool designed to deliver formative assessments and provide accurate, easily accessible results that drive professional development and accelerate the teaching and learning process.

Our enterprise training solutions are interactive self paced tutorials that feature voice video and text based instruction. The tutorials are accompanied by online pre and post assessments that can be used to evaluate the proficiency level of teachers and students as well as award credit hours for successful completion of the training regimen.  These products can be used to support the objectives of business owners as well as schools.  Multiple districts are currently utilizing the tutorials to address the demands of NCLB as it applies to technology and 8th grade students as well as award CPE credit hours to teachers.

With an application in many industries, our online asset tracking system (iTrackASSETS) uses bar code technology that enables you to scan, track and report on any item that is important to your business.  This advanced tool is web-based, so there is no need for installation and you can securely access it from any location.