KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT Acquires First Mortgage Loan Secured by Orlando, Fla., Office Portfolio - msnbc.com

ORLANDO, FL — KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT, a publicly offered, non-traded real estate investment trust based in Newport Beach, Calif., has announced the acquisition of a non-performing first mortgage loan collateralized by Primera/University Court, a three-building office portfolio in Orlando, Fla., totaling 106,672 square feet.

On July 2, 2012, the $15,750,000 mortgage loan was purchased at a discounted price of $8 million. As this is a non-performing loan, KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT does not expect to receive repayment of the entire principal balance.

Primera Court I and Primera Court II are twin, 31,840-square-foot buildings located in Lake Mary, Fla., 20 miles north of downtown Orlando. The buildings were completed in 1999 and 2000, respectively, and offer easy access to Interstate 4 and State Roads 417, 419 and 427.

The third building in the portfolio is the 42,992-square-foot University Court, situated blocks from the University of Central Florida campus in the University submarket of Orlando. The two-story building was developed in 2001 and is near State Roads 417, 408 and 50.

KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT is a public non-traded real estate investment trust that intends to invest in and manage a diverse portfolio of real estate-related loans, opportunistic real estate, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments. KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT was sponsored indirectly by Charles J. Schreiber, Jr., Peter Bren, Keith Hall and Peter McMillan III and is advised by KBS Capital Advisors LLC, an affiliated entity which is indirectly owned and controlled by KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT's sponsors.

About KBS
KBS is a private equity real estate company and SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 1992. Since its inception, KBS and its affiliated companies have completed transactional activity in excess of $22.4 billion via 14 separate accounts, six commingled funds, five sovereign wealth funds and five non-traded REITs. For information, visit www.kbscapital.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT's ability to invest in and manage a diverse portfolio. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT's or Primera/University Court's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

© Marketwire 2012

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KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT Acquires First Mortgage Loan Secured by Orlando, Fla., Office Portfolio - msnbc.com

ORLANDO, FL — KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT, a publicly offered, non-traded real estate investment trust based in Newport Beach, Calif., has announced the acquisition of a non-performing first mortgage loan collateralized by Primera/University Court, a three-building office portfolio in Orlando, Fla., totaling 106,672 square feet.

On July 2, 2012, the $15,750,000 mortgage loan was purchased at a discounted price of $8 million. As this is a non-performing loan, KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT does not expect to receive repayment of the entire principal balance.

Primera Court I and Primera Court II are twin, 31,840-square-foot buildings located in Lake Mary, Fla., 20 miles north of downtown Orlando. The buildings were completed in 1999 and 2000, respectively, and offer easy access to Interstate 4 and State Roads 417, 419 and 427.

The third building in the portfolio is the 42,992-square-foot University Court, situated blocks from the University of Central Florida campus in the University submarket of Orlando. The two-story building was developed in 2001 and is near State Roads 417, 408 and 50.

KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT is a public non-traded real estate investment trust that intends to invest in and manage a diverse portfolio of real estate-related loans, opportunistic real estate, real estate-related debt securities and other real estate-related investments. KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT was sponsored indirectly by Charles J. Schreiber, Jr., Peter Bren, Keith Hall and Peter McMillan III and is advised by KBS Capital Advisors LLC, an affiliated entity which is indirectly owned and controlled by KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT's sponsors.

About KBS
KBS is a private equity real estate company and SEC-registered investment advisor founded in 1992. Since its inception, KBS and its affiliated companies have completed transactional activity in excess of $22.4 billion via 14 separate accounts, six commingled funds, five sovereign wealth funds and five non-traded REITs. For information, visit www.kbscapital.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), including KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT's ability to invest in and manage a diverse portfolio. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause KBS Strategic Opportunity REIT's or Primera/University Court's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

© Marketwire 2012

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Turnstone offering $25,000 office makeover to five small businesses - Examiner

Atlanta Small Business Examiner

Ashley Neal, an entrepreneur and passionate small business advocate with experience in assisting small businesses with their marketing needs. Ashley guests post regularly on Future Simple's company blog for small business owners, Growth University. Ashley has always been “entrepreneurial minded”...

Strip searches are now legal for minor offenses.

Slideshows: Jennifer Lopez shows us how sexy she can be.

Is Mitt Romney a shoe-in for the GOP nomination?

Put a new spin on your Easter egg decorating with these ideas.

Former Nickelodeon star arrested for DUI.

See how the Google Glass project will change the way you browse.

Get your body ready for the beach with these simple tips.

Spring marathons, hot springs, mountain biking and more.

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Central Desktop Expands Business with New Office in India - Business Wire

New Branch Marks Extensive Growth and International Presence for Cloud-Based Collaboration Platform Provider

LOS ANGELES--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Central Desktop, a leading cloud-based collaboration platform company, today announced the opening of its new office in Pune, India. The news comes on the heels of significant employee growth, increased revenue, key customer wins and industry successes in 2011. The new office represents an important international expansion, which gives the company a competitive edge in responding to market demands.

“The office addition in India is an integral part of our growth strategy”

"The office addition in India is an integral part of our growth strategy,” said Isaac Garcia, CEO and co-founder of Central Desktop. “We are confident this expansion will provide Central Desktop a larger footprint to meet increased demands and new business opportunities. We will continue to focus our efforts on key areas of the company that will drive momentum forward and ensure that we remain industry leaders.”

The new office has 20 full-time employees in product management, engineering, web operations, IT and accounting. The company’s goal is to triple its existing engineering velocity by the end of the year. Dhruba Kalita, vice president of engineering and managing director of Central Desktop India, will help scale operations using his more than 20 years of experience and extensive knowledge of technology and engineering management. According to Kalita, who has successfully managed international expansions prior to Central Desktop, “The most critical element to success is creating a unified culture across offices and encouraging strong interaction on a daily basis. Through use of our own collaboration tools, we intend to promote one company, one team and one culture with diverse groups in multiple locations.”

Teams across Central Desktop’s three office locations in Pasadena and Anaheim, California and Pune, India will be tightly integrated and work together on cross-office project teams. None of the company’s U.S. jobs will be transitioned to India; Central Desktop is still actively hiring in virtually all departments in the U.S., including engineering, web operations/IT, product management, customer experience, sales, marketing and business development.

About Central Desktop
Central Desktop is a cloud-based collaboration platform that centralizes the way people work, teams collaborate and managers lead. The company’s comprehensive online collaboration solution centralizes social and workflow tools into one access point in the cloud, streamlining processes and bringing people together to collaborate and engage. Central Desktop customers include CBS, Netflix, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the Humane Society of the United States, Workday, Harvard University and over 500,000 users. Founded in 2005, Central Desktop is a privately-held company with headquarters in Pasadena, California. For more information about the company, visit http://www.centraldesktop.com.

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The Marque Group expands to a new office location in the heart of a urban community in the Northwest - PRLog (free press release)

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr 02, 2012 -
The west coast based branding and public relations group announced its expansion today into a new office space in the heart of a bustling urban community in Portland, Oregon. The Marque Group LLC; specializes in national brand marketing and public relations initiatives in both private and public industries.

The Marque Group’s distinctive brand marketing, public relations and advertising services cater to some of the most elite private and public organizations. President and CEO, Monique T. Norington says, “Our services work because we’ve developed an innovative cross platform model that will turn any business adversity into opportunity. When our clients work with us, we assist them pursuing current demands, spotting early trends and predicting emerging developments. The result: Innovation and Inspiration.”  

The Marque Groups creative brand marketing techniques will take any business vitality to a new level. With the expansion of the new office they hope to continue to provide excellent service for their current client base and growth opportunities.

Location Address:
4839  NE MLK BLVD, Suite 204
Portland, OR 97211
Office: 503-374-0675
Fax: 503-374-0674

For more information, please visit the website www.themarquegroupllc.com or contact info@themarquegroupllc.com or follow on twitter.com/themarquegroup

About the Marque Group

The Marque Group LLC provides distinctive brand marketing, public relations and advertising services to private and public industries. Our concept is simple: Corporations need to distinguish their brand from the competition and become invaluable to the consumer. The best way to accomplish this is through our cross-platform brand marketing, public relations and communications model.

The Marque Group LLC., is a exclusive brand management and public relations firm. We focus in urban, lifestyle and pop culture specializing and covering corporations, entertainment and nonprofit industries.

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Office Depot Named One of the Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities - Calgary Herald

Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced that it has been recognized by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural business-to-business website, as one of the “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities” for the 12th year in a row. Office Depot was ranked 4th on the list, a move up of two spots from last year.

The annual list, dubbed the Div50, recognizes companies for the volume, consistency, and quality of business opportunities granted to women and minority-owned companies. The Div50 has become a highly-valued metric of corporate excellence in the diversity space.

“We are proud to be named one of the top organizations for multicultural business opportunities for the 12th consecutive year,” said Steve Calkins, Senior Vice President of Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division. “Office Depot is committed to supplier diversity, and our ranking on the BusinessDiversity.com Div50 list further shows our dedication to supporting women and minority-owned businesses.”

Office Depot's comprehensive Supply Chain Diversity program gives Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) ample opportunities to grow and prosper. The Company actively seeks out promising HUBs that are certified minority-, women-, disabled-, and veteran-owned to ensure equal opportunity in the supplier selection process. Office Depot also produces an annual HUB catalog that features an assortment of more than 1,600 items from select HUB suppliers.

In addition, the Company has affiliations with national organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other organizations that share Office Depot’s goal of making a positive impact on economic development through supplier diversity.

For more information on Office Depot’s diversity initiatives, please visit www.officedepot.com/diversity.

About DiversityBusiness.com

Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness, with over 250,000 members, is the largest organization of diversity owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and services to Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and colleges and universities. DiversityBusiness provides research and data collection services for diversity including the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities", "Top 500 Diversity Owned Companies in America", and others. Its research has been recognized and published by Forbes Magazine, Business Week and thousands of other print and internet publications. The site has gained national recognition and has won numerous awards for its content and design.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,656 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 58 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.

Contacts

Office Depot
Rebecca Rakitin, 561-438-1450
Rebecca.Rakitin@officedepot.com
or
Don Mears, 561-438-7054
Donald.Mears@officedepot.com

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Office Depot Named One of the Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities - Business Wire

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced that it has been recognized by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural business-to-business website, as one of the “Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities” for the 12th year in a row. Office Depot was ranked 4th on the list, a move up of two spots from last year.

“Office Depot is committed to supplier diversity, and our ranking on the BusinessDiversity.com Div50 list further shows our dedication to supporting women and minority-owned businesses.”

The annual list, dubbed the Div50, recognizes companies for the volume, consistency, and quality of business opportunities granted to women and minority-owned companies. The Div50 has become a highly-valued metric of corporate excellence in the diversity space.

“We are proud to be named one of the top organizations for multicultural business opportunities for the 12th consecutive year,” said Steve Calkins, Senior Vice President of Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division. “Office Depot is committed to supplier diversity, and our ranking on the BusinessDiversity.com Div50 list further shows our dedication to supporting women and minority-owned businesses.”

Office Depot's comprehensive Supply Chain Diversity program gives Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) ample opportunities to grow and prosper. The Company actively seeks out promising HUBs that are certified minority-, women-, disabled-, and veteran-owned to ensure equal opportunity in the supplier selection process. Office Depot also produces an annual HUB catalog that features an assortment of more than 1,600 items from select HUB suppliers.

In addition, the Company has affiliations with national organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other organizations that share Office Depot’s goal of making a positive impact on economic development through supplier diversity.

For more information on Office Depot’s diversity initiatives, please visit www.officedepot.com/diversity.

About DiversityBusiness.com

Launched in 1999, DiversityBusiness, with over 250,000 members, is the largest organization of diversity owned businesses throughout the United States that provide goods and services to Fortune 1000 companies, government agencies, and colleges and universities. DiversityBusiness provides research and data collection services for diversity including the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities", "Top 500 Diversity Owned Companies in America", and others. Its research has been recognized and published by Forbes Magazine, Business Week and thousands of other print and internet publications. The site has gained national recognition and has won numerous awards for its content and design.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,656 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 58 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.

View the original article here

Office Depot Named One of the Top Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities - Yahoo Finance

Wed, Jan 25, 2012, 8:02 AM EST - U.S. Markets open in 1 hr 28 mins

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Office Depot Named a Top Organization for Multicultural Business Opportunities

Office Depot, celebrating 25 years as a global provider of office supplies and services, has been recognized by the DiversityBusiness.com multicultural business-to-business website as one of the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities" for the 12th year in a row. Office Depot was ranked 4th on the list, a move up of two spots from last year.

The annual list, dubbed the Div50, recognizes companies for the volume, consistency and quality of business opportunities granted to women- and minority-owned companies. The Div50 has become a highly valued metric of corporate excellence in the diversity space.

"We are proud to be named one of the top organizations for multicultural business opportunities for the 12th consecutive year," said Steve Calkins, senior vice president of Office Depot's Business Solutions Division. "Office Depot is committed to supplier diversity, and our ranking on the BusinessDiversity.com Div50 list further shows our dedication to supporting women- and minority-owned businesses."

Office Depot's comprehensive Supply Chain Diversity program gives Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) ample opportunities to grow and prosper. The company seeks out promising HUBs that are certified minority-, women-, disabled- and veteran-owned to ensure equal opportunity in the supplier selection process. Office Depot also produces an annual HUB catalog that features an assortment of more than 1,600 items from select HUB suppliers.

In addition, the company has affiliations with national organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other organizations that share Office Depot's goal of making a positive impact on economic development through supplier diversity.

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Office Depot Named a Top Organization for Multicultural Business Opportunities - Hispanic Business

Office Depot, celebrating 25 years as a global provider of office supplies and services, has been recognized by the DiversityBusiness.com multicultural business-to-business website as one of the "Top 50 Organizations for Multicultural Business Opportunities" for the 12th year in a row. Office Depot was ranked 4th on the list, a move up of two spots from last year.

The annual list, dubbed the Div50, recognizes companies for the volume, consistency and quality of business opportunities granted to women- and minority-owned companies. The Div50 has become a highly valued metric of corporate excellence in the diversity space.

"We are proud to be named one of the top organizations for multicultural business opportunities for the 12th consecutive year," said Steve Calkins, senior vice president of Office Depot's Business Solutions Division. "Office Depot is committed to supplier diversity, and our ranking on the BusinessDiversity.com Div50 list further shows our dedication to supporting women- and minority-owned businesses."

Office Depot's comprehensive Supply Chain Diversity program gives Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) ample opportunities to grow and prosper. The company seeks out promising HUBs that are certified minority-, women-, disabled- and veteran-owned to ensure equal opportunity in the supplier selection process. Office Depot also produces an annual HUB catalog that features an assortment of more than 1,600 items from select HUB suppliers.

In addition, the company has affiliations with national organizations such as the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Small Business Administration (SBA), and other organizations that share Office Depot's goal of making a positive impact on economic development through supplier diversity.

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Bal Seal Opens First Sales Office in Czech Republic

Mon, Jan 23, 2012, 12:40 AM EST - U.S. Markets open in 8 hrs 50 mins

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Bal Seal Opens First Sales Office in Czech Republic

Thu, Jan 19, 2012, 10:04 PM EST - U.S. Markets closed

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