Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth School board re-appointed Superintendent Tom Forcella to his position for another year at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday. It was a formality required by state law, but the board took the opportunity to praise him.
“We are a really nice group and we really like Tom,” said board chair George Entwistle.
The board also congratulated middle school physical education staff and students on their achievement of the President’s Physical Education Award for the fourth consecutive year.
The board approved the revisions to the health insurance plan for teachers, which were renegotiated as required in the contract. Entwistle said the update is part of the district’s effort to attract and retain top-notch teachers.
The board also approved the changes to the educational records policies, as required by state and federal laws. Board members also approved the first reading of time out and therapeutic restraint policies, which are new to the district but are required by state law.
In other business, the board:
– Heard a report from Superintendent Tom Forcella that the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation is continuing its strategic planning process and may kick off a capital campaign in fall 2002. Forcella also reported that there will be a districtwide staff survey in January to establish a baseline against which progress of the district’s Future Direction Plan can be measured.
– Heard a report from high school student representatives, including news that the mock trial team is doing very well and will face the Waynflete team this week in Portland. The debate and speech meet went well over the weekend, too. Sports are in full swing, and track and skiing will have their first competitions this weekend.
– Heard a report from the middle school student representatives, including information that there are programs throughout the school promoting kindness and respect between students. The middle school students also reported on their continuing videoconference communication with the Bronx Zoo. “We are the first school in the state to communicate in this way with an out-of-state organization,” said student Lily Hoffman.
– Heard a report from middle school principal Nancy Hutton that Gov. Angus King visited the school and participated in a video conference with the Bronx Zoo.
– Heard a report from high school principal Jeff Shedd on progress reports, which he described as “a work in progress.” For the first quarter, all students received progress reports from all of their teachers. For the rest of the year, students in danger of failing will have notices mailed home to parents, while other teachers may give progress reports to students, at their discretion. Shedd also said he has not received any formal notice from music director Norm Richardson of his departure.
The board invited residents to a public forum on ethical and responsible behavior, to be held Monday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria shared by the middle and elementary schools.
Thursday, December 13, 2001
Sgt. Lindsey turns in his badge on Christmas night
Published in the Current
On Christmas Day Richard Lindsey will get an extra gift: freedom. The 60-year-old sergeant on the Cape Elizabeth police force has served 30 years, literally half his life, with the department. His last two shifts will be Christmas Eve and Christmas night.
He has served four police chiefs under four town managers, in four different police stations around Cape Elizabeth.
“It goes by quick,” Lindsey said.
And he has seen a lot of change in town. “This was all farmland,” Lindsey said, gesturing to the area southeast of the town center. He remembers when Wainwright Circle was a big potato farm.
“It’s grown a lot,” he said of the town. And even buildings that existed when he came to Cape have seen growth and change.
“They’ve rebuilt all the schools,” he said.
Broad Cove was just being developed when he started in the department, when police offices were over in the fire station on Shore Road, right by the South Portland town line.
He had spent just a few months in the Portland Police Department that year, 1971, and came over to Cape. He said the challenges are different, and likes the breadth of duties he has in Cape.
While Cape’s criminal activity tends to be smaller and less frequent, he has been involved in two homicide investigations. “You’ve still got to be prepared,” he said.
And bigger departments have specialists for different kinds of police work. But Cape’s officers have to do everything and keep up their training across the range of police skills.
Lindsey, from East Machias, served in the Air Force on Guam, from 1960 to 1964, and he still talks about it with a smile. “It was great.”
Then he came back and worked on a timber crew and in a Georgia Pacific paper mill before going to the Portland Police Department.
Chief Neil Williams said he knew the time would come when Lindsey would leave. “We just didn’t know when,” he said. Williams said the department will fill the empty sergeant’s spot by promoting within, and will hire a reserve officer to fill that vacancy.
Williams said he wishes Lindsey well, and said he has more than earned his keep, especially working swing shift, for 30 years. “That’s a long time,” Williams said.
Working swing shift has been tough, Lindsey said, and it’s time to stop working two weeks of early shift, two weeks of days, then lates and then nights, each for two weeks.
“The older you get the tougher it is,” he said.
And, of course, the town’s bad guys don’t age at the same rate. “At my age you’re too old to be out chasing kids,” he said with a laugh.
But Lindsey said he will stick around the area, even if he does take a few weeks “down South” after he retires. He’ll keep his house in Portland, and his daughters and their families – including four grandchildren – live nearby.
He loves to hunt and fish and golf, so Maine’s a good place for him to be. He said he was sorry that he wouldn’t get to see the inside of the new police station, though he admitted he would probably go visit his colleagues, and would be back in Cape.
“It’s been a great community, and I have lots of friends here,” Lindsey said.
On Christmas Day Richard Lindsey will get an extra gift: freedom. The 60-year-old sergeant on the Cape Elizabeth police force has served 30 years, literally half his life, with the department. His last two shifts will be Christmas Eve and Christmas night.
He has served four police chiefs under four town managers, in four different police stations around Cape Elizabeth.
“It goes by quick,” Lindsey said.
And he has seen a lot of change in town. “This was all farmland,” Lindsey said, gesturing to the area southeast of the town center. He remembers when Wainwright Circle was a big potato farm.
“It’s grown a lot,” he said of the town. And even buildings that existed when he came to Cape have seen growth and change.
“They’ve rebuilt all the schools,” he said.
Broad Cove was just being developed when he started in the department, when police offices were over in the fire station on Shore Road, right by the South Portland town line.
He had spent just a few months in the Portland Police Department that year, 1971, and came over to Cape. He said the challenges are different, and likes the breadth of duties he has in Cape.
While Cape’s criminal activity tends to be smaller and less frequent, he has been involved in two homicide investigations. “You’ve still got to be prepared,” he said.
And bigger departments have specialists for different kinds of police work. But Cape’s officers have to do everything and keep up their training across the range of police skills.
Lindsey, from East Machias, served in the Air Force on Guam, from 1960 to 1964, and he still talks about it with a smile. “It was great.”
Then he came back and worked on a timber crew and in a Georgia Pacific paper mill before going to the Portland Police Department.
Chief Neil Williams said he knew the time would come when Lindsey would leave. “We just didn’t know when,” he said. Williams said the department will fill the empty sergeant’s spot by promoting within, and will hire a reserve officer to fill that vacancy.
Williams said he wishes Lindsey well, and said he has more than earned his keep, especially working swing shift, for 30 years. “That’s a long time,” Williams said.
Working swing shift has been tough, Lindsey said, and it’s time to stop working two weeks of early shift, two weeks of days, then lates and then nights, each for two weeks.
“The older you get the tougher it is,” he said.
And, of course, the town’s bad guys don’t age at the same rate. “At my age you’re too old to be out chasing kids,” he said with a laugh.
But Lindsey said he will stick around the area, even if he does take a few weeks “down South” after he retires. He’ll keep his house in Portland, and his daughters and their families – including four grandchildren – live nearby.
He loves to hunt and fish and golf, so Maine’s a good place for him to be. He said he was sorry that he wouldn’t get to see the inside of the new police station, though he admitted he would probably go visit his colleagues, and would be back in Cape.
“It’s been a great community, and I have lots of friends here,” Lindsey said.
Watch out for trains
Published in the Current
The Scarborough Police Department is warning people to look out for speeding trains in town, as the Amtrak service between Boston and Portland begins Saturday.
It means that some trains passing through Scarborough will not be going 30 mph, as freight trains do, but possibly up to 79 mph.
The only road-rail crossing in town will be on Winnocks Neck Road, but police Chief Robert Moulton said he is more concerned about people walking on the tracks elsewhere in town.
People often fish from the trestles or walk along the railroad bed, he said. Some parents encourage their children to walk along the tracks rather than use busy roads.
The increased train speed means people along the tracks will have less time to get out of the way of an oncoming train, but Moulton also warned of another danger: suction.
The train could be moving fast enough, Moulton said, that a 200-pound adult ten feet from the tracks could be sucked in and under the passing train.
Railroad staff working along the tracks in Scarborough Wednesday afternoon dismissed that concern, but said people walking along the tracks could be ordered to pay hefty fines for trespassing on federally patrolled property.
Moulton said one particular area he is especially worried about is along Highland Avenue, at Cook Concrete, where local teenagers have been known to party.
He urged all local residents to use caution when near the tracks, and keep an extra eye out for oncoming trains. “You’re talking about a very heavy piece of equipment,” he said.
The Scarborough Police Department is warning people to look out for speeding trains in town, as the Amtrak service between Boston and Portland begins Saturday.
It means that some trains passing through Scarborough will not be going 30 mph, as freight trains do, but possibly up to 79 mph.
The only road-rail crossing in town will be on Winnocks Neck Road, but police Chief Robert Moulton said he is more concerned about people walking on the tracks elsewhere in town.
People often fish from the trestles or walk along the railroad bed, he said. Some parents encourage their children to walk along the tracks rather than use busy roads.
The increased train speed means people along the tracks will have less time to get out of the way of an oncoming train, but Moulton also warned of another danger: suction.
The train could be moving fast enough, Moulton said, that a 200-pound adult ten feet from the tracks could be sucked in and under the passing train.
Railroad staff working along the tracks in Scarborough Wednesday afternoon dismissed that concern, but said people walking along the tracks could be ordered to pay hefty fines for trespassing on federally patrolled property.
Moulton said one particular area he is especially worried about is along Highland Avenue, at Cook Concrete, where local teenagers have been known to party.
He urged all local residents to use caution when near the tracks, and keep an extra eye out for oncoming trains. “You’re talking about a very heavy piece of equipment,” he said.
Scarborough’s connection to murder unfolds
Published in the Current; co-written with Kate Irish Collins and Brendan Moran
A Scarborough man who was linked to the murder of Amy St. Laurent by court documents left few footprints in town.
Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood refused to name Jeffrey “Russ” Gorman as a suspect in the case Wednesday and said, “We’re not looking for him.”
But a handwritten note written at the bottom of a request to revoke Gorman’s probation on unrelated charges of burglary and theft, stated that he was a “prime suspect” in the case – a connection first reported by the Portland Press Herald on Monday and verified by documents obtained by the Current.
Police have one strong suspect and believe others may have helped conceal the body, according to Chitwood. He said he expects to make an arrest in the case “soon,” but declined to give a timetable.
Portland Police have not contacted Scarborough Police for information on Gorman, 21, or told them he was a suspect in the case, according to Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton. Moulton said police have stopped Gorman in the past, but only for traffic violations.
While court documents identify Gorman, whose last known address was 68 Country Road in Scarborough, as “dangerous, may be armed,” Chief Chitwood said Gorman is not believed to be in Scarborough or posing a danger to Scarborough residents.
Searchers discovered St. Laurent’s body Saturday afternoon just a few hundred yards from 68 County Road, which is Route. 22. Gorman’s home is less than a half mile from the intersection of County Road and Saco Street and less than a mile from the Westbrook line.
Police weren’t the only ones looking for St. Laurent in Scarborough.
Dennis St. Laurent, Amy St. Laurent’s father, was searching the Haigis Parkway four to five weeks ago, according to Michael Anton, the owner of Admiral Fire and Safety, which is on Haigis Parkway and where Dennis St. Laurent came asking permission to search the area.
A source close to the family confirmed that St. Laurent’s father and other family members had been looking for her in “various places at various times.”
“It’s really too bad,” said Anton. “It turns out, in the end, he wasn’t
that far off.”
St. Laurent, of South Berwick, disappeared in the early morning hours of Oct. 21, after a night of dancing in the Old Port. Her picture has appeared on the news and was posted around Portland after her disappearance.
A possible suspect
Gorman “is prime suspect in missing St. Laurent girl case. Is believed to be in Florida, having taken off (Nov. 16). Request this be placed in system as soon as possible, as Florida (police) are attempting to locate,” read a note at the bottom of a request to revoke Gorman’s probation, signed by David Redmond, Gorman’s probation officer.
Redmond refused comment Tuesday and referred calls to the Associate Commissioner of Corrections, who did not return calls from the Current.
Gorman’s probation resulted from the theft of a car stereo in September of 2000. Authorities issued three warrants on separate occasions for probation violations, recalling two of them.
Gorman had failed to notify his probation officer of a change of address. He also had failed to tell him he had been contacted by police on five separate occasions. The document does not indicate why police contacted Gorman.
In addition to those violations, Gorman failed to pay $500 restitution on the earlier charges and to report to his probation officer on Nov. 19.
The first warrant was issued Nov. 20 and recalled the next day, at the request of Portland police. The warrant was again issued Nov. 29, and recalled Monday, this time at the request of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. The warrant was issued Tuesday, once again, on the same charge.
Clifford Strike, the lawyer who represented Gorman in the burglary and theft case, last heard from Gorman in August or September. He said he remembered Gorman as a young man without much of a criminal record.
Westbrook Police Chief Steven Roberts refused to comment on Gorman.
“I don’t have any intent of jeopardizing an investigation that’s ongoing at this point,” said Roberts.
A woman who answered the door Tuesday at 68 County Road, Gorman’s address according to court documents, said “no comment.”
Few footprints
The house is a few hundred yards down the road from the wooded lot where St. Laurent’s body was discovered.
Wanda Donovan, whose home is right next to the property where St. Laurent’s body was found, said the dirt road there can be busy.
“I see a lot of activity down that road,” she said. It’s mostly hunters, but she said she had heard that there is an old gravel pit back in there.
Donovan was unsettled by the discovery.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much,” she said.
Scarborough’s Chief Moulton said the area is not a so-called “dumping ground” for evidence criminals want to conceal. He recalls that there was a chicken coop in the area, where a runaway would hide years ago, but hasn’t heard anything suspicious about the property since.
Joan Deveau owns the house at 68 County Road, according to town records. Although neighbors said Gorman had been in the neighborhood for a couple years, none of the neighbors interviewed by the Current knew Gorman or his relation to the Deveaus.
Gorman, who was born in Troy, Ala., didn’t attend high school in Scarborough or Westbrook, according to school records.
Richard Hillock, who lives across the street from 68 County Road, said he had seen Gorman around, but never spoke to him. He said he hadn’t seen him in the last couple of weeks.
Although Hillock said he had spoken to the Deveaus on a few occasions, he didn’t know how Gorman had come to stay at the house across the road.
Gorman worked part time at 1st Stop convenience store down the road for a couple of weeks “a year or two ago,” according to Don Cook, the owner.
Cook couldn’t remember any details about Gorman. “I wouldn’t recognize him if he walked in here today,” said Cook. “You could be him.”
Cook couldn’t remember whether Gorman had quit, but he couldn’t remember firing him. “I think he just didn’t show up,” he said. Cook hasn’t seen him since then.
A fortunate find
The discovery of St. Laurent’s body came as a result of the efforts of the Maine Warden Service, according to Chitwood.
Wardens provided about 85 volunteers and several cadaver search dogs. They also used computerized search-planning software to design a search of the area in question.
“The warden service was unbelievable,” Chitwood said.
On Saturday afternoon, a volunteer came out of a line of trees and had to step down a bit. He put his foot into an area of soft dirt and took a step back to look more closely. He realized the area there was disturbed, according to Chitwood.
The searcher called others to the area. A Portland police detective got on his knees in the dirt. Digging carefully, the detective went down about 18 or 20 inches, at which point he felt a sweatshirt.
It was then that they knew they had something big, according to Chitwood. They set up lights and brought in a medical examiner, an archaeologist and other police officials to photograph and document the scene and recover evidence.
Three to four hours later, after dark and just before snow began to blanket the area, they were finished and removed St. Laurent’s body.
“Had we not found her body that day, we would probably have never found it,” Chitwood said.
A Scarborough man who was linked to the murder of Amy St. Laurent by court documents left few footprints in town.
Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood refused to name Jeffrey “Russ” Gorman as a suspect in the case Wednesday and said, “We’re not looking for him.”
But a handwritten note written at the bottom of a request to revoke Gorman’s probation on unrelated charges of burglary and theft, stated that he was a “prime suspect” in the case – a connection first reported by the Portland Press Herald on Monday and verified by documents obtained by the Current.
Police have one strong suspect and believe others may have helped conceal the body, according to Chitwood. He said he expects to make an arrest in the case “soon,” but declined to give a timetable.
Portland Police have not contacted Scarborough Police for information on Gorman, 21, or told them he was a suspect in the case, according to Scarborough Police Chief Robert Moulton. Moulton said police have stopped Gorman in the past, but only for traffic violations.
While court documents identify Gorman, whose last known address was 68 Country Road in Scarborough, as “dangerous, may be armed,” Chief Chitwood said Gorman is not believed to be in Scarborough or posing a danger to Scarborough residents.
Searchers discovered St. Laurent’s body Saturday afternoon just a few hundred yards from 68 County Road, which is Route. 22. Gorman’s home is less than a half mile from the intersection of County Road and Saco Street and less than a mile from the Westbrook line.
Police weren’t the only ones looking for St. Laurent in Scarborough.
Dennis St. Laurent, Amy St. Laurent’s father, was searching the Haigis Parkway four to five weeks ago, according to Michael Anton, the owner of Admiral Fire and Safety, which is on Haigis Parkway and where Dennis St. Laurent came asking permission to search the area.
A source close to the family confirmed that St. Laurent’s father and other family members had been looking for her in “various places at various times.”
“It’s really too bad,” said Anton. “It turns out, in the end, he wasn’t
that far off.”
St. Laurent, of South Berwick, disappeared in the early morning hours of Oct. 21, after a night of dancing in the Old Port. Her picture has appeared on the news and was posted around Portland after her disappearance.
A possible suspect
Gorman “is prime suspect in missing St. Laurent girl case. Is believed to be in Florida, having taken off (Nov. 16). Request this be placed in system as soon as possible, as Florida (police) are attempting to locate,” read a note at the bottom of a request to revoke Gorman’s probation, signed by David Redmond, Gorman’s probation officer.
Redmond refused comment Tuesday and referred calls to the Associate Commissioner of Corrections, who did not return calls from the Current.
Gorman’s probation resulted from the theft of a car stereo in September of 2000. Authorities issued three warrants on separate occasions for probation violations, recalling two of them.
Gorman had failed to notify his probation officer of a change of address. He also had failed to tell him he had been contacted by police on five separate occasions. The document does not indicate why police contacted Gorman.
In addition to those violations, Gorman failed to pay $500 restitution on the earlier charges and to report to his probation officer on Nov. 19.
The first warrant was issued Nov. 20 and recalled the next day, at the request of Portland police. The warrant was again issued Nov. 29, and recalled Monday, this time at the request of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. The warrant was issued Tuesday, once again, on the same charge.
Clifford Strike, the lawyer who represented Gorman in the burglary and theft case, last heard from Gorman in August or September. He said he remembered Gorman as a young man without much of a criminal record.
Westbrook Police Chief Steven Roberts refused to comment on Gorman.
“I don’t have any intent of jeopardizing an investigation that’s ongoing at this point,” said Roberts.
A woman who answered the door Tuesday at 68 County Road, Gorman’s address according to court documents, said “no comment.”
Few footprints
The house is a few hundred yards down the road from the wooded lot where St. Laurent’s body was discovered.
Wanda Donovan, whose home is right next to the property where St. Laurent’s body was found, said the dirt road there can be busy.
“I see a lot of activity down that road,” she said. It’s mostly hunters, but she said she had heard that there is an old gravel pit back in there.
Donovan was unsettled by the discovery.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much,” she said.
Scarborough’s Chief Moulton said the area is not a so-called “dumping ground” for evidence criminals want to conceal. He recalls that there was a chicken coop in the area, where a runaway would hide years ago, but hasn’t heard anything suspicious about the property since.
Joan Deveau owns the house at 68 County Road, according to town records. Although neighbors said Gorman had been in the neighborhood for a couple years, none of the neighbors interviewed by the Current knew Gorman or his relation to the Deveaus.
Gorman, who was born in Troy, Ala., didn’t attend high school in Scarborough or Westbrook, according to school records.
Richard Hillock, who lives across the street from 68 County Road, said he had seen Gorman around, but never spoke to him. He said he hadn’t seen him in the last couple of weeks.
Although Hillock said he had spoken to the Deveaus on a few occasions, he didn’t know how Gorman had come to stay at the house across the road.
Gorman worked part time at 1st Stop convenience store down the road for a couple of weeks “a year or two ago,” according to Don Cook, the owner.
Cook couldn’t remember any details about Gorman. “I wouldn’t recognize him if he walked in here today,” said Cook. “You could be him.”
Cook couldn’t remember whether Gorman had quit, but he couldn’t remember firing him. “I think he just didn’t show up,” he said. Cook hasn’t seen him since then.
A fortunate find
The discovery of St. Laurent’s body came as a result of the efforts of the Maine Warden Service, according to Chitwood.
Wardens provided about 85 volunteers and several cadaver search dogs. They also used computerized search-planning software to design a search of the area in question.
“The warden service was unbelievable,” Chitwood said.
On Saturday afternoon, a volunteer came out of a line of trees and had to step down a bit. He put his foot into an area of soft dirt and took a step back to look more closely. He realized the area there was disturbed, according to Chitwood.
The searcher called others to the area. A Portland police detective got on his knees in the dirt. Digging carefully, the detective went down about 18 or 20 inches, at which point he felt a sweatshirt.
It was then that they knew they had something big, according to Chitwood. They set up lights and brought in a medical examiner, an archaeologist and other police officials to photograph and document the scene and recover evidence.
Three to four hours later, after dark and just before snow began to blanket the area, they were finished and removed St. Laurent’s body.
“Had we not found her body that day, we would probably have never found it,” Chitwood said.
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
Bottomline delivers for UPS, gets resale help from Unisys
Published in Interface Tech News
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. ‹ Continuing its march to prominence in the electronic payment and invoicing sector, Bottomline Technologies will be providing the back end for Atlanta-based United Parcel Service's (UPS) electronic billing system. The company also expects a November reseller agreement with Unisys, of Blue Bell, Pa., to really get rolling in January.
"We have implemented an electronic invoice delivery system for (UPS)," said Bottomline CEO Dan McGurl.
Clients using UPS' Web site will be able to register to receive invoices on-line and make electronic payments, including viewing billing summaries and details of specific invoices.
McGurl described the deal as "a multi-million dollar one" that is part of a continuing relationship between the companies.
It is another step in Bottomline's efforts to support the increasing demand for electronic invoicing and payment. McGurl said the recent uncertainty about the safety and reliability of the U.S. postal system has pushed more companies into exploring alternatives to paper invoice and payment systems.
Another boost for Bottomline in the New Year will be the resale of Bottomline software by banking and financial services giant Unisys. The agreement was made in November, but the ramp-up period lasted through late December, paving the way for sales this month.
"This product that we've developed," McGurl said, "is something that (Unisys) didn't have." He expects the company to integrate Bottomline's electronic payment-to-invoice matching software into its own offerings, saving time for both payer and payee, and allowing better control of cash flow for both parties.
Avivah Litan, vice president and research director at the Gartner Group, said Bottomline is thriving even as the economy slides. "The truth is it's doing pretty well," Litan said.
She said electronic invoicing is growing, with about 20 percent of all business-to-business invoices already electronic.
The advantage for companies like UPS, who are Bottomline clients, Litan said, is the adaptability of the software packages.
"They allow the customers to live in the paper world and the electronic world at the same time," she said, making migration a comfortable process for the client.
And closing the deal with Unisys will provide a big boost for both companies. "Unisys has been trying to penetrate this market for a while," Litan said, adding that Bottomline's small sales force "needs all the partners and resellers they can get."
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. ‹ Continuing its march to prominence in the electronic payment and invoicing sector, Bottomline Technologies will be providing the back end for Atlanta-based United Parcel Service's (UPS) electronic billing system. The company also expects a November reseller agreement with Unisys, of Blue Bell, Pa., to really get rolling in January.
"We have implemented an electronic invoice delivery system for (UPS)," said Bottomline CEO Dan McGurl.
Clients using UPS' Web site will be able to register to receive invoices on-line and make electronic payments, including viewing billing summaries and details of specific invoices.
McGurl described the deal as "a multi-million dollar one" that is part of a continuing relationship between the companies.
It is another step in Bottomline's efforts to support the increasing demand for electronic invoicing and payment. McGurl said the recent uncertainty about the safety and reliability of the U.S. postal system has pushed more companies into exploring alternatives to paper invoice and payment systems.
Another boost for Bottomline in the New Year will be the resale of Bottomline software by banking and financial services giant Unisys. The agreement was made in November, but the ramp-up period lasted through late December, paving the way for sales this month.
"This product that we've developed," McGurl said, "is something that (Unisys) didn't have." He expects the company to integrate Bottomline's electronic payment-to-invoice matching software into its own offerings, saving time for both payer and payee, and allowing better control of cash flow for both parties.
Avivah Litan, vice president and research director at the Gartner Group, said Bottomline is thriving even as the economy slides. "The truth is it's doing pretty well," Litan said.
She said electronic invoicing is growing, with about 20 percent of all business-to-business invoices already electronic.
The advantage for companies like UPS, who are Bottomline clients, Litan said, is the adaptability of the software packages.
"They allow the customers to live in the paper world and the electronic world at the same time," she said, making migration a comfortable process for the client.
And closing the deal with Unisys will provide a big boost for both companies. "Unisys has been trying to penetrate this market for a while," Litan said, adding that Bottomline's small sales force "needs all the partners and resellers they can get."
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