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JumpStart Invests in BSKLive, Inc.

CLEVELAND, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- JumpStart Inc., theNortheast Ohio venture development organization that accelerates the growth of innovative early-stage businesses and ideas, recently announced an investment commitment of $350,000 in BSKLive, Inc. TheCuyahoga County company's flagship product, StaffKnex, is a web-based software as a service (SaaS) application that manages employee scheduling and staffing emergency resolution for companies in healthcare and other industries with shift-based workforces.

StaffKnex provides a solution to employee "call offs" and "no shows," common in industries such as healthcare, food service, and hospitality. Without StaffKnex, companies employ a scheduler to place phone calls or utilize outside employment agencies to fill unexpectedly vacant shifts. Either approach results in higher operating costs associated with manual calling, overtime pay and the use of staffing agencies. The StaffKnex technology lets administrators manage call offs in-house and within minutes, by combining text messaging, voicemail, and email communication to reach a pool of available fill-ins, while allowing for immediate responses from employees. The software also provides a platform from which employers can manage labor requirements, staff scheduling, and employee information, resulting in better decision-making in creating work schedules.

JumpStart Entrepreneur-in-Residence Ted Frank will be working closely with the company, providing business advisory services. "In an economic environment where companies are battling to reduce or control costs in order to ensure their survival, StaffKnex provides a unique solution that firms would be negligent to ignore," said Frank. "Leveraging a highly scalable platform and communications infrastructure, the company delivers an easy to launch, closed-loop system that administrators can immediately use to more effectively and efficiently fill unexpected vacancies. With a payback of less than three months and low ongoing operating costs, StaffKnex's customers have driven material operating efficiencies and seen exceptional returns on their investment."

BSKLive's management team is comprised of several software sales, development and operations veterans, including Chief Executive Officer Mark Woodka. Woodka is former Vice President, Sales for Flashline Inc., a software company that created tools for companies to manage their software assets that was sold to BEA Systems in 2006.

"Labor is 70 percent of a healthcare facility's cost. Not managing labor costs and schedule changes day in and day out can cost a typical healthcare facility hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in overstaffing, overtime and agency fees," said Woodka. "StaffKnex provides our customers an intuitive, easy to use application that allows them to optimize their labor utilization and manage schedule changes in an efficient and cost effective manner."

The company plans on using the JumpStart investment to finalize their partner strategy, complete the private label version of the product, and secure additional customers.

This is JumpStart's 47th investment in its 36th company. Other information technology companies in JumpStart's portfolio include Ayalogic, Banyan Technology, Inspiron Logistics, Knotice, Inspherion and PreEmptive Solutions.

About BSKLive, Inc.

BSKLive (www.staffknex.com) is a leading provider of integrated employee scheduling and communications technology to optimize labor utilization and control labor costs for employers with shift based workforces. BSKLive's flagship product, StaffKnex, is an intuitive, web-based application that combines staff scheduling, work requirements, employee qualifications, business rules, and communications into a highly automated staff management system.

About JumpStart Inc.

JumpStart (www.jumpstartinc.org) accelerates the growth of innovative early-stage businesses and ideas into venture-ready companies by delivering vital, focused resources to entrepreneurs and the community ofNortheast Ohio. JumpStart identifies and invests in early-stage companies that have strong potential in the marketplace, solid prospects for high growth, and are likely to qualify for later-stage funding. Beyond investing, the JumpStart team provides a continuum of business development services to its client companies to help ensure their success.

SOURCE JumpStart Inc.

Tags: ,STW,WRK,CPR,VEN,OH-JumpStart-invests
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