For anyone who didn’t read in a previous solar blog entry, I’ve recently joined the Sunlogics team and will be involved in both the fund and the operating company. Here is a recent post on one of many SLMU message boards, which was mysteriously taken down. Luckily, I can repost here until such time as the message board referees explain to me why it was taken down:
“There are a few individuals on this board who seem intent on knocking down this venture in order to get even in some way for the past. Digging up past records, some of them personal, lead me to believe there is a personal vendetta going on here, so let’s look at other “truths” while trying to determine the true worth of SLMU and where its going.
My name is Sass Peress and I was CEO of ICP Solar for over 21 years. I have no need to hide behind any alias. During that time, we were profitable for 15 of them, until we hit a chinese wall in 2003 in the purchase of a factory in the United Kingdom. That factory, combined with the invasion of our market by chinese knock-off products, led to a severe bleeding of what were then very healthy coffers, and the eventual sale of both that factory as well as one we had built ourselves in Montreal in 2001. In a search for funding to “turn the ship around”, we went into an RTO on an OTC shell in 2006.
In 2007 I met Mike Matvieshen through an associate. He was already into renewable energy and wanted a factory, so we sold him the UK factory. Unfortunately that factory, although far better managed by Mike, fell victim to a worldwide glut of solar panels created by massive increase in solar cell capacity in China. He eventually had to close it, just as was our plan had he not come along.
In 2008, ICP took on additional investors as it was clear that while the first funds that had come in were taking care of much of the old debt, we needed more money to complete the turn around. We received approximately $2.5M of added promised funding. In 2009, with a market crash upon us, the funders pulled the final payment on a technicality (a patent application in Spain had not been completed was the excuse used) and so ICP was back in trouble. I had to lay off many people and virtually stop operations until December 2009, when Mike again appeared and injected hundreds of thousands of his own money and took over the helm as CEO.
In the early part of 2010 it became evident that although Mike was prepared to inject even more money and bring in substantial business, some of the old debenture holders were not “playing ball” and accepting him to be equally ranked in terms of debenture status. So Mike refused to put more money in and ICP’s operations were essentially forced to halt.
You can look at anyone’s personal history and find dark moments that they are not proud of. You can say what you want about them publicly without even knowing full facts. So now Mike Matvieshen has brought to many shareholders of SLMU the opportunity to partner with the likes of IPC (International Power Corp), General Motors and Northland Capital Partners. You have to ask yourself one question…are all of these companies stupid? They have larger brands to be concerned about so one would think that they have done sufficient due diligence to know who they are partnered with.
In joining the Sunlogics team, I have intimate knowledge of the history, I know the weaknesses of the past, and so does Mike. We are going to make Sunlogics a very different kind of story, because we’ve both learned a lot from our past. I will be just one of the guardians of the voice of reason. Rest assured that the mistakes of past will not be repeated as we know that there is much more at stake in Sunlogics in helping major organizations like GM and IPC (International Power Corp) work in renewable energy businesses in a prudent, measured and diligent manner. While every marketer pushes the envelope between “exaggeration” and “marketing”, we will toe a straight line in delivering on our promises.
I will not engage in a “tit for tat” rebuttable with “********” or anyone else. I have chosen to join this board because of all the innuendo and in some cases, outright lies, that I have read. One has to question “********” and others who bash the stock…are they shorters? There are too many opportunites in the renewables field for a guy like me. Intimate knowledge of 22 years of this industry is in high demand. Yet I have chosen to stay by Mike’s side because I believe that we’re onto something great, that has indeed been the culmination of a lot of hard work, years of trying to find the right path, and now some luck.
There is one important thing to mention as a final note. International Power Corp. (Canada), based in Ontario has full knowledge of the Peterborough Utilities transaction, and yet still decided to sign co-development agreements with us in Sunlogics anyways. So if Mike was the kind of guy that “*******” and others are trying to portray, then why would all of these brands come alongside?”
UPDATE: I have learned that we are not allowed to mention other posters on the ihub and that’s why you see the “stars” above instead of a name or nickname.