Communications Made Easy Receives $10,000 in Business Development Grants

Rochester, Illinois, February 19, 2009 – Communications Made EasyTM, a 4-in-1 broadcast communications service based in Rochester, Illinois, is the recipient of a $5,000 grant from the Milliken Regional Entrepreneur Network (MREN) and a $5,000 Challenge Grant from the Illinois Homeland Security Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (HSIEC).

Communications Made EasyTM (CME) allows customers to send immediate, simultaneous messages via e-mail, text message, phone voice message, or Web site postings all from one central point of access. The company’s founding partners, Michelle Tjelmeland and Mark Roberts, developed the propriety software independently and launched the service in August of 2008.

“We are thrilled to receive the grant money and will use it to further develop our strategic business plans for CME,” said Tjelmeland. “These awards will allow us to expedite our marketing efforts and target specific customers who can really benefit from CME’s services.”

MREN and HSIEC award grant money to businesses with high growth potential to help with comprehensive business planning, evaluating a proposed start-up or expansion, or other accelerated support services. Through their respective grant programs, MREN and HSIEC help award recipients achieve significant milestones to take their businesses to the next level. HSIEC gives preference to companies demonstrating the pursuit of products or services that clearly meet a published request by the Department of Homeland Security.
By 2013, Homeland Security has set a goal to have at least 75 percent of all jurisdictions possess the ability to send out emergency communications within three hours of any significant event. Helping jurisdictions meet this goal is one of the original motivations for developing CME.

“We created CME to specifically meet the needs of the many rural state and local agencies that respond to emergencies and disasters,” said Roberts. “These responders either lack the strategic tools to efficiently communicate with each other, or depend on a communication system that can easily be damaged and disabled during an emergency.”

CME gives emergency management officials the ability to send news, updates, evacuation instructions, and AMBER alerts, as well as coordinate a quick and adequate response to help people affected by natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other dangerous situations.

In addition, CME is an ideal solution for university and college officials who need to establish a written emergency broadcast communications plan under the provisions in the Clery Act.

“CME provides the service they need to immediately warn students, parents, and staff of a potential danger to the campus or emergencies that require quick action,” explained Tjelmeland.

The application process for the grant awards is selective and awards are based on project viability, growth potential, public purpose, need and merit-based factors. The maximum funding available for each individual award is $5,000. Recipients are required to provide a cash match of 100 percent of the award amount.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity provides financial support to fund both the MREN grant program and the HSIEC Challenge grant. By working with entrepreneurs and businesses that demonstrate the ability to achieve growth through revenue generation and job creation, the Department promotes economic development in Illinois.

About Communications Made Easy
Communications Made EasyTM is communication tool that broadcasts any message in a matter of seconds to a mass mailing list using a proprietary 4-in-1 system. This innovative and user-friendly service makes it easy to use one access point to send messages simultaneously, via the Web, e-mail, text message, and phone. CME offers monthly messaging subscriptions, premium service add-ons that enable customers to enhance their package as needed, concierge service to ensure customer messages are dispatched immediately in times of crisis, and a reseller program to allow organizations to brand and sell the product as their own. Communications Made EasyTM is a subsidiary of The Easy Life, LLC, headquartered in Rochester, IL. Visit www.communicationsmadeeasy.com to learn more.

About MREN
MREN works with entrepreneurs and businesses (regardless of industry or stage) that demonstrate the ability to achieve growth through revenue generation and job creation and to contribute to the economic development of Illinois. MREN is a network of organizations and individuals throughout the region and state that are collaborating together and strive to become the driving force for exciting entrepreneurial activities and initiatives throughout the Central Region. For more information, visit www.millikinren.com.

About HSIEC
HSIEC delivers specialized business development assistance in homeland security to entrepreneurs and small businesses as part of the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network through a joint effort between the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and Northwestern University. The Center launched in October 2005 and has made over 20 challenge grants to fund strategic business projects. For more information, visit http://www.hsiec.org.