St. Louis, MO—Siboney Learning Group, the main operating unit and wholly owned division of Siboney Corporation (OTC/BB:SBON), just concluded its most successful Orchard Teacher’s Choice dealer sales meeting ever. Over 40 dealer reps from 30 states attended the meeting which highlighted new products and an improved data management system.
Orchard takes the division’s key educational software titles and delivers them to schools with a universal management system that tracks student performance across all titles. 72 titles covering key skills and concepts in reading, language arts and mathematics are available for grades K-12.
Bodie Marx, President of the Siboney Learning Group, explains, "Orchard fills a growing need for comprehensive instructional software for schools that motivates students to learn while providing teachers with a structure and management. We position Orchard as a clever alternative to monotonous and expensive integrated learning systems. It has been our number one corporate priority for the past year and we are really starting to see impressive sales results."
Orchard sales during the first six months of 1998 are running over 200% ahead of sales during a comparable period in 1997.
Orchard is sold exclusively through a network of 30 master dealers and representatives that will also service and support the product. Robin Tinker, Director of Sales, says, "We believe that we have the most committed dealer network in the industry. We have worked hard to find, train and support dealers that will aggressively sell the Orchard products to schools looking for more comprehensive but not overwhelmingly expensive instructional software solutions."
Orchard reflects the Siboney Learning Group division’s more aggressive approach to selling educational software to schools. At the same time through its GAMCO subsidiary, the division has continued to grow and to develop its more traditional dealer catalog and direct catalog school distribution channels. Plus, the company recently relocated its six-person inside sales team from Big Spring, Texas to Saint Louis, Missouri where the division and corporation are based.
Contact:
Siboney Corporation, St. Louis
Bodie Marx, 314/909-1670 x110
Any forward-looking statement is necessarily subject to significant uncertainties and risks. The words “believes”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “expects” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could be materially different due to various factors, including the level of education funding provided by federal and state governments, regulatory developments, product development and pricing strategies undertaken by our competitors and our ability to attract and retain key personnel. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.