TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT...
There have been many comments made on this web site about Avalon Group. Some good, some bad.
In the beginning, I can tell you that not one employee, nor Director, nor Officer at Avalon Group had even visited this chat group. When we did, we were surprised at what we found there. We were even alarmed at information that was being posted there, as this included information that we were not required to release and certainly wouldn't release in the normal course of business. At that time, we decided that Avalon Group should not be involved in the discussions on this site.
As you are all aware, anyone can post anything on the Internet and it is up to each and every individual to check out the validity of the information posted on web sites. Some of the info. posted about Avalon is just not true and did not originate from Avalon, nor would it have had Avalon's approval. It is true that some of the postings originate from personnel who have been very supportive of our company, even though they are not employees or official spokespeople for Avalon. However some posts come from people who have been misinformed or have misunderstood information that is publicly available in other media. We have always opted for full disclosure of material facts concerning Avalon and we have nothing to hide about our company.
To those of you who have directly posted questions to me, I am sorry that you have not had a reply but this is only the third time that I have even visited this web site. Avalon Group has very good normal business communication channels - our telephone, fax, e-mail and our own web site and we do not search the web for other areas just to see if someone has sent us a message. Many of you have even been given my personal home telephone number and have reached me there. We try to answer any questions from our shareholders that reach us through the proper channels and we encourage any of you who are concerned to call me personally and I will try to deal with your questions.
However, you must all accept that there is such a thing as "insider trading" and there are certain things that we cannot divulge prior to a release. Furthermore, you will find that if you call any of us, we will not "over-hype" our stock as we have not spent the last three years of our lives shedding blood, sweat and tears just to participate in a "pump and dump" scheme. During the past 14 months, the key personnel (and their families) have given everything they can to make this business a success. We will not see those efforts undermined by short term tactics. We are building the foundations for a multi-million dollar company and sometimes the builders take longer than expected to complete their work. This is not always within our control and delays only serve to make our work harder, so we would be the first to cheer the completion of every phase of good news!
For those of you who have supported us and stayed with us, I really thank you for your patience and the attention that you have given Avalon. Some of you have really helped guide us at times when our knowledge about the public markets has been thin. Those people have discovered that we are not slick, savvy stock manipulators but hard-working business people, willing to admit that sometimes we make mistakes. I sincerely hope that those of you who supported us will be rewarded amply as we build our company.
For those of you who have lost heart and have already left us or plan to move away, I hope that you have not suffered drastic financial losses and I also hope that one day you will at least see that we did not mislead and that we are an honest group of people at Avalon. So even if you have sold, keep an eye on us as we believe in what we are doing. Our own financial commitments probably exceed any other individual's investment to date. Every month that passes, the key officers are foregoing about $7,000 in the difference in salaries between the draw at Avalon and the salaries that they had been earning in their previous employments. That includes myself. In short, if this company does not succeed, we have more to lose than any of you. We also stand to gain more, I accept that and that's why we have taken the path we have chosen. We are not complaining here.
One more issue. I know that many of you are hoping for some good news and expected it by now. So did we. The delays to Avalon achieving some of its first major goals are outside our control. Please do not judge us harshly without knowing the facts (which we cannot reveal for SEC reasons) and hold your opinions until you have seen what we have been working on these past months. If you think that this is just good salesmanship on my part, please remember that you can only be a successful salesman if you believe in what you sell. For almost three years the founders and myself have believed in the business concept of Avalon. Our dream is to build this company and let nobody doubt that commitment, for it drives us every hour of each twelve-to-fourteen hour day, seven days a week - just ask our wives/husbands/families!
You will not see Avalon making postings to this site but you will see us using the normal press release channels WHEN we have something VALUABLE and newsworthy to communicate. The SEC rules are clear on this and nobody will be provided with material information before a press release. All of you are still well informed about Avalon and certainly if you wish to act upon press release information once it has been released, you have plenty of opportunity to do so ahead of the uninformed masses who do not even yet track Avalon stock. But you also do so at your own risk and the company can make no promises about its future stock price. We can promise you we work hard.
Please bear with us and be patient and please, if you want to speak to me, don't post to this site because I don't have time to check it.
I hope this helps to put the record straight. Without happy shareholders, happy customers and happy employees, we don't have a business - so please know that we will try to make you happy shareholders.
Bernard Hicks
Executive Vice President
Avalon Group, Inc. |
