Chantilly, VA – May 1, 2007 – AOC Solutions℠, a leader in Web-based commercial card payment and management solutions, today announced that Commerce Bank has selected its Encompass℠ technology to meet the unique needs of the bank's Purchase, Fleet and Travel Card customers. Encompass is redefining the commercial card market and offering businesses more ways to integrate card payments into their purchasing and payables systems.

Encompass is a Web-based card management and reporting application that gives commercial card customers:

• real-time purchase controls
• automated accounts payable
• centralized purchasing capabilities
• streamlined invoice payment
• improved spending oversight
• exceptional on-demand reporting

"The Purchasing Card market is inherently dynamic and we are pleased to have a partner who can meet the rapidly evolving needs of our Commercial Card clients," said Jeff Burik, Senior Vice President, Commerce Bank. "AOC's technology will enable our customers to more efficiently and cost-effectively manage their purchasing programs."

"Encompass currently has thousands of end-users and our customer-base continues to grow," said Kevin Woods, Vice President, AOC Solutions. "We are excited to team with Commerce Bank and help accelerate demand for their card services. Commerce is leading the payments industry and we are excited that they have selected AOC Solutions commercial card payment and management system to serve its customers."

About AOC Solutions
AOC Solutions is a leader in Web-based commercial card payment and management outsourced solutions. Its flagship solution, Encompass℠ provides banks and their customers one platform to support all accounts payable, card management and advanced reporting requirements (for purchase, travel and fleet programs). For more information visit www.aocsolutions.com

About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bank is the principal subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), a $15.2 billion regional bank holding company. For more than 140 years, Commerce has been meeting the financial services needs of individuals and businesses. Commerce provides a diversified line of financial services, including business and personal banking, wealth management and estate planning and investments through its affiliated companies. Commerce currently operates in approximately 360 locations in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas and Oklahoma. Commerce also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, leasing, credit-related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.

For additional information, please visit www.commercebank.com or email mymoney@commercebank.com.

Press Contact:
Gena Fiegel
AOC Solutions
gfiegel@3dsi.com
301-351-4547

AOC Solutions Inc. (AOC) provides a unique blend of management consulting services and information technology products that enable its clients to accomplish their business objectives. AOC delivers highly credentialed professionals to add the breadth of experience and knowledge required in today's demanding business environment. AOC Solutions core areas of expertise include:

• Financial Operations Evaluation and Change Management
  
• SGL, Systems, Account Standards and Reporting Compliance Support (FFMIA)
  
• Improper Payments Reviews and Monitoring Support
  
• OMB Circular A-123 Internal Control Assessments and Program Monitoring Support
  
• Financial Statements Preparation and Analysis
  
• Accounting Policy and Procedures Development
  

Founded in 1996, AOC Solutions is a small business and service-disabled veteran-owned company, which ensures its customers achieve cost, time and quality advantages.

For more information contact:
Frank Sullivan, CGFM
Vice President, Program Development
AOC Solutions
14151 Newbrook Drive
Chantilly, VA 20151
703.628.7321
fsullivan@aocsolutions.com

Chantilly, VA - July 27, 2006 -- AOC Solutions^SM, the leader in providing end-to-end payment products and services for the Purchase, Travel, Fleet and Accounts Payable industry, today announced that it has been validated as compliant with Visa's Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP). AOC Solutions was independently validated and achieved CISP compliance, as well as compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.

The CISP standard was developed to reduce the risk of credit card theft and fraud. Using the PCI Data Security Standard as its framework, CISP provides policies and procedures recognized as being needed to protect against cardholder data compromise and ensures the highest standard of due care to keep sensitive cardholder data safe from hackers and fraudsters.

"AOC Solutions recognizes that security is a process, not a static implementation and the AOC culture embeds security best-practices into every component of our operation," said Allen Cage, Chief Executive Officer, AOC Solutions. "The security of our systems and data remains integral to our business and we are pleased to achieve CISP compliance."

The PCI/CISP established a set of 12 industry-wide requirements and is designed to protect sensitive cardholder information from being compromised. These industry best practices are directed at all businesses that store, process, or transmit cardholder information. Core mandates include:

• Building and maintaining a secure network
  
• Protecting card holder data
  
• Maintaining a vulnerability management program
  
• Implementing strong access and control measures
  
• Regularly monitoring and testing networks, and
  
• Maintaining an information security policy
  

For a full list of security requirements that must be met to receive the CISP compliance, visit www.visa.com/CISP

Press Contact:

Gena Fiegel
Director, Marketing Communications
gfiegel@3dsi.com
301.351.4547

CHANTILLY, Va., Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AOC Solutions Inc. has made major enhancements to improve the flexibility of its industry-leading EnCompass card management and reporting application, Kevin Woods, Director of Acquisition and Program Manager for EnCompass, announced today.

The enhancements to EnCompass include:

• A new interface designed to help users with multiple hierarchies across multiple companies. The interface makes daily maintenance and reporting easier by allowing users to log in only once instead of logging in to each company.
• A robust rotating white card module that effectively assists both the client and the card issuer in managing potential fraud and abuse of card numbers issued to merchants. The module uses client-defined business rules to produce a card number and authorization controls tied specifically to a particular transaction and merchant.
• A new statement generation process that notifies users and managers of statement and transaction availability. Client-defined business rules allow customization of data and message attachments sent to users and their managers.

"We are continually adding functionality to EnCompass to meet the needs of our clients," Woods said. "Our clients use EnCompass to manage their card programs easily and effectively. We put the ball in their court. Our clients tell us they love being empowered to handle their own program changes and card management at their own comfort level.

"By providing our customers with cradle-to-grave customer service, support and technology, they can grow with the system as their confidence level builds. EnCompass allows them to take on more control of their programs through self-service, administration and customization as they become more sophisticated. EnCompass does this without requiring them to migrate to other applications."

EnCompass is a web-based commercial and government credit card reporting and card management application deployed by a top-ten card issuer. It was developed in response to client requirements for new and improved technology to assist them in the management and reporting of their card programs.

EnCompass provides card issuer clients a full suite of functionality, including real-time card management, general ledger and financial accounting functions, security and access controls, permission-based rules and a broad range of other functionality designed to meet the needs of each client. Its robust reporting engine provides card issuer standard reports, client-defined company reports, user-friendly, pick-and-click, ad-hoc reporting and scheduling of reports for ease of delivery.

"We are in the business of providing cutting-edge technology and enhancements based upon client and user input," said Steve Carlson, Director of Information Technology and Development for AOC. "Our quarterly development cycles are designed to be responsive to rapidly-evolving needs, and our releases are built around user input."

AOC Solutions Inc.
AOC Solutions Inc. is a Chantilly, Va.-based firm that has been providing government and private sector clients with practical and effective information technology, financial, and electronic commerce solutions since 1996. AOC specializes in purchase, fleet and travel card applications as well as electronic payment and reconciliation solutions.

View this Press Release at PR Newswire ©

When retired Air Force Maj. Robert C. Sharps launched his civil construction business three years ago, he hoped to profit from a law that requires the federal government to set aside 3 percent of all contracts for firms owned by veterans, like himself, who have disabilities related to their military service.

But as of last week, Sharps said VSA Construction Services LLC in Jessup has not won a single contract even though it bids on about four a month. His firm is losing ground in an open market, he said, because contracts are not being set aside as promised.

"As a small business, sometimes we're not as competitive as larger companies. So we lose out to cheaper bids," said Sharps, 58, a Vietnam veteran who has chronic knee and back problems. "The law is not working as it was intended."

The complaint is common among veterans groups as federal agencies struggle to meet the 3 percent goal, a target missed by a substantial margin every year since the set-aside law was enacted in 1999. The federal government annually awards $250 billion to $300 billion in contracts to private companies.

The veterans' concerns have taken on added urgency during wartime, as thousands of injured personnel confront the task of rejoining the civilian workplace. President Bush recently signed an executive order meant to speed the flow of contracts to disabled veterans, but Small Business Administration rules may get in the way, veterans groups contend.

To ensure competition, the SBA has required that agencies not award "sole source" contracts to companies owned by disabled veterans if they "have a reasonable expectation" there are other veteran-owned companies qualified to bid.

The awarding of set-aside contracts "is not automatic," said William D. Elmore, head of veterans business development at the SBA. "There is no guaranteed success in this."

"It's an opportunity . . . to compete," he said.

Veterans groups say the SBA's approach is unworkable and wants contracts awarded even without competition if the company is qualified and the price is fair.

Set-aside programs, they said, are not meant to deliver the lowest price to the government, but to help fledgling firms owned by designated classes of people get a foothold in the market and become competitive in their own right.

"It's an earned benefit" to further compensate veterans for their service to the country, said Richard F. Weidman, director of government relations at Vietnam Veterans of America and chairman of the Task Force for Veterans Entrepreneurship.

The most recent surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that about 53,900 businesses with employees were owned by service-disabled veterans in 2002. That is less than 1 percent of the nation's 7.7 million businesses.

The set-aside program for disabled veterans has been controversial since its inception in 1999. Veterans have argued that they lost years of earnings potential and marketplace experience serving the country and need a boost to get their businesses off the ground. That applies even more, they say, to those with disabilities.

But supporters of other government set-aside programs worried that it would cut into contracts for businesses owned by women, ethnic minorities and other economically disadvantaged groups. The SBA is supposed to ensure that 23 percent of government contracts go to small, disadvantaged businesses each year.

Moreover, the definition of "disabled" is broad, and SBA officials say the law does not require them to verify the status of each bidder's health. To qualify, veterans do not have to have been wounded in action or have suffered crippling injuries. Sharps developed his knee and back problems from an accident suffered onboard a military plane. His partner and fellow Vietnam vet, retired Air Force Capt. Richard Vance, 56, said he suffered a 50 percent hearing loss in each ear from being in high-noise areas during his 23-year military career. He also suffered knee and back injuries while working a military construction job.

"You don't have to have lost an arm or leg to be disabled," said Wayne M. Gatewood Jr. , 55, a Vietnam veteran and owner of Landover-based Quality Support Inc., which organizes conferences and works with the federal government. "You have people who are psychologically disabled and people who have serious arm and leg injuries because of the rigors of training. You can't see those things."

Quality Support has won two contracts from the Defense Department under the set-aside program, one for about $400,000 and another for about $2.8 million, said Gatewood, who declined to reveal the nature of his disability.

Steven J. Kelman, former head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Clinton administration, said the debate over veteran set-asides is familiar.

Set-aside programs date to the 1950s, and have been "fairly controversial because by limiting competition to a certain kind of business it may have negative impact on the price and quality of what the government buys," said Kelman, now a public management professor at Harvard University. "You may be excluding a firm from bidding that may be cheaper or better suited to do the jobs."

So far, the program has fallen short of its aims: Since it was enacted in 1999, less than 1 percent of federal contracts have gone to firms owned by disabled veterans. In December 2003, President Bush signed legislation meant to invigorate the program, and a year later he issued an executive order demanding that each agency submit detailed plans for meeting the 3 percent target.

Some veterans, such as retired Navy Lt. Lani H. Rorrer, say they are seeing results. Rorrer, a former naval intelligence officer and a Naval Academy graduate, launched Fairfax-based Lanmark Technology Inc. five years ago and now employs 50 people.

Under the service-disabled set-aside program, the State Department granted her firm a five-year, $5 million contract for logistics support, and the Defense Logistics Agency awarded her a six-month, $2 million contract for logistics software development and support.

Rorrer, 29, said she qualifies for other set-asides, including those for women-owned and socially and economically disadvantaged firms. But those are saturated markets, she said, unlike the relatively new market for service-disabled veterans.

Having the service-disabled status "adds another feather to my cap," Rorrer said. "I've grown the company because other companies that are not eligible for set-asides now want to team up with me for the opportunities they could not go after."

Megan Gamse, a senior analyst at research firm Input in Reston, said she expects more success stories in the future. Gamse, who tracks the information technology sector, predicted that the government will reach its 3 percent goal in the next few fiscal years. She estimated that by 2009 service-disabled veterans in the IT sector may win as much as $2.7 billion in annual contracts.

But Gatewood, the Vietnam veteran in Landover, maintained that the success stories are the exception for now and not the rule.

"Veterans deserve consideration above and beyond anyone else in America," he said.

WASHINGTON - Amplifying his commitment to Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs), President Bush issued an Executive Order, Oct. 20, 2004, designed to strengthen and increase opportunities in federal contracting for small businesses owned by service-disabled vets.

The Executive Order reaffirms the Administration's commitment to SDVOSBs, noting that America honors the extraordinary service rendered to the United States by veterans disabled in the line of duty during active military service. The order requires heads of agencies to provide significantly more contracting and subcontracting opportunities to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.

The order further notes: "To achieve that objective, agencies shall more effectively implement section 15(g) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644 (g)), which provides that the President must establish a goal of not less than 3 percent for participation by service-disabled veteran businesses in federal contracting, and section 36 of that Act (15 U.S.C. 657f), which gives agency contracting officers the authority to reserve certain procurements for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses."

"I am pleased that President Bush has issued this Executive Order strengthening opportunities for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses," said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. "The efforts of SDVOSBs in their local communities are extremely important to job growth and continuing the economic recovery. The SBA will do all it can to assist these small businesses to become more competitive and efficient, and to grow and prosper."

Section Three of the Executive Order states that the Administrator of the SBA shall:

• (a) in coordination with the Veterans Affairs' Center for Veterans Enterprise, provide service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses information and assistance concerning participation in federal contracting;
  
• (b) advise and assist heads of agencies in their implementation of this order; and
  
• (c) make available to service-disabled veteran businesses training in federal contracting law, procedures and practices that would assist such businesses in participating in federal contracting.

For more information about SBA's Service-Disabled Veterans Business program visit http://www.sba.gov/VETS/index.html , and for more information about all of the SBA's programs and services, visit www.sba.gov

AOC Solutions Inc. has been awarded our new Financial Business and Accounting Services SIN under our existing GSA Corporate Schedule Contract. Government entities may now access AOC’s Corporate Contract for Financial Services under SIN CR710. In addition, with the passage of the Veterans Benefit Act of 2003, Public Law 180-183, government agencies can now access AOC products and services easily as the approval to sole source or restrict competition to Veteran Owned Service Disabled Small Businesses has taken effect. Please visit the Veterans Business website at www.vetbiz.gov website for more information about this exciting new law and the authority it provide to the federal procurement arena.

For more information on financial services or about any of the other product and services we provide, please contact us.

(Washington - December 24, 2003) – In an Oval Office ceremony held today, President Bush signed H.R. 2297, the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003, a bill composed of 7 titles with 39 substantive provisions. All totaled, the new law authorizes $1 billion over the next ten years for new and expanded benefits for disabled veterans, surviving spouses, and children.

Within the next several weeks, President Bush will also sign another important veterans bill – H.R. 100, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act – legislation that will help lessen personal financial and legal burdens servicemembers and their loved ones may face at home while they are on active duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, or other locations around the world.

"The Veterans Benefits Act provides significant new support to veterans, particularly to disabled veterans, their surviving spouses, and children," Committee Chairman Chris Smith said. "For example, this legislation increases federal grants used to adapt homes and automobiles for the use of severely disabled veterans," he said.

For more information, please see original press release.

AOC Solutions, Inc. was recently awarded a contract by the National Guard Bureau for the performance of the National Guard ChalleNGe Program Assessment. The mission of ChalleNGe is to intervene in the lives of at-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 18 and produce program graduates with the values, skills, education and self-discipline to succeed as adults. The program consists of eight core component areas used to foster the holistic growth of participants. The component areas are: academic excellence, community service, health and hygiene, job skills, leadership/followership, life coping skills, physical fitness, and responsible citizenship.

The ChalleNGe Program is co-educational and consists of a five-month Residential Phase and a one-year Post-Residential Phase. The Residential Phase is conducted in a quasi-military structured and disciplined environment. During this phase, participants focus on the rigorous formal education and training program embodied in the eight core components with emphasis on development of the mind, body and personal values. Career opportunities are explored and personal goals and objectives are developed and captured in a Post-Residential Action Plan. During the Post-Residential Phase, program participants meet regularly with their assigned mentor to continue their learning through thoughtful interaction. Mentors are also required to monitor the execution of their participants' Post-Residential Action Plan, tracking their status as a full time student, a full time worker, or a combination of school attendance and work.

The National Guard award is a firm fixed price commercial service task order issued against AOC's GSA Corporate Schedule (GS-00F-0070M) for one base year and four one-year options.

AOC extends its congratulations to the Department of State and its Bureau of Resource Management for the honor it has received in being awarded the Association of Government Accountants' prestigious Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting. The Certificate of Excellence recognizes outstanding accountability reporting and is the highest form of recognition in Federal government financial management reporting. Its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a Federal agency and its management. AOC Solutions, with our partner The DesignPond, was proud to have assisted the Department of State in the development and production of its Fiscal Year 2001 Accountability Report.

Corporate Contract Number: GS-00F-0070M
Awarded 1 July 2002 through 30 June 2007.
The AOC Solutions Inc. GSA Corporate Contract is a Federal Supply Schedule contract under which all Federal Agencies can procure a range of services. Our Federal Clients can order work directly against the contract with pricing based on an established schedule of labor category unit prices. GSA developed the contracts based on commercial pricing and procurement techniques to provide Federal Agencies with efficient and competitive access to provider services.
AOC strives to assist our clients with the implementation of their projects, and we are confident in our ability to generate the consensus and commitment necessary to succeed in management and organizational consulting. We recognize the value which our clients place on objective, expert advice and are prepared to stand behind our recommendations and assist you in obtaining the objectives and future you envision. AOC Solutions Inc. management services include offerings across the business areas identified on the GSA schedule: Business Consulting and Facilitation Services and Survey Services.

AOC Solutions, Inc. is proud to announce that Allen O. Cage, Jr., President/CEO, was a Finalist in Ernst & Young’s 2002 Greater Washington Entrepreneur of the Year