CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Cross Lanes marketing firm being investigated by state and federal authorities received more than $212,000 from the state-funded West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg through a no-bid contract.

Comar Inc. and its subsidiary, Vec3, sent unsolicited e-mails to prospective medical students as part of the 15-month marketing contract that ended in March.

Comar, which publishes MetroValley magazine, also received an additional $19,864 to improve the osteopathic school's Web site and "online reputation."

Convicted felon Martin Bowling, Comar's former chief technical officer, performed much of that work, which involved trying to scrub information about a 2006 sexual harassment lawsuit against the school from Google search engine rankings.

Comar secured the e-mail marketing contract after contacting osteopathic school Graphics Manager/Art Director Patrice Bauserman, a longtime friend of Comar Chief Operating Officer April Hendershot, records show.

Bauserman determined that Comar was the only company in the U.S. that provided the e-mail marketing services that the osteopathic school sought, school officials said. Bauserman also took part in discussions that led to the decision to sign a contract with Comar, according to e-mails obtained by the Sunday Gazette-Mail under the state Freedom of Information Act.

WVSOM President Richard Raffes decided to terminate Comar's contract just three days after he started his job in early January.

"I recognized the need to conserve resources, and I decided to terminate contracts that weren't mission essential," Raffes said. "This was one of the contracts terminated. It was not mission essential."

Asked whether the osteopathic school got its money's worth, Raffes said, "I can't speculate whether the money was well spent. It appears we received the services we contracted for."

Comar initially signed a $175,452 contract with the osteopathic school, but the Cross Lanes firm ultimately was paid $212,979 after the agreement was extended an additional three months by the school's former president. 

According to a Comar report, the e-mail marketing campaign increased the medical school's student applications by 32 percent, and visits to WVSOM's Web site nearly doubled between January 2008 and 2009.

Comar collected 15,000 e-mail addresses from prospective students each month and sent advertisements -- or "electronic postcards" -- about the school to those addresses. 

Comar CEO Al Hendershot declined to comment on the contract, referring questions to former osteopathic school president Dr. Olen Jones, who has issued testimonials praising Comar's work for the medical school.

"Comar's work was instrumental in keeping our [application] numbers up," said Jones, who served as the school's president for 22 years. "Our admissions people were very satisfied. Our numbers kept increasing when they had the contract."

Comar 'worried' over 'bidding thing'

April Hendershot (wife of the CEO) and Bauserman started discussing Comar's potential contract with the state-funded osteopathic school as early as November 2007, according to e-mails. 

"I am glad we got a chance to talk," Hendershot wrote to Bauserman. "I feel better about the whole bidding thing now. I was getting worried."  

State law requires that higher education institutions bid out all contracts that exceed $25,000, unless only one vendor can provide the product or service.

In their written justification for declining to request bids, WVSOM officials said they wanted a vendor who could capture e-mail addresses of people who were searching for topics related to the osteopathic school. In turn, the vendor would send unsolicited messages to those e-mail addresses.

Bauserman conducted the search for companies that met the osteopathic school's criteria, Raffes said.

"While there are companies that sell e-mail addresses or programs to retrieve e-mail, none were found to have the capability or potential of Vec3," WVSOM officials concluded.

The state Office of Technology said last week that numerous companies sell pre-packaged software to extract e-mails from people searching for specific information on the Internet. Many firms also advertise that they offer "e-mail lead generation" -- the service Comar provided to WVSOM. Some companies offer the service for as little as $250 a month.

"However, depending upon the specific requirements of the request, it would take further market research to ensure that these software packages would meet the organization's specific business needs," said Diane Holley, a spokeswoman with the state technology office. 

Raffes noted the decision to declare a "sole source" contract and bypass bidding laws was made under the previous administration.

"I can't comment on actions by individuals taken before my time here," said Raffes. "I was informed [Comar] was providing a unique service in the industry. As soon as I canceled the contract, it no longer mattered if anybody else was providing the service."

Jones said a group of medical school administrators, including WVSOM's purchasing director and legal counsel, ultimately decided to award the contract to Comar without soliciting bids.

"We looked at the uniqueness and had input from the entire group," Jones recalled. "There was an in-depth discussion. It was not done unilaterally."  

Bauserman, whose photography has been published in a Comar-owned magazine, told medical school officials last week that she was unavailable for comment, after the Sunday Gazette-Mail sent her an e-mail and left a phone message.

Raffes said he talked to Bauserman about the awarding of the contract after the Sunday Gazette-Mail raised questions about it last month.

"She emphatically denies playing any role in awarding of the contract," Raffes said. "The former president was totally involved in who would get a particular contract."

Raffes said the school would likely solicit bids for such contracts in the future. "We've taken the position since I came here that we're going to bid every contract out," he said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Cross Lanes marketing firm being investigated by state and federal authorities received more than $212,000 from the state-funded West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg through a no-bid contract.

Comar Inc. and its subsidiary, Vec3, sent unsolicited e-mails to prospective medical students as part of the 15-month marketing contract that ended in March.

Comar, which publishes MetroValley magazine, also received an additional $19,864 to improve the osteopathic school's Web site and "online reputation."

Convicted felon Martin Bowling, Comar's former chief technical officer, performed much of that work, which involved trying to scrub information about a 2006 sexual harassment lawsuit against the school from Google search engine rankings.

Comar secured the e-mail marketing contract after contacting osteopathic school Graphics Manager/Art Director Patrice Bauserman, a longtime friend of Comar Chief Operating Officer April Hendershot, records show.

Bauserman determined that Comar was the only company in the U.S. that provided the e-mail marketing services that the osteopathic school sought, school officials said. Bauserman also took part in discussions that led to the decision to sign a contract with Comar, according to e-mails obtained by the Sunday Gazette-Mail under the state Freedom of Information Act.

WVSOM President Richard Raffes decided to terminate Comar's contract just three days after he started his job in early January.

"I recognized the need to conserve resources, and I decided to terminate contracts that weren't mission essential," Raffes said. "This was one of the contracts terminated. It was not mission essential."

Asked whether the osteopathic school got its money's worth, Raffes said, "I can't speculate whether the money was well spent. It appears we received the services we contracted for."

Comar initially signed a $175,452 contract with the osteopathic school, but the Cross Lanes firm ultimately was paid $212,979 after the agreement was extended an additional three months by the school's former president. 

According to a Comar report, the e-mail marketing campaign increased the medical school's student applications by 32 percent, and visits to WVSOM's Web site nearly doubled between January 2008 and 2009.

Comar collected 15,000 e-mail addresses from prospective students each month and sent advertisements -- or "electronic postcards" -- about the school to those addresses. 

Comar CEO Al Hendershot declined to comment on the contract, referring questions to former osteopathic school president Dr. Olen Jones, who has issued testimonials praising Comar's work for the medical school.

"Comar's work was instrumental in keeping our [application] numbers up," said Jones, who served as the school's president for 22 years. "Our admissions people were very satisfied. Our numbers kept increasing when they had the contract."

Comar 'worried' over 'bidding thing'

April Hendershot (wife of the CEO) and Bauserman started discussing Comar's potential contract with the state-funded osteopathic school as early as November 2007, according to e-mails. 

"I am glad we got a chance to talk," Hendershot wrote to Bauserman. "I feel better about the whole bidding thing now. I was getting worried."  

State law requires that higher education institutions bid out all contracts that exceed $25,000, unless only one vendor can provide the product or service.

In their written justification for declining to request bids, WVSOM officials said they wanted a vendor who could capture e-mail addresses of people who were searching for topics related to the osteopathic school. In turn, the vendor would send unsolicited messages to those e-mail addresses.

Bauserman conducted the search for companies that met the osteopathic school's criteria, Raffes said.

"While there are companies that sell e-mail addresses or programs to retrieve e-mail, none were found to have the capability or potential of Vec3," WVSOM officials concluded.

The state Office of Technology said last week that numerous companies sell pre-packaged software to extract e-mails from people searching for specific information on the Internet. Many firms also advertise that they offer "e-mail lead generation" -- the service Comar provided to WVSOM. Some companies offer the service for as little as $250 a month.

"However, depending upon the specific requirements of the request, it would take further market research to ensure that these software packages would meet the organization's specific business needs," said Diane Holley, a spokeswoman with the state technology office. 

Raffes noted the decision to declare a "sole source" contract and bypass bidding laws was made under the previous administration.

"I can't comment on actions by individuals taken before my time here," said Raffes. "I was informed [Comar] was providing a unique service in the industry. As soon as I canceled the contract, it no longer mattered if anybody else was providing the service."

Jones said a group of medical school administrators, including WVSOM's purchasing director and legal counsel, ultimately decided to award the contract to Comar without soliciting bids.

"We looked at the uniqueness and had input from the entire group," Jones recalled. "There was an in-depth discussion. It was not done unilaterally."  

Bauserman, whose photography has been published in a Comar-owned magazine, told medical school officials last week that she was unavailable for comment, after the Sunday Gazette-Mail sent her an e-mail and left a phone message.

Raffes said he talked to Bauserman about the awarding of the contract after the Sunday Gazette-Mail raised questions about it last month.

"She emphatically denies playing any role in awarding of the contract," Raffes said. "The former president was totally involved in who would get a particular contract."

Raffes said the school would likely solicit bids for such contracts in the future. "We've taken the position since I came here that we're going to bid every contract out," he said.

'Some disturbing things'

Shortly after signing the contract for the e-mail marketing campaign, April Hendershot notified Bauserman that Bowling (Comar's chief technical officer) found "some disturbing things about your new Web site," according to a January 2008 e-mail.

"I am going to be honest with you," Hendershot wrote. "It's not good news at all. Marty has an 18-page report about it."

Hendershot also added a personal note: "Let's try to spend some friend time while you are here. Okay? Missing you. Besides, I have a cool gift for you."

In an e-mail the previous day, Bauserman signed off, "Miss you girlfriend. XOXOXO."

Bowling's report included a comprehensive analysis of WVSOM's Web site and managing the school's "online brand."

"Searches for the abbreviated brand WVSOM yield some rather negative results, particularly a story from the [Beckley] Register-Herald discussing a faculty member settling a sexual harassment case with a student," Bowling wrote in his report. "The story comes up as the second result. Negative search results can seriously impact your brand image online."

The report prompted medical school officials to sign a contract addendum that would pay Comar an additional $19,864 for 243 hours of work.

To improve the osteopathic school's Internet reputation, Bowling's Vec3 colleagues wrote positive stories about the medical school and posted them on Internet blogs, a Wikipedia.com page and newly created multiple WVSOM Web sites. The school's public relations department also pitched story ideas to the media and persuaded the Sunday Gazette-Mail to publish a profile of WVSOM. At the time, the Gazette-Mail was unaware that the school was seeking such stories to improve its reputation on the Internet.

The public relations Internet blitz worked, pushing down news about the sexual harassment lawsuit in Google's search rankings, according to Comar's September 2008 report to the osteopathic school.

"We have been effectively demoting the rank of an undesirable news story that has had lasting presence on Google's search engine top 10," the company wrote. "With continued efforts, we will soon have the story out of the top 50 search results. Not only will these efforts bury the story, they will reduce the chance of the story resurfacing again and again over time."

The story hasn't remained buried, however. The Gazette-Mail typed "WVSOM" into Google's search engine last week, and the Register-Herald article on the sexual harassment lawsuit showed up eighth in Google's rankings.

"It appears someone didn't do a good job," Raffes said.

Bowling solicits Webmaster job

In March, Bowling was sentenced to three years in state prison after admitting he stole credit card names and numbers and used them to purchase Cuban cigars, artwork and other merchandise on the Internet. Bowling's sentence was later reduced to a year of home confinement and five years' probation.

Bowling continued to work for Comar on the osteopathic school contract, even after being convicted of felony computer fraud charges last November.

Raffes said he didn't find out about Bowling's conviction until reading about it in the newspaper, prompting him to investigate Bowling's access to WVSOM's computer server.

Records show Bowling was given a special password and login information to access the osteopathic school's Web site.

"It was determined no confidential information had been accessed by him," Raffes said. "There are all kinds of safeguards. An individual can be granted access to certain areas and not granted access to other areas."

Just a week after being released from South Central Regional Jail and placed on home confinement, Bowling sent an e-mail to Bauserman, inquiring about a job as WVSOM's webmaster, overseeing the school's Web site.

"I am sure you heard about everything that has happened and probably also know I am not returning to Vec3," Bowling wrote. "I know a month or two ago that WVSOM was looking for a webmaster to do some of the stuff Vec3 was doing for them.

"I didn't know if that position had been filled or not, but thought I would pass along my resume in case it was [sic]," Bowling continued. "I obviously could not be down at the campus full-time, but thought there could potentially be room for telecommuting."

Raffes said Bowling's inquiry did not lead to a job at the osteopathic school.

"Anyone can apply for a position," Raffes said. "He's not working for us in any capacity."

The state Legislature's Commission on Special Investigations, the FBI and the Workforce West Virginia office are examining how Comar spent federal grant money that Bowling's mother, a state employment programs manager, distributed to the Cross Lanes firm last year. Martin Bowling used part of the money to travel to conferences throughout the U.S.

Comar also redirected grant money to Martin Bowling's fiancée and godmother. Comar has said all the grant money was spent as intended, and that a state report will verify that assertion. 

Bowling has repeatedly declined to comment on the investigation.

A federal grand jury is scheduled to hear testimony about the case on July 22.

Despite Bowling's legal troubles, Jones said he was impressed by the 29-year-old computer whiz's work for the osteopathic school.

"This guy was extremely bright in everything he did," Jones said. "And he was always good to follow through. He did a good job."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4869.