Corporate Report: October 4

Dowell Systems, Carfax partner on Real-Time Labor Guide
Tampa software development company Dowell Systems Inc. has integrated Carfax QuickVIN into the new Web-based version of its most popular software, Real-Time Labor Guide. The Carfax integration is part of a new partnership between Dowell Systems and Carfax.

The Real-Time Labor Guide online system allows users to quickly retrieve the year, make, model and engine information from the Carfax database by entering only the license plate information or by entering the full vehicle identification number of their customers' vehicles.

The Carfax QuickVIN is being added for no additional cost. It is expected to help Real-Time Labor Guide users eliminate the risk of costly data entry errors and ensure they order properly fitting parts.

Palm Harbor startup Alorum debuts WordPress plugin seoslides beta
Palm Harbor-based Alorum Inc. has released a beta version of its new WordPress plugin, seoslides.

With the free plugin, users can create or import any presentation directly into their website. The company say the plugin represents the first fully embeddable, multi-page content on WordPress. The final presentation will be composed of slides with search-engine optimized notes.

The startup company says that because the content resides on the user's website, there are no restrictions on media — users can place live links in any slide, add videos, or even reorder their decks on the fly. The completed presentations are designed to work regardless of browser and on mobile devices as well as computers.

The main benefit, according to Alorum, is that users will be able to own and control both their content and the leads generated from it.

After raising a $191,500 in seed funding, including from seed stage fund Gazelle Lab, Alorum worked closely with 10up, the team behind TechCrunch.com, 9to5mac.com and dozens of WordPress plugins, to develop seoslides.

Shumaker Loop partner named vice chairman
Bruce Gordon, a partner in the Tampa office of the Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP law firm, has been appointed vice chairman of the Asset Protection Planning Committee of the American Bar Association.

Bruce is a founding partner of the Tampa office and co-chairs the Trust and Estates practice group.