Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 2003

Strategy of New Products, New Pricing & Acquisitions is Accelerating Last Year's Shakeup

Perennial leader eEmpACT is a sure bet to shake up the staffing-software industry for the second time in a year with the announcement today at the American Staffing Association's national convention of an innovative back-office solution priced 50-75 percent below all other comparable systems.

The company's launch last fall of a revolutionary three-tiered "lowest-priced" structure - the entry-level version of which is now being offered on Amazon.com - effectively changed the industry's pricing paradigm by putting eEmpACT's top-rated front-office software within the reach of every staffing and recruiting firm in the country. In the midst of an economic recession, this increased the pressure on its competitors and resulted in a 50-percent industry-wide price reduction in staffing software.

In March of this year eEmpACT scored another industry first by acquiring one of those competitors, Allegro Software, whose 10 years of back-office automation experience provided the groundwork for eEmpACT's latest offering. Called eEmpACT EXPRESS, it is geared to the back-office needs of middle-tier companies and costs just $5,000, compared with the industry average of $10,000-$17,000. EXPRESS will merge into a single database structure with eEmpACT's newest front-office solution - eEmpACT Plus Version 11.0, which will begin shipment today. eEmpACT will continue to offer back-office integrations to Intuit's QuickBooks and Microsoft's Great Plains accounting solutions for its 500+ customers.

Unlike the back-office pay/bill solutions currently on the market, which were created in the 1990s and periodically upgraded, eEmpACT EXPRESS was developed using the very latest technology and programming and thus is the industry's first "second-generation" back-office product. It will allow eEmpACT customers to:

-- Process employee paychecks directly from the eEmpACT Plus

front office, using a common database.

-- Process customizable invoices directly from paychecks

generated in the eEmpACT Plus front office.

-- Auto-update customer invoices from adjustments made to

payroll.

-- Manage receivables and aging directly from the eEmpACT Plus

front office.

-- Drill down to invoice and paycheck detail directly from

eEmpACT employee and customer records.

-- Handle daily pay, general ledger, accounts payable and more.

eEmpACT, whose customer base has grown 40 percent in the past year, has a second acquisition in the works that will add another 300+ customers, nearly doubling the company's size, and plans to acquire three or four more competitors in 2004.

"After only one year of aggressive pricing, ongoing acquisitions and new investment, we have taken the lead in building the staffing industry's largest and most successful software firm," says eEmpACT CEO Tim Giehll, who predicts that this will result in even more industry consolidation, with only four or six of his current competitors surviving the next three years. "Our strategic vision is to accelerate the acquisition process and become the best-of-breed provider of low-cost staffing and recruiting software."

About eEmpACT

eEmpACT (www.eempact.com) is a privately owned company that has enjoyed a strong 13-year history of growth and market leadership in the staffing industry. Customers currently include ten national accounts (Manpower, Snelling, Willstaff, Joule, Pridestaff, Accretive, Ready, Dunhill, Employbridge, Georgia Pacific) and hundreds of mid-size staffing companies and franchises throughout the United States. eEmpACT delivers the most innovative, powerful, comprehensive and reliable front- and back-office human-capital management solution on the market today. It is designed to help temporary staffing services, direct-hire recruiting companies, consulting firms and corporate human-resource departments improve productivity and deliver a higher level of service to their customers and employees. Integrated with Microsoft's SQL database, Office and Outlook, eEmpACT provides a comprehensive order-placement and retrieval system along with powerful accounting and business management technology and can be used in a variety of networking environments, including Citrix thin-client, Windows 2000 client/server and ASP.

If you are interested in conducting an interview with Tim Giehll, chief executive officer at eEmpACT, please contact Chryssa Zizos by phone at 703-519-1600 Ext. 101 or by e-mail at czizos@livewiredc.com.