Leasing News

“Yes, it is Bob Fisher, CLP---in his Mickey Mouse shirt, hat and shopping bag reminding us to circle September 14-17 for the next Annual Conference in Orlando. See ya.”

UAEL Newsline, Winter, 2000

Today:

"Firerock Capital Inc continues to develop its market in small ticket direct

vendor originated business. This past year has been one of transition and

re-creation. We are pleased to be securing some solid vendor relationships

and slowly expanding our sales efforts. Currently we have three direct

sales managers covering targeted vendor origination, they are Jim Ericson

working out of Des Moines, Mark Johnson and Jason Durgin working out of

east coast offices.

“We have revamped our web site, currently delivering on-line application

capabilities to select "preferred vendor" relationships. We have contracted

with Vision Commerce using their Vision Select product. Steve Lundergan and

his folks at Vision Commerce have done a great job with a very cost

effective product. Vision is located in St. Charles MO.

“Business as usual, watching for some economic upturn as we all are. "

Firerock Capital, Inc

13375 University Ave

Suite 302

Des Moines IA

(866) 575-0091

Fax (866) 797-6776

www.firerockcapital.com

Bob Fisher, CLP

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Classified Ads---Jobs Wanted---Credit

Credit: Corona, CA.

VP credit Consumer Credit prime/sub prime Auto lending/leasing/mortgages. 20+yrs exp. If you are looking for someone to affect the bottom line I am that person. Will relocate. email:amosca2000@yahoo.com

Credit: Los Angeles, CA

Over 15 years experience in Credit/Operations with Small Ticket and transactions up to $500,000.00. CLP, with excellent relationships with most major lenders. Email:jonbh123@earthlink.net

Credit: San Francisco Bay Area, CA. CLP 15 yrs exp. credit, operation& sales. Small to $25M. Desire stable company where I can add a lot of value. Great References Available. email:jen94401@yahoo.com

Credit: Mill Valley, CA

Senior corporate officer with financial services credit background. M and A, fund raising and workout expertise. Email:nywb@aol.com

Credit: New York, NY Credit officer with banking and leasing background; strong analytical and communication/PC skills with lending and portfolio management experience. email: michaelschaubeck@webtv.net

Credit Manager: Kansas City, MO. Equipment finance and leasing, inventory finance, construction & agricultural equipment. email: impens@earthlink.net

for more jobs wanted listings, please go to: http://65.209.205.32/LeasingNews/JobPostings.htm

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The Week's Economic Events

March 3

MONDAY

Personal Income: January

Construction Spending: January

ELA
Principles of Leasing Workshop
Hyatt Harborside, Boston, MA.

March 4

TUESDAY

ELA
Principles of Leasing Workshop
Hyatt Harborside, Boston, MA.

March 5

WEDNESDAY

Beige Book

ELA
Principles of Leasing Workshop
Hyatt Harborside, Boston, MA.

March 6

THURSDAY

U.S. Productivity 4th Qtr. final

Factory Orders: January

Weekly Jobless Claims

ELA
Investor Conference
Roosevelt Hotel, New York, NY.

March 7

FRIDAY

Unemployment: February

Consumer Borrowing: January

ELA
Investor Conference
Roosevelt Hotel, New York, NY.

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IFC Announces Completion of FIRSTCORP Acquisition

(“IFC provides services to a wide spectrum of businesses. Our venture leasing services are used by early-stage venture backed companies. Middle market companies with leasing requirements exceeding $250,000 appreciate our experience in structuring and completing transactions, while companies with lesser needs obtain convenient pre-approved credit with our Emerald LeaseLine credit card. Manufacturers and dealers of equipment increase sales productivity and improve customer service through our vendor leasing services. IFC also provides lease funding through a nationwide network of independent leasing brokers.”

“Mission” at www.ifccredit.com)

IFC Credit Corporation announced that it has completed its acquisition of First Portland Corporation dba FIRSTCORP. IFC Credit has purchased all of the outstanding capital stock of FIRSTCORP, and plans to merge the company with its own operations over the next six months.

Rudolph "Rudy" D. Trebels, president and CEO of IFC Credit, stated: "FIRSTCORP is an excellent strategic fit for IFC. The acquisition results in a stronger company with increased capabilities, and supports our strategy of growth both through internal operations and acquisitions."

In February 2002, IFC acquired Spectrum Medical Leasing, Inc., a lessor specializing in the healthcare market."

Highlights of the combined company include:

10,000 leases under management totaling $200 million in receivables.

120 employees located in the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, and Portland, with IFC's headquarters being maintained in Morton Grove, Illinois.

32 sales and marketing professionals serving the vendor services, middle market, and venture leasing market segments.

Assimilation of FIRSTCORP's business platform into IFC Credit's leasing operations, with lease operations being directed by John Estok, former President of FIRSTCORP.

Integration of FIRSTCORP's web-based Lease Sales Manager front-end software with IFC Credit's LeasePlus software, both products of Lease Team, Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska.

http://www.leaseteam.com/

### #####

(The IFC Credit website states they are still looking for new employees, despite

the merger/acquisition of FirstCorp and Spectrum Medical Leasing.)

Join our Team and Be a Winner With IFC!

IFC Credit Corporation is growing rapidly and seeks high quality candidates for the following employment opportunities at its north suburban Chicago headquarters:

Regional Manager, Middle Market / Large Ticket

Are you a proven closer? Our Regional Managers originate and complete equipment lease transactions in the $250,000 to $5,000,000 range with middle market or better grade credits. Responsibilities include initiating relationships, obtaining financial information, structuring transactions and negotiating terms. Requires strong communication, interpersonal and analytical skills. PC literacy required. The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelors Degree in Business/Finance and two years minimum leasing or banking experience.

Account Executive, Vendor Services

Do you enjoy interfacing with salespeople and decision makers? As a point person in our fast-paced Vendor Services Group, you will develop relationships with key salespeople and top-level financial managers in a range of high-profile industries including computer, graphic arts, and healthcare related markets. The individual will develop a partnership between clients and IFC Credit through the coordination of sales, contract administration, and credit groups. The ideal candidate will possess strong verbal / negotiation skills, computer proficiency, a business-related degree and two years minimum sales or finance experience.

Sales / Marketing Associate

Learn our business by working alongside of experienced business development managers. The successful candidate will initiate leasing and lending relationships with fast growing small and mid-size companies. This is an excellent opportunity to become part of the finance and technology industries. We offer a competitive salary, incentives and great benefits. Preference will be given to candidates with a college degree and industry experience.

Internships

Students may qualify to receive academic credit through IFC's internship program which is designed to provide professionally related work experience.

All positions provide an excellent compensation and benefits package including:

• Unlimited earnings potential • Major insurance programs

• Training programs • Relaxed dress code

• Advancement opportunities • Personal holidays

For immediate consideration, email your resume and salary history to solutions@ifccredit.com, or fax the information to IFC Credit Corporation at 1-847-663-6701 today!

IFC Credit Corporation is located at 8700 Waukegan Rd., Morton Grove, IL 60053

1-888-554-4432 Tel 1-847-663-6701 Fax

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NEC Financial Services Chooses Tax Partners

For Sales Tax Compliance

Atlanta, GA Tax Partners is pleased to announce that NEC Financial Services Inc., the captive leasing arm of NEC Corporation of North America, has chosen to outsource its sales tax compliance process to Tax Partners. The decision by NEC

to use Tax Partners was based on their need to:

o Improve the accuracy of their sales tax reporting by shifting

away from a tax return preparation focused process...replacing

it with a tax data management and analysis based approach to

tax compliance

o Improve control and reduce anxiety by having easy access to

reports and tax management tools that support the tax

department's goals

o Increase the efficiency and ease of the audit process by having

electronic storage and retrieval of sales tax return and payment

images

John Richie, CEO of Tax Partners, commented "We are excited

about the addition of NEC Financial to our growing base of leasing

clients. Tax Partners is very focused on providing lessors with a

better way to manage the risky and administrative process of sales

tax compliance."

About Tax Partners

Tax Partners is the nation's largest sales & use tax compliance service

firm. Hundreds of companies, including Textron, Ford, GMAC,Daimler-Chrysler

and HP Financial Services, have trusted Tax Partners because of its robust

technology and proven process. In 2002, Tax Partners filed over 350,000

tax returns and remitted over $4 billion in taxes for its clients.

Please visit our website at www.taxpartners.com

[Headlines]

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Synovus Completes Acquisition of United Financial Holdings

COLUMBUS, Ga.--Synovus (NYSE:SNV), the Columbus, Georgia based diversified financial services company, announced the completion of its acquisition of United Financial Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:UFHI) in St. Petersburg, Florida; the parent company of United Bank, United Bank of the Gulf Coast, United Trust Company and EPW Investment Management, Inc.

Headquartered in St. Petersburg, United Bank operates seven full-service banking centers in Pinellas County, Florida and will soon open an eighth location in Clearwater. United Bank of the Gulf Coast has two offices, one based in Sarasota and another in Bradenton. These will be Synovus' first bank locations along the growing central west coast of Florida.

Both United Bank and United Bank of the Gulf Coast will operate under their existing names, management teams and local boards of directors. Each share of United Financial Common Stock was exchanged for either .8021 shares of Synovus Common Stock, $16.47 of cash or a combination thereof.

Last week, Synovus announced the completion of its acquisition of $340.7 million asset FNB Newton Bankshares, Inc., the parent company of First Nation Bank in Covington, Georgia.

Synovus (NYSE:SNV) is a diversified financial services holding company with more than $19 billion in assets based in Columbus, Ga. Synovus provides integrated financial services including banking, financial management, insurance, mortgage and leasing services through 40 affiliate banks and other Synovus offices in Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee; and electronic payment processing through an 81-percent stake in TSYS (NYSE:TSS), the world's largest third-party processor of international payments. Synovus is No. 9 on FORTUNE magazine's list of "The 100 Best Companies To Work For" in 2003. See Synovus on the Web at www.synovus.com.

CONTACT:

Synovus

Aimee Davis, 706/644-0528

Patrick A. Reynolds, 706/649-4973

United Financial

Susan Blackburn, 727/824-8755

C. Peter Bardin, 727/824-8752

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Taylor's Industrial Services Signs Captive Capital

King of Prussia, PA – Taylor’s Industrial Services, LLC’s HPM Division, announced that it has selected Captive Capital Corporation. (www.captivecorp.com) as its source for customer equipment financing. Captive Capital provides a service that uses a unique off-line/on-line platform to facilitate the leasing of capital equipment for their manufacturer partners' customers nationwide.

The service will be called Taylor’s Financial Services and can be found at www.financing.taylorsind.com

"Preservation of capital is important to our customers in today’s economic environment. Financing allows them to upgrade their equipment infrastructure without depleting their capital” said HPM’s Director of Sales & Marketing, Gerry Sposato. “We are happy to be able to provide our customers with access to multiple sources of financing in one central location.”

Originally established in 1877, the HPM Division of Taylor’s Industrial Services manufactures world-class injection molding machines, extrusion systems, and die casting equipment. HPM sells equipment to a wide variety of industries and end markets, including automotive, consumer products, industrial, and packaging.

"Captive Capital understands the manufacturing business, and HPM's specific needs as a machinery manufacturer.” said Yoshi Maisami, Director of Business Development for Captive Capital. “We offer our partners an innovative service that is both easy to use and a value add to their customers.”

How Captive Capital Works

Captive Capital provides private-label financing services that help manufacturers close more deals by making competitive financing available to their customers. Captive Capital establishes a customized financing program that includes a Web site for each participating manufacturer. Each program is operated under the manufacturer's brand name and includes a limited number of lenders who are experienced in that particular industry and who collectively can cater to a broad range of credit risks and types.

Customers fill out a single application, and through Captive Capital's unique off-line/on-line process, receive offers of credit within two business days. Offers are submitted to the customer in a format that simplifies the process of making an informed business decision. Lenders pay a below-market origination fee only when they complete a deal through one of the private-label programs.

The service targets capital equipment purchases from $5,000 to $20 million. Transactions in this range represent over 50 percent of the overall market, which analysts expect to grow 5 to 8 percent a year.

For more information call 800-994-4369, or visit the company’s Web site at www.captivecorp.com.

Sites of Reference:

http://www.captivecorp.com

http://www.taylorsind.com

CONTACT:

Richard Matosky

Captive Capital Corporation

Phone Number: 800-994-4369

Fax Number: 800-994-4942

E-mail: rmatosky@captivecorp.com

(courtesy ELAonline.com)

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Up-Grade---Free 45 Day Trial

We introduced last week the “hit reply” procedure (Hit reply and put in the subject: Up-Grade Me.)The first day we received over 100 who

wanted to take a look. After the first day, several sent in their check,

which they did not have to do. We not only appreciate the reaction,

but the support.

The up-grade is like getting the website delivered directly to your mail box.

The biggest complaint we received was you could not click on the headline

in the text version, but had to scroll to find what you wanted.

In the “up-grade,” you can click on the headline to go to the news story. All the pictures, photo’s, cartoons, are on, and you can click to any of the features on

the website without having to open your browser. Once open, its fast, too.

The “up-grade” works only if you are using the latest browsers, meaning

the latest edition Explorer, Netscape, or Opera. Some free mail services

such as hotmail, yahoo, and go, may not accept the new up-grade, especially

if you are near mail quota or have limitations on size.

The “Day in American” History is also included, divided into “period of history,”

so if you are interested in “1970,” you can go directly to this period or “civil war”

or “colonial times.” The later history has a lot more music, sports, and current

events whereas the “colonial times” has no “Top Hits” or “sports milestones.”

For more information, please go here:

http://www.leasingnews.org/contact_us_news.htm

To Give it a Try:

Hit Reply and type in “Up-Grade Me” for a free 45 day trial.

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Fitch: U.S. Bankruptcies to Increase 8.0% in 2003 to 1.65MM

Fitch Ratings-New York-Fitch Ratings expects bankruptcies to increase by roughly 8.0% in 2003 to a level of 1.65 million, according to the latest edition of 'Credit Card Movers & Shakers', a monthly report examining consumer credit and credit card performance. Considering the current economic setting, Fitch expects consumer credit quality to continue to be challenged in the months to come.

For the December collection period, credit card charge offs and serious delinquencies moved in opposite directions. Fitch's 60 days or more delinquency index posted a five-basis-point decline to 3.49%, its lowest level since October, yet eight basis points (bp) above prior-year levels. On the other hand, charge offs continued their upward movement for the fourth consecutive month. As reported by the Fitch Credit Card Index charge offs increased 23 bps to 6.51%, the highest level since April 2002 and 68 bps higher than prior year levels.

Continuing a year-long trend, subprime issuers reported further deterioration in collateral performance. According to the Fitch subprime charge off index, subprime charge offs increased for the fifth month in a row to a level of 18.61%, up 199 bps from the November 2002 collection period and 24.7% from prior-year levels.

Excess spread, which measures the profitability of securitized credit card securitizations, fell 21 bps to 6.49%, its lowest level since August and 95 bps below prior-year levels. After several months of stability, excess spread has begun to show some vulnerability, and rising charge offs have driven excess spread down. However, excess spread remains well within historical norms, benefiting mostly from reduced funding costs, and continues to provide investors with ample protection against rising charge offs.

For a copy of 'Credit Card Movers & Shakers' please visit Fitch's web site at 'www.fitchratings.com' or contact Market Services at 1-800-853-4824.

Contact: Richard Drason 1-212-908-0641, New York.

[Headlines]

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CIT to Host Investor Day Conference on the Internet

LIVINGSTON, N.J., -- CIT (NYSE: CIT) will

host an Investor Day conference on Wednesday, March 5, 2003. The scheduled start time of the presentation is 8:30 am EST and is expected to last until approximately 2:30 pm EST. In addition to comments by both Albert R. Gamper, Chairman, President and CEO and Joseph M. Leone, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, the Operating Group heads will review their respective

businesses.

A live webcast of the presentation, in addition to the accompanying

slides, will be available http://ir.cit.com/medialist.cfm on March 5, 2003

prior to the start of the presentation. A replay of the event will be

available beginning Thursday, March 6, 2003 at 9:00 am EST for 14 days at

http://ir.cit.com/medialist.cfm.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading commercial and consumer finance

company, provides clients with financing and leasing products and advisory

services. Founded in 1908, CIT has nearly $50 billion in assets under

management and possesses the financial resources, industry expertise and

product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across approximately 30

industries. CIT holds leading positions in vendor financing, U.S. factoring,

equipment and transportation financing, Small Business Administration loans,

and asset-based and credit-secured lending. CIT, with its principal offices

in New York City and Livingston, New Jersey has approximately 6,000 employees

in locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin and South America, and

the Pacific Rim. For more information, visit http://www.cit.com .

SOURCE CIT Group Inc.

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CapitalStream and Ivory Consulting Partner to Offer an Integrated Pricing and Finance Origination Solution

(Earlier this year WiredCapital merged with Capital Stream and the officers

of WiredCapital now run Capital Stream.)

http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/John_kruse_main.htm

CapitalStream(R), a pioneer in front office automation solutions for commercial finance operations, today announced a joint marketing and distribution agreement with Ivory Consulting Corp., developer of SuperTRUMP financial modeling software for equipment leasing and finance. CapitalStream and Ivory will work as preferred partners to offer a packaged pricing and front

office automation solution to the equipment finance industry.

SuperTRUMP, the recognized leader in lease pricing and valuation, will now be fully integrated and embedded into FinanceCenter, CapitalStream's front office automation platform. SuperTRUMP performs financial analysis and optimization for true lease, loan and lease vs. purchase transactions. The partnership provides CapitalStream a significant competitive advantage by offering

a robust pricing solution as part of the application, documentation, credit decisioning, workflow automation, and advanced analytics capabilities already available through the FinanceCenter platform.

"CapitalStream provides a single integrated platform to enable banks and finance companies to transform paper-based, manual operations into integrated, automated and collaborative enterprises," said Kevin Riegelsberger, president and CEO of CapitalStream.

"With Ivory as our preferred partner, our automation platform now includes the pricing choice of the world's top banks and finance companies -- demonstrating our commitment to automation of the entire front office including transactions ranging from simple to highly sophisticated."

Tight integration between the two products allows finance companies and their partners to instantaneously calculate sophisticated deal structures directly over the Web. Furthermore, FinanceCenter allows finance organizations to

configure complete pricing programs with all available terms and conditions. This information is tightly integrated with SuperTRUMP to automate the pricing

calculations under each program and support

advanced capabilities such as vendor participation

calculations, targeting spreads over cost of funds, and ROA/ROE target yields. Rules-based negotiation of pricing parameters allows vendors and dealers to restructure or buy-down the deal within preset limits -- instantly

and easily over the Web.

"SuperTRUMP is used to evaluate true lease and loan investments by thousands of users in the leasing industry -- users seeking integrated, automated and

collaborative procedures within and beyond financial institutions and their related partners," said Chris Ivory, president, Ivory Consulting Corp. "Our partnership with CapitalStream addresses this critical industry need and provides us an additional and evolving channel as integration and automation of complex manual processes becomes a top priority in equipment finance and

commercial lending and credit."

About Ivory Consulting Corp.

Since 1983, Ivory Consulting Corporation has provided state-of-the-art lease analysis software for the leasing industry. SuperTRUMP was the first PC-based analysis model to provide portfolio analysis and linear programming optimization and provides connectivity for automating workflow management.

Over 2,000 people in more than 150 companies use the Walnut Creek, California-based company's software. Ivory's customers are among the world's leaders in finance and leasing -- from banks to captives, to independent lessors, and lessees. For more information on Ivory Consulting and the SuperTRUMP application, visit the Web site at www.ivorycc.com.

About CapitalStream

Established in 1995, CapitalStream develops financial front office automation solutions that enable banks and finance companies to transform paper-based, stand-alone operations into integrated, streamlined finance supply chains. CapitalStream solutions streamline application processing, deal structuring, credit analysis and document generation to rapidly originate leases, loans,

lines and cards.

As an established industry leader, CapitalStream has helped many small business lending, equipment finance and commercial lending operations to improve relationships with customers and partners, streamline operations, reduce risk and achieve significant revenue growth. For more information, visit CapitalStream's Web site at www.capitalstream.com.

CONTACT:

Karen Thorson

CapitalStream

206-548-1703

karent@capitalstream.com

Christine U. Falconer

Ivory Consulting Corporation

925-926-1100, ext. 104

Christine@ivorycc.com

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News Briefs---

British Newspaper Says War Soon, as Early as Thursday/Ten Days

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003100298,00.html

"No place in the country has had higher unemployment than Washington."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/03/national/03PULS.html

191,500 Jobs Lost in Silicon Valley California,1 in 5

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5292873.htm

Top Dot.com Magazine Red Herring Closes Its Doors

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20030228-1813-redherringcloses.html

Opera 7 Browser Gets Raves

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/5300408.htm

AOL Time Warner

Rumor has it AOL is shutting down their Dulles, VA headquarters and is moving everyone to their shiny new building in NYC... In other AOL news, Ted Turner dumped yet another $50 million in stock. There's a big sign of confidence in the company... what's next, moving the call center to India? "You've got curry!"

March 10^th Newsweek---Bush and Religion in the White House

http://www.msnbc.com/news/878520.asp?cp1=1#BODY

Largest Home Planned for Silicon Valley California--- 26,709 square feet

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/5298539.htm

[Headlines]

Sport Brief---

Plummer arrives in Denver to talk to Broncos

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/gen/wire?messageId=10298490

[Headlines]

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Two-Thirds of Households Not Prepared for Disaster, Duracell/Harris Interactive Survey Shows

NEW YORK-- Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of households in America's largest cities do not have disaster preparedness plans and 38 percent say being prepared for a disaster is not a personal priority, according to a new annual Duracell/Harris Interactive Study of Disaster Preparedness.

The first-ever city-by-city analysis on key elements of family preparedness found that New Yorkers are least prepared, although they are the most fearful of terrorist attack. Only 22 percent of New York City households said they have disaster plans in place. The survey also found that households now rank terrorism (27 percent) on a nearly equal level as fire (28 percent) among disaster fears.

Households on the earthquake-prone West Coast are far more prepared, even though a majority there still lacks a family plan for dealing with disaster. Forty-eight percent of households in Los Angeles--the highest rank among America's 10-largest cities--said they have a disaster plan, along with 43 percent of households in San Francisco.

Atlanta was next with 39 percent of households saying they have a plan, followed by Washington, D.C. (37 percent), Detroit (34 percent), Dallas (32 percent), Chicago (31 percent), Boston (28 percent) and Philadelphia (27 percent).

The survey rankings also show that while a majority (59 percent) of households think they are prepared and say preparedness is a personal priority (58 percent), more than half (51 percent) lack an evacuation plan and nearly two-thirds don't have a supply kit at home. And, the Duracell/Harris Interactive survey found that 27 percent of households with children under the age of 18 don't know if their children's schools have a disaster plan.

"Despite the fact that the country recently reached Orange alert status, the second highest level of threat condition, most Americans still are not properly prepared for a disaster, even when they think they are," said Catherine Shores, vice president, Harris Interactive. "This data should be a wake-up call."

Results Kick Off Local Preparedness Campaign

The results were released as many leading American Red Cross chapters today kicked off "Together We Prepare" campaigns in cities across the country. As part of the program, Red Cross chapters and Duracell today began making available more than 100,000 free family safety guidebooks, one of the most comprehensive disaster preparedness guidebooks produced to date for households. Printed versions of the guidebooks will be available in the nation's ten largest cities. Free online versions are available at the Red Cross Web site (www.redcross.org), and the Duracell Web site (www.duracell.com).

The American Red Cross recently announced a national initiative to provide America's households with preparedness information and suggested activities to help them get ready for both man-made and natural emergencies. Duracell is donating a minimum of $500,000 to the American Red Cross to support community-based preparedness and safety education programs.

Other key findings in the survey included:

Sixty-two percent of households lack a disaster supply kit. San Francisco was the only one of the 10 major cities in which more than half (57 percent) the households said they have a kit.

Fifty-one percent of households don't have an evacuation plan. Only Los Angeles (51 percent), Detroit (52 percent) and Atlanta (52 percent) reported that a majority of households have such a plan.

Overall, more than half (52 percent) the households said at least one member is trained in CPR, with Atlanta ranking first at 59 percent.

Members of most households (75 percent) know how to contact each other in the event of an emergency, and most households (78 percent) have a first aid kit.

Forty-two percent said the one disaster all households should prepare for is fire, regardless of where they live, and only 16 percent said terrorism is the one disaster all households should prepare for. However, households overall said they fear terrorist attacks nearly as much as they do fire. Asked what type of disaster they feared most, 27 percent said terrorism and 28 percent said fire.

Thirty-eight percent of New Yorkers, the highest among the cities surveyed, fear terrorism the most, while only 19 percent in Los Angeles and San Francisco rank terrorism as their biggest fear. In these two cities, earthquakes are by far the biggest concern, at 42 percent and 36 percent, respectively.

Twenty-seven percent of households surveyed with children under the age of 18 were not sure whether their children's schools have disaster plans. In New York, that percentage was the highest, at 37 percent.

Harris Interactive conducted interviews among 2,012 Americans in 10 cities by telephone using an unrestricted Random Digit Dialing (RDD) technique that significantly reduces serial bias and ensures that respondents with both listed and unlisted numbers are reached. Only one interview was conducted per household. Equal numbers of male and female respondents were interviewed in each city.

Interviews were conducted from February 13 to February 24, 2003. The margin of error for the total sample is +/- 2.2%. The margin of error for each of the cities is +/- 6.9%.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive (www.harrisinteractive.com) is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for The Harris Poll(R), and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, U.S.A., Harris Interactive combines proprietary methodologies and technology with expertise in predictive, custom and strategic research. The Company conducts international research through wholly owned subsidiaries-London-based HI Europe (www.hieurope.com) and Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan-as well as through the Harris Interactive Global Network of local market-and opinion-research firms, and various U.S. offices. EOE M/F/D/V

About American Red Cross

Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of nearly 1,000 chapters and Blood Services regions dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by 1.2 million volunteers and 30,000 employees, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to families affected by more than 67,000 disasters, trains almost 12 million people in lifesaving skills and exchanges more than a million emergency messages for U.S. military service personnel and their families. The Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts at locations worldwide.

About Duracell

Duracell, a division of The Gillette Company, is a sponsor of the American Red Cross initiative, Together We Prepare, and is helping the Red Cross reach families with its preparedness message through a program called Together We Can Become Safe Families. The cornerstone of this program is an all-new step-by-step family safety guidebook that outlines the critical steps each family should follow to be prepared for any emergency. The guidebooks will be distributed to 11 major metropolitan chapters in ten major cities. Free online versions may be accessed at the Red Cross Web site (www.redcross.org) and at the Duracell Web site (www.duracell.com). As part of the program, Duracell is donating a minimum of $500,000 to the American Red Cross to support community-based preparedness and safety education programs.

[Headlines]

"Alerts"	"Bad Boys"
"Complaints" Bulletin Board	Pictures from the Past

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