PurchasePro.com and ChamberBiz Partner to Bring E-Commerce to Small- andMedium-Sized Businesses
Wed Jul 12 14:36:00 EDT 2000
LAS VEGAS and WASHINGTON, D.C., Jul 12, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Partnership Brings PurchasePro.com's e-MarketMaker Solution to
the World's Largest Business Federation
PurchasePro.com (Nasdaq:PPRO), the leader in browser-based, business-to-business
e-commerce solutions, today announced it will be the e-commerce enabler for
ChamberBiz (www.chamberbiz.com), a leading online resource to help small- and
medium-sized businesses fulfill practical business needs.
ChamberBiz is a private, for-profit partnership among the U.S Chamber of
Commerce, state and local chambers, and the Virginia-based venture capital firm,
Telcom Ventures.
"ChamberBiz's e-commerce marketplace extends our ability to give all small
businesses the means to efficiently buy and sell their products and services in
a global marketplace. We are thrilled to team with PurchasePro.com. Through this
alliance we are able to deliver small- and medium-sized businesses a
best-of-class electronic marketplace," said Mark Corbitt, senior vice president,
ChamberBiz.
"Powering ChamberBiz with our e-MarketMaker solution is a key element of our
chamber-enabling strategy," said Christopher Carton, president and chief
operating officer of PurchasePro.com. "This partnership provides us the
opportunity to be the preferred e-commerce solution for the world's largest
business federation, reaching potentially 3 million businesses. Further, by
reaching out to state and local chambers, it also solidifies our leadership
position of providing e-commerce solutions to all sizes of businesses."
Through its chamber strategy, PurchasePro.com enables easy-to-use, browser-based
e-commerce for businesses of all sizes -- from SOHOs to large multinational
corporations. In the first half of this year, PurchasePro.com announced
agreements to power easy-to-create, update and monitor e-marketplaces for six
large chambers of commerce in business centers such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas,
Illinois and Memphis. Additionally, PurchasePro.com has created e-marketplaces
for key diversity chambers such as the African American Chamber of Commerce of
Philadelphia. All of these existing chamber agreements will now have the
opportunity to become part of the ChamberBiz national marketplace.
"Our e-marketplaces strive to level the playing field for minority, women and
disadvantaged businesses around the world," Carton said. "We are the only
e-commerce solution provider actively enabling the needs of small- and
medium-sized diversity businesses."
According to the Yankee Group, small- and medium-sized companies seek
connectivity, customer connections and commerce through using the Internet.
Further, surveys by the United States Small Business Administration indicate
that small business owners believe that one of the advantages of e-commerce is
the ability of small firms to compete with other companies, both locally and
nationally.
PurchasePro.com is meeting the demands of small- and medium-sized business by
directly promoting the growth of local and regional community, customer
connection and commerce hubs through its chamber strategy. The unique
differentiating factor about PurchasePro.com's regional and local hubs created
for chambers of commerce is they are, in fact, all interconnected into one large
global e-marketplace where buyers and suppliers can interact regardless of
distance. This powerful interconnection often brings together buyers and
suppliers who have never interacted before. It also provides procurement cost
efficiencies from new economies of scale.
"ChamberBiz and PurchasePro.com are working together to bring a critical mass of
chamber members together in one destination," Corbitt said. "Through this
process, buyers and suppliers will receive the best prices available due to the
efficient use of competition and automation of the supply chain process."
Research from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) indicates
that almost one-third of all business-to-business transactions conducted by 2002
will be through the use of Internet-based e-commerce. SBA research also
indicates that small businesses using the Internet have directly benefited
through higher revenues at the bottom line -- averaging $3.79 million in 1999
compared with $2.72 million overall.
In the partnership, PurchasePro.com will promote ChamberBiz.com as its official
chamber of commerce channel and will create one global marketplace for all of
its existing chamber agreements. PurchasePro.com and ChamberBiz.com will jointly
share proceeds from the new e-MarketMaker co-branded site.
ChamberBiz is the only Internet business portal officially endorsed by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce and the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
About ChamberBiz
ChamberBiz is the ultimate online small-business resource that provides users
with networking opportunities, solutions to everyday problems and resources for
using the latest in technology to expand their businesses and improve
profitability. It has partnerships with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, state and
local chambers across the country and the American Chamber of Commerce
Executives Association (ACCE). ChamberBiz content and capabilities are
accessible on the homepage (www.ChamberBiz.com) or through the home pages of
participating chambers. Funding for ChamberBiz is provided by Telcom Ventures, a
highly successful venture capital firm in Alexandria, Va.
About PurchasePro.com
PurchasePro.com, a leader in Internet business-to-business e-commerce, operates
the PurchasePro.com exchange encompassing more than 21,000 businesses and powers
155 private marketplaces with its highly scalable, browser-based e-commerce
engine. The PurchasePro.com exchange and the private marketplaces employing its
technology make it easy for businesses of all sizes to buy and sell a wide range
of products and services. PurchasePro.com enables businesses to compete more
efficiently by meaningfully reducing procurement costs and greatly increasing
employee productivity.
PurchasePro.com offers the fastest e-marketplace solutions in the industry
designed for important market segments -- e-Procurement for corporate
procurement needs, v-Distributor for online distributors, and e-MarketMaker for
Internet market makers.
A key element of PurchasePro.com's strategy is to develop sales and marketing
relationships with industry leaders including AOL, Hilton, IBM, Office Depot
Inc. and Sprint Corp. The company provides extensive support and training
programs. For information call toll free at 1-888-830-4600 or in Las Vegas at
702/316-7000 or visit www.purchasepro.com.
Note to Editors: PurchasePro.com is a trademark of PurchasePro.com Inc. All
other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties
associated with rapidly changing technologies such as the Internet, the risks of
technology development and the risks of competition. Actual results could differ
materially. For more information about these risks and uncertainties, see the
Securities and Exchange Commission filings of PurchasePro.com Inc., including
the section titled "Factors That May Affect Results" in its 10-K filing for the
period ended Dec. 31, 1999 and its 10-Q filing for the period ended March 31,
2000, which is available from the company on request and on the Internet at the
SEC's Web site, www.sec.gov.
CONTACT: PurchasePro.com
Anthony Timmons, 702/316-7000
atimmons@purchasepro.com
Jim Clough, 702/316-7000 (investor contact)
jim.clough@purchasepro.com
or
ChamberBiz
Robert Hodierne, 202/331-2270
rhodierne@chamberbiz.com
or
Blue Shirt Group (investor contact)
Brooke Deterline, 415/217-4962
brooke@blueshirtgroup.com
or
Shandwick International
Tom Tanno, Amy Agnew, 310/785-9002
ttanno@shandwick.com, aagnew@shandwick.com
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