FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Jim Wells County Community Network Selects Jathai Group to Build Advanced Portal Site

ALICE , TX , August 1, 2002 – The Jim Wells County Community Network (the “Network”) is delighted to announce that it has selected the Jathai Group to develop a state-of-the-art portal site for the county. The site will be a central hub for information on local governments, schools, colleges, libraries, hospitals, health care and social service agencies, business organizations, and other agencies located throughout Jim Wells County .

Funding for this project was obtained through a $500,000 Community Network Grant from the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board. Coastal Bend College – Alice Center , is serving as the fiscal agent for the Network and is responsible for the administration of the grant. Approximately 22 vendors submitted responses to the RFP. From these, telephone interviews were conducted with six semi-finalists, and three finalists were chosen to present on site.

Alice Byers , Project Director for Coastal Bend College , said, "We selected Jathai based on their team's expertise in creating online environments that foster community participation and enhance collaboration between disparate but related entities. Other factors that made Jathai stand out were highlighted in the presentation made to the selection committee by two senior members of Jathai’s staff. The Jathai team thoroughly researched the culture and history of the region. References were even made to the Alice High School Coyotes, as well as the 1948 Ballot Box 13 election controversy that was key to Lyndon Johnson's election to the U.S. Senate, and provided a major step in LBJ’s journey to the White House."

Jay Turley, Vice President of the Jathai Group, said, "The Jim Wells County Community Network is an ambitious project that has the potential to improve the quality of life for residents of the County in significant ways. This type of work requires the services of a team experienced in all facets of development – from drafting an understanding of the project requirements, to interviewing the people who will actually use the technology. We are thrilled that we were chosen and truly look forward to working with the County team."

For this project, the Jathai team will be providing the following:

• Consulting Services
• Portal Site
• Translation Services
• Electronic Transactions
• Help Sections
• HTML Templates
• Training of Portal Subscribers
• Marketing Assistance
• Maintenance Plan (optional)

The Jathai Group is a prominent Information Technology consulting firm, with offices in Seattle and Denver . Areas of specialization include business consulting services, Web development, technology planning, and project management.

CONTACTS:

Dave Cich

Project Manager

Coastal Bend College ,

Tel: 361-668-9358

Email: dcich@swbell.net .

Jay Turley

Vice President

The Jathai Group

Tel: 206-345-8929

Email: j@jathai.com

Web site: www.jathai.com