FRANKFORT, Ky., June 25, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- GovernmentFirst, www.egovernmentfirst.com, today announced that it has created an e-marketplace for educational institutions, and state, county and city agencies nationwide, powered by PurchasePro (Nasdaq:PPRO).
The company also announced today that it has added the West Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) to its marketplace as its charter client. Comprising 28 unique schools located in Western Kentucky, the cooperative is expected to purchase products from office and classroom supplies, to pulp and paper, to general maintenance and janitorial products.
"The West Kentucky Educational Cooperative is excited to be the first educational cooperative in Kentucky to offer electronic purchasing for our member school districts," said Jayne Crisp, executive director, West Kentucky Educational Cooperative. "We believe that 80% of school districts across the United States will be using electronic purchasing within the next 5 years and the GovernmentFirst marketplace is leading the way. E-purchasing enables the school district to reduce the cost of every PO we issue."
"We commend West Kentucky Education Cooperative as an innovator by being the first public entity in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to use electronic commerce for purchasing supplies, equipment and services," said Kentucky Governor, Paul E. Patton.
GovernmentFirst offers government agencies with a streamlined procurement process, enhanced workflow and a paperless supply chain that increases the efficiencies of procuring products and services.
GovernmentFirst's e-marketplace will automate the procurement processes of many in the public sector, bringing members of government agencies together with product and service suppliers. The e-marketplace will feature a variety of services and mechanisms that will allow purchasers to identify, evaluate and purchase online.
"We are proud to announce our relationship with PurchasePro," said James Everett, chief executive of GovernmentFirst. "Although we looked at several B2B companies before implementing our e-commerce solution, we believe that PurchasePro was the right choice. PurchasePro has significant technology, exchange and procurement expertise that will be integral in the development and operation of our e-marketplace."
Key features of the GovernmentFirst marketplace will include:
-- A centralized e-marketplace for the evaluation and acquisition of
products and services.
-- Purchasing power for the public sector.
-- Advanced, automated procurement mechanisms for determining best
available pricing, tracking costs, and controlling expenditures.
Through PurchasePro's marketplace-to-marketplace connectivity, GovernmentFirst marketplace members throughout the Midwest will be able to source from 155,000 businesses; capitalizing on the business-to-business industry's only comprehensive buyside/sellside solution.
About GovernmentFirst
Founded in 2001, GovernmentFirst, www.egovernmentfirst.com, provides educational institutions, and state, county and city agencies with a new and exciting option for procuring goods and reducing costs associated with purchasing. For more information contact us at 888-873-5280, or visit us at our Web site.
About PurchasePro
PurchasePro(r), www.purchasepro.com, a leader in business-to-business e-commerce, gives organizations of all sizes universal access to the one of the world's largest commerce networks. The PurchasePro(r) commerce network interconnects more than 155,000 buyers and suppliers and gives them the ability to connect effortlessly to each other. The network has produced hundreds of thousands of transactions, giving customers lasting value. PurchasePro(r) delivers total value of ownership through its e-Source reverse auction and strategic sourcing tool, its e-Procurement enterprise software purchasing tool and its e-MarketMaker solution.
This news release may include forward-looking statements, which are subject to the `Safe Harbor' created by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that can cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent only the views of certain members of management and are based on limited information available to us now, which is subject to change. We have no current plan to update these statements. Actual results may differ substantially from what we say today and no one should assume at a later date that the forward-looking statements provided herein are still valid. They speak only as of today.
For more information about these risks and uncertainties, see the SEC filings of PurchasePro Inc., including the section titled "Factors That May Affect Results" in its 10-K filing for the period ended December 31, 2000, and its 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2001, which are available from the company on request and on the Internet at the SEC's Website, www.sec.gov.
Note: PurchasePro is a service mark of PurchasePro.com Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.