Cephren Named Among 'Best of the Web' by Forbes.com; Cephren Distinguished from its Competition for Providing a Unique Suite of B2B Services to the Global Construction Industry.

Business/High Tech Editors

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2000

Cephren, Inc., a leading online workplace for the $3.6 trillion construction industry, today announced that it has been named as one of Forbes.com's "Best of the Web" for business-to-business e-commerce. Forbes.com describes Cephren as a "marketplace rich with features," offering a diverse set of tools to developers, architects and engineers, contractors, suppliers and building product manufacturers. Cephren's tools include online project management and project collaboration, online procurement of products and services, and a reprographics and print services marketplace, where contractors can issue print work orders to reprographic shops over the Web.

According to Forbes, more than 1,000 online marketplaces in multiple industries were judged according to the following criteria: corporate strategy, execution and financial staying power. Cephren was chosen from the more than 150 companies known to provide solutions to the construction industry.

Since the merger of Blueline Online and eBricks.com to form Cephren in January 2000, the company has established itself as a leading player in the market by providing value-added services to industry-leading firms such as The Bechtel Group, Fluor Daniel, Morrison Knudsen, Webcor Builders, Gensler, HOK, 3Com, Odebrecht, and BSW International. Large-scale, marquee projects that rely on Cephren's services, such as the $600M Cana Brava project in Brazil, built by Odebrecht, and Bechtel's construction of Webvan's 26 distribution centers across the U.S., illustrate the value developers, design firms, builders and suppliers gain from these services.

"At Cephren, we are very pleased to receive this honor from Forbes," said Rob Majteles, president and CEO of Cephren, Inc. "This recognition is testimony to the huge value our services provide to our customers in delivering dramatic process efficiencies, time savings and lower costs of doing business."

About Cephren

Cephren, Inc, (www.cephren.com) is a leading online workplace for the $3.6 trillion global construction industry. Cephren is helping the industry change the way it builds the world with its leading framework of web-based collaboration and e-commerce services, including Cephren ProjectNet(R), Cephren's award-winning project collaboration and project management service, Cephren MarketNet(TM), Cephren's online marketplace for buyers and sellers of construction products and services, and Cephren PrintNet(TM), Cephren's online reprographics and print services marketplace. With more than 1,300 active company locations using its online services for projects with construction value that exceeds $45 billion, Cephren is the industry pioneer serving this market. Cephren's services are currently being used at internationally known firms including The Bechtel Group, Morrison Knudsen, Webcor Builders, Gensler, HOK, 3Com, Odebrecht, and BSW International. Companies participating in Cephren's e-commerce services include Mass Electric Construction Company, E-J Electric Co., J. A. Penney Co., Liberty-Wesco, Fischbach & Moore Electric, Inc., DualStar Technologies, Forest Electric (EMCOR), Midwest Mechanical of New Jersey, and Watsco. Cephren has approximately 200 employees and is based in Palo Alto, California with offices in Grand Rapids, New York, Munich, Vancouver and London. Cephren also works through resellers and partners in other parts of Asia and Latin America.

(c) Copyright 2000 Cephren, Inc. All rights reserved. Cephren ProjectNet is a registered trademark and Cephren, the Cephren logo, Cephren MarketNet, Cephren PrintNet and Change The Way You Build The World are trademarks of Cephren, Inc. in the USA and other countries.