Composite Optics Chooses BeneTrac Online Benefits Administration Program.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2001

Hawthorne Benefit Technologies Inc., a leading West Coast employee benefits tracking firm and developers of the popular BeneTrac program, Monday announced that Composite Optics Inc. (COI) of San Diego has implemented the BeneTrac, www.benetrac.com, online benefits tracking solution for its 350 California employees.

BeneTrac is a state-of-the-art ASP that delivers a powerful benefits tracking system to a national base of employers. BeneTrac is sold exclusively through insurance brokers. The Web-based technology infrastructure provides a suite of applications that benefit all participants involved in the employee benefits process.

Redundant data entry is eradicated as well as other inefficiencies that are inherent in the paper-based benefits administration system.

Frank Thompson, COI's assistant manager of human resources, coordinated the implementation of the BeneTrac program. Composite Optics is utilizing BeneTrac for its current health plans and intends to add its Sec. 125 Cafeteria Benefits plan to the program later this year.

At Composite Optics, employees may access their benefits package via their own computer or a central computer in the human resources office. They may look up information on carriers, plan descriptions, coverage and eligibility requirements. BeneTrac enables human resource departments to:

-- Establish customized benefit plans

-- Offer Internet enrollment into plans

-- Use the Internet to update employer data and to calculate eligibility dates
for new employees

-- Devise custom reports using Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel

According to Hawthorne Benefit Technologies co-founder Jerry Hawthorne, "Our client base of employers who use the BeneTrac system are assured of having a state-of-the-art, employee-directed health benefits solution that reduces their administrative burden.

"Employees may now easily monitor their benefits online, choose options and make changes, providing them with greater flexibility, more control, and better understanding of their complete benefits package. It's a win-win solution for everyone."

About Hawthorne Benefit Technologies Inc.

Hawthorne Benefit Technologies was one of the first West Coast companies to offer a B2B real-time online employee benefits administration and tracking solution BeneTrac, www.benetrac.com, for human resource managers.

Within the same timeframe, Hawthorne Benefit Technologies also pioneered an ASP for insurance brokers BeneQuote, www.benequote.com, that provides online quotes from a variety of insurance carriers. As a subscriber to BeneQuote, brokers can instantly obtain information on group programs. Established in 1999, Hawthorne Benefit Technologies is privately held and California based.

With a management team that collectively has more than 75 years of insurance industry experience, the technology solutions from Hawthorne are designed to combine the efficiencies of the Internet with established insurance distribution models to reduce paperwork and supply accurate, up-to-the-minute employee benefit information within organizations.

Both products have received widespread industry adoption in California, including participation by the leading insurers and brokerage firms. For more information on either BeneTrac or BeneQuote, please contact Hawthorne Benefit Technologies directly at 877/645-4342 (toll free), or write to them at 550 West C Street, Suite 1320, San Diego, CA 92101.

They may also be reached by email at [e-mail].

Composite Optics

COI is a world leader in the design, engineering, manufacturing and testing of advanced composite products for the space and aerospace markets. Based in San Diego, COI is an employee-owned business with over 350 associates.

Named by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the 1999 National Small Business Subcontractor of the Year, Composite Optics Inc. has provided innovative products and services that utilize state-of-the-art composite materials since 1976. Please visit the website at http://www.coi-world.com.