NetCompliance, Inc. Appoints Eric Steinmiller Chief Business Development Officer.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2001

NetCompliance, Inc. (www.netcompliance.com), the nation's leading provider of "paperless" compliance solutions, online worker training programs, and safety products for companies regulated by the federal government, today named Eric Steinmiller, a former partner at a major compliance consulting firm, as its Chief Business Development Officer.

In his new senior management position, Mr. Steinmiller will help NetCompliance position itself as an exceptional value to companies seeking compliance services and will help increase the company's profitability, said NetCompliance CEO, Krish R. Krishnan. "Eric brings to NetCompliance and its clients a wealth of business knowledge and more than 10 years of experience in compliance consulting, new business development, and sales and marketing. He will help increase our growth in the Internet-driven compliance and related assessment, implementation and professional auditing service fields."

Mr. Krishnan added, "With Eric in a lead role, NetCompliance will continue to prosper as the world's leading provider of cost-efficient Internet compliance and training in a variety of vertical markets."

NetCompliance COO John Domenech said of the appointment, "Eric has extensive experience in understanding customers' compliance needs, designing and implementing compliance-related information management systems, and creating partnerships to speed time-to-market programs. He is exactly the right person to lead NetCompliance's sales and marketing initiatives, new product development, and the partnership and alliance management efforts."

Before joining NetCompliance, Mr. Steinmiller was a partner at Environmental Resources Management, a worldwide compliance consulting company with 2,500 employees. At ERM, Steinmiller was principal-in-charge of the Washington, DC office.

He lead the development of ERM's strategic global business plan, served as Director of New Business Development, and, as a consultant, directed numerous information management system implementation projects for Fortune 200 clients.

Before consulting at ERM and securing his MBA in finance, Mr. Steinmiller worked for Eastman Kodak's chemical division in their marketing and technical services group.

Mr. Steinmiller is a chemical engineer with over 10 years of experience in understanding customer's compliance needs, positioning companies to meet those needs and optimizing company operations and personnel. Mr. Steinmiller is a graduate from Vanderbilt University and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

ABOUT NETCOMPLIANCE AND THE WORLD OF REGULATION

Companies today are faced with a staggering amount of rules and regulations regarding compliance and worker training. For instance, the Rochester Institute of Technology has estimated that Americans had spent over $750 billion in the year 2000 to comply with various rules and regulations.

Meanwhile, the Kiplinger Washington newsletter has reported that Internet-based corporate training will multiply fivefold in the next three years, climbing to $11 billion by 2003 and representing roughly 10 percent of the total training budgets of many corporations.

Kiplinger also reported that the shift to e-learning will be especially pronounced among small companies, who are expected to spend one half of their training budgets on Internet courses by 2004, up from 20 percent last year.

Even government agencies are making the Internet the medium of choice to collect, store, and publish regulatory compliance knowledge and training information. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service is making electronic tax filing truly paperless and projects that 42 million US taxpayers will chose the e-file option in 2001, 20 percent more than last year's record number.

Meanwhile, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration offers interactive computer programs that tell businesses how to comply with rules and the Environmental Protection Agency has established Web-based compliance assistance centers targeted to specific areas of regulation.

And the Federal Communications Commission has announced its move towards a digital agency, whose user-friendly and electronic environment will allow stakeholders to communicate and comply with the agency via online services.

"As new laws and regulations are passed worldwide, the compliance and training environment continues to be increasingly complex, constantly changing, and a burden on businesses to keep up with," said Mr. Krishnan.

"This has created an astonishingly large niche market for NetCompliance and its unique line of subscription-based electronic products and services. Through our eComply(TM) technology engine, NetCompliance affords international companies a better, cheaper, and faster way to determine compliance needs, meet training requirements, obtain specialized products and services, and manage regulatory-related information to government agencies," he added.

Begun in 1998, NetCompliance's client list has included such companies and organizations as: Enron, Caesar's Palace, Duke Engineering and Services, Boise Cascade, Weyerhaeuser, Surgical Synergies, and Nebraska Health Systems, among others.

NetCompliance is a member of the Advisory Committee to the US Congressional Internet Caucus, which includes other stellar companies such as Microsoft, MCI, IBM, and AOL.

Last October, NetCompliance received a substantial investment from NeSBIC Cte Fund, a Netherlands-based independent venture capital fund targeted at fast-growing, collaborative commerce and technology companies listed on stock markets.

NetCompliance completed a number of strategic partnerships last year, including most recently with the prestigious Washington, DC law firms of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, to pursue business relationships with Fortune 100 companies, and Patton Boggs, to attract companies seeking a niche in the regulatory compliance field.

Late last year, NetCompliance also acquired B-Safe, a Southern California-based distributor of health and safety equipment, in a multi-million dollar deal. The acquisition allows NetCompliance to offer a comprehensive e-commerce line of health and safety products from over 100 suppliers to companies whose purchases are fulfilled via the power of NetCompliance's compliancemall.com web site.

In 2001, NetCompliance has announced two other new appointments: Marc Chafetz, a former private equity executive, as its Chief Strategy Officer; and Leo Giacometto, a key staff aide to Senator Conrad Burns during passage of the historic Telecommunications Act of 1996, as a member of its Advisory Board.