Star Mountain Subsidiary FPMI Communications to Direct Hiring of All Air Marshals under DOT's New Program to Improve Airline Safety.

Business/Technology Editors and Aviation Writers

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 5, 2002

In response to the September 11th terrorist attacks, the United States Department of Transportation's Transportation Security Administration plans to hire and train a large number of federal air marshals by the end of 2002. To help them achieve their goal of placing a trained federal air marshal aboard most U.S. airline flights, the TSA has awarded a $3.5 million services contract to human resource management experts FPMI Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Star Mountain Inc., of Alexandria, Virginia. The contract is renewable every six months for a value of up to $6 million per year. Under the terms of the agreement, FPMI will be the exclusive provider of human resources management services for the TSA Federal Air Marshal program.

FPMI will provide an extensive array of services, including development of screening and hiring processes, project management, and computer database support. Working from a site in Atlantic City, N.J. the company will provide human resources specialists to schedule candidate interviews, respond to telephone inquiries, coordinate clearances and candidate travel arrangements, set pay, make job offers, and conduct benefits counseling. FPMI president Joe Swerdzewski said, "We are excited to be involved with such an important project in a time of national crisis in support of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration."

"We are proud to have been chosen for this extremely important program," said Star Mountain president and CEO Thomas A. Carter. "I can't think of a higher honor than to be chosen to support the federal government in its efforts to ensure the safety of air travel for the traveling public. Star Mountain's extensive experience developing and delivering a variety of human resources management programs for the U.S. government makes us uniquely qualified to assist the FAA in this critical program."

More than 150,000 people have already applied for air marshal positions. The TSA will accept applications only via its Web site, www.faa.gov. Air marshals will be required to perform regular and extended travel, both foreign and domestic, for several weeks at a time; they are on-call 24 hours a day and have limited contact with family while on duty. Top-secret security clearance is required.

About Star Mountain, Inc. and FPMI Communications Inc.

Star Mountain (www.starmountain.com), part of the Provant solution, has been a leading provider of training and human resources solutions to the federal government for 15 years, having successfully completed more than 1,700 projects for 100 government organizations. Star Mountain designs, develops, and implements customized multimedia, Web, and paper-based advanced distributive training programs, and provides human resources management services and organizational performance solutions. FPMI Communications Inc. (www.fpmi.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Star Mountain. FPMI has been providing human resources solutions, including technical assistance, executive consulting services, conferences, training, newsletters, books, on-line newsletters, and research tools, to federal agencies since 1985. In spring 2000, FPMI was purchased by Provant, Inc. (www.provant.com), Star Mountain's parent company and one of the world's largest performance-improvement companies. Provant (POVT) is a premier supplier of a broad range of high-quality services and training products to Fortune 1000 companies, other large and medium-sized companies, and government entities.

This news release may include statements which constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Please be cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve significant risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may vary materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of any number of factors, including risks related to cross-selling, conversion to technology-based delivery methods, acquisitions and dispositions of assets, dependence on key personnel, cost-cutting efforts, general economic conditions and fluctuations in quarterly results. These factors and others are more fully discussed in the Company's SEC filings