FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Michelle Reardon

Friday, February 11, 2000

Pager: 302/474-0087

Delaware is the 'First State' in the nation - Again. This time, the small, mid-Atlantic powerhouse has everyone from CEOs and students to entrepreneurs and the Governor tackling America's newest challenge: the shortage of information technology (IT) workers.

Especially critical to Delaware's dominant and growing financial services and life sciences industries, IT workers are being taught, sought, and kept through the Delaware IT Association's aggressive and innovative campaign. Consider these initiatives:

• Job seekers will be notified automatically about available jobs in Delaware companies through a new, interactive website to be operational by late Spring;
• Thousands of mouse pads are being sent to Delaware students, university alumni, and young IT workers touting the campaign's slogan - IThinkDelaware.com ;
• The Learning Center will develop IT skills for today's and tomorrow's workers;
• Every K-12 classroom in Delaware's 181 schools has been wired;
• Delaware's 110,000-plus students are the most internet-connected in the nation, and the State boasts a 5.3-to-1 ratio of students per computer - better than the national average; and,
• Delaware is the first regional host of several Digital Divide Conferences across the country to bridge the gap between IT Haves and Have-Nots.

The Delaware IT Association will preview IThinkDelaware.com, a new website to help job seekers, at the Digital Divide Conference next week. Beginning late spring, IThinkDelaware.com will automatically notify registered applicants of available positions.

Presenting updates on this new website, classroom wiring, and other 'best practices' will be Scott Reynolds, Program Director, Delaware IT Association who is a loaned executive from J.P. Morgan ; Darrell Minott, Delaware's Director of Economic Development ; and Cheryl Heiks, Technical Program Manager for the Delaware Economic Development Office. That session is scheduled for 9:45 - 11:00 a.m. Friday, February 18, at the conference in Wilmington at the Wyndham Garden Hotel.

The Delaware IT Association, organized last year by private and public sector leaders to educate, attract and retain IT workers and companies, is co-chaired by Cinda Hallman, Senior Vice President for Global Services at DuPont Corp., and John Field, Retired Managing Director of J.P. Morgan. They are joined by executives from Andersen Consulting, First USA, CSC, J.P. Morgan, other Delaware companies and public sector leaders.

"This campaign will keep Delaware ahead of the curve and benefit IT workers and companies," said Governor Thomas R. Carper. "We are delighted the private sector is our partner in this innovative campaign."

For more information on the conference, see www.bridgingthedivide.org. For more information on the Delaware IT Association and the IThinkDelaware.com website, please contact Lynn Martin Haskin (lhaskin@dc-intl.com) or Margaret Larson (mlarson@dc-intl.com) or call (212) 725-0707.

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