HYBRID LIVE/INTERNET R.E. AUCTION COMPANY CERTIFIED FOR SBA EMPOWERMENT CONTRACT

Progressive Auction Exchange, LLC (T/A PAXAUCTIONS), located in the Market Street Exchange, Pocomoke City, has been certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration as an eligible certified HUBZone firm and qualifies to bid on over $4 Billion in federal government contracts.

POCOMOKE CITY ? Progressive Auction Exchange, LLC (T/A PAXAUCTIONS), located in the Market Street Exchange, Pocomoke City, has been certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration as an eligible certified HUBZone firm, according to an announcement today by company officials. PAX AUCTIONS is the first company located in Pocomoke City to receive this certification and the only company of its type certified in the Nation.
   

Congress created the HUBZones program as part of the 1997 Small Business Reauthorization Act.    Congress intended the program to be a partnership between the public and private sector, which will    leverage the entrepreneurial strength and community involvement of small businesses in order to create jobs and foster successful welfare to work initiatives in economically distressed areas of the    country. The goal of the program is to provide small businesses with contracting opportunities that will create jobs, empower the communities and build confidence. The dollar goal for 2001 is $4    billion in federal contracts set-aside for certified HUBZone businesses such as PAX AUCTIONS with a $6 billion goal for FY 2002.

Progressive Auction Exchange, LLC provides a unique and innovative service of hybrid ?Live / Internet? auctions for institutional and government sellers of real estate. These hybrid auctions use traditional open outcry accelerated auctions combined with the power of the Internet to distribute property information, photographs, maps, and restrictions to accept real time bids from qualified buyers around the world. ?This is a tremendous opportunity for us to gain a competitive advantage in the $100 Billion annual real estate auction marketplace,? commented William F. ?Billy? Burke, President and founder.

The company is a startup begun in August 2001 and plans to leverage the founders? experience of having started the first B2B Internet auction for surplus in 1998, raising over $12 million in venture capital and leading the team that won the largest government surplus auctioneer contract in history earlier this year. The company has accepted an invitation to join the HUBZone Contractors National Council based in Washington DC, extended by Chairman and President Ronald Newlan. The company is a member of the National Auctioneers Association and other professional associations to insure the highest level of standards and ethics in the industry for its customers.

The SBA administers the program and certifies companies for eligibility; only 111 companies in the State of Maryland have been certified to date. The HUBZone census tracts are determined by low income or high unemployment and other factors. Additionally the company is a registered vendor to Mid-Atlantic State governments, Dept. of Defense and County governments for tax sale and other hybrid auction events. More information is available on the companies website at www.paxauctions.com.