FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 28, 2001

Kal Syed leaves Yahoo to oversee growth of tools and technologies utilized in nationwide small business marketing network

CLEVELAND, Ohio, - e2grow, inc., a leading developer of e-commerce and web site services for small businesses and their local communities, announced today the appointment of Kal Syed as Chief Technology Officer. He will be based in e2grow's corporate office in Cleveland, overseeing a fast-growing national network of small business web sites, community news portals, e-commerce applications, and business directories for e2grow, inc. and Locality.com. With experience in the development of leading-edge data systems, Syed will provide visionary leadership for the network's architecture, engineering and development.

Syed's immediate focus will be on managing the systems integration of Locality.com, a recent acquisition of e2grow. His long-term goal is to develop the software, processes, and technologies utilized in delivering a feature-rich set of web-based solutions for the marketing of small businesses in the information age.

Syed left a position as Project Leader for Yahoo in Dallas, Texas. While at Yahoo, Syed oversaw the development and maintenance of Yahoo's internal reporting applications. He also was involved in the development of Yahoo's on-line purchasing system utilized by the company's nationwide sales force.

"We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with a technology expert of this caliber," stated Dennis Barba Jr., e2grow Chairman and CEO. "We searched for a high-performance visionary who could leverage our recent acquisitions and develop a world-class suite of web-based marketing solutions for small businesses, and we found that leader in Kal Syed."

Syed also will be involved in the technological enhancement of other e2grow acquisitions including etownshops.com, Buildohio.com and Chagrinvalley.com. e2grow also expects to announce additional transactions within the next 2 weeks. e2grow's business model is designed bring professional online services to suburban businesses through a proprietary suite of e-commerce and site building/site maintenance tools. These solutions are then deployed online within a localized network of community news portals and business directories.

A Cleveland native, Syed attended Lakewood High School and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Computer Information Science from Cleveland State University, where he helped prototype and develop an interactive multimedia application under a research grant from FIPSE. Syed began his career with one of the early founders of a web based e-commerce business (books.com) at Parallax Microsystems, Inc., and then moved to Chicago to help ABN-AMRO, a leading international bank, automate their archive and retrieval process with a web-based solution.

Contact: Dennis Barba Jr., Chairman and CEO, e2grow, inc., 440/735-9060
Contact: Kelly Blazek, Director of Client Relations, Hahn Loeser + Parks LLP, 216/274-2406