Ascend One and Amerix Join Other U.S. Corporate Leaders in Commitment to 2003 Business Serving America Campaign

Business Wire, Jan 7, 2003

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 7, 2003

Ascend One Corporation and its family of businesses, including FreedomPoint, Amerix Mortgage, 3Ci and Amerix Corporation, the leading technology and service provider to the non-profit credit counseling industry, announced today its participation in Business Serving America (BSA) for 2003.

BSA is a non-partisan, peer-to-peer campaign designed to mobilize community service and civic engagement in the business community. BSA launched in June 2002 with a wide range of business leaders partnering in response to President George W. Bush's call to service.

In the BSA campaign, Ascend One and Amerix will work with companies like AOL Time Warner, General Electric and The Walt Disney Company to improve existing employee service and volunteerism programs. BSA's goal is to engage more than 1,000 businesses and 100,000 employees in service projects. The expected benefit of BSA: enhanced involvement for employees and greater impact for communities including the Howard County area.

"The core value of the Ascend One family of companies is embedded in the concept of helping improve the lives of people who need help," said Ascend One chairman and CEO Bernie Dancel. "We are excited about participating in this new community relations initiative and believe its impact will be powerful in our service area and beyond."

BSA is a new collaboration for Ascend One and Amerix with other leading national business leaders. It will build on the Ascend One tradition of giving back to the community. In 2002, as part of its "Supporting Families and Education to Build a Better Community" campaign, Ascend One participated in numerous community service projects, including the Summer of Service, the Dragon Boat Race for Catholic Charities, Prepare for Success, American Heart Walk, Thanksgiving Food Baskets and the Spirit of Giving.

"We are already doing so many things that BSA is promoting, and we'll continue to do so in 2003," said Mike Croxson, president of Amerix. "Our organization is committed to engaging each of our team members to determine what is the best way they can give back to the community. If we're not willing to serve our community and assist those in need, who will?"

About Ascend One Corp.

Ascend One Corporation, the parent company to a family of financial businesses that includes Amerix Corp., FreedomPoint, Amerix Mortgage and 3Ci. Amerix Corp. provides back-office processing and technology for credit counseling agencies and is the largest 3rd party service provider for the credit counseling industry. FreedomPoint provides consumers with multiple solutions to complex money problems.

Amerix Mortgage uses call center technology to offer consumers access to a variety of mortgage products that can either bring the advantages of home ownership within reach or help consumers leverage their home to address their financial needs. The newest member of the Ascend One Corporation family is 3Ci, a company that owns the CareOne Credit Counseling service mark. CareOne Credit Counseling is the premier level of service in the credit counseling industry. Ascend One is based in Columbia, MD.

About Business Serving America

Business Strengthening America (BSA) is a peer-to-peer campaign to mobilize the business community to support effective service and civic engagement by every American. In June 2002, a diverse group of business leaders came together to create BSA to engage thousands of America's business leaders in a campaign to encourage civic engagement and service.

Following an initial meeting at the White House with the President, the business leaders have worked collaboratively to define a national, business-driven effort to engage our entire community -- from Fortune 500 corporations to small locally owned businesses -- in a campaign to strengthen American society.

These companies share a core belief: an increased commitment to volunteering and civic responsibility builds a stronger society and will enable businesses to "do well by doing good" because it deepens employee, consumer and shareholder relationships.

By partnering with the nonprofit community to focus business expertise and resources in a campaign to encourage civic engagement, the business community can act as a "booster rocket" to current efforts by government and nonprofit institutions to inspire Americans to serve in their communities.