ShopKo Stores, Inc. Selects Unicru to Optimize Workforce Selection; Fortune 500 Company Partners with Unicru to Increase Hiring Process Efficiencies

Business Wire, March 8, 2005

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Unicru(R), Inc. today announced that ShopKo Stores, Inc. (NYSE:SKO), a leading discount retailer featuring pharmacies and eye care centers, has selected Unicru's Total Workforce Acquisition solution in an effort to bring consistency and improved quality to the company's corporate and store-level workforce of more than 25,000 associates. Aligned with ShopKo's commitment to customer service, Unicru allows the company to hire people committed to customer service and increase hiring managers' sales performance by enabling them to spend more time with customers.

"Advanced selection science was what first compelled us to examine Unicru's hiring management system," said Sara Stensrud, vice president of training and development at ShopKo. "And once we realized the depth of Unicru's retail industry knowledge, the product's ease-of-use by both applicant and hiring managers, and Unicru's impact on overall business quality and productivity, we were sold. We're already seeing great results with the system and the Unicru staff has been helpful and easy to work with."

Unicru's Total Workforce Acquisition solution will help ShopKo lower hiring and labor costs by presenting only the best candidates -- with insight into their strengths and weaknesses -- to hiring management, streamlining tax credit capture, and minimizing the payment of non-qualifying unemployment claims, among other benefits. ShopKo will implement Unicru's customer service, dependability and management assessments that focus on the key personality traits and skills associated with job success in the company's sales positions.

"Unicru does not simply offer technology to automate the hiring process, but we pair with it selection science tools that allow our customers to hire only those candidates with desirable behavioral traits," said Chris Marsh, president and CEO of Unicru Inc. "Through our data analytics tools we then continuously measure for improvements in areas such as tenure, productivity and sales performance. Partnering with Unicru will allow ShopKo to reinforce its company mission by increasing the quality of their employees which will lead to improved customer service quality."

About Unicru

Unicru is the leading provider of Total Workforce Acquisition solutions that enable enterprises to systematically select the highest quality employees across job roles throughout the enterprise to positively impact corporate outcomes through workforce initiatives. Unicru combines scientifically-proven employee selection assessments, applicant recruitment, hiring management decision support, and complete data capture for measurement and continuous improvement of business results for over 60 enterprises including Albertsons, Universal Studios, Blockbuster, CVS, Kroger, and Southeastern Freightlines. For more information, visit www.unicru.com.

Unicru is a registered trademark of Unicru, Inc.