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Member News

 For Immediate Release

CONTACT:

Amanda Hamilton
212-931-6131
ahamilton@peppercom.com

PEPPERCOM AND G. A. KRAUT JOIN FORCES TO PROVIDE
FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CRISIS MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP FOR CFOs

CFO RxSM Enables Financial Management to Scenario-Plan for Potential Enron/WorldCom-Type Crises

New York, September 16, 2002 --- Peppercom, a strategic communications firm, and G. A. Kraut Company, the world's oldest independent investor relations counseling firm, announced today the development of CFO RxSM, a first-of-its kind crisis management program specifically designed to train corporations to effectively manage such financial crises as accounting irregularities, government investigations, insider trading, or any other credibility problem, as well as the ensuing media and investor feeding frenzies.

How it Works:

CFO Rx is a two-day workshop that simulates a variety of financial crises. The Peppercom/Kraut team presents a “three-act play” that confronts a senior management team with a rapidly escalating crisis scenario. At each stage of the crisis, management is asked to work together as a team to devise strategies to contain the crisis. At the end of the workshop, the management team evaluates its performance using Peppercom’s proprietary CARES methodology. Peppercom/Kraut then grades the team from an external perspective, identifies gaps and provides recommended solutions.

“The CFO has been thrust into an unfamiliar position as the center of a white-hot media spotlight. The best-managed crisis is the one that management teams have planned for in advance. Our proven methodology in tandem with Kraut’s deep financial community knowledge will provide CFOs and senior management teams with a way to role play and assess their vulnerabilities before a crisis occurs,” said Steve Cody, co-founder and managing partner of Peppercom.

Eric Leeds, executive director of G.A. Kraut Company added, “Through our partnership with Peppercom, CFO Rx will provide our clients with the most savvy financial crisis management program available, helping them prepare and practice for the worst case scenario.”

Both Peppercom and G.A. Kraut have extensive expertise helping companies – ranging in size from Fortune 100 to small-cap – anticipate, plan for and manage a wide variety of organizational crises.

About Peppercom

Peppercom, Inc. is an award-winning, strategic communications firm based in New York, San Francisco and London. In addition to providing innovative public relations, Peppercom is known for its Sales PositioningSM and proprietary crisis management program CrisisRxSM, as well as its pioneering role in the CyberCrisisNetworkSM. Information about the agency and its unique service offerings may be found at www.peppercom.com.

About G. A. Kraut

Founded 33 years ago, G. A. Kraut Company is an investor relations firm providing a myriad of services from strategic counsel to implementation, risk management, corporate governance, valuation, and financial branding strategies for businesses all over the world. G. A. Kraut's select client roster includes businesses across 3 continents and ranges from small-cap to Dow 30. For more information, please visit the firm's web site at www.gakraut.com.