PRESS RELEASE

AGENT511 Launches OWENSBORO511;
“Community-Connect” Text Messaging Service

Company Selects Owensboro, KY to Incubate Text-Messaging Marketing Company

April 25, 2008

The next time you send a send a text message, it might just save you quite a bit of money.

Depending on how many texts you send, your savings may even cover the cost of your monthly cell phone bill.

Owensboro511, a service launched by Agent511, allows users to send a single text message to 511511 and receive exclusive daily coupons, alerts, and updates from local vendors. The company also plans to roll out the additional services it has developed; in Real Estate, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Custom Marketing Solutions for businesses wishing to connect with their customers via text messaging.

The service is free to the community, although standard text messaging fees from the user’s wireless carrier still apply.

“Connecting the community with local business, local events, local news, and local advertising was our mission,” says Ankur Gopal, COO of Agent511. “There’s a lot happening in Owensboro that most people don’t know about – in both the community and in commerce.”

Choosing Owensboro
“When Jay (Malin) and I discussed the idea in Chicago, I had Owensboro in mind as a place to incubate our service. I invited him to visit Owensboro, and when he left, he felt as excited as I about using Owensboro as our launch market. There is a lot of change in the air in Owensboro – After meeting with people in the community, local businessmen, the Chamber of Commerce, and community leaders, we felt that Owensboro was a city that was ready to accept and embrace something new.”

Owensboro 511 plans on rolling out the service in multiple phases:

Phase 1 of the Owensboro511 rollout include “Hot Deals”, which include daily mobile coupons.

“In the simplest of terms, your cell phone becomes an instant mobile coupon,” says Gopal.

Phase 2 includes adding local real estate, auto listings, and a dining guide. The real estate service allows users to text a unique 4-digit code (listed on the property) to 511511 and in return get pictures, pricing, and listing information about the property.

Phase 3 includes using “keywords” to immediately search for Owensboro-related services.

Jay Malin, CEO of Agent511, said it was important to keep the service simple so all consumers could access the information. “All you need to know is 1 command – simply send a text message to the number 511511 with just the letters ‘owb’ in the body of the message. Once you do that, you can continue to carry on a simple text conversation with the Owensboro511 system if you’d like.”

Owensboro511 Team
Owensboro511 has brought 7 part-time/full-time employees on board and has plans to create more jobs as the service grows. As their new office, located at 1700 Frederica Street, is being renovated, they have been utilizing the resources at the Emerging Ventures Center, located in downtown Owensboro.

“I am very proud and excited about the team we have assembled,” says Gopal. They’ve all exceeded my expectations in not only the work they’ve done, but also their excitement and belief in the company. I will take a lot of pride knowing that we created a progressive, hi-tech marketing company with much of the talent found right here in Owensboro.”

Connecting the Community with Owensboro511
Owensboro511 will be promoting its service in multiple ways. They have secured multiple billboards around town, targeting routes used by travelers as well as local users. “We envision the traveler using our service to find out what places to potentially eat, or find deals that may entice them to spend money in Owensboro rather than somewhere else – that increases revenues for local business and puts dollars into Owensboro’s economy.”

Owensboro511 will also be presenting its service at the Rooster Booster Breakfast on May 1, and will also have a presence at the annual Barbecue Festival on May 9-10.

Owensboro511 also has plans for an outreach program of “Agents” to show people how they can store and easily access the number in their contacts directory and text it every day to get updated hot deals. “You’ll be seeing our ‘Agents’ at many venues and events around town. They’ll be there to represent our company and help anyone who has questions about our services”

“Our hope that once people find out what all they can do with our service, they’ll fall in love with it, just as we have.”

Other Notes
Owensboro511 was created by Jay Malin, PhD, and Ankur Gopal, MBA. Malin and Gopal both attended the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business as well as the University of Illinois. They were introduced to each other by their former professor, Dr. Waverly Deutsch, when speaking to entrepreneurship students at the University of Chicago.