VerticalNet and Kelly Scientific Resources to create online professional development centers

Industry Leaders Join Forces to Provide Career Advancement Technology to Scientific Community

VerticalNet, Inc., the Internet's leading business-to-business e-commerce enabler, and Kelly Scientific Resources, a division of staffing leader Kelly Services and the world's largest and fastest-growing scientific staffing provider, today announced a joint initiative to create online Professional Development Centers across VerticalNet's scientific e-marketplaces.

Scientific professionals drawn to VerticalNet's marketplaces will gain access to Kelly Scientific Resources' wide range of career services via The Professional Development Centers, which will be rolled-out this spring on VerticalNet's BioresearchOnline.com site and subsequently rolled-out to DrugDiscoveryOnline.com and LaboratoryNetwork.com. The Professional Development Centers will help employees in scientific industries advance their careers by combining job search services, news and features, business services, skills analysis and career counseling. Kelly Scientific Resources will offer live, online career counseling five days a week.

"This leading-edge product will give users in VerticalNet's scientific communities the opportunity to both assess their current skill set and enhance their career potential through online services and personalized career mentoring," said Dwayne Spradlin, senior vice president of Corporate Development for VerticalNet. "We have had a long-standing relationship with Kelly and are delighted that we have expanded this affiliation into our science group. By working with such a well-known career expert as Kelly, we will be able to provide our visitors with the right tools to help them further their career development."

"We are uniting the best elements of the old and new economies in a true example of a viable clicks-to-bricks relationship," said Rolf Kleiner, senior vice president and general manager for Kelly Services. "By joining with VerticalNet we are combining our industry-leading scientific staffing expertise with their proven online strength to create the Internet's foremost resource for scientific career management. The staffing experts we are making available for online counseling are scientists first -- people actively engaged in the scientific community."

About Kelly Scientific Resources
Kelly Scientific Resources (KSR) is the largest company in the world dedicated to scientific staffing, currently employing 5,000 scientists through 76 locations in nine countries. KSR provides scientific staffing services on a temporary, project and full-time basis to a broad spectrum of industries, including biotechnology, chemical, consumer products, cosmetics, environmental, food sciences, medical/clinical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical. In meeting the staffing needs of the scientific community, KSR conducts face-to-face interviews with 20,000 to 30,000 scientists annually around the world. Visit www.kellyscientific.com. In addition, KSR operates the Science Learning Center, a distance learning campus offering science and management-related online courses. Visit www.sciencelearning.com.

About Kelly Services
Kelly Services, Inc. is a Fortune 500 staffing services company headquartered in Troy, Mich., offering human resources solutions that include temporary services, staff leasing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement. With more than 2,200 company owned and operated offices in 25 countries, Kelly provides to its customers 750,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, light industrial, education and home care. Sales in 2000 were $4.5 billion. Visit www.kellyservices.com.

About VerticalNet, Inc.
VerticalNet, Inc. (www.verticalnet.com), the Internet's leading business-to-business e-commerce enabler, provides end-to-end e-commerce solutions that are targeted at distinct business segments through its strategic business units - VerticalNet Markets and VerticalNet Solutions. VerticalNet Markets provides value to buyers and suppliers by offering trade relevant content, marketplaces, and enablement services through its 59 industry-specific VerticalNet® Marketplaces. VerticalNet Solutions delivers the most comprehensive digital marketplace solutions available to industry alliances, global 2000 enterprises, Net market makers, and VerticalNet Markets. VerticalNet International leverages the Company's strategic business units to create global Internet B2B marketplaces, offering products and services internationally and partnering with companies that have strong local presence and domain expertise.

Source: VerticalNet