Charleston, SC - August 31, 2009 - eGroup, Inc. joins area non-profit organization Lowcountry Local First in their efforts to create a more just and sustainable local economy. eGroup, Inc. understands that local businesses need to support each other, that local independent businesses have less impact on the environment, create better jobs, maintain our historic and rural spaces and prevent economic leaks.<!--more--> 

Partnering with Lowcountry Local First is just one of eGroup's commitments to supporting the local economy and mitigating its impact on the environment. Other efforts include but are not limited to promoting "Green IT" through virtualization and server consolidation which drastically reduces datacenter energy costs, partnering with Carbonfund.org to offset its carbon emissions as a company, adopting a comprehensive recycling program, offering cash incentives to employees who purchase a new hybrid vehicle, and supporting local eco-minded organizations through corporate donations and sponsorships.

"The eGroup culture promotes forward thinking as it relates to making socially responsible choices, and partnering with Lowcountry Local First seemed like a natural extension of our current efforts. It is our hope that by being a leader in the charge towards a more sustainable local economy, and pledging to support other local businesses whenever possible, that others will follow suit in an effort to make the Lowcountry a better place to work and live." - Catherine Carter, CFO, eGroup

"Lowcountry Local First is excited to have a business like eGroup join our efforts. They epitomize so many of the values of our organization and are leading the way to a greener and more sustainable local economy."  - Jamee Haley, Executive Director, LLF

LLF is a member of the Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE), a national organization that seeks to build community wealth by catalyzing, connecting, and strengthening local business networks dedicated to building Living Economies. LLF serves to educate people on the values of buying locally whenever possible, noting that for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $45 goes directly back into the local economy, versus only $14 when spent at a national chain store.

<strong>About Lowcountry Local First</strong>

Lowcountry Local First (LLF), headquartered in North Charleston, SC, is the 44th member organization in a national network of non-profits dedicated to strengthening their local economies, called the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. LLF is committed to uniting local businesses with the mission to promote and preserve the Lowcountry economy through the promotion of local goods and services. LLF recently held the 2nd Annual "Buy Local" week and also manages the program, "Farm Fresh Food," a sustainable agriculture initiative that focuses on strengthening local farms and producers by creating partnerships with local restaurants, institutions and the community. To learn more about LLF, visit <a href="http://www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org">www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org</a>.  

 <strong>About eGroup</strong>

eGroup provide technology solutions for Serious Competitors. Specifically, eGroup specializes in IT infrastructure design, Enterprise storage and backup strategies including Disaster Preparedness, data centralization and secure access solutions, virtualization, network security, and secure LAN/WAN/Wireless architectures. eGroup's solutions combine robust high- availability and performance with secure information access. These solutions enable customers to efficiently execute revenue-driving roles, and achieve the goal of cutting the organization's acquisition and on-going support costs. eGroup understands that investment-oriented professionals must focus on making sound business decisions that provide significant returns. eGroup provides the thought leadership and expertise for customers to ensure that their technology investments continue to strengthen their competitive advantage in the marketplace. After all, a company's success hinges on making critical business decisions that must be supported by its IT systems. By architecting high performance networking and computing platforms, and delivering the industry-proven systems engineering and application development expertise, eGroup helps companies make confident decisions. To learn more, visit <a href="http://www.eGroup-us.com">www.eGroup-us.com</a>.

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