09/21/2005: DDS Commits to new New Orleans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2005 3:00 PM

 To: State and National Media

 Subject: Press Release – Small Business commits to New Orleans, Employees, and Growth.

 In wake of Hurricane Katrina, Diamond Data Systems commits to New Orleans, its Employees, and growth.

 New Orleans - September 21, 2005 – Diamond Data Systems, Inc. (DDS) announced today that despite the business interruption caused by Hurricane Katrina, its 70+ employees will continue to receive full paychecks and are not expected to experience any staff reductions as a result of the storm. Additionally, after helping clients establish new computing infrastructures, it is expected that most of DDS’ employees will be back to normal work schedules by October and the corporate office in New Orleans has reopened. While other businesses are considering closing down, relocating their business to a new city, or are still struggling to resurrect their systems, DDS remains firmly dedicated to its employees and the region.

 In its fourth employee conference call since the hurricane, DDS CEO Joey Auer was pleased to announce that "We are happy to report that all of our employees are safe and accounted for and are proud of everyone's efforts during this difficult time." He explained his reasoning behind this additional expense as “a demonstration of our commitment to our employees and to our home town.” Auer continues, “As a small business whose revenue was almost completely stalled for many weeks after the storm, this promise is costly to make. We wanted to make sure that our employees and our clients know that we are financially strong, we are open for business, and we will do our part to make sure the Gulf Region doesn't lose its economy or talented citizens.”

 Because of this unquestioned commitment to its people, DDS employees like Dale Theriot from the DDS’ Stennis Space Center office had this to say following the conference call, “I lost everything in the storm except a few clothes that were in my car. It would be very easy for me to go someplace with a lot of secure job opportunities and places to stay. I am staying because I really enjoy working for my client, my project is exciting, and I love working for my DDS manager and DDS, especially after what I've witnessed during this crisis.” Another employee, Chad Zerangue, who works in central Louisiana, also comments, “DDS is doing a great job in a time in history that has never existed before. This time calls for leadership, not management. You guys get it and I applaud you for that recognition.”

 Many of DDS's employees have evacuated themselves and their families to other parts of Louisiana, and also to cities in Texas, Georgia, and Florida. This has opened new doors and new opportunities for the information technology consulting firm. “We are now operating not as a local or regional company, but as a company with a nation-wide presence. We literally have new opportunities that reach the four corners of the U.S. and plan to use this opportunity to aggressively grow our business,” says DDS Executive Vice President Rick Gremillion. “The remoteness of our employees has forced us to find new ways to create opportunities. All we have to do now is deliver, and because failure is not an option, that's the easy part!”

 Even before the hurricane hit, DDS employees made themselves available to their clients to help with the disaster planning and the subsequent recovery effort. In order to help their clients and assist the evacuation shelters with their IT infrastructure, some worked multiple 18-hour days covering over 2000 miles throughout the state and slept on cots in shelters, others worked with evacuees and relief efforts, and still others helped government agencies bring their environments back to operating status. After ensuring that their families were safe, many of these employees worked despite knowing that their homes were either destroyed or badly damaged because of their commitment to their clients.

 About Diamond Data Systems - www.diamonddata.com

Diamond Data Systems is a leading provider of high value IT solutions that include IT strategy, software engineering, network infrastructure design, information assurance, IT contracting and IT outsourcing. DDS has delivered these solutions to commercial enterprises in a variety of industries including healthcare and oil & gas as well as federal and local governments. DDS was selected as one of the “Top 10 Places to Work” in the Greater New Orleans region. DDS is headquartered in New Orleans, LA with an office at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

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