News release

U.S. Small Business Administration and HP Announce Enhanced 2004 Business Matchmaking National Tour Schedule

2003 Program Results in Millions of Dollars in Contracts for Small Businesses Across America Including Recent $2.5 Million Win

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and HP (NYSE, Nasdaq:HPQ) today announced the highly successful Business Matchmaking initiative will continue its national tour through the fall of 2004 with a series of matchmaking events and procurement workshops designed to prepare small businesses for doing business with large corporations and government agencies.

The largest small business initiative in SBA history, Business Matchmaking provides a major economic stimulus to America's small businesses by facilitating one-on-one meetings with procurement officials from federal, state and local government organizations, as well as large corporations, in a series of regional events that are being held across the nation.

Enriched and expanded Business Matchmaking procurement workshops and events will be held in the following markets in 2004: Cincinnati (April), Orlando (April & May), Detroit (June), Philadelphia, (July and August), Austin (September) and Los Angeles (September). Further details can be found at http://www.businessmatchmaking.com.

Previous events held throughout the U.S. in 2003 have resulted in millions of dollars in contracts awarded to small business participants, including Best Products Co., which was recently awarded a $2.5 million agreement with Maryland-based government contractor BAE Systems, one of the world's largest aerospace and defense companies.

"Business Matchmaking works," says Donnie McDaniel, vice president of Texas-based Best Products Co., an integrator of industrial supplies. "I was hooked on the program after I first participated in Washington, D.C., and have now attended two additional events, which resulted in a significant contract and important contacts which I anticipate will lead to further growth."

McDaniel is just one of many small business executives who are singing the praises of Business Matchmaking. Mary Hamill, president of Global-5, Inc., an Orlando-based public relations firm, secured $5.5 million in contracts with two buyers at the Orlando event.

"We're already seeing the tremendous economic impact Business Matchmaking has had on small business from our first series of events in 2003, and are continuously adding more enhancements to the initiative to allow for more opportunities and open up more doors," said SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto. "These events could not have happened without the strong partnership between HP and the SBA."

Business Matchmaking 2004 kicked off with a successful event in Anaheim, CA. February 9-11th, where 3,200 one-on-one meetings were held between 190 individual buyers and 927 small businesses. The next stop for Business Matchmaking will be a procurement workshop in Cincinnati, OH on April 20th. Half-day workshops in 2004 will not only include expert counseling and educational seminars to prepare small businesses to do business with government agencies and major corporations, but will also provide 24/7 online access to numerous corporate and government contract opportunities through the Small Business Networking Center (SBNC) available at http://www.businessmatchmaking.com.

Through the SBNC, businesses that have attended a Business Matchmaking Workshop program will be able to make appointments for phone interviews with procurement officials outside of Business Matchmaking regional events, saving buyers and sellers time and money by eliminating the need to travel to each event. It will also increase the number of appointments each small business will be allowed.

"Business Matchmaking has been enhanced with an online resource which will allow for more buyer participation, thus increasing the number of one-on-one appointments for contracts, and providing more opportunity for small businesses," said Robyn West, vice president of Small and Medium Business at HP. "HP got its start as a small business so we recognize the importance of our public/private partnership with the SBA to provide small businesses with access to opportunity, information and the resources necessary to sustain and grow their businesses."

A total of six Business Matchmaking events have already been conducted in 2003 and 2004, resulting in more than 14,500 face-to-face meetings between small business owners and procurement officials with numerous contracts awarded. For more information on Business Matchmaking, or to register for the Cincinnati Workshop, please visit http://www.businessmatchmaking.com.

About the SBA

The U.S. Small Business Administration, established in 1953, provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run, and grow their businesses. With a portfolio of direct and guaranteed business loans and disaster loans worth more than $45 billion, SBA is the nation's largest single financial backer of small businesses. Last year, SBA offered management and technical assistance to more than 1.5 million small business owners. SBA also plays a major role in the government's disaster relief efforts by making low-interest recovery loans to both homeowners and businesses. America's 24 million small businesses employ more than 50 percent of the private workforce, generate more than half the nation's gross domestic product, and are the principal source of new jobs in the U.S. economy.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. For the last four fiscal quarters, HP revenue totaled $74.7 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.