Published: September 22, 2005

Accela Provides Emergency Response Software and On-Site Support for New Orleans Building and Inspection Teams

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Accela, Inc., the leading provider of government enterprise management software solutions, announced today that it has dispatched a team of employees to assist its client, the city of New Orleans, with software and support services for City officials in charge of damage assessment and rebuilding efforts.

"Our company employees have developed strong relationships with New Orleans staff over the last few years and we are committed to helping them and the citizens they serve at this time," stated Robert. P. Lee, Accela's President and CEO. "I feel very fortunate that our company is in a position where we can quickly mobilize resources and take immediate steps to help New Orleans and the community it serves."

The New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits currently uses Accela Automation®, a Web-based enterprise application for automating permitting, inspections, workflow, project management, plan review, code enforcement, and other critical functions. The Department has the application hosted off-site by Accela at a tier one data center so all of the critical building, permit, and land information data for the City is intact.

Accela worked collaboratively with City officials to enhance the application to meet the City's specific damage assessment needs and Accela employees who traveled to the area are working with City officials to provide training and support on leveraging these new features. The Company has pledged services and software that are part of a multiphase project that will facilitate recovery activities including information gathering, mobile inspections of damaged buildings, reporting to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and dissemination of this information to citizens via the Web.

"We are very grateful that Accela responded so quickly to our request for on-site assistance and product training for our City inspectors, FEMA representatives, and other emergency response officials is already underway," stated Mike Centineo, Building Official at New Orleans. "The Accela solution will dramatically speed up the damage assessment and recovery process and help our citizens get back on their feet more quickly."

United States Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) and Richard Pombo (R-CA) both commended the efforts by Accela and its partners. "Accela and its high-tech partners responded swiftly to offer New Orleans and other disaster cities in the Gulf Region an assortment of cutting-edge software and hardware that will greatly assist the recovery process," said Congressman Mike Honda.

Congressman Richard Pombo (R-CA) commented on the project as well. "It is essential we have the tools in place to respond to a crisis at any level and I commend Accela for developing sound product solutions. I believe this software demonstrates the positive impact the hi-tech industry can share with communities in need. It's important that we tap our Nation's most innovative companies for solutions to help the rebuilding process."

Accela is pledging an emergency response and recovery solution that can be deployed immediately to the more than 300 cities and counties in the Gulf Coast area. Interested jurisdictions should visit www.accela.com/katrina for more information.

About New Orleans

Located in southeastern Louisiana along the Mississippi River, the greater metropolitan New Orleans area extends about 360 square miles (200 land, 160 water) through the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard and St. Tammany. The City is home to more than 485,000 residents, and the metropolitan area is home to just over 1.3 million. Hurricane Katrina devastated most of the City and the surround Gulf Coast communities. As efforts continue to rescue survivors, drain floodwaters, clean up debris, and restore infrastructure, the City remains off limits to most of its residents. For more information, please visit www.cityofno.com.

About Accela

Accela develops award-winning enterprise systems for asset management, emergency response, licensing, permitting, planning, public health, and many other processes for government agencies of all sizes. Accela's software solutions manage critical public sector applications for thousands of departments in major metro areas, cities, and counties such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C., Los Angeles County, Miami-Dade County, Atlanta, Kansas City, San Diego County, and many others. Accela is headquartered in Dublin, Calif. Accela products can be purchased directly from the GSA Schedule Contract # GS-35F-0249R. For more information, please visit www.accela.com.