2004 LearnShare Press Releases

LearnShare continues to build collective strength with addition of five new member companies.

LearnShare, LLC, the consortium of Fortune 500 companies organized to research, design, purchase, package, and share best practices in the training and development field, released today the names of the new members that have joined the consortium through third quarter 2004. The list includes:

• Dana Corporation, a global leader in the design, engineering, and manufacture of value-added products and systems for automotive, commercial, and off-highway vehicles.
• EaglePicher Incorporated, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of innovative, advanced technology and industrial products for space, defense, automotive, filtration, pharmaceutical, environmental and commercial applications worldwide.
• Holcim (US) Inc., one of the nation's leading manufacturers and suppliers of cement and mineral components. The U.S. division of the company operates 14 manufacturing facilities and over 70 distribution facilities.
• Insulate America, America's largest independent insulation contracting organization based in Shelby, North Carolina with over 200 locations in 45 states.
• Valvoline, a division of Ashland, Inc., which serves more than 140 countries worldwide and is a leading marketer, distributor and producer of quality branded automotive and industrial products and services.

"The benefit of joining LearnShare is that their proven solutions and best-practice sharing enables us to decrease cycle time, cost, and experimentation, and increase the successful implementation of learning and development solutions that support our bottom line," said Max Arbolida, Vice President of Employee Relations at EaglePicher Incorporated.

These companies join more than 30 other companies, including UPS and CIGNA Corporation, that have tapped into the power of LearnShare. Each of these companies has turned to LearnShare to leverage:

• Its expertise and catalog of curriculum and content;
• Its renowned Learning Management System that was designed by and for the largest corporate training and development organizations in the world;
• The sharing of best practices among its membership and the industry at large; and
• The collective strength of the consortium in purchasing and development.

About LearnShare
LearnShare LLC, founded in 1996, is a consortium of more than 40 diverse, industry-leading companies dedicated to sharing their proven expertise and innovative practices across member organizations to enhance their competitive advantage. LearnShare's key focus is to provide technology-based learning solutions, collaborative communities, best practices and applied research to meet its members' mission critical business education and development needs. The original owner companies are 3M, Chevron, Deere & Co., Eaton, General Motors, Motorola, Northwest Airlines, Owens Corning, O-I, Pfizer Inc, Pilkington, and UnitedHealth Group. For more information, visit www.learnshare.com.

New system simplifies search for learning and development products and services.

LearnShare, LLC, the consortium of Fortune 500 companies organized to research, design, purchase, package and share best practices in the training and development field, today announced the public launch of the Vendor Identification Program or VIP, a system designed to help HR executives easily sift through the clutter to identify the right learning and development products and services for their organizations. LearnShare VIP, which up until now was only available to LearnShare members, is now a free service that provides detailed background on suppliers that offer instructor-led training, e-learning courses, seminars and workshops, collaboration tools, learning technologies, and related products and services.

"We are pleased to open up the VIP System to companies outside of our membership. This valuable web-based tool provides HR executives the resources they need, at their fingertips, to thoroughly research vendors quickly and easily without making phone calls or listening to unwanted sales pitches," said Lois Webster, CEO of LearnShare. "As a result of this vetted database, HR executives will save time and money for what could be an arduous task."

The VIP system which was previously only available to members and subscribers including members 3M, ChevronTexaco, Deere & Co., Eaton, General Motors, Levi Strauss & Co, Motorola, Northwest Airlines, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Pfizer Inc, Pilkington, and UnitedHealth Group. Subscribers include Alliance Data Systems, Ashland Inc., CNA, Cigna Insurance, Comcast, Dana Corporation, Holcim (USA), MDS, Kmart, Lafarge, Marathon Oil, McCormick & Company, Inc., Progress Energy, Spartan Stores Inc., Tetra Holdings (USA), UPS, USI and Valvoline. VIP includes a description of the vendor, contact information, current customers, references, compliance information, delivery methods, course features, languages, integration and systems requirements, pricing, course titles and other critical data to make an informed decision. The robust search capability allows the user to search by company, category, content area, media format, geographic area, as well as many other slices of the database.

HR executives can now register for the free VIP System by contacting Matt Franks at matt.franks@learnshare.com or calling 419-327-4160 ext. 4162.

Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global human resources consulting firm specializing in leadership development and selection system design, has formed a strategic partnership with LearnShare, a consortium of Fortune 500 companies, to deliver internet training and development to member company executives throughout the world.

As part of the agreement, DDI has developed 24 interactive e-learning courses that LearnShare members can use on an as-needed basis. Each course blends proven online learning content with successful classroom training and development programs DDI has provided to thousands of companies during the past 30 years. "DDI is a welcome addition to our family of e-learning providers," said Lois Webster, general manager of LearnShare. "DDI has trained more than six-million executives over the past three decades, and is recognized as a leader and innovator in helping companies become more competitive and successful."

"LearnShare is the ideal platform for our continued expansion into online training and development," said Jeff Del Rossa, director of business development at DDI. "Consortium member companies are among the most respected in the world, and include many we have served in the past from our worldwide offices and affiliates."

Headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, LearnShare (www.learnshare.com) is the largest provider of employee training and development courses and services in the world. LearnShare offers more then 500,000 online courses to 2.5 million employees of 15 member companies, which include General Motors (NYSE:GM), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Chevron (NYSE:CHV), and Northwest Airlines (NasdaqNM:NWAC).

Other LearnShare course providers include THINQ of Billerica, Mass; UNext of Deerfield, Ill.; QuicKnowledge of Springville, Utah; 24/7 University of Irvine, Texas; and Ninth House of San Francisco.

About Development Dimensions International (DDI)
Headquartered in Pittsburgh and founded in 1970, DDI has helped thousands of organizations achieve superior business performance through selecting, developing and retaining extraordinary people. DDI's two major areas of expertise include:

• Helping companies find and hire better people faster.
• Building leadership capacity and capability, enabling organizations to meet their current and emerging business needs.

DDI's innovative solutions, including Web-based technologies, are customized to the needs of each client by a team of 1,000 experienced associates in 70 locations around the world. For more information about DDI, visit www.ddiworld.com.