NEWS RELEASE

Contact:
Eve Boertlien for Argent Associates
202.312.1529
eve@usmcoc.com

ARGENT ASSOCIATES CEO ATTENDS LATEST EXPORT COUNCIL - Betty Manetta Serves on National Advisory Committee on International Trade

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, April 28, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. Ð Beatriz (Betty) M. Manetta, USHAA Board Member and president and chief executive officer of Argent Associates, Edison, N.J., was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President's Export Council (PEC), the premier national advisory committee on international trade, back in February 2003.

The PEC advises the President of government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade performance and provides a forum for discussing and resolving trade-related problems among business, industrial, agricultural, labor, and government sectors. The committee reports to the President through Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez.

Since her appointment to the PEC, Ms. Manetta has also been appointed Chair to the subcommittee on Technology and Competitiveness. These are key issues that not only are critical to major corporations, but more importantly to the small/medium, minority/woman owned businesses in the US. The committee has written three letters that were presented to President Bush and his cabinet for resolution.

The first letter was on enhancing company's competitiveness through technology and the need to develop affordable standards. The second letter addresses leveling the playing field for small/medium enterprises (SME'S). With the increase of foreign government backed companies entering US businesses, we need to ensure that policies and trade agreements are in place to protect our national SME'S. And the third letter, in draft, is on biofuels and the need to move from food supply methods of obtaining biofuel and ramp up the creation of biofuels through other technologies.

Manetta's appointment acknowledges the significance of small and minority-owned businesses to the U.S. economy and to international trade. Manetta said she would be working with other minority and women organizations to ensure inclusion in the Administration's export and international trade initiatives.

About Argent Associates

Argent Associates, Inc. provides supply-chain managed solutions, security and access control solutions, environmental engineering, and green technology solutions. Established in 1998, Argent is headquartered in Edison, N.J. and has warehousing, staging and manufacturing facilities in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. Beatriz (Betty) Manetta, who is Hispanic, is president and CEO of the company. For more information, visit Argent Associates at argentassociates.com.

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