Inve

Home > Investor Relations > Press Releases > SmartPros.com Portal and Online Learning Center Goes Live


SmartPros.com Portal and Online Learning Center Goes Live

KeepSmart.com, Inc. adopts SmartPros Ltd. as corporate name

HAWTHORNE, New York. - June 20, 2001 - KeepSmart.com, Inc. announced today that it has launched its new portal, SmartPros.com, and is changing its corporate name from KeepSmart to SmartPros Ltd. KeepSmart has been a leader in continuing education for professionals, and SmartPros expects to be the premier content provider for continuing education for corporate accountants, public accountants, engineers and lawyers. KeepSmart's highly regarded accounting products serve the major CPA firms and 50% of the Fortune 500 companies, while the previous portal managed by Pro2Net claimed 100,000 registered users and 200,000 visits per month.

Going live today, the SmartPros portal will offer new features and content, including over 100,000 pages of relevant industry specific news, research and education content. The SmartPros editorial staff will be adding to the 20,000+ articles, daily headlines, weekly features, and "best of breed" products and services. In addition, SmartPros will be adding content and education products from its other verticals, such as Engineering and Law. The new portal, www.smartpros.com, will provide a much wider range of educational products than the website previously managed by Pro2Net. Customers in public accounting and corporate accounting will now have access to KeepSmart's user-friendly streaming video education subscription products, FMN (Financial Management Network) Online and CPAR (CPA Report) Online, in addition to the 2000 hours of course content purchased from Pro2Net. All the courses are now available to existing subscribers -- the site will begin taking on new subscribers before the end of June.

"The name 'SmartPros' more accurately describes the markets we serve and the professional verticals where we have a strong presence. We intend to be the one comprehensive source of 'knowledge for the professional.' The name combines the best of KeepSmart with the name recognition of the former Pro2Net," said Dr. William Grollman, President of the company. In May, KeepSmart completed the purchase of the course content and certain assets of Pro2Net Corporation.

Allen Greene, KeepSmart's CEO, stated, "The new name combines the 20-year legacy we have of serving the Fortune 500 and major CPA firms with continuing education products, with our vision of expansion and growth by providing more content and additional services to the professional marketplace. Our new portal also gives us the platform to expand into other professional education vertical markets." The Pro2Net acquisition was the fourth major purchase of a corporation or assets in the past three years.

"We see this as a win, win, win for everyone. Customers will get a new look and feel, a better user experience, update as well as skills-based courses, and an unequaled library of CPE content. SmartPros gets a platform for expansion and an editorial staff for generating current content for the financial and accounting community. The customer gets all of this at a tremendous cost-to-value ratio," added Greene.

For now, the SmartPros portal will refocus on the accounting and financial management continuing education, news, editorial, and update services and information relevant to the practitioner in public accounting and corporate financial management. SmartPros continues to develop relationships with associations and organizations serving these fields. While Pro2Net and KeepSmart had agreements and partnerships with many of the same prestigious organizations, such as the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) and John Wiley & Sons, the acquisition of content greatly expands KeepSmart's potential for distribution alliances. SmartPros serves other vertical markets including Engineering and Law. These verticals and perhaps others will be added to and delivered via the SmartPros portal in the future.

About SmartPros Ltd.
SmartPros Ltd, formerly KeepSmart.com, is a leader in online and offline continuing education for professionals. With over 4,000 hours of content, SmartPros has been providing mandatory continuing education products since 1981. SmartPros has experts in the fields of Corporate Accounting, Public Accounting, Engineering and Law. SmartPros provides services and content to its professional and corporate clients, in a variety of media including Web, CD ROM, and video. KeepSmart's customers include 50% of the Fortune 500, as well as the major firms and associations in each of its vertical markets. Some of the well established SmartPros products include: FMN and FMN Online, PE Exam Review Course for Civil Engineers, CPA Report and Safe R+:Reinforcement Based Safety. SmartPros has its headquarters at 12 Skyline Drive, Hawthorne, NY 10532. Phone: 914.345.2620. Fax: 914.345.2660. Website: www.smartpros.com


Home | Accounting | Banking | Engineering | Ethics & Compliance | Professional Education
Marketing Services | Investor Relations | About Us | Contact Us

© SmartPros Ltd. All Rights Reserved.