Unicco, VFA Sign Facilities Assessment, Technology and Services Alliance

Boston and Newton, Mass. – April 15, 2003 – UNICCO^® Service Company and VFA, Inc. today announced a strategic partnership agreement to create and market a tightly integrated, end-to-end facilities solution for property owners and managers in commercial, industrial, education and government markets.

VFA will combine its facility condition assessment services and capital asset planning software with UNICCO’s outsourced facilities services programs and technologies. UNICCO – one of North America’s largest integrated facilities services outsourcing companies – will offer facilities professionals VFA’s capital planning software platform, VFA.facility, through its myUNICCO.com Web portal. UNICCO will also have innovative financing options available to key prospects and clients, which further increases the market appeal of the joint solution. VFA and UNICCO will leverage their relationship to expand their customer bases, identify new cross-sell opportunities and bring added value to their respective customers.

"UNICCO’s proven facilities maintenance services and technology complement VFA’s condition assessment methodology, software and consulting services. The result is a tightly integrated solution that extends facility and systems lifecycles, enhances asset performance and ultimately reduces costs for our customers," said Eric-Jan Schmidt, vice president of business development and marketing at VFA. "VFA.facility is established as the leading software for facilities capital planning. Through our relationship with integrated facilities services leader UNICCO, the power of VFA’s technology is now available to a wider range of client segments within the facilities management industry."

By linking VFA.facility with the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and other capabilities within the myUNICCO.com Web portal, facilities managers have a single, consolidated view of their complete facilities programs, from asset allocation plans and deferred maintenance needs to operational management and workflow, all the way down to real-time work order status checking. VFA.facility enables users to access and maintain accurate information across all buildings in a property portfolio, identify repair and maintenance priorities and create multi-year capital plans for facilities investments.

"VFA shares our goals of delivering the highest quality tools and services to property owners and facilities managers by providing a robust capital planning and asset management solution," said George R. Lohnes, vice president of marketing at UNICCO. "As a result of this strategic alliance, facilities professionals and building owners will be able to plan, manage and audit their facilities programs more easily and effectively than ever before. UNICCO already enjoys a 95 percent customer retention rate. This alliance gives us another tool to further solidify our relationships via the delivery of innovative, value-added solutions."