Washington/Baltimore area business owners use the Internet to find capital prospects.

VIENNA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 8, 1997--

Finance Wizard makes the search for financial services simpler

Financial service companies are lining up to assist Washington/Baltimore area business owners seeking capital.

Digital City Washington, a division of America Online, and Advantage Consulting Inc. have teamed together to develop Finance Wizard -- a financial online service that provides information for small and medium size businesses on where to find sources of capital on the Internet.

The two companies announced Wednesday that all financial services that provide assistance specifically to small and start-up businesses are eligible to participate in Finance Wizard. Available free of charge, the listing can be viewed by more than 500,000 AOL subscribers in the Washington/Baltimore region.

The Finance Wizard Internet site educates businesses on how to finance day to day growth, offers insight on how to receive Federal Grants, and search for other sources of capital. The listing is activated immediately upon receipt of a short business questionnaire completed by the financial service provider.

"Small to medium sized businesses are constantly faced with the challenge of raising capital," said Diane Sebold, Digital City Washington business coordinator. "Finance Wizard is an online assistant that both educates small businesses and entrepreneurs as well as assists them in locating sources of capital.

"Finance Wizard is a `first of its kind' solution that will allow small businesses to use the Internet to solve critical business problems."

Currently, there are more than 5,000 lending institutions in the Washington/Baltimore region that can be included on the site as well as extensive additional listings. Unavailable on any other online service, Finance Wizard is accessible to businesses in the Washington/Baltimore region through Digital City Washington.

Business owners who want to learn more about the free Finance Wizard listing can contact Sid Jaffe through Digital City Washington at 703/918-2239.

Digital City Washington is an information source for news, entertainment, sports and community events in and around the local Washington area. Finance Wizard will be accessed through AOL's main menu or keyword: D C Marketplace -- or you can access it on the World Wide Web. The E-mail address is BIZWIZ97@AOL.COM .

Headquartered in Annandale, Va., Advantage Consulting Inc. provides advice, information, resources, tools, and training that help companies develop new business. Finance Wizard is the first of a series of business assistants to be developed by Advantage Consulting Inc. and Digital City Washington.

CONTACT: Digital City Washinton

by

EIN Communications

Matt Hagan or Marina Ein, 202/223-2922