Quarterly Population Estimating Product Delivers the Only Updated Counts for Business Use

AUSTIN, TX -- JANUARY 4, 2006 -- Synergos Technologies, Inc., the only provider of quarterly population estimates for United States markets, announced today the latest release of STI: PopStats, the market research industry's only quarterly population estimating product. This first 2006 release of STI: PopStats also marks the first publication of timely population estimates for areas impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- giving retailers the critical demographic insight they need to make strategic business decisions.

"To make more informed decisions, companies need accurate population counts -- especially in the Gulf Coast markets and in markets now inhabited by an estimated 500,000 displaced people," says Robert Welch, President, Synergos Technologies. "Our clients specifically asked for estimates on the regions impacted by the Hurricanes and those impacted by the influx of Hurricane evacuees. In fact, this release has been the most highly anticipated version since the product launched in 2001."

Because there has been a scarcity of traditional data from the Gulf Coast region, estimating the populations of Hurricane-affected areas required Synergos Technologies to create an innovative new analytic methodology to calculate the estimates. This new method uses a mix of local, state, and federal data from organizations such as FEMA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Since STI: PopStats is the only quarterly estimating tool that assesses populations at the neighborhood level, it was possible to verify the accuracy of the new model's population estimates with an onsite visit. "What we observed firsthand in Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard Parishes during a site visit in early-December confirmed that our new model's population estimates are on target," notes Welch.

Examples of the population insights provided in STI: PopStats' January 2006 release include the following:

 Pre-Hurricane    Post-Hurricane
Orleans Parish                    484,674           103,326
Jefferson Parish                  455,466           452,615
East Baton Rouge Parish           412,852           447,841
St. Tammany Parish                191,268           221,521
St. Bernard Parish                 67,229             2,679

The next quarterly release of STI: PopStats will be in April 2006.

About Synergos Technologies, Inc. Synergos Technologies provides many of today's leading retailers with innovative technology and data tools that more precisely target markets and consumers. In 2001, the company launched STI: PopStats -- the market research industry's first and only quarterly population-estimating product. For more information, visit www.popstats.com.