NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release
	Contact: Carrie Gott Maine.gov (207) 621-2600 x32 carrie@informe.org

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AUGUSTA, Maine – July 27, 2004 – Maine continues to offer popular online government services that make life easier for businesses as citizens. Last month, Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky announced that a record 69 percent of Maine business entities and nonprofit corporations processed their 2004 annual report filings electronically through the state's official Web site at www.Maine.gov. 

"In today's fast-paced economic environment, it's critical for business owners and operators to save resources whenever possible," said Gwadosky. "The strong adoption rate of Maine's Interactive Corporate Services is proof that Maine businesses are finding real value in the convenient and efficient services delivered through the Maine.gov Web site."

Nearly 62,000 business entities and nonprofit corporations are on file with the Department of Secretary of State, and each of those entities must file an annual report disclosing information about the management of the entity.  Nearly 34,000 of the 49,141 total reports received as of June 1stwere filed online using Maine's Annual Reports Online service, a 17 percent usage increase over June 2003.

The Annual Reports Online service, which is one of several offerings that can also be accessed via Maine's Interactive Corporate Services site at www.SOSonline.org, includes flexible features such as the reinstatement of suspended Maine entities and the ability to file multiple annual reports in one user session.  Users may also save filings to be submitted at a later date and view all completed filings.

"More and more business owners are finding the Annual Reports Online service to be a very efficient and effective means to process their required corporate filings," continued Gwadosky.  "Maine's Interactive Corporate services continue to prove extremely popular, as evidenced by impressive adoption rates."

Forty-eight electronic corporate services offered by Secretaries of State across the nation were recently benchmarked against Maine's Interactive Corporate Services.  The survey found that few states can offer the depth and scope of online offerings, such as Maine's unique Authentication Service, which verifies the authenticity of all certified documents obtained through the Web site.

Annual Reports Online was developed with the assistance of New England Interactive, which manages the state's official Web portal on behalf of the Information Resource of Maine (InforME). For more information about Maine's online government services, visit www.Maine.gov.

About New England Interactive
Augusta-based New England Interactive built, operates, and maintains Maine's official Web portal (www.Maine.gov). New England Interactive also operates the official Web sites for Rhode Island and Vermont and is a wholly owned subsidiary of eGovernment firm NIC (Nasdaq: EGOV).

About NIC
NIC manages more eGovernment services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides eGovernment solutions for 1,500 state and local agencies that serve more than 51 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at www.nicusa.com.

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