CHICAGO-AREA SMALL BUSINESSES CITE CUSTOMERS, LOCAL EVENTS AND BUSINESS-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT AS BEST ASPECTS OF RUNNING A BUSINESS IN REGION

Local survey also showed that Chicago-area small businesses view email marketing, direct mail, and online advertising as the most valuable methods for growing their businesses

Waltham, MA. - September 28, 2005

A recent survey of Chicago-area small and medium-sized businesses revealed that nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of business owners cited great customers, local events, or the area's business-friendly environment as the top reason why the Chicago region is a favorable place to own and run a business. Thirty-two percent of small businesses surveyed viewed the strength of the local economy or community support as other top qualities of doing business in the area (full results below*). The survey of more than 150 Chicago-area small businesses was conducted by Constant Contact (www.constantcontact.com), the leading email marketing service for small businesses, associations and nonprofits.

The survey also queried Chicago-area small businesses about their marketing practices, revealing that email marketing (59 percent), direct mail (22 percent), and online advertising (11 percent) are the most valuable marketing methods for growing their businesses. Radio and print advertising were tied for the fourth position, both at 3 percent, with yellow pages advertising coming in at 2 percent. Additionally, 85 percent of small businesses surveyed said that email marketing is an extremely or very important tool for growing their businesses.

When asked about the cultural and entertainment benefits of living in Chicago, regional small businesses view local restaurants (28 percent), community programs (18 percent) and sports teams (17 percent) as their favorite aspects of living in the area. Small businesses also favored the Chicago area music scene (14 percent), theater (12 percent) and educational opportunities (11 percent).

Chicago-area small businesses were also asked their preferences if they could have any local celebrity, civic or business leader endorse their businesses. Top celebrity choices included Oprah Winfrey (52 percent), celebrity chef, Charlie Trotter (19 percent) and former Chicago Bears coach, Mike Ditka (11 percent). For civic or business leader endorsements, Chicago-area small businesses expressed their top preferences for Barack Obama, U.S. Senator for Illinois (59 percent), William Wrigley, Jr., CEO of the William Wrigley Jr. Company (14 percent) and William H. Daley, Chicago-area business and civic leader and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce (10 percent).

*Included in the survey, small businesses were asked: "Why is Chicago the best place to own and run a business?"
The results were as follows:
Great Customers	22%
Local economy	21%
Community support	19%
Local events	16%
Business friendly	16%
Transportation options	5%

For more information about the survey or for additional results, please contact Tom Francoeur at 781-388-7900 ext. 205, or by email at tfrancoeur@topazpartners.com

About Constant Contact
With over 40,000 customers and a recent winner of SmallBusinessComputing.com's "Excellence in Technology Award," Constant Contact® is the leading permission Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing® service for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and associations. Constant Contact is a Web-based email marketing solution that enables small organizations to easily create and send professional HTML email newsletters, promotions, announcements and more with no technical expertise required. Designed and priced for SMBs, Constant Contact is affordable, easy-to-use and includes a free 60-day trial at: www.constantcontact.com. The service is marketed through over 1,500 Business Partners and more than 100 marquee channel partners including American Express OPEN, AOL, Corel, FTD, IBM, Interland, Network Solutions, Register.com, Website Pros and Yahoo Search Marketing. Constant Contact is a founding member of the Email Service Provider Coalition (ESPC), a group formed to fight spam while protecting the delivery of legitimate email. Constant Contact is funded by Morgan Stanley Venture Partners, Commonwealth Capital Ventures, Longworth Venture Partners and Hudson Ventures. For more information, please call 781-472-8100.

Please direct all press inquiries to:

Rosalind Morville Constant Contact 339-222-5772 rmorville@constantcontact.com