USBuild Appoints Building Materials Distribution Leader Ben Phillips to its Advisory Board

San Francisco, CA - February 7, 2001 - USBuild, a company leveraging the Internet to create a supply chain optimized for production homebuilding, today announced that Ben Phillips has joined the company's advisory board. Mr. Phillips was most recently Southeast President of BuildersFirstSource, the nation's second largest building materials supplier.

"We're honored to have someone of Ben's standing in the homebuilding industry join USBuild's team," noted USBuild CEO George Mac Connell. "A recognized industry leader, Ben's counsel will be of tremendous value as USBuild welcomes additional manufacturing partners to our e-chain solution."

Mr. Phillips will assist USBuild in defining the second stage of its business strategy, which involves partnering with ProDealers and other suppliers of lumber and building materials. The company now provides just-in-time delivery of finish plumbing, electrical, and other items ordered using its Web-based procurement system. Lumber and similar bulky or heavy items require special equipment and placement on the jobsite; the logistics to fulfill orders to USBuild for these products will be handled by a network of local dealers with the requisite expertise.

"USBuild has already shown that it can help builders change a lot of practices," said Mr. Phillips. "By unbundling labor and materials, strengthening relationships with manufacturers, and ensuring reliable deliveries, the company is proving that you can remove unnecessary costs in the supply chain. Now, the USBuild e-chain model can be applied to materials with special handling requirements."

Prior to BuildersFirstSource, Mr. Phillips was CEO and president of the Pelican Companies, Inc. At Pelican, Mr. Phillips was responsible for growing the company to a $530 million corporation with more than 50 stores throughout the country. In 1998, Mr. Phillips managed Pelican's acquisition by BuildersFirst Source.