NEWS RELEASE

October 1, 2008

Acorn International is pleased to announce that Atma Khalsa has been selected to participate in the International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA) Assessing and Managing Cumulative Environmental Effects conference to be held in Calgary, Canada in November 2008.

• Atma Khalsa (Consultant) has been selected to present his paper “Management of Cumulative Impacts and Associated Business Risks: An Example from the Oil and Gas Industry" in the Sector-Based SEA and CEA session of the conference November 6. The paper presents a risk-based approach to managing cumulative impacts by better integrating these concerns into company management systems.

IAIA is a proffesional organization with more than 2,500 members from over 100 countries that aims at advancing innovation, development, and communication of best practice in impact assessment. Acorn International is proud to be an active participant in this organization.

Acorn International, LLC is a professional consulting services company dedicated to delivering world-class, affordable EHSS assurance and straight-forward results for overseas development projects.  The company operates not through a traditional consulting services model but by providing structured tools and guidance to qualified host-country teams, maintaining a link with international clients and building capacity in the host-country team. Acorn delivers:

1.       Established teams of local country experts partnered with and directed by an expert in assuring world-class EHSS assessment and management performance standards are met

2.       Advice to international industry needing to build world-class EHSS programs

3.       Recruitment and oversight/management of partners and service providers (EHSS and other) overseas

Working with Acorn allows international industries to better manage the increasingly delicate balance between meeting corporate requirements for reliable, simplified service while satisfying host-country demands for maximum local content.