Premier Alliance Wins $630,000 Contract to Perform Arc Flash Safety Compliance Analysis for California Manufacturer


CHARLOTTE, NC--(Marketwire - Feb 20, 2013) - Premier Alliance Group, Inc., (OTCQB: PIMO) a strategic advisory, services, and solutions firm focused on providing 360° Intelligence Delivery through our Knowledge Based Expertise ("KBE"), today announced that its Energy and Sustainability Division has been engaged to perform a comprehensive arc flash analysis for a large California based manufacturer. The project will be completed in approximately 9 months with a total contract value of $630,000.

An Arc Flash is the sudden release of electrical energy through the air following a phase-to-phase or phase-to-ground fault. The resulting forces produced are known as an arc blast and have potential to cause significant personal and property damage. Arc blasts have been known to cause fires, damage equipment and more importantly inflict serious harm, being responsible for 1 to 2 fatalities in North America every day. Not only can the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) levy substantial fines for noncompliance with arc flash safety standards but also the direct and indirect costs of a single non-fatal accident can reach between $8 and $10 million.

Premier Alliance will conduct a comprehensive arc flash analysis to ensure compliance with NFPA 70E, the National Fire Protection Association Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace. The entire electrical network will be catalogued and then modeled utilizing state-of-the-art analytic software. For the final step of this turnkey service Premier Alliance engineers will present an arc flash risk assessment complete with a detailed proposal to correct or eliminate any compliance concerns.

"This project gives us the opportunity to prove yet again that we are far more than just an energy efficiency solutions provider," said Rob Davis, Senior Vice President of Energy Services for Premier Alliance. "But rather, we can effectively combine our core competencies of energy services and risk management and corporate compliance, to provide cohesive solutions that address a variety of concerns facing our clients today. The growing financial, as well as, health and safety impacts of arc flash incidents will undoubtedly make our extensive experience mitigating that risk in a variety of industries and work environments a huge differentiator in the utility space."

About Premier Alliance Group, Inc.
Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTCQB: PIMO) provides Knowledge Based Expertise ("KBE") through its strategic advisory, services, and solutions delivery capabilities. The firm provides 360° Intelligence Delivery, a holistic approach to meet client objectives, through our Professional Services and Solutions Groups. We currently have two major delivery verticals, Energy and Risk/Compliance, driven by increased energy mandates as well as regulatory requirements across several industries. Our Energy capabilities position us as a leading provider of energy efficiency and sustainable facilities solutions. This includes designing, engineering and installing disparate solutions and technologies that enable clients to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint. Our Risk/Compliance capabilities encompass Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) and Business Performance & Technology as we assist clients with Risk Management, Compliance, Organizational Effectiveness, Project Management, and Information Management. Premier Alliance is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. For more information, visit www.premieralliance.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain information contained in this press release may be forward-looking. Actual results might differ materially from any forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the actual results of Premier Alliance Group to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements labeled with the terms "believes," "belief," "expects," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking.

Contact Information:

Investor Contacts:
Merriman Capital, Inc.
Douglas Rogers
Managing Director
drogers@merrimanco.com

Premier Alliance Group
Mark Elliott
melliott@premieralliance.com
704-521-8077