CHAMBER IN NLR, COMPANY TO OFFER WORKER DRUG TESTS

A North Little Rock company and the city's Chamber of Commerce will
share a $178,000 federal grant to administer workplace drug-testing
programs for small Arkansas businesses.

The Small Business Administration grant is for North Little Rock's
chamber and a'TEST Consultants Inc. to administer the program through
Sept. 16, 2002. The North Little Rock company offers drug and alcohol
testing of employees.

Workplace drug testing for participating businesses will be free.
Businesses complying with the program's guidelines qualify for a 5
percent credit on their workers' compensation insurance premium.

The program is for businesses with 75 or fewer employees.

"We want to teach employers to use this as a beneficial tool for
their business, not to develop a 'gotcha' program," said Judy Sims,
president of a'TEST. "This is really intended for learning ways to
identify an employee who needs help and then find help for them."

The North Little Rock chamber will market the program to the state's
127 chambers of commerce through seminars and a training video.