NEW LENOX DOT.COM STARTUP BUYING ACTIONFAX

NEW LENOX -- Local Internet company eKiosk.com on Tuesday acquired ActionFax, a facsimile service with more than 400 locations at airports and airline clubs.The acquisition creates a new wave of growth for e.Kiosk.com, which expects to add about 3,000 locations this year.

New Lenox-based e.Kiosk.com provides public Internet access.

Its main product line is computer kiosks placed in hotels, universities and amusement parks for public use.

Launched in July, the company has eKiosks in a number of major hotel chains, including Hyatt, Sheraton and Westin.

The acquisition of Atlanta-based Continental Fax Corp., the owner of ActionFax, increases eKiosk.com's reach into the business-to-business Internet market, eKiosk.com founder and Chief Executive Officer Don Heidrich said.

"Our eKiosks will bring corporate suppliers and buyers together when they are away from their offices," Heidrich said in a statement announcing the acquisition.

"ActionFax's airport and airline club locations help to put us exactly where we need to be to capture a significant share of this market."

ActionFax has service centers at airports, including JFK International Airport in New York and Dallas International Airport, and a number of airline clubs, including Delta Airlines Crown Room Clubs and Japan Airlines Clubs.

The ActionFax acquisition is one of two deals that eKiosk.com expects will greatly increase its public presence this year.

The company has eKiosks at about 130 locations now, said David Luck, vice president for marketing.

But a recent contract with Hilton Hotel Corp. should increase the number of eKiosk locations to about 3,000 by the end of this year, Luck said.

The company describes as its goal, "To become the `pay phone' of the 21st century" by providing the predominant electronic kiosk company in high-traffic public places.

Electronic kiosks offer hotel guests and other users access to the Internet while away from their personal computers.

At amusement parks, including Six Flags locations, eKiosk.com also has photographic capabilities, allowing visitors to e-mail pictures to family and friends.

Although less than a year old, the company spent five years on product development.

Nurtured by Heidrich, the company also has attracted investors from other parts of the country, Luck said.

The company has a West Coast office in Los Altos, Calif., and an East Coast office in Union City, N.J.

The company has 41 employees and a small manufacturing operation.

But Luck said eKiosk.com is locating a site for a new manufacturing facility in the New Lenox area.