President Bill Clinton cited Stone Mountain’s Ashford International in a speech he gave in Sao Paulo last week as an example of how “Brazilian-American partnership is bringing world-class technology to boys and girls in Brazil.”

      Mr. Clinton, who referred to only one other U.S. company in the speech, noted that Ashford had recently supplied 5,000 multimedia computers to 1,000 area schools in Sao Paulo.

      “That’s good for the students and good for the Stone Mountain company and its workers,” he said.

      Ashford provides turn-key technology solutions primarily for local and regional government, education and infrastructure projects.

      Bernard van der Lande, Ashford’s president and CEO, told GlobalFax in a telephone interview this past Friday that he was about to leave for Paris to sign a contract at a United Nations agency headquarters for a similar but larger school project in Costa Rica.

      As with many Ashford projects, the World Bank funded the Brazilian project through a United Nations development program. Ashford also is involved in projects in Asia and Africa.  Earlier this year it was selected by the U.S. Commerce Department for an excellence in exporting award.

      During his visit to Brazil, Mr. Clinton stressed that Brazil and the U.S. “share the vision that all our citizens should be connected to the Information Age.”  He signed with Brazil’s President Fernando Cardoza a “new Partnership for Education” promising mutual support for the education of U.S. and Brazilian children.

      Ashford’s web page may be accessed at http://www.ashfordint.com Call (770) 879-6266 for information.

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