Barrett Business Services, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Temporary Staffing Systems, Inc.

PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Barrett Business Services, Inc.

(Nasdaq: BBSI) today announced the acquisition of Temporary Staffing Systems,

Inc. ("TSS") located in Gastonia, North Carolina, pursuant to a stock purchase

agreement effective January 1, 1999.

TSS, a privately-held staffing services company, operates eight branch

offices in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. TSS's annual revenues

for the fiscal year ended March 29, 1998 were $12.9 million. TSS's operations

are organized into three divisions: light industrial, clerical and

pharmaceutical. The light industrial and clerical divisions account for

94% of revenues, while the pharmaceutical division, which provides temporary

pharmaceutical employees to national retail stores and regional hospitals,

contributes 6% to revenues. David Cline, TSS's President, was appointed a

Zone Manager of Barrett and will have management responsibility for TSS's nine

offices.

William W. Sherertz, Barrett's President and Chief Executive Officer,

commented, "We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to expand into North

and South Carolina and to retain David Cline as our Zone Manager for the

region. We view this transaction as a platform acquisition and hope to

continue to strengthen our presence in this strategic area."

Barrett Business Services, Inc. is a human resource management company

with offices in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Arizona, Illinois,

Maryland, Delaware, and North and South Carolina. For 1997, Barrett reported

revenues of $305.5 million and net income of $3.8 million.
SOURCE Barrett Business Services
Web site: http: //www.barrettbusiness.com
Company News On-Call: http: //www.prnewswire.com/comp/082187.html or fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 082187
CONTACT: William W. Sherertz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrett Business Services, Inc., 503-220-0988

Released January 4, 1999