Premier Alliance Group Appoints John Catsimatidis to the Board of Directors

CHARLOTTE, NC--(Marketwire - Jul 18, 2012) - Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTCBB: PIMO), a professional services company focused on business and technology advisory and consulting services and solutions, today announced the appointment of John Catsimatidis, Chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group and United Refining Company, to its Board of Directors.

"Mr. Catsimatidis' deep business experience and wealth of knowledge will be of enormous benefit to the Premier team," stated Mark Elliott, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Premier Alliance Group. "Mr. Catsimatidis' experience in building world-renowned organizations as he has with Red Apple Group, a company that today generates over $4 billion in annual revenue, will be invaluable to our Company. His strong belief in the company's growth potential and business value proposition is a testament to the strength of our strategy. The board welcomes Mr. Catsimatidis' arrival and is eager to work with him in building Premier Alliance into a world-class organization."

Mr. Catsimatidis began his career in the supermarket business. Since acquiring the Gristedes supermarkets in 1986, he has built Red Apple Group into an organization with diversified business holdings including oil refining, corporate jet leasing, convenience stores, the Hellenic Times newspaper, and various real estate holdings. Red Apple Group is ranked in the top 100 private companies and employs over 8,000 individuals.

Mr. Catsimatidis founded and Co-Chairs the Brooklyn Tech Endowment Foundation, oversees the John Catsimatidis Scholarship Fund of the New York University Stern School of Business, and sits on the Board of Trustees of the New School's Milano School for Management and Urban Policy and the Executive Committee of the Columbia University Medical Center Board of Visitors.

"I am honored to join the Premier Alliance board and to work with its management team," Mr. Catsimatidis commented. "I look forward to sharing my experiences as part of the board of directors, and to contributing to the future direction and growth of the Company."

About Premier Alliance Group, Inc. 
Premier Alliance Group, Inc. (OTCBB: PIMO) is a strategic advisory and consulting firm focused on providing 360° Intelligence Delivery services and solutions through our Knowledge Based Expertise ("KBE"). We provide clients our KBE offering through our Professional Services Group and our Energy and Sustainability Solutions Group. Our focus is in the following industries today; Energy, Financial Services, Life Science and Biotechnology, Government, and Technology. Our Professional Services Group areas of expertise encompass Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), Business Performance & Technology, and Finance & Accounting as we assist clients with Risk Management, Compliance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Organizational Effectiveness, Project/Program Management, Information Management, Architecture and Software Development. The Energy and Sustainability Solutions Group is a leading provider of energy efficiency and sustainable facilities solutions. The division designs, engineers and installs disparate solutions and technologies that enable its clients to reduce their energy costs and carbon footprint. 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.