CRN Cornell Companies

The Wynnefield Group, the largest stockholder in Cornell Companies Inc. (NYSE: CRN), today announced that it had established a stock trading plan in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Under this plan, Wynnefield has directed its investment brokers to conduct an orderly sale of a portion of its CRN shares over time, as part of its policy to retain proper portfolio balance. �Our confidence in Cornell Companies, its future prospects and its management team remain as high as ever. Accordingly, Cornell will remain a very significant holding in our portfolio,� said Nelson Obus, Wynnefield�s Managing Partner. �In fact, it is Cornell�s very success in this difficult market environment that necessitates this re-balancing of our portfolio. Over the 4 � years that we�ve held Cornell Companies� stock, its valuation has increased so substantially that it now represents a larger percentage of the total portfolio for some of our funds than is prudent for our limited partners. As fiduciaries, we must be able to occasionally rebalance our portfolio.� Shareholders should not assume that the enactment of this 10b5-1 plan will initiate sales of Cornell Companies common stock at today�s market price, which Wynnefield does not consider reflective of the Company�s true value. ABOUT THE WYNNEFIELD GROUP: The Wynnefield Group is Cornell Companies� largest shareholder and has a representative on the Board of Directors. Wynnefield holds more than 17% of the Company�s outstanding common stock. The Wynnefield Group includes several affiliates of Wynnefield Capital, Inc. (WCI), a value investor specializing in U.S. small cap situations that have company- or industry-specific catalysts. WCI was established in 1992. Its founding partners, Nelson Obus and Joshua Landes, held senior research and institutional equity positions at Lazard Freres & Co. during the 1980s, and the initial Wynnefield investors included many of their colleagues at Lazard. Nelson Obus currently serves on the board of directors of Layne Christensen Company (NASDAQ: LAYN), serving on its audit committee and compensation committee.