The biggest source of growth, though, has come from universities that need computer desks, library carrels and chairs, and corporations that want to redo their boardrooms.

FORBES: Out of the woods

And to share news about products agencies are looking for, such as the search for computer desks by the military academy at West Point, or advice about how to make your road to a government contract easier from staff at the government agencies.

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ISE's system eliminates the fees that a market-maker would charge and doesn't place size limits on trade blocks, making it appealing to the growing number of hedge funds and proprietary trading desks that use computer algorithms to send orders through an exchange.

FORBES: A New Kind Of Exchange

The salespeople earn a flat commission, so they have no incentive to try to stuff a customer who can only afford a four-year-old Hyundai into a one-year-old BMW. Their desks are designed so that they and their customers are on the same side of the computer screen.

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But, as electronic trading has sapped business from the trading floor, many desks are unmanned and traders have left to conduct business "upstairs"--on a computer.

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