Excerpt - NEW YORK: InfoUSA has hired Sloane & Company to provide strategic and crisis communications support, as the company counters negative press coverage and activist hedge funds challenging senior leadership. ~ snip ~ "Ultimately, we're going to support infoUSA's branding and reputation in the marketplace," said Sloane CEO Elliot Sloane. "We're going to talk to the long-term strength of the business, the 40-year track record of this company. We're going to promote the depth and strength of management." He would not name the activist hedge funds that are challenging infoUSA's management. The value of the contract is undisclosed.