23 North Carolina Public Companies to Present at NCINVEST2004.

Business Editors

NCINVEST 2004

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2004

Second Annual Regional Investor Conference features Dr. John E.

Silvia, Chief Economist at Wachovia Corporation, as

Keynote Luncheon Speaker

NCINVEST2004 (www.ncinvest.org) an annual investor conference presenting public companies in North Carolina, today announced that 23 participating companies and more than 25 sponsors have joined together to host this award-winning event to be held on February 26, 2004 at The Friday Center in Chapel Hill, NC.

The purpose of NCINVEST is to bring together growing North Carolina public companies and institutional investors based throughout the Southeast. Organized and hosted by the Triangle chapters of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the conference generated tremendous interest and positive feedback in 2003. Last year's conference attracted 250 attendees with investors representing more than 150 firms attending. The conference also won two NIRI National awards in 2003 - Best Special Event and the Chairman's Award.

Fran Barsky, president of NIRI's Triangle Chapter said, "Last years inaugural of the NCINVEST Conference was a tremendous success. We believe that this years NCINVEST2004 will provide another excellent opportunity for North Carolina's public companies to meet with leading institutional investors."

"We have received increasing interest and support for this event from the community - from generous sponsors to interested investors to enthusiastic presenting companies," said Patti J. Gillenwater, president of ACG's Research Triangle chapter. "We are very proud to offer the second annual NCINVEST conference and hope to add participation from even more North Carolina-based public companies and sponsors in 2005."

NCINVEST2004 attendance is by invitation only and is limited to professional money managers, analysts, brokers, media and members of the Triangle chapters of ACG and NIRI. For additional information about the conference, please go to www.ncinvest.org.

Presenting Companies

The 23 public companies that will be presenting at NCINVEST2004 are Blue Rhino, Charles & Colvard, Closure Medical, CommScope, Cree, Duke Energy, Embrex, Enpro Industries, Highwoods Properties, Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Martin Marietta Materials, Paradigm Genetics, Piedmont Natural Gas, Pozen Pharmaceuticals, PPD, Red Hat, Salix Pharmaceuticals, SciQuest, Spectrasite, Standard Commercial, Trimeris, TriPath Imaging and US LEC.

In addition to the presenting companies, Dr. John Silvia, Chief Economist at Wachovia Bank, will be the keynote luncheon speaker. Prior to Wachovia, John worked on Capitol Hill as Senior Economist for the US Senate Joint Economic Committee and Chief Economist for the US Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Prior to Capitol Hill, he was Chief Economist of Kemper Funds and managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments, Inc.

"I am pleased to be involved in NCINVEST2004," said Dr. Silvia. "The public companies in North Carolina are instrumental in driving the economic growth of our state. These companies provide attractive investment opportunities and create a positive climate for doing business in this region."

2004 Sponsors

NCINVEST2004 sponsors include at the Platinum level, Wachovia; at the Gold level, CCBN, Deloitte & Touche, r+m creative and Standard & Poor's; at the Silver level, ADP Investor Communication Services, Bigdough, Bowne Financial Printers, Curran & Connors, Inc., Euro RSCG Life NRP, Presentation Strategies, Inc., R.R. Donnelley Financial Printers, Reed Smith LLP, Rivel Research Group and Triangle Reprographics; at the Bronze level, AdPro, Business Wire, Cara Lewis Communications, Elinvar, GeorgesonShareholderCommunications Inc., NASDAQ, PR Newswire, The Siena Hotel, Smith Anderson, Teer Associates and Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP.

About NIRI

Founded in 1969, the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) is a professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, the investing public and the financial community. With over 5,000 members in 35 chapters around the country, NIRI sets the highest standards in education designed to advance the practice of investor relations and meeting the growing professional development needs of those engaged in the field. For more information about NIRI, go to www.niri.org.

The NIRI Triangle Chapter of North Carolina was founded in 1999 to serve investor relations professionals in the Research Triangle Park area, including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Burlington, Greensboro and Winston-Salem. The Chapter has members representing more than 50 corporations across a wide range of industries, including technology, biotechnology, telecommunications, energy, hospitality, materials, textiles and retail. The Chapter holds quarterly meetings, featuring programs on topics of professional interest to practitioners of investor relations, public relations and finance. The Chapter also hosts special events such as investor conferences, networking events and round table lunch discussions. For more information on the Chapter, go to www.niritriangle.org.

About ACG

Founded in 1954, the national Association for Corporate Growth is the premier association for and about professionals involved in middle-market corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions. The RTP chapter's members are among the area's top professionals involved in all aspects of corporate growth. Its mission is to create a collaborative environment where corporate leaders can exchange lessons learned, review relevant growth strategies and build partnering relationships locally and throughout the U.S. For more information on the Chapter's quality programming, education and networking, go to www.acg.org/rtp.