Bay Area Council Helps Secure the Endorsement of Emeryville Mayor, Managers of San Mateo County Bid, and Other Leaders for San Francisco Bid for Stem Cell Institute.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Business Group Gathering Support from Elected Officials and Business and Civic Groups from throughout the Region

Following a call for solidarity on the Stem Cell Institute headquarters by the Bay Area Council, today the business organization announced it has secured the endorsement of Emeryville's Mayor, the honorable Richard L. Kassis, for the San Francisco bid for the headquarters of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. The Council also secured the endorsement of the group that bid on behalf of San Mateo County for the stem cell headquarters - SAMCEDA and the Peninsula Policy Partnership. The endorsements were secured as the Bay Area Council began a quick effort to reach out to elected officials and, business and civic groups throughout the region for unified backing of San Francisco's bid.

"The response has been simply astonishing," said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. "Today, perhaps more than any time in the recent past, we are witnessing the region rise up in united support for a common goal. It is inspiring and historical."

"While the site will be in San Francisco, all of the Bay Area will benefit," continued Wunderman. "It has been our position from the start that a Bay Area location must logically be chosen by the Institute. With San Francisco's aggressive and creative bid in sole possession of first place position, it became clear that the time is now for Bay Area leaders in the public and private sectors and join together behind Mayor Newsom's effort to locate the headquarters in the region."

The deadline for elected officials and groups to notify the Bay Area Council of their endorsement is 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, 2005.

In addition to Emeryville and San Mateo, the Bay Area Council has already secured endorsements from numerous elected officials in Santa Clara, Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Sonoma, San Francisco and Napa counties. Business groups that have signed on include the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, SAMCEDA, the Tri-Valley Business Council, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the San Francisco Center for Economic Development, and the Bay Area Economic Forum.

Following is the letter the elected officials and business groups are signing:

May 5, 2005

Robert Klein
Chair
Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee
California Institute of Regenerative Medicine
5858 Horton Street, Suite 455
Emeryville, CA  94608


Dear Bob:

We write to you, and the entire ICOC, on behalf of the Bay Area's
elected, business and civic communities in support of San Francisco's
bid to house the headquarters of the California Institute of
Regenerative Medicine. We want to signal our firm support for keeping
the stem cell research institute in the Bay Area by following the
recommendation of the site search subcommittee.

The contest to win the Institute's headquarters has been one of the
hottest and most competitive in recent California history. The site
search subcommittee has been under tremendous pressure from all
involved. They are to be congratulated for running the process fairly
and to the letter of the law. Since they held themselves up to such
high standards, the entire state can know that the committee's
recommendation of San Francisco is in the best interest of stem cell
research and the people of California.

By locating the headquarters in San Francisco, the Institute can
capitalize on all of the strengths that the Bay Area has to offer.
Among them:

    --  The world's largest concentration of bioscience companies -
        more than 600 bioscience companies and 820 life sciences
        companies headquartered in the Bay Area

    --  The symbolism of the birthplace of biotechnology

    --  The number one region in the nation in venture capital and
        life sciences investment firms, commanding a sustained 30%
        share of all of the nation's VC investments

    --  The number one region in the nation in National Institutes of
        Health funding

    --  5 world-renowned research universities (Stanford, UC Berkeley,
        UC Davis, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz)

    --  18 national research laboratories and independent research
        institutes

    --  10 new collaborative biotech research centers

    --  An unmatched concentration and synergy of leading bioscience
        research, medical research, information technology,
        nanotechnology and the integration of
        bio-info-nano-technologies

There is more. The region's business infrastructure - including a
highly skilled workforce and unparalleled intellectual capital -
infuse the region with a culture of collaboration and entrepreneurial
spirit unique to the world. Likewise, the Bay Area's logistical
infrastructure - with its ample highways, rail and ocean cargo links
and three international airports - supports the region's role as a
national and global melting pot of people and ideas.

The region's physical infrastructure, unmatched human capital,
specialized and cross-disciplinarian research institutions, and
technology business base provide an environment that impressively
maximizes the impact of both public and private investments.

We look forward to welcoming the California Institute of
Regenerative Medicine as a permanent resident of this vibrant
community.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

Bay Area Council

Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council (www.bayareacouncil.org) develops and drives regional public policy initiatives and researches critical infrastructure issues. Led by CEOs, the Bay Area Council presents a strong, united voice for more than 275 of the largest employers throughout the Bay Area region in promoting economic prosperity and quality of life. Jim Wunderman has served as president and CEO of the Bay Area Council since April of 2004.