Bay Area Council Names Jim Wunderman President and CEO.

Business Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 2004

The Bay Area Council today announced that it has selected Jim Wunderman, 46, as its next president and chief executive officer. Wunderman succeeds Sunne Wright McPeak who was appointed last November as California Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing in Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration.

"Jim will be an outstanding leader for the Bay Area Council," said Nelson Rising, Chairman of the Bay Area Council and Chairman & CEO of Catellus Development Corporation. "He has both the private sector and public sector experience the job requires. He has a regional vision, and has held jobs and lived around the entire Bay Area. Jim has also worked with the Bay Area Council for more than 15 years and knows the organization well."

Wunderman has set his top priorities on: retention and attraction of businesses to the Bay Area; transportation improvements; and reducing the cost of housing through smart growth.

"It is an honor to have the trust of the business community to lead the Bay Area Council. I am also humbled to succeed Sunne Wright McPeak and the respected leaders before her," said Wunderman. "The Council has a proud history, but it is now in perhaps its most potent position ever. We know the most critical problems, we have well-researched plans to fix them, and we have coalitions ready to join in the effort. It is time to get to work."

"I have known Jim for more than 20 years and have great respect for him," said California Senator Dianne Feinstein. "He has a reputation as a person who gets things done, someone to turn to for the hard jobs. In my opinion, Jim is a perfect fit for the Bay Area Council -- a business group known for enacting cogent solutions to the most pressing problems the region faces."

"Jim knows how to build the broad-based coalitions needed to create change in the Bay Area," said Doug Shorenstein, a member of the Bay Area Council Executive Committee and the Chairman and CEO of Shorenstein Company LLC. "With 9 different counties, 101 cities and countless single-purpose groups; reform in the Bay Area is a complex process. Jim has proven he can work with that complexity."

Alex Mehran, a member of the Executive Committee and President & CEO of Sunset Development Company, said, "Few issues better demonstrate the faults of parochialism in the Bay Area than transportation. Jim understands and is committed to long-term regional planning for our infrastructure needs, be they BART to San Jose, a comprehensive ferry network, or safer and more efficient airports."

Jim Wunderman was previously a Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Providian Financial Corporation. Wunderman joined Providian in September 1997 and was responsible for managing the Company's Community Relations, Charitable Giving, and State and Local Government Affairs Programs.

In September of 2003, at the request of Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, Wunderman took a leave of absence from Providian to serve as the Secretary's quasi-Chief of Staff, managing the unprecedented challenge of the Recall election held on October 7.

Wunderman served as Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff in the administration of San Francisco Mayor Frank M. Jordan, from 1992 through 1995. He oversaw the operations of all city departments and was responsible for annually balancing San Francisco's $3 billion budget during a particularly challenging economic period.

From 1984 to 1988, Wunderman served as Special Assistant to San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein. He was responsible for overseeing the fiscal, policy, and operations activities of several city departments. He also served as liaison to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and played a key role preparing the city for the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

From 1988 through 1991, Wunderman was a General Manager for two of Norcal Waste Systems' largest waste collection and disposal companies. He managed the waste collection for a 200-square mile service area in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and instituted several new recycling programs that were considered ahead of their time.

Wunderman previously was the Chairman of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and co-chaired the Public Affairs Roundtable of the Bay Area Council. He serves on the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations.

Wunderman graduated with honors from San Francisco State University, majoring in Political Science. He also holds an Associate of Applied Sciences Degree (summa cum laude) from Kingsborough College of the City University of New York, where he majored in Business Administration.

About the 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. The Council was instrumental in the establishment of BART, in creating many of the regional agencies that govern the Bay Area, in pushing the Bay Area towards "smart growth," and in efforts to reinstitute a regional ferry system on the bay. Led by CEOs, the Bay Area Council presents a strong, united voice for more than 275 major employers throughout the nine-county region in promoting economic prosperity and a better quality of life.