CED, UNC Team Up for Growth Strategy Seminar Series; Successful Entrepreneurs Lead 2004 Executive Education Program.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Growth Strategy Seminar Series

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2003

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and UNC Kenan-Flagler Executive Education are presenting a Growth Strategy Seminar Series in 2004 for the area's entrepreneurial executives. Created under CED's Leadership and Management Development Initiative (LMDI), the Growth Strategy Seminar Series will offer management development training specifically designed for CED member entrepreneurs of emerging growth companies.

The custom program, which is limited to a small group of executives, features five Friday sessions starting in March 2004 and concluding in June 2004. Each session will include an interactive morning lecture segment along with an afternoon case discussion. The case discussion will incorporate participants' own business plans and experiences as well as a simulation exercise that will utilize the concepts spanning all five sessions.

Randy Myer, professor of management and strategy at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, said the Growth Strategy Seminar Series will help entrepreneurial companies plan for a proactive growth strategy. Myer, who is coordinator and lead instructor for the series, said the program's instructors will provide insight on how to sharpen critical management skills and effectively impact the bottom line.

"The instructors leading each section were chosen based on their real world experience in helping young companies through their growth era," Myer said. "We intend to draw out each of the participants during the course to relate their own company experience to the concepts taught."

Topics and instructors for the Growth Strategy Seminar Series include the following:

-- Session 1: "Developing a Growth Strategy Within Your Current

Business Model" - Guest lecturer/instructor is Hugh O'Neill,

former editor for Academy of Management Executive. He was also

founding director of the regional office for the Connecticut

Small Business Development Center.

-- Session 2: "Beyond Your Market Niche" - Guest

lecturer/instructor is Bill Shulby, founder of Customer Asset

Management Co. He has more than 17 years of experience in

database marketing and customer relationship management.

-- Session 3: "Strategic Partnerships and Global Alliances" -

Guest lecturer/instructor is Doug Levin, recent COO of

MessageMachines. He also served as CEO, President and Director

of X-Collaboration Software Corporation.

-- Session 4: "Managing Your Sales and Marketing Resources for

Growth" - Guest lecturer/instructor is Bill Howe, president

and CEO of Virginia-based Strategic Marketing Group. He has

more than 20 years experience in four diverse industries

including consumer packaged goods and telecommunications.

-- Session 5: "Implementing a Growth Strategy" - Guest

lecturer/instructor is Jay Desai, CEO and founder of the

Institute of Global Competitiveness (IGC). He has over 30

years of executive and senior management experience in 15

different industries.

Merrill Mason, a member of CED's LMDI Committee and founding partner of Hutchison & Mason PLLC, said the Growth Strategy Seminar Series will address management's vital role in building a successful high-growth company.

"The Growth Strategy Series will offer a world-class learning lab for entrepreneurial executives," Mason said. "To have this specially-designed program available locally is a tremendous step for the Triangle."

Commitments made prior to Dec. 24, 2003, will receive a $250 early bird discount - 5% off the stated cost of the Growth Strategy Seminar Series. Multiple attendees from the same company will receive an additional discount (limit three attendees from a company). Event sponsors are Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Mission House Creative and The Solution Center. Visit http://exed.unc.edu/secure/courses/ced/ for more details.

About the Leadership and Management Development Initiative (LMDI):

CED's LMDI Committee, chaired by Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown's Jack Sheffield, conducted market research and strategic planning including interviews, focus groups, surveys and program evaluations into the leadership needs of Triangle entrepreneurial companies. The committee found that executives of more mature entrepreneurial companies were looking for training in critical management and leadership skills within a peer level environment. In addition to the Growth Strategy Seminar Series, other upcoming LMDI programs in 2004 include collaborative agreements with Bell Leadership and Duke University's Martha Reeves.

About CED:

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located in Research Triangle Park, NC, is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1984 to stimulate the creation and growth of high-impact companies in the greater Research Triangle region. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance. CED is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing 1,100 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms. www.cednc.org