San Diego Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the YearAward Winners Announced At June 21 Gala.

Business Editors

LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2000

Brothers Massih and Masood Tayebi, who emigrated from Iran in 1995, came to San Diego with a dream and some borrowed money to start a business.

But, what they lacked in funds, they made up for with a

unique leadership style and a vision, resulting in a high tech company that last year was the 10th most successful Initial Public Offering in history. The Tayebis, both in their 30s, founded Wireless Facilities, Inc. in 1996 with only a few thousand dollars, but a dream to be a leader in the design, deployment and management of wireless telecommunications systems. To date, they have completed projects for more than 100 customers worldwide, including QUALCOMM, Ericsson, Lucent, U.S. Wireless and Sprint, with revenues of nearly $93 million. Massih and Masood, both with Ph.D.s in engineering, are focused on more than profits, however -- with 1,410 employees in more than 30 countries, they're dedicated to making WFI a respected and flexible "learning organization" with training programs designed to help their talented staff advance to higher levels.

Massih and Masood are among 12 innovative San Diego area entrepreneurs representing a diversity of industries chosen by a panel of independent judges. Winners of the 14th Annual San Diego Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Program were announced this evening. The program recognizes entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in such areas as innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

The Year 2000 San Diego Entrepreneurs Of The Year winners are:

-- Consumer Products

James Fitzpatrick, CEO and Publisher -- San Diego Magazine

-- e-Commerce

Bill Strauss and Jared Schutz, CEO and Chairman -- Proflowers.com, San Diego

-- General

Gerald Benowitz, President and CEO -- Newgen Results Corp., San Diego

-- High Tech Engineering Services

Massih Tayebi and Masood Tayebi, CEO and President -- Wireless Facilities Inc., San Diego

-- Life Sciences

Gary Lyons, President and CEO -- Neurocrine Biosciences, San Diego

-- Master Entrepreneur

Joe Markee, Chairman, CTO and Co-Founder -- Copper Mountain Networks

-- Real Estate

Richard Allen, CEO -- The Allen Group, San Diego

-- Software / Internet Services

Jorgen Lien, Chairman -- eHelp Corporation, La Jolla

-- Telecommunications

Mark Dankberg, Chairman, CEO and President - ViaSat, Inc., Carlsbad

-- Supporter of Entrepreneurship

Sanford Ehrlich and Alex DeNoble, Co-Directors, Entrepreneurial Management Center -- San Diego State University

The winners were announced at a gala awards ceremony held at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. The event was the culmination of an intensive search to identify and recognize San Diego's outstanding entrepreneurs.

San Diego winners are now eligible to participate in Ernst & Young's National Entrepreneur Of The Year awards competition, the pre-eminent program honoring outstanding owners of fast-growing companies.

The national search will culminate at a black-tie awards gala in Palm Springs, California, on November 11, 2000, where the national Entrepreneur Of The Year finalists and winners in several national categories, as well as the National Entrepreneur Of The Year, will be announced and celebrated by more than 2,000 attendees as part of the Entrepreneur Of The Year International Conference. Previous Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners include a "Who's Who" of business leaders, such as Michael Dell of Dell Computer Corporation, Jim McCann of 1-800 Flowers, Steve Case of America Online, Ed Iacobucci of Citrix Systems, Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee and Dr. Irwin Jacobs from QUALCOMM. Richard M. Schulze, founder of Best Buy, was named the 1999 National Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year.

Recipients of the Entrepreneur Of The Year award become lifetime members of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Hall of Fame. This year's San Diego award recipients were selected by an independent panel of judges, including:

-- Dr. John Robert Beyster, Chairman and CEO, SAIC

-- Dr. Marsha Chandler, Senior Vice Chancellor, U.C. San Diego

-- Mr. Dan Epstein, Chairman and CEO, ConAm Management Corporation

-- Mayor Susan Golding, Mayor, City of San Diego

-- Dr. Harry Gruber, Founder, Intervu Inc.

-- Dr. Irwin Jacobs, CEO, QUALCOMM Incorporated

-- Mr. Richard Jaffe, Founder, Safeskin Corporation

-- Mr. Peter Johnson, Founder, Agouron Pharmaceuticals

-- Mr. William Stensrud, General Partner, Enterprise Partners

-- Dr. Stephen Weber, President, San Diego State University

-- Ms. Julie Meier Wright, President, Economic Development Corporation

Founded and produced by Ernst & Young, the program is nationally sponsored by USA Today, CNNfn and CNN, the Nasdaq Stock Market, and the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Joining in the search for the nation's best entrepreneurs are local sponsors Finova, Marsh, The Citibank Private Bank, Sprint, SAIC, KPBS, KFMB-TV, and The San Diego Daily Transcript.

Entrepreneur Of The Year(R) is a registered service mark of Ernst & Young LLP.

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