Business Editors/High Tech Writers

Venture 2001

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2001

IT magnate will address more than 400 venture investors

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) announced today that Dr. James H. Goodnight, CEO, chairman, co-founder, and president of SAS Institute, will be the keynote speaker at its upcoming Venture 2001 conference in Chapel Hill, NC April 17-18, 2001.

"As one of the world's best technology innovators, Goodnight epitomizes the entrepreneurial success found in the Research Triangle region," said Bill Gwyn, Venture 2001 chair and partner at Maupin Taylor & Ellis. "We're very confident investors will find his views on the future of technology most provocative."

Founded in 1976, SAS is the largest privately held software company in the world and the industry leader in data warehousing and decision support. As an accomplished programmer, Goodnight has authored many of the procedures that comprise SAS(R) software.

A native of Wilmington, NC, Goodnight holds a bachelor's and a master's degree, as well as a doctorate in statistics from North Carolina State University. He served on the faculty of NCSU from 1972 to 1976, and continues to serve as an adjunct professor. Goodnight is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and has authored numerous papers on statistical computing.

About Venture 2001

CED's upcoming 18th annual Research Triangle Venture 2001 Conference is scheduled for April 17-18 at The Friday Center in Chapel Hill, NC. Last year's conference, Venture 2000 drew a crowd of more than 1200 investors, service professionals, entrepreneurs and others involved in the entrepreneurial funding process from across the United States and Canada.

Companies raising seed and first round financing will present at the conference's Early Stage session on the afternoon of April 17, with companies raising expansion rounds scheduled for the conference's Main Session on April 18. Interested parties should visit the conference Web site at http://www.cednc.org/venture/2001 or contact Holly Rice at 919/549-7500 ext. 126.

About SAS

SAS is the world leader in e-intelligence software and services, enabling its customers to turn raw data - including the vast quantity generated by e-business - into usable knowledge. Software from SAS, the world's largest privately held software company, is used at more than 35,000 business, government and university sites in 110 countries. Interested parties can learn more about SAS on the Web at http://www.sas.com .

About CED

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, located at the CED Entrepreneurship Center in Research Triangle Park, NC, was 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. CED sponsors annual conferences, seminars, workshops and monthly programs on entrepreneurial management and finance in support of regional start-up and fast growing companies. CED also offers the FastTrac entrepreneurial training program, youth and other outreach programs.

CED is a private, non-profit organization and is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 4,000 members representing 1200 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms.