Business Services Industry

Emory University to Recognize Southeast's Fastest Growing Private Companies; Local Companies Including CipherTrust, KnowledgeStorm and Moe's Southwest Grill to Be Honored at Event on May 11 at Emory

Business Wire, April 20, 2005

ATLANTA -- The Center for Entrepreneurship and Corporate Growth (CECG) at Emory's Goizueta Business School (GBS) today announced the launch of the GBS Eagles program, the Southeast's premier forum for honoring exceptional private companies and discussing growth issues faced by these emerging companies. Many successful Atlanta-area companies such as CipherTrust, KnowledgeStorm and Moe's Southwest Grill already have been named GBS Eagles, and accepted invitations to participate in the inaugural GBS Eagles Conference on Wednesday, May 11, 2005.

"It is truly an honor to be named part of the inaugural class of GBS Eagles, honoring those companies that have demonstrated leadership and sustainable growth," said Steve Raber, CipherTrust president and chief executive officer. "We are extremely proud of what CipherTrust has accomplished over the past four years as a result of efforts from each of our employees, a solid business plan and a focused product strategy to address the messaging security needs of our rapidly growing customer base."

In addition to being privately-held, companies which are named GBS Eagles must have:

--Generated more than $3 million in revenue during the last twelve months

--Exhibited annual revenue growth in excess of 20 percent compounded over the past three years or experienced headcount growth in excess of 25 percent compounded over the past three years

GBS Eagles are rewarded for their success through exclusive networking events with entrepreneurs, advisors and capital resources, exclusive conferences and promotions, and published research. The inaugural conference on May 11 offers such opportunities, as well as panel discussions on a range of topics including equity preservation, recruitment, and sales and marketing strategies. Additionally, serial entrepreneur Donald L. Chapman, chairman of Chapco Investments and member of AirTran Airways' Board of Directors, will deliver the Conference's keynote.

"The mission of the GBS Eagles program is to understand the critical issues a high-growth company faces throughout its business lifecycle and to identify the successful processes implemented to address these issues," said Edward Hess, executive director of the CECG. "The companies recognized as GBS Eagles have realized incredible success in the face of these very issues. Their participation in the GBS Eagles program will provide other early-stage companies with valuable information to scale with high growth."

For more information about the GBS Eagles program, please visit http://www.innovationspublishing.com/georgia/eagleCompanies.asp.>