STATE OF THE GREATER ST. LOUIS REGION'S VENTURE CAPITAL INDUSTRY 2004 ANNUAL REPORT The science that has emerged from both Washington University and Saint Louis University is absolutely remarkable. The venture capital community here in St. Louis reminds me of Boston in the 1970s, in that it’s comparatively small now; but St. Louis has all of the raw materials to become a great region for venture capital investment. Peter Brooke, Chairman and Founder of Brooke Private Equity Advisors and Founder, Boston-based Advent International Corporation and TA Associate 2004 was a year of continued progress toward achieving a critical mass of talent, innovation and capital necessary for a vibrant venture capital environment in the St. Louis region. Two established venture capital funds and a new fund-of-funds raised close to $200 million; two out-of-town funds established a St. Louis presence; venture capitalists invested over $120 million in nineteen companies; the region enjoyed a $48 million venture-backed IPO; a new angel investor network was organized; and a number of strategic alliances were established between venture-backed and large technology companies. These developments, on top of the over $816 million of venture capital invested in technology firms in the St. Louis region since 2000, are establishing the St. Louis region as a center of innovation in the Midwest that is attracting the attention of venture capital firms throughout the region, the United States and Europe. 2004 VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT ACTIVITY Venture capital firms invested $119 million in 19 regional companies in 2004. The investments were concentrated in two industry segments that reflect the indigenous strength of the St. Louis region—biotechnology/ medical devices (ten firms) and information technologies (eight firms), which includes computers, software, semiconductors and telecommunications. Venture capital funds from California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri and Texas, as well as internationally from Canada and the Netherlands, participated in these financings. There also were a number of noteworthy angel investments in regional biotechnology and IT companies that should provide new opportunities for venture capital firms in 2005. Company Amount (M$) Industry Metaphore Pharmaceuticals $40.2 Biotechnology AGEIA Technologies Inc. $21.8 Semiconductors Stereotaxis Inc. $16.0 Medical devices and equipment MetaMatrix $12.0 Data integration software Centerre Healthcare Corporation $5.0 Healthcare services Divergence $4.0 Biotechnology ISTO Technologies $3.5 Tissue Engineering Appistry Inc. (fka Tsunami Research, Inc.) $3.0 Application fabric software Quick Study Radiology $2.3 Healthcare IT/services New Century Packaging $2.0 Industrial/energy Everest Biomedical Instruments $2.0 Medical devices Vibe Solutions Group $2.0 Video communication software Singulex $1.4 Medical devices NetLogic $1.1 Telecommunication Xspedius Holding Corporation $1.0 Telecommunication T3 (Transaction Transport Technologies) $1.0 Payment processing Exegy $1.0 High speed data search APT Therapeutics $0.3 Drug discovery Kereos $0.1 Drug delivery Total $119.7   Source: DowJones Venture Source; PriceWaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree; St. Louis venture capital industry sources. INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS In August, 2004, Stereotaxis Inc., the developer of an advanced cardiology instrument control system for use in a hospital’s interventional surgical suite for the treatment of coronary artery disease and arrhythmias, closed a $48 million initial public offering.4 The Stereotaxis system is designed to allow physicians to more effectively navigate proprietary catheters, guidewires and stent delivery devices through the blood vessels and chambers of the heart to target sites and then to effect treatment. Stereotaxis’ technical and entrepreneurial roots go back to the late 1980s at the University of Virginia Medical School, where two professors, Matthew Howard and Sean Grady, did their initial work on magnetic navigation, in partnership with Rogers Ritter, a physicist experienced in magnetic levitation and steering. In 1990, Menlo Park, California-based Sanderling Ventures and an angel investor took an interest in the project and provided the first seed capital. The company moved to California. In late 1994, Stereotaxis, with only two employees, relocated from California to an office at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis to work with Dr. Ralph Dacey, chief of neurosurgery at the Washington University School of Medicine, who was an early supporter of magnetic navigation. The move was facilitated by a $5 million Series B financing organized by Gateway Associates, a St. Louis-based venture capital firm. Other participants in the financing were Sanderling Ventures and Alafi Capital, both California-based, and St. Louis-based Emerson, Barnes Jewish Hospital and Oakwood Medical Investors. Stereotaxis raised an additional $12 million in Series C financing in 1998. New St. Louis-based investors were A.G. Edwards, Advan-tage Capital, and BOME Investors. In addition, the financing attracted regional funds such as C.I.D. Equity Partners of Indianapolis and Greystone/Portage Ventures of Chicago. St. Louis-based Prolog Ventures also participated in later rounds. About this time, Stereotaxis relocated from Barnes Jewish Hospital to larger quarters in the Center for Emerging Technologies, a technology business incubator located close to the Hospital and the campus of Washington University’s School of Medicine. Altogether, Stereotaxis raised $130 million of equity prior to its August 2004 IPO. Much of the later capital came from funds located outside the Midwest, such as Advent International and Ampersand Ventures of Boston and E.G.S. Capital of New York, as well as strategic investments from Siemens and J&J Ventures. Today, Stereotaxis’ U.S. customers include Barnes Jewish Hospital, Central Baptist Hospital (Lexington, KY), and Massachusetts General Hospital. International customers include St. George Hospital (Hamburg) and Thorax Hospital (Rotterdam). In 2004, Stereotaxis announced that it will be moving its headquarters from the Center for Emerging Technologies to a new 165,000-square-foot building being constructed near the Washington University School of Medicine by CORTEX, a regional initiative to establish additional life sciences companies in St. Louis. The success of Stereotaxis demonstrates that significant new life science companies can be built in the St. Louis region. Key factors were the technology and senior management, both of which were imported, and $12 million of critical early-stage financing during 1995-98, much of which was provided by St. Louis firms. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES 2004 also included establishment of a number of strategic alliances between venture capital-backed and established technology companies. These arrangements provide important validation of a startup company’s technology, as well as research support, other funding and collaborative technology development. A sampling of these alliances includes: Kereos Inc., which develops targeted therapeutics and molecular imaging agents that detect and attack cancer and cardiovascular disease earlier and more specifically than previously possible, announced strategic partnership agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging and Dow Chemical in 2004. Kereos, which also has a long-standing relationship with Philips Molecular Imaging Group, was selected as one of the “Fierce 15” of the top emerging biotechnology companies for 2004 by FierceBiotech, an internationally-recognized publication for the biotech industry. Divergence Inc., a world leader in the application of genomics to parasitic and infectious disease in agriculture, announced a collaborative relationship with St. Louis-based Monsanto to develop nematode-resistant soybeans. As part of the collaboration, Monsanto will gain exclusive rights to Divergence’s existing technology in this area and provide funding for ongoing research. Divergence will also receive milestone payments based on research and development success, and royalties once products reach the marketplace. Chlorogen Inc., which uses a patented chloroplast technology to manufacture plant-made drugs and vaccines for the treatment and prevention of human diseases, signed a joint development and supply agreement with St. Louis-based Sigma-Aldrich Fine Chemicals. This collaboration is expected to produce the first commercial products from chloroplast transformation technology. Sigma-Aldrich will fund an undisclosed portion of Chlorogen’s efforts to produce four specific proteins in tobacco plants. The proteins will be sold to the reagent and cell culture markets and have pre-identified applications as active pharmaceutical ingredients. NEW FUNDS ESTABLISHED IN 2004 Thirteen venture capital funds with over $925 million of capital under management are headquartered in St. Louis, with over $400 million of venture capital raised by St. Louis-based venture capital firms since 2000. Reflecting the opportunities in the region, a fund-of-funds was established and two venture capital firms raised new funds. In addition, two venture capital firms headquartered outside the region established a presence in St. Louis. Vectis Life Sciences Fund I, an $81.5 million fund-of-funds established to help provide funding for the area’s plant and biomedical sciences, closed in January 2005. Vectis will make investments in life science venture capital funds with ties to Greater St. Louis and Missouri. To date, Vectis has invested in St. Louis-based Prolog II and Oakwood Medical Investors IV, as well as Advent Health Care Life Sciences, CMEA Ventures IV, HealthPoint Partnership, Accuitive Medical Venture Partners I, and Prospect Venture Partners III. The non-St. Louis-based funds have agreed to actively consider investment opportunities and syndications in St. Louis. Vectis is part of a strategy to build the region’s life science industry by attracting the attention of venture capital firms on the East and West coasts to the excellent investment opportunities in St. Louis. Investors in the fund include The Danforth Foundation, the James S. McDonnell Foun-dation, Washington University, Missouri Foundation for Health, Ameren Master Retirement Trust, University of Missouri System pension fund, Barnes-Jewish Founda-tion, Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 36 pension fund, and McCarthy Building Companies. Prolog Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in life sciences and related information technologies, closed its first fund in 2001 and began to raise capital for Prolog II, a $50 million fund scheduled to have its final closing in 2005. The region surrounding St. Louis is ranked among the highest in terms of NIH funding (a good proxy for the quality of this technology), yet it ranks among the lowest in venture funding. We see this as a unique opportunity. Brian Clevinger, Managing Director, Prolog Ventures Oakwood Medical Investors, a life science venture capital fund based in the region, closed Oakwood Medical Investors IV in 2004 at $43 million. Triathlon Medical Ventures, a Cincinnati-based biomedical fund with $96 million under management, opened its doors in St. Louis in 2004 so it could be near the region’s life science opportunities. St. Louis stood out in our view by having world-class biomedical research, sophisticated early-stage venture capitalists locally with whom we could co-invest, two life science incubators and a life sciences seed fund, BioGenerator. All this makes St. Louis a compelling location to create and grow new life science businesses. John Rice, Managing Director, Triathlon Medical Ventures. Arch Development Partners, a $4 million seed stage life sciences fund based in Chicago, established a presence in the St. Louis region to tap into early stage opportunities spinning out of the region’s research institutions. Arch is excited about the St. Louis opportunity, because it offers a nearly unique Midwestern combination of great science and technology supported both nationally and locally, a sophisticated management pool, and a civic commitment to creating a successful entrepreneurial environment. Tom Churchwell, Managing Partner, Arch Development Partners ST. LOUIS ANGEL INVESTORS EMERGE In addition to traditional venture capitalists, angel investors are taking heed of the investment opportunities in St. Louis. Aptly named, the St. Louis Arch Angels’ mission is to provide opportunities for members to obtain financial returns by investing in early-stage companies with high growth potential in the St. Louis region, and accelerate them to market leadership. Organized in late 2004, the network was launched in the first quarter of 2005 and is expected to grow to 50 members in the first year. Each member has agreed to invest a minimum of $50,000 per year in start-up companies. Equally important, the members have agreed to contribute in other ways, including helping to source deals, perform due diligence, serve on boards of directors and provide mentoring assistance to start-up companies. The investment range of the network is expected to be $200,000 to $2 million per company. Angel-backed companies are expected to be an important source of deal flow for venture capital firms. ENGINES OF INNOVATION The life science focus of many of the region’s venture capital firms reflects the depth of the region’s research and corporate base and an organized business and civic leadership focused on developing the region’s life science industry. The region has significant IT and advanced manufacturing assets as well. Key sources of innovation, talent and entrepreneurial support can be found throughout the St. Louis region, and include: Saint Louis University and Washington University and their schools of medicine are significant sources of technological innovation and talent. Washington University’s School of Medicine was ranked second in the country in NIH awards in 2003. Since 1927, 21 Nobel Laureates have been associated with Washington University. In 2004, Washington University launched a program with financial support from the Kauffman Foundation to make entrepreneurship education available across campus and transform the way entrepreneurship is viewed, taught and experienced. The Danforth Plant Science Center, one the largest independent research institutes in the world dedicated to plant genomics, and the Missouri Botanical Garden, one of the world’s premier botanical research institutes, are both significant magnets for talent and innovation in the region. Corporations such as Monsanto, Sigma-Aldrich, Pfizer, Nestlé Purina, Centocor and Tyco Healthcare/Mallinckrodt generate technology and talent that enrich the ecosystem for regional life science companies. Advanced manufacturing and IT companies such as Boeing, whose defense division is headquartered in the region, Emerson and SBC also are important sources of technology, management and technical talent. The region is now home to 30 early stage life science companies that together have raised over $310 million. Evidence of the strength of these companies was reflected at BIO’s Mid America Venture Forum, which was held in St. Louis in 2004. Sixty life science firms from across the Midwest were selected through rigorous review process to present their business plans to the venture capital community, twenty-one of which were from Greater St. Louis. The annual Missouri-based InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum, which is recognized as one of the Midwest’s premier venture capital events, has helped participating firms raise over $200 million from private equity investors. The region has two world-class life science incubators—the Nidus Center for Scien-tific Enterprise, located on the Monsanto corporate headquarters campus near the Danforth Plant Science Center, and the Center for Emerging Technologies, located in close proximity to Washington and Saint Louis University Schools of Medicine. Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC), a new IT incubator, recently opened to serve the needs of startup firms in this industry cluster. St. Louis has made more progress in the implementation of its plant and life sciences strategy than any region of the country and is well on the road to becoming the leading center for the plant sciences and a major center for the life sciences. Walt Plosila, Vice President, Technology Partnership Practice, Battelle Memorial Institute, 2004 BUILDING BUSINESSES IN THE ST. LOUIS REGION With twenty-one Fortune 1000 companies, over $1 billion of venture capital under management, and a strong and growing university and corporate technology base, the region has the talent, technology and capital for venture capital-backed enterprises to emerge and thrive. While much of the region’s focus since 2000 has been on building the financial, physical, and social infrastructure to capitalize on its significant base of plant and biomedical assets, attractive investment opportunities are emerging in other industries, including information technology, advanced manufacturing, and even retail, where St. Louis-based Build-a-Bear Workshop had an initial public offering in 2004. As Stereotaxis and similar examples demonstrate, the region can attract technology and talent who recognize a promising environment for building businesses. Top executive and scientific talent from the East and West coasts, who are often unfamiliar with St. Louis, are surprised by the lifestyle amenities they find here, including a world class symphony, zoo, science center, botanical garden; first class art and history museums; a full range of neighborhood options—urban, older inner-ring suburbs, suburban, and rural; excellent air service and central location for executives who must travel to all regions of the country; professional baseball, football and hockey; excellent public and private schools; an impressive base of scientific and technological talent; an attractive cost of living; and a business, education and civic leadership dedicated to continually improving the environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. As venture capital legend Peter Brooke has noted, St. Louis has all the ingredients to become a region for great venture capital investment, and is positioning itself well for 2005 and beyond. Beyond his good words, Brooke also closed an $81.5 million life sciences fund-of-funds in St. Louis in 2004. ST. LOUIS-BASED VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS — 2004 Fund Manager Venture Fund Capital Under Management Year Formed Advantage Capital Partners Advantage Capital Partners St. Louis $56.5 1992 Ascension Health Ventures LLC Ascension Health Ventures Fund I $125.0 2001 Bush O'Donnell Capital   $75.0 2003 BioGenerator   $5.8 2003 Community Investment Partners Community Investment Partners V.L.P. $6.5 1990 Gateway Associates Gateway I-III, BOME I-III $180.0 1984 Oakwood Medical Investors Oakwood Healthcare Investors IV $77.0 1997 Prolog Ventures Prolog Capital I-II $71.0 2001 RiverVest Venture Partners RiverVest Venture Fund I, L.P. $89.0 2000 Capital for Business Inc.   $100 1959 Stifel, Nicolaus & Company Inc. Stifel CAPCO Funds $30.0 1997 Total   $715.8   ST. LOUIS-BASED FUND-OF-FUNDS A.G. Edwards Capital Inc. A.G. Edwards Private Equity Partners $228.0 1999 Vectis Fund Vectis Life Sciences Fund I $81.5 2004 Total   $309.5   VENTURE CAPITAL FIRMS WITH ST. LOUIS BRANCH OFFICES Triathlon Medical Ventures (Cincinatti) Triathlon Medical Ventures Fund I $96.0 2004 VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTED IN ST. LOUIS REGION Year Total ($M) 2000 $423.9 2001 $124.1 2002 $72.8 2003 $93.2 2004 $119.7 Total $833.7 LOCATION OF U.S. AND EUROPEAN VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS INVESTING IN THE ST. LOUIS REGION IN 2004 FUND MANAGER HEADQUARTERS LOCATION Advantage Capital Missouri Advent Partner United Kingdom Alafi Capital Company California Apex Venture Partners Illinois Ascension Health Ventures LLC Missouri BA Venture Partners California Baird Venture Partners Illinois Boeing Co & Consolidated Subsidiaries Illinois Capital for Business Inc. Missouri CID Equity Partners Indiana Gateway Associates L.P. Missouri ComVentures California Fletcher Spaght Investors Massachusetts Granite Global Ventures California Health Care Ventures Massachusetts HF Management Indianai Highland Capital Massachusetts HIG Capital Management Florida Life Science Partners BV Netherlands MDS Capital Canada Merrill Lynch Ventures New York Mi3 Venture Partners Massachusetts Pacestter Capital Group Texas Pacific Venture Group California Portage Venture Partners Illinois Prolog Ventures LLC Missouri River Cities Capital Funds Ohio RiverVest Venture Partners Missouri Schroder Ventures Life Sciences Massachusetts Southeastern Technology Fund Alabama Sterling Partners Illinois SUMMARY OF COMPANIES RECEIVING VENTURE CAPITAL IN 2004 Ageia Technologies develops technology to enhance interactive media playback. The company develops chips for processing three dimensional visual data for applications such as computer simulation, gaming, and security. Its product—PhysX — is a physics semiconductor chip that can enable realistic videogame graphics like crumpling fenders in car crashes, exploding buildings with tons of debris and a wall of lava that flows like the real thing. Ageia employs 100 people. Appistry (FKA Tsunami Research) has created a software-based environment providing “fault tolerance” to software applications. Appistry Enterprise Application Fabric (“Appistry EAF”) allows applications to be deployed with absolute dependability without requiring premium hardware. Appistry EAF applications are written using a simplified development model, are scalable to hundreds of processors and are extremely simple to operate. Appistry is selling its product in the telecommunications, financial services and government sectors, and employs 25 people. APT Therapeutics is a developer of development stage biotech software and drug discovery technologies. The company maintains a strategic focus on small molecule drug optimization (via strategic alliances) while building infrastructure to develop proprietary therapeutic proteins. Centerre Healthcare is a provider of inpatient rehabilitation services in partnership with general acute care hospitals using either a joint venture or hospital-within-a-hospital platform. The company enables hospitals to develop or continue to offer high quality inpatient rehabilitation services that meet their patient and physician needs, while minimizing their operational and reimbursement risk. Centerre employs 100 people. Divergence, a world leader in the application of genomics to agriculture and infectious disease, discovers and develops proprietary products for the safe and effective control of parasitic diseases. Plant parasitic nematodes are the largest unsolved pest problem in agricultural chemistry. Despite billions of dollars in annual crop damage, current means of control are limited and environmentally damaging. Parasitic nematodes also pose major health risks to humans and animals, and resistance to current drugs is increasingly a problem in livestock infections. Breakthroughs at Divergence are demonstrating that comparative and functional genomics can revolutionize the future of parasite control in plants, animals and humans. Everest Biomedical Instruments develops neurological and brain-state assessment devices. The products consist of low cost handheld monitors and a recurring revenue stream of disposable sensors. The initial product monitors depth of anesthesia. The company is developing a family of handheld brain-state assessment devices capable of turning those data into clinically relevant information that objectively detect critical conditions of the brain at the bedside or at the first point of care. It’s current product—Snap II—combines electroencephalograph and auditory evoked potentials in a portable, hand-held, battery-operated anesthesia monitoring device enabling the anesthetician to know what is happening in the entire brain while the patient is under anesthesia. Everest employs 20 people. Exegy integrates search-optimized data storage systems, data mining and business intelligence appliances, greatly accelerating knowledge mining in a data mart environment. Exegy’s technology is especially powerful over very large—multi-hundred of Terabytes or more—data stores such as those utilized by financial services and U.S. intelligence agencies. Isto Technologies is a developer of engineered tissues and chemical compounds for the repair or regeneration of human tissue that has been injured or destroyed by trauma or disease. The company’s technology is being developed to grow human cartilage tissue from chondrocytes derived from human donors. This laboratory-grown cartilage is intended for surgical implantation to repair or replace injured or diseased cartilage in the knee or other joints. Its product—Neocartilage—is an in vitro cultured cartilage graft that is intended for use in patients with early cartilage damage. With early intervention, Neocartilage will help prevent the development of osteoarthritis. Isto employs 25 people. Kereos is a developer of targeted therapeutics and molecular imaging agents that detect and attack cancer and cardiovascular earlier and more specifically than previously possible, and was selected as one of the “Fierce 15” of the top emerging biotechnology companies for 2004 by FierceBiotech, an internationally-recognized publication for the biotech industry. Metaphore Pharmaceuticals is a developer of drugs to prevent and treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and disorders, and pain. The company develops small molecule compounds that mimic the activity of human enzymes. Its lead compounds mimic the function of superoxide dismutase, a beneficial enzyme that serves a protective role in the body by removing superoxide, a toxic free radical that can damage cells and tissues. The company currently focuses its clinical development efforts in the areas of pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory disorders, and employs 35 people. MetaMatrix is a provider of enterprise information integration and enterprise metadata management solutions. The company’s solution acts as a virtual database to unify and deliver information on demand, across the entire enterprise. The technology is for model-driven integration components for Service Oriented Architectures. The company enables organizations to turn their distributed, disparate, and often cryptic data into a powerful, comprehensive, and accessible information utility. MetaMatrix employs 70 people; its customers include Merrill Lynch, U.S. and foreign government, SAP and other Global 1000 companies. NetLogic is a provider of communications services. The company delivers high-speed Internet, local, and long distance services, web hosting services, and inter-city private line services. The company is currently focusing operations in the Midwest United States, employs eight people, and has about 500 customers, including UPS, Bobcat, RF/Max, Radioshack, and SSM Healthcare. Quick Study Radiology is a provider of integrated digital image and management solutions. The company’s HIPAA compliant components in PACS, image and report storage and distribution, scheduling, and billing improve workflow and collections for hospitals, imaging centers, and radi-ology professionals. Quick Study employs 26 people and its target customers include hospitals under 300 beds, initially focused in the Midwest. Stereotaxis is a developer of an advanced cardiology instrument control system for use in a hospital’s interventional surgical suite for the treatment of coronary artery disease and arrhythmias. The Stereotaxis System is designed to allow physicians to more effectively navigate proprietary catheters, guidewires and stent delivery devices, through the blood vessels and chambers of the heart to treatment sites and then to effect treatment. This is achieved using computer-controlled, externally applied magnetic fields that precisely and directly govern the motion of the working tip of the catheter, guidewire or stent delivery device. The company’s Niobe System is a magnetic navigation system that digitally navigates the catheter and guide wire based devices along the paths of the heart and cardiovasculature. NAVIGANT Advanced User Interface-An integrated information and control center that consolidates the key information sources used by interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists and allows these physicians to provide instrument control directions to precisely govern the motion of the working tip of disposable interventional devices. CARDIODRIVE Automated Catheter Advancer-The CARDIODRIVE automated catheter advancer is used to advance and retract the catheter in the patient’s heart while the NIOBE magnets precisely steer the working tip of the device. The company’s domestic customers include Barnes Jewish Hospital (St. Louis), Central Baptist (Lexington, KY), Massachusetts General Hospital, Providence (Waco, Texas), Trinity Mother Francis, University of Oklahoma, University of Iowa, and Rush Presbyterian. International customers include St. George (Hamburg) and Thorax (Rotterdam). Stereotaxis employs 21 people. Singulex is a provider of ultrasensitive instrumentation, assays, and related reagents for infectious disease, blood screening, and biodefense. The company provides an instrument that differentiates and counts individual molecules, cells, and microspheres, in solution. The company’s instrument enables the user to count thousands of particles in a single test, simultaneously differentiating multiple molecular species of proteins and nucleic acids. It is capable of detecting nucleic acid hybridization at the single-molecule level. The technology works in complex and dirty samples such as serum or environmental samples. Unlike PCR, it requires no amplification. The company has demonstrated its sensitivity is 100 times greater than a commercial TSH test and 30 times more sensitive than a commercial PSA test. Singulex employs nine people. Transaction Transport Technologies (T3) allows "brick and mortar" merchants to cycle customer credit and debit card transactions faster and/or cheaper through the use of broadband technology. The T3 technology also allows the greater flexibility in sourcing credit and debit card transaction processing relative to the dominant prevailing technologies, which is a material cost to many merchants. The company has established its core operations around a server hosting/maintenance arrangement with AT&T that includes the provision of highly scalable, very low cost customer facing bandwidth, and high-speed direct connections into the major credit and debit card processing companies T3 is beginning the roll-out of its service to the market and has already sold the service to 526 merchant locations. Xspedius Communications is a provider of integrated communications services to small to medium-sized enterprises in the southern United States. The company offers integrated voice and data/Internet services to residential customers and small and medium-sized businesses, and offers Internet service through SDSL and T1’s. The company delivers a comprehensive suite of services, including local and long distance voice, data, and dedicated Internet access services, in 46 facilities-based markets located in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The company owns, operates, and manages metropolitan fiber optic networks with significant transmission capacity that cover more than 3,500 route miles and allow the company to manage its own voice and data traffic. Xspedius employs 950 people. Vibe Solutions Group offers a state-of-the art video communications platform that is both robust and modular. Partners can choose from the entire Vibe Commu-nications Platform, or select one of the application modules for deployment. Vibe’s products include Vibe Video Phone, Vibe Video Mail, Vibe Video Mail Pro, Vibe Media Share, and Vibe Platform. It customers include Comcast, Charter, Road Runner and Fidelity.

June 2005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Marcia Mellitz adds to the area’s synergy with her leadership of the CET. Danforth Center’s Roger Beachy is fueled up about partnerships. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.technologygateway.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Karen Klaus touts the importance of a vibrant art scene. Many execs are going the distance in the office and on the track, like Donna F. Botkin of U.S. Bank. Centene CEO Michael Neidorff believes in doing the right thing.