CED News

Biotech research leaders, policy maker and entrepreneurs from across the state gravitated to the Raleigh Convention Center for CED's 18th annual Biotech conference, making it the largest conference in CED's history.

There was standing room only for the opening day sessions including remarks by The Honorable Beverly Eaves Perdue, Governor of North Carolina, James C. Mullen, President & CEO of Biogen Idec, Holden Thorp, Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a panel of experts discussing biotechnology in the new administration.

Hold the date for CED's Biotech 2010 happening February 22-23 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

A panel of search firm owners in the triangle, including Anastasia Pucci of Carlyle & Conlan, Kim Foster of Elinvar, Gary Greene of Greene Resources and Craig Stone of HireNetworks, will each share with you their perspective on the local job market, the opportunities they are seeing within their respective fields. They will offer advice on effectively working with recruiters and differentiating your candidacy with a prospective employer.

Register today for this FREE member-only event happening February 23, 2009 from 5:00pm to 6:30pm.

Over the past 25 years, CED's Venture conference has created business opportunities for hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors across North Carolina and the Southeast. Reserve your seat before March 13 to save up to $200.

Why Attend CED's Venture 2009:

* Hear from featured speakers such as Janet Cowell, North Carolina State Treasurer, and Erskine Bowles, president of The University of North Carolina

* Attend presentations from the best of the region's high-growth entrepreneurial companies

* Network with hundreds of investors, tech and life science entrepreneurs and other leaders in the venture capital community

For more information, please contact Jessica Hegele at 919.549.7500 x103.

Join leading executives and policy makers to discuss the future, past and present of biotechnology at CED's Biotech 2009 happening February 16-17 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Onsite registration will open at 12:30 p.m. on February 16.

Please Note: The February 16 Gala Dinner will be available to pre-registered guests only.

Click here for a complete agenda.

For more information, please contact Jessica Hegele at 919.549.7500 x103.

CED partners with Carlyle & Conlan, a leading, privately held executive search firm, to provide members a free program series titled 'Finding Your Next Career Opportunity'. This series will cover topics such as professional and social networking, the local job market, interview preparation and more.

Your Best Interview, February 10, 2009 from 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m.

The Local Job Market - A Recruiter's Perspective, February 23, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

There Is Only One First Impression ... Effectively Marketing Yourself, March 18, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

To register or learn more about this program, please contact Elizabeth Call at 919.226.0482.

This guest column was written by Jeffrey C. Hart, a shareholder of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A., a corporate and commercial law firm with over 130 attorneys. The firm has offices in Chapel Hill and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Rock Hill, South Carolina. Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A. has been an active CED member since 2002.

Do you help businesses raise debt or equity capital in exchange for fees? Are you compensated for matching buyers and sellers in business acquisitions? If so, you may need to register as a broker-dealer under applicable securities laws. Many individuals, consulting firms and small investment banks are unaware that engaging in capital raise and acquisition activities for third parties may require them to register as broker-dealers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The failure to register can result in the inability to enforce fee obligations, the imposition of government sanctions and fines and a prohibition on future securities and acquisition activities.

Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") requires a person acting as a "broker" or a "dealer" in securities to register with the SEC. Both brokers and dealers are persons who are "engaged in the business of" buying and selling securities. Brokers arrange securities transactions for others, whereas dealers purchase and sell securities for their own accounts.

For purposes of the Exchange Act, persons are "engaged in the business of" of buying and selling securities if they demonstrate a "regularity of participation" in such transactions. A person's participation in a single, isolated transaction is insufficient to require registration. Nevertheless, the SEC and the courts interpret the phrase "engaged in the business" broadly. Generally, if a person engages in more than one broker-dealer transaction, this part of the broker-dealer definition is satisfied.

The courts and the SEC have identified a number of indicia that business practices constitute broker-dealer activity. These so-called "badges" of broker-dealer activity include, but are not limited to: (1) actively soliciting buyers or investors for a business; (2) advising buyers or investors as to the merits of a securities transaction and (3) actively participating in the negotiation or execution of a securities transaction. If a person engages in these activities (e.g., a private placement of securities or a business acquisition structured as a stock sale or merger) and receives transaction-based compensation (e.g., a commission based on the size of the transaction or a success fee), the person likely must register with the SEC as a broker-dealer.

To learn more about engaging in activities that may trigger the Exchange Act's broker-dealer registration requirements, click here.

CED has joined the Microsoft BizSpark program to provide members fast and easy access to Microsoft's current, full-featured development tools and production licenses of server products with no upfront costs. Microsoft BizSpark is a new global program specifically designed to help put promising technology startups on an even faster track to success. Click here to learn more.

If you or someone you know would be interested in enrolling in the program, please contact Dhruv Patel at 919.226.0476 or visit www.microsoftstartupzone.com.

Frederick Frank, vice chairman of Barclays Capital and Michael Baldock, founding partner of Quattro Partners, LLP join a panel on financing at CED's 18th Annual Biotech Conference.

Frank and Baldock have both provided investment banking services to many companies in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotech sectors, including HSBC, Lehman Brothers, Epix Pharmaceuticals, Bentley Health Care and many more.

Register before February 11 for CED's 18th annual Biotech Conference to take advantage of pre-registration savings. For more information regarding the conference, please visit www.cednc.org/biotech.

CED partners with Carlyle & Conlan, a leading, privately held executive search firm, to provide members a free program series titled 'Finding Your Next Career Opportunity'. Four (4) dates have been confirmed covering topics such as professional and social networking, the local job market, interview preparation and more.

Finding Your Next Career Opportunity, February 2, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. - 6: 30 p.m.

Your Best Interview, February 10, 2009 from 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m.

The Local Job Market - A Recruiter's Perspective, February 23, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

There Is Only One First Impression ... Effectively Marketing Yourself, March 18, 2009 from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

To register or learn more about this program, please contact Elizabeth Call at 919.226.0482.

Joan Siefert Rose, CED president, is scheduled to speak at the Women's Edge magazine luncheon on Thursday, January 22. Rose's speech, titled "Entrepreneurship in a Challenging Economy," will address the Triangle's robust climate for business innovation and how to expand entrepreneurship in the region, followed by a Q&A session. The luncheon will be held from 11:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. at the Capital City Club, located on the 21st floor of the Progress Energy building at 411 Fayetteville St. in Raleigh. For more information or to register for the luncheon, visit www.womensedgemagazine.com.