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CED REACHES MEMBERSHIP MILESTONE
The Council for Entrepreneurial Development's Membership Tops 1000
CED, now the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation, was founded in 1984 by a group of forward-thinking business leaders seeking to establish a network for the exchange of information among entrepreneurs, investors and service professionals and to increase the amount of venture capital available to young companies. The 1000 membership total translates into more than 3000 individuals who are actively involved in CED.
"Our early expectation for the organization was a few hundred entrepreneurs. 1000 members is pretty phenomenal. It certainly exceeds what we expected," states Fred Hutchison, CED's founding president. "The numbers reflect that CED is providing services that entrepreneurs use and can benefit from by providing networking, education and help with fundraising."
While the majority of CED's membership does represent CED's target audience-high-growth entrepreneurs (70%), CED membership also represents an array of other industries. Here is a brief breakdown of CED Membership:
Information Technology |
35% |
Life Sciences |
28% |
Service Professionals (venture capitalists, attorneys, accountants, consultants, investment banks, etc.) |
30% |
Other Entrepreneurial Businesses |
7% |
As membership has multiplied, CED has not lost sight of the needs of entrepreneurs. In fact, Monica Doss, CED's executive director, was recently recognized as the 1999 Entrepreneur of the Year in the Supporter of the Year category.
When asked why CED membership had so rapidly grown, Doss replied, "CED's leadership recognizes that we must continually challenge and recalibrate our programs and services to anticipate the needs of entrepreneurs in this hot economic sector."
CED's increase in membership has spilled over to its programs and conferences as well, forcing CED to move to larger venues for both programs and conferences. Last year's Venture '99 conference reached record highs-850+, more than 170 more attendees than the year prior. For more information about CED, please call 919.549.7500 or visit www.cednc.org.
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. CED also offers the FastTrac entrepreneurial training program, youth programs and other outreach programs.
CED is a private, non-profit organization and is the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 3,000 members representing 1000 entrepreneurial companies, financiers and professional firms.