FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
David A. Jones, Jr.
Chairman & Managing Director
Chrysalis Ventures
Phone: (502) 583-7644      

Irving Bailey Of Chrysalis Ventures To Meet With Afghan President As Part Of Business Building Bridges Initiative

LOUISVILLE, KY (September 25, 2006) – Chrysalis Ventures, LLC, today announced that Senior Advisor Irving W. Bailey has been selected as a leader of the Businesses Building Bridges (BBB) initiative and will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today to discuss Afghanistan’s reconstruction.

On January 30, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Karzai launched the BBB initiative to highlight the importance of the private sector in Afghanistan’s reconstruction. High-level U.S. business leaders were selected to offer strategic vision and guidance to Afghan leaders on how to activate private sector growth in their country. The BBB leaders will develop a set of recommendations for the Afghan government on ways to aid and promote the private sector. The BBB group will also develop partnership and mentoring links with Afghan business leaders, to encourage further foreign investment and U.S. business involvement in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai will meet at Blair House, Monday, September 25, with seven high-level U.S. business executives who will lead the BBB initiative. The executives are David Murdock, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dole Food Company, Inc.; Len Rodman, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Black & Veatch Corporation; Carol Bartz, Executive Chairman of the Board, Autodesk, Inc.; Barbara Barrett, Owner and President, Triple Creek Guest Ranch; Joie Gregor, Vice-Chairman, Heidrick and Struggles; Irving Bailey, Senior Advisor, Chrysalis Ventures; and Mike McCullough, former Chief Executive Officer, Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.

Also attending the meeting will be Liza Wright, Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel, Josette Sheeran, Under Secretary for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs; Daniel S. Sullivan, Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs, and Robert Mosbacher, Jr., President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

In addition to their meeting with President Karzai, the executives will also meet with senior officials at the White House and the Department of State.

Mr. Bailey has co-invested with Chrysalis Ventures since 1998 and subsequently joined the firm as Managing Director from 2001 - 2004. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to Chrysalis Ventures and participates in deliberations of the firm's investment committee.

From 1988 until its 1997 sale to AEGON N.V., Mr. Bailey served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Providian Corporation, a Fortune 200 company and one of the region's largest publicly traded companies. The sale of Providian led to several billion dollars of value creation for Providian’s shareholders. Mr. Bailey previously served as Providian's President and Chief Operating Officer. Before Providian, he served at Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company as Senior Vice President, Investments (1976-81), and as Vice President, Bond Investments (1971-76). Until 1971, he was Assistant Vice President, Investment Department of Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York. Mr. Bailey has 40 years of formal portfolio management experience. He holds a BA from the University of Colorado and an MBA from New York University.

Mr. Bailey has held a wide variety of civic leadership positions and led a number of successful fundraising campaigns throughout Kentucky. He is a former director of the Board of Governors of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC). Mr. Bailey also serves on the boards of Aegon N.V. (NYSE: AEG), Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC), and Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP).

About Chrysalis Ventures

Founded in 1993, Chrysalis Ventures is a leading source of equity capital for young growth companies in the Midwest and South. Chrysalis invests primarily in early-stage and expansion-stage companies in healthcare services and technology, media and communications, and business services. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Chrysalis has more than $250 million under management and has made investments in over 50 companies. For more information, please visit www.chrysalisventures.com.

 

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