New Leadership Coming to connectkentucky and CITE

June 4, 2004


A non-profit organization, working closely with state government to make Kentucky more attractive for business and competitive in the new economy, has announced new leadership.
Don Vitale, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for Information Technology Enterprise (CITE) announced today that Brian Mefford will assume the role of President and Chief Executive Officer of CITE. The organization is the administrator of the Governor’s connectkentucky partnership and other New Economy economic development initiatives.

Mefford joined Governor Fletcher's administration in January under Commerce Cabinet Secretary Jim Host. He was the Commerce Cabinet’s Executive Director of Policy and Chief Information Officer. As the new President and CEO of CITE, Mefford will fill the vacancy left by Dr. Linda Johnson, who is returning to her academic career at Western Kentucky University. Mefford will join CITE as of July 1.

“I appreciate the work that Brian has done on behalf of the Fletcher administration,” said Secretary Jim Host. “He will be an effective leader for connectkentucky and CITE, and his dedication will prove to be a valuable asset to the Commonwealth in this capacity.”

Don Vitale, CITE Chairman of the Board stated, “We are confident that Brian will not only continue to grow the organization of CITE, but that his vision and expertise will have a dramatic impact on its work toward regional economic growth.”

John Hall, connectkentucky Co-Chair and retired Chairman and CEO of Ashland Inc., emphasized, “Brian’s work with Governor Fletcher’s
administration and his first-hand knowledge as the previous director of the connectkentucky partnership will further strengthen the organization. Through CITE and connectkentucky there is a tremendous potential to grow statewide technology-based economic development.”

Through connectkentucky, CITE will continue to assist the Commonwealth and leverage its public-private partnerships to implement Kentucky’s statewide technology-based economic development strategies.

CITE, (pronounced “sight”), the program leader of connectkentucky, is a contract research and consulting enterprise that provides information technology strategy and policy planning to business, government, and educational institutions around the globe.

connectkentucky is a public-private partnership between the Commonwealth of Kentucky, private industry, Kentucky's universities and CITE. In 2003, connectkentucky was recognized as a national best practice for New Economy initiatives. connectkentucky’s industry partners currently include: Alltel (NYSE: AT), Bank One (NYSE: ONE), Belcan, Bellsouth (NYSE: BLS), Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB), CSX (NYSE: CSX), Humana (NYSE: HUM), Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT), Qwest (NYSE: Q), Toyota (NYSE: TM), USEC (NYSE: USU), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM).

For more information on connectkentucky visit:
www.connectkentucky.org

Contact:
CITE
Susan Dennis
270.781.4320 ext. 27
sdennis@citeinc.com

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