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Cisco Systems Expands RTP Operations into a Fourth Building


Cisco Systems Inc.

is expanding into its fourth Research Triangle Park building, raising its total square footage in the RTP to more than 400,000. The 125,000-square-foot has a capacity for 400 employees and will be Cisco's largest in RTP.

Cisco plans to house its 300-employee InterWorks business unit in the new building. Two more buildings are scheduled for completion within a year.

RTP is the base of major operations for Cisco, which has headquarters in San Jose, CA.

The Aurora Funds Closes on $12 Million Fund


Durham-based Aurora Funds closed on $12 million from investors for Aurora Ventures II, its latest venture capital fund. Aurora Ventures II is about twice the size of the firm's earlier fund.

The Aurora Funds was formed in 1994. The Fund invests primarily in information technology and life science companies in North Carolina and the southeastern United States, with typical investments ranging from $250,000 to $1,500,000 per company.

Digital Recorders to Acquire Robinson-Turney International


Research Triangle Park-based Digital Recorders, Inc., a microelectronics company and developer of communications systems, plans to acquire Dallas-based technology firm Robinson Turney International in a stock deal.

The stock trade is valued at 200,000 shares of Digital Recorders stock, worth about $600,000, to shareholders of Robinson Turney, a privately held company.

Robinson Turney is an international business and market development firm engaged in technology development, mergers, acquisitions, business development and other services for transit and transportation equipment companies.

Come Test Drive the Area's Hottest Technology at Software '98


Come test-drive the latest technology generated by North Carolina software developers at Software '98, the Southeast's premier software industry conference. The eighth annual conference, a showcase the best of North Carolina's $3-billion software industry, will be held on October 16, 1998, at the Kenan Flagler Business School's McColl Building on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The conference brings together software entrepreneurs, CEOs and executives primarily from the Research Triangle area and other Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to learn about business and technology trends and software/Internet business "how to's." Last year, 450 people attended the conference. Register Now! For more information, contact Evelyn Hughes.

Check Out Upcoming CED Programs and Events!


FastTrac Information Session

Date: August 12, 1998
Time: Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Location: CED, Research Triangle Park
Registration required-- Register Online! Early FastTrac Applications Due August 14th

Do you have an idea for a new business but need to develop a plan?
Do you want to increase your business revenues and profitability?
Do you need to develop a business plan to seek funding or for strategic purposes?
Join us for lunch to learn about the FastTrac entrepreneurial training program!

  • More than 16,000 people have taken FastTrac since its inception in 1986. FastTrac graduates outperform non-graduates in all business measurements.

  • The SBA reports that only 40% of new businesses are still in existence 5 years after start-up, but 74% of FastTrac businesses are still operating successfully.

  • 40-55% of FastTrac graduates more than double their sales within two years of graduation.

Information Technology Roundtable: SOP 97-2 and It's Impact on Your Financial Statement
Date: August 12, 1998
Time: 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Location: CED, Research Triangle Park
Contact: Bill Spruill
Join us at for an open forum discussion designed to inform information technology professionals about SOP 97-2, a major change in how financial statements are structured with regard to software companies. Les Bethune of Ernst & Young will lead the discussion.

August CED Member Meeting: War Stories of Arrived Entrepreneurs
Date: August 19, 1998
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Location: MCNC, Research Triangle Park
Contact: Bill Spruill
Learn firsthand from seasoned entrepreneur Mike Shook, founder and president of Strategic Technologies, at War Stories of the Arrived Entrepreneur, the CED Member Meeting. One of the area's premiere entrepreneurs, Shook will share some personal ups and downs as an entrepreneur.

North Carolina Technology 50 Awards Dinner
Date: August 20, 1998
Time: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Location: Sheraton Imperial, RTP
Contact: Deloitte & Touche
North Carolina's 50 fastest growing technology companies will be recognized at the North Carolina Technology 50 Awards Dinner. The dinner is sponsored by Deloitte & Touche, CED, J&H Marsh McLennan, Triangle Business Journal and Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice with associate sponsors NCEITA, NCBIO and MEC. The North Carolina Technology 50 is an annual ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies based in North Carolina. The rankings are based on percentage of revenue growth.