Herndon, VA -- October 1, 1999 -- The Greater Washington region has seen an explosion of Internet-related industries, is seen both inside and outside the region as one of the top technology centers in the country, and is well on its way to building the infrastructure to support the growth of this critical economic sector.

For those reasons, the Board of Directors of the Potomac KnowledgeWay Project voted yesterday to acknowledge that the organization's work has been completed.

Founded in 1995 as a five year project, the KnowledgeWay's mission was to increase the region's awareness and understanding of an emerging revolution brought on by the Internet, so the Greater Washington community could take advantage of the many opportunities this kind of change affords. The Internet revolution is now well on its way, with the Greater Washington region being cited again and again as one of the top technology centers in the country.

"We are very excited about having had the opportunity to make a significant contribution to our region," said Mario Morino, a founder of the Project and its chairman. "We achieved our mission and don't want to outlive it. We believe we should hand the baton to others, especially the Potomac Conference, to carry on the next phase of growth for this critical sector of our region's economy."

Morino noted that the next step for growth of the entire Greater Washington community involves the need to develop greater collaboration on regional efforts and the emergence of regional leadership.

The organization's many achievements and efforts helped to stimulate business start-ups and increase the flow of private equity to fuel a strong entrepreneurial core within the region. The KnowledgeWay has been a thought leader and idea generator which has influenced others and spawned a number of new initiatives and groups in the region.

During the first months of the KnowledgeWay's existence, Board members had a sense that they were going to be part of an extraordinary change within the region. They made a commitment and gave time and effort toward ensuring that the KnowledgeWay provided relevant and valuable informational and educational programs to enhance the potential for the Internet related revolution to be realized in the Greater Washington area. Additionally, investors from a wide variety of industries and both large and small companies should be recognized.

"We obviously were not alone in helping the Greater Washington region focus on and foster the InfoComm revolution that has occurred here," said Fred L. Bollerer, president and CEO of the KnowledgeWay. "However, we are very proud of the part we played in making this vision a reality -- helping to lay the foundation for sustained New Economy economic growth."

The Potomac KnowledgeWay Project's operations will be phased out over a relatively brief period of time and will officially conclude at the end of its fiscal year, March 2000.