Conference
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 5 -Two of Philadelphia's most successful entrepreneurs will be honored for their contributions to the region's business community at the 2005 Mid-Atlantic Venture Conference (MAVC) being held on October 17 and 18, 2005.
Rebecca Matthias, founder, president and COO of Mothers Work, Inc., and Michael Zisman, founder of Soft-Switch and managing director of Internet Capital Group, will be the first inductees in the inaugural MAVC Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be held Monday, October 17 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center immediately before the MAVC opening gala reception.
"The MAVC has helped hundreds of young companies - including Mothers Work in 1989 and Soft-Switch in 1992 - find the relationships, opportunities and investments to grow into thriving national and international businesses," says Barry M. Abelson, co-chairman of the 2005 MAVC. "The Hall of Fame is our way of celebrating these successful business leaders and demonstrating the growth potential of each and every MAVC Featured Company. We couldn't ask for two more successful, influential and pioneering entrepreneurs than Rebecca and Michael as our first Hall of Fame members."
The MAVC is the premier destination for entrepreneurs and private equity investors from the East Coast and beyond. The MAVC Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Venture Group (GPVG), was created to honor regional business leaders who have taken their companies from promising start-ups to successful businesses that contribute to the economic growth of the Philadelphia region.
Mothers Work is now the leading designer, manufacturer, and marketer of maternity fashions in the U.S. Matthias founded Mothers Work when she was 28, pregnant with her first child, and realized it was hard to find maternity clothing appropriate for the office. By tapping into an underserved market of working pregnant women, Matthias has grown Mothers Work into a $500 million publicly traded fashion empire (Nasdaq: MWRK) with retail outlets that include Mimi Maternity(R), Motherhood(R), A Pea in the Pod(R), and Destination Maternity(TM) - with more than 1,500 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. A graduate of MIT, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania, Matthias is a frequent speaker, and author of "Mothers Work" and "51 Secrets of Motherhood (That Your Mother Never Told You)."
Michael Zisman started his technology career in 1979 by founding Soft- Switch Inc., a leading supplier of products to interconnect legacy electronic mail systems. He became CEO of Lotus Development Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM, when Soft-Switch was acquired by Lotus in 1994. He later became vice president of Corporate Strategy for IBM. He is managing director of Internet Capital Group in Wayne, Pa., which builds software and services companies that drive business productivity and reduce transaction costs between firms that use Internet technology. Zisman is a former faculty member of MIT's Sloan School of Management, and a graduate of Lehigh University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
For more information about attending the 2005 Mid-Atlantic Venture Conference, and the inductees into the MAVC Hall of Fame, please visit http://www.mavc.org. Media may contact Kristy Lash at 610-642-8253 or Kristy@GregoryFCA.com.
About MAVC
Since 1988, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Conference (MAVC) has been the destination of choice for entrepreneurs and private equity professionals from the eastern United States and beyond. The MAVC is the opportunity for leading investors to find the most promising emerging and growth companies, and for pioneering entrepreneurs to make the connections that empower their companies to become tomorrow's business leaders. MAVC participants network with leading private equity investors, investment bankers, commercial lenders and professional advisors, and enjoy dynamic speakers and lively panel discussions on the hottest topics in business throughout the year. For additional information, please visit http://www.mavc.org.
