(Detroit) April 5, 2006—Great Lakes Angels, the on-site investor organization at TechTown, announces the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors. They are:

• Cal Parent, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor based in Windsor, Ontario;
• Kurt Riegger, a venture partner at North Coast Technology Investors in Ann Arbor, and;
• Thomas Anderson, the senior director of the Technology Center at Automation Alley, headquartered in Troy.

“We are pleased to have such strong new directors added to our board,” says David Weaver, president of Great Lakes Angels. “They will expand our regional scope, enhance our base of knowledge about auto technology research and strengthen our deal flow expertise.”

Great Lakes Angels, a nonprofit corporation, hosts deal evaluation events for active investors ten times a year. Attendance is open to investors who intend to make a minimum $25,000 investment in one or more companies presented each year. Every participant must be an accredited investor or approved as designated screener for an accredited investor by the Great Lakes Angels Membership Committee.

Great Lakes Angels’ next event, to be held April 18, will include a panel discussion on portfolio asset allocation featuring entrepreneurs Terry Cross, Randy Dence and Ron Reed. Attendees will review two ventures for potential investment opportunities. Says Weaver, “We are the only angel group in the region that offers education to private investors in addition to presenting highly screened deals.”

Parent, Riegger and Anderson begin their terms this month, joining eight other board members including TechTown Executive Director Howard Bell. Great Lakes Angels, one of TechTown’s first tenants, moved into TechOne in 2004. TechTown is supporting the angel group through a $45,000 grant over three years. The grant cycle is now in its second year.

“This partnership represents a key component of TechTown’s primary goal: economic development,” says Bell. “In order for our city and our state to experience significant economic growth, entrepreneurs who are driving the technology economy must have sources of capital. Great Lakes Angels connects local high tech ventures with the seed money they need to mature and expand.”

Great Lakes Angels organizes and mentors angels, providing a forum to increase knowledge and wealth and to foster investment in entrepreneurial companies in the region. For more information, visit www.glaangels.org.

TechTown empowers entrepreneurs to build successful technology businesses that improve the quality of life for people across the country and around the world. At TechTown, we provide the support and access to capital needed to build high tech companies in Detroit.