December 6, 2005

Local Branch of Federal Reserve Bank Appoints New Director

Portland, Ore, December 6, 2005—The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has appointed David Chen, General Partner with OVP Venture Partners, to the Board of the Portland Branch, effective January 1, 2006. Founded in 1983, OVP is a venture capital firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest. The firm includes a team of six investment partners who drive unique deal flow and have crafted a focused operating strategy yielding strong returns. With more than $500M under management, OVP's investment focus is on new companies in growing markets such as enterprise software, communications and network systems, computational biology, specialized electronic systems, and business services. Mr. Chen is the current chairman of the Oregon Nano-science and Micro-technologies Institute (ONAMI), Chairman of Oregon, Inc., and is the incoming chair of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum. Mr. Chen also serves on a variety of industry and private company boards that include the following organizations: Ambric, uXcomm, Intelligent Results, and the Oregon Investment Fund.

The Board of Directors provides the region's economic perspective to the Federal Reserve Bank's District Board of Directors in San Francisco and its Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The Board of Governors uses this information when determining national economic policies and banking regulations.

Other members of the Portland Branch Board of Directors are: Chairman James H. Rudd, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management, Inc.; Dr. Peter O. Kohler, Oregon Health & Sciences University; Robert D. Sznewajs, West Coast Bancorp; William D. Thorndike, Medford Fabrications; Alan Johnson, Wells Fargo; and George J. Puentes, Don Pancho Mexican Foods.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, with branch offices in Los Angeles, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Portland, and a cash processing office in Phoenix, provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions throughout the nine western states. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government.

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