American
Business
Conference A Coalition of Growth Companies
| For Immediate Release: |
|
Contact: John Endean |
| January 29, 2002 |
|
202-822-9300 |
Business Groups Unite
The American Business Conference (ABC), the nation's leading association of midsize businesses, and the Association of Publicly Traded Companies (APTC), the voice of mid-cap and small-cap public companies, today announced their intention to merge. The new organization will be called the American Business Conference.
Founded in 1981 by Arthur Levitt, Jr. and currently chaired by Alfred West, CEO of SEI Investments of Oaks, Pennsylvania, the ABC is a coalition of chief executives of fast-growing, midsize American companies. Based in Washington, DC, the ABC is a bipartisan group that advocates policies to promote economic growth and a higher standard of living. ABC has been a leader on fundamental tax reform, open international trade and investment, regulatory and litigation reform, and accounting and capital markets issues.
For more than twenty years, APTC has served as an advocate for mid-cap and small-cap public companies. Over the past decade, the Association played a key role in securities litigation reform, corporate governance, proxy process and accounting standards reviews. According to APTC Chairman Robert Merritt, "This combination with ABC will allow our members to participate in an exciting and broader agenda."
Commenting on the new combination of ABC and APTC, Al West said, "We at the American Business Conference know APTC well and our members have worked in cooperation with APTC members on a number of capital markets-related issues. We're excited now to be able to combine formally with that group, especially given the increased scrutiny that Washington is placing on our capital markets."
"In the longer term, the uniting of our two groups will enable us to pursue our overall growth agenda more vigorously, while reminding policymakers and the media alike that the entrepreneurial, midsize community of American business contains a greater diversity of political and economic views than is commonly supposed," West concluded.
The ABC/APTC combination is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year. Following completion, APTC's current president, Brian Borders, will focus on his law practice in Washington, DC with the firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt and will continue to serve as a public member of the board of the National Association of Securities Dealers.
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