HPG Sponsors 2010 Biotech Conference

Online, February 22, 2010 (Newswire.com) - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Mike Gauss
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HPG Sponsors 2010 Biotech Conference
Firm Serving as Gold Sponsor for All 2010 CED Events

RALEIGH, N.C. (February 22, 2010)- Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP (www.hpg.com), the largest locally owned and managed, independent CPA firm in North Carolina, is sponsoring the 19th annual CED Biotech Conference on February 22 and 23. Additionally, the firm is serving as a Gold Sponsor for all 2010 CED conferences and events.

"We're proud to support the CED as it continues to accelerate growth of the entrepreneurial community in the Triangle," says Brooks Malone, HPG partner and CED board member since 2004. "The workshops, conferences and seminars provide vital mentoring and education resources needed to keep North Carolina's economy strong."

Continuing its dedication to the organization, HPG is sponsoring all 2010 CED events including: Companies to Watch, Venture 2010, the CAFÉ program, the STREAK series, Biotech Forum, the Board Lunch series and the Leadership series.

The Biotech 2010 Conference integrates industry leadership, technology, and entrepreneurship for the Southeastern biotech community. It provides an in-depth look into the life science industry and offers a networking opportunity for professionals to discuss emerging trends in the field. The conference will feature more than 30 industry leaders speaking, including J. Bradley Wilson, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina; Lanier M. Cansler, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services secretary; and Christy L. Shaffer, Ph.D., president and CEO of Inspire Pharmaceuticals. For more information, visit www.cednc.org/content/ced's+biotech+conference/345.

HPG knowledge-based industries team members have a long history of active involvement with CED, including sponsorship and committee participation for various initiatives. HPG partner, Tim Gupton, is the former chairperson of the CED board of directors and founder of the FastTrac Tech program. Gupton and partner Brooks Malone are also recipients of the organization's Outstanding Service to Entrepreneurs Award.

About Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP (HPG):
HPG is the largest CPA firm headquartered and staffed in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, as ranked by the Triangle Business Journal. Furthermore, Business Leader magazine ranked HPG as the fifth most successful small business in North Carolina in 2008. HPG is able to provide national and global accounting resources to its clients through the CPAmerica firm network of 701 offices worldwide. HPG offers a wide array of business accounting, auditing, corporate tax, and management advisory services. Specialties include serving owner-managed, investor-backed technology and life science, healthcare services, real estate development, manufacturing and distribution businesses, and providing ERISA audits, family wealthcare services and Sarbanes-Oxley internal audit services. More than just an accounting firm, HPG assists clients in looking beyond the bottom linesm by being the right firm, right value and right people to achieve each client's definition of success. Visit www.hpg.com.

About CED:
CED (formerly The Council for Entrepreneurial Development) is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high-growth, high-impact companies and accelerate the region's entrepreneurial culture. Headquartered in the Research Triangle Park, CED is the oldest and largest entrepreneurial support organization in the nation with more than 5,500 active members. CED provides know-how, networking, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, programs and web-based resources. CED has helped entrepreneurs, investors, service partners, researchers and public policy makers in diverse emerging industries and at all stages of development - from high-tech, production-based organizations to service companies, from one-person start-ups to 1,000-person businesses. Visit www.cednc.org for more information.
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