Wells Fargo and the National Association of Women Business Owners(R) Celebrate the Success and Drive of Women Business Owners Nationwide Trailblazer Award Recognizes Entrepreneurial Spirit of Three Exceptional Women Business Owners SAN FRANCISCO, and MCLEAN, Va., June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wells Fargo & Company and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO(R)) presented the fourth-annual NAWBO/Wells Fargo Trailblazer Award at NAWBO's 2005 Women's Business conference in Orlando, Florida on Saturday, June 11th. This year, in response to the continued growth in the number of women-owned businesses, Wells Fargo expanded the award program from one winner to three winners. Recipients were chosen for their "trailblazing" spirit as demonstrated by their companies' business performance, innovation, growth, and personal service to the community. In partnership with NAWBO, Joy Ott, regional president for Wells Fargo Bank in Montana and national spokesperson for Wells Fargo's Women's Business Services program, presented three $5,000 cash awards and the Trailblazer Award to: Laine Caspi, founder of Parents of Invention located in Granada Hills, CA; Carolyne Turner McPherson, co-founder of Chicago-based Information Development Consultants, Inc.(iDC); and Lisa Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Gourmet Kitchens, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois. "With women-owned businesses growing at twice the national average for all small businesses, we are excited to broaden our commitment and recognize even more outstanding achievements of incredible women entrepreneurs," said Ott. "This year's winners are truly inspirational and reflect the crucial role women-owned business play in driving the American economy." Recognizing an untapped market for "on-the-go" parenting products, Laine Caspi started Parents of Invention, initially called The Ultimate Baby Company, in 2002. The company fills an important niche by manufacturing product ideas directly from parents, and paying royalties to inventors. Parents of Invention products are sold nationwide in BabiesRus.com, USA baby stores, and other smaller domestic and international retail locations. For over 30 years, Carolyne Turner McPherson, co-founder of Chicago-based Information Development Consultants, Inc.(iDC), http://www.4idc.com/, has been developing and implementing financial management software for local governments and nonprofit agencies to help them with specialized accounting, regulations, and policies and procedures. IDC promotes government accountability through maintenance of accurate, complete and timely records of how they are spending money. Lisa Johnson created Gourmet Kitchens, Inc. (GKI), in 1989 as a corporate catering company. In 2001, she diversified and began manufacturing perishable food products for the nation's leading grocery chains, convenience stores, independent food retailers and restaurants. GKI produces a line of "grab n'go" food products and other unique food solutions, along with wholesale catering, all under the brand name Last Minute Gourmet(R) brand. GKI also offers a complete line of Hispanic products under the Expresa LatinaTM brand name. "These businesses reinforce the innovation and trailblazing spirit we see so much of in women entrepreneurs," said Beverly Inman-Ebel, NAWBO president and chief executive officer of TLC Talk Listen Communicate, LLC in Chattanooga, TN. "I applaud their creativity and business savvy in upholding the ideals of this award." Wells Fargo's Women's Business Services program, established in 1995, is an outreach and education program aimed at building relationships with women business owners by sponsoring key community organizations and market research. At the program's inception, Wells Fargo established a public lending goal that serves as a measure of progress. In September 2003, after surpassing their goal three times, Wells Fargo established a new goal of $20 billion over ten years. Wells Fargo has lent more than $4.7 billion toward this goal and since the program's inception, has lent more than $20 billion to women business owners nationwide. About NAWBO Founded in 1975, NAWBO propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide. Thirty years later, NAWBO is still the only organization that solely represents the interest of women entrepreneurs in all industries. The organization's mission is to strengthen the wealth-creating capacity of its members and promote economic development; to create innovative and effective change in the business culture; to build strategic alliances, coalitions and affiliations; and to transform public policy and influence opinion makers. Visit http://www.nawbo.org/ for more information. About Wells Fargo & Company Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $436 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance to more than 23 million customers from more than 6,000 stores and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the United States to receive the highest possible credit rating, "Aaa," from Moody's Investors Service. Providing financial products and services to more than one million businesses with annual sales up to $20 million in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Canada, Wells Fargo is the #1 lender to small businesses in the United States in total dollar volume according to the most recent CRA data (2003). The second largest national SBA lender in dollars, Wells Fargo is an SBA Preferred Lender in 28 states, and originated 3,555 loans for $495 million in 2004. Wells Fargo has also been ranked the number one SBA 504 lender nationally for the last two years. Its targeted business services programs provide outreach and education to women, African American, Latino, and Asian business owners about financial services. Since 1995, Wells Fargo has loaned more than $25 billion to women and minority business owners. DATASOURCE: Wells Fargo & Company CONTACT: Sarah Pew of Wells Fargo & Company, +1-415-396-0866, or ; or Shawn Taylor Zelman of NAWBO, +1-703-506-3268, or Web site: http://www.nawbo.org/ Web site: http://www.wellsfargo.com/

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