KeyBank's Key4Women Announces National Advisory Board Targeted at Helping Women Business Owners Succeed

CLEVELAND, June 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Key4Women, KeyBank's women- owned business banking program, today announced the formation of a National Advisory Board designed to build upon Key4Women's commitment to providing the highest-quality financial products, services and advice to women-owned businesses.

Members of the National Advisory Board include, among others, Melanie Sabelhaus, Former Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration; Dr. Marsha Firestone, President and Founder of the Women Presidents' Organization; and Dr. Sharon G. Hadary, Executive Director of the Center for Women's Business Research. These members all bring extensive and valuable expertise in policy, advocacy and research to the Board. They will be joined by eleven women business owners from a wide variety of industry segments, who will contribute real-world experience and insight learned from running their own successful companies.

The Board held its inaugural meeting in Cleveland, OH on May 9th, 2006 and will continue to convene biannually thereafter. The role of the Advisory Board will be to examine critical issues facing women business owners and to identify what types of resources are most useful to them as their needs change over time.

Maria Coyne, executive vice-president for Key4Women, said, "We are very pleased to bring together this group of highly-accomplished women, all of whom share the same goals of improving the opportunities and resources available to women business owners around the country. Through this ongoing dialogue, we hope to enhance our program's existing offerings and provide new resources that are most useful to women who run their own companies and want to grow their business."

Key4Women's new Advisory Board was also created to draw attention to the need for women to create boards for their own companies. Today, half of women-owned large firms -- defined as those with over $1 million in revenues -- and only 18 percent of smaller firms have boards of directors. (Source: "The Leading Edge: Women-Owned Million Dollar Firms," Center for Women's Business Research, January 2004.)

Coyne continued, "We also hope that through the creation of our national board, Key4Women can show women how crucial it is to assemble their own boards and solicit valuable advice on how to strengthen and grow their businesses."

Members of the Key4Women Board include: MELANIE SABELHAUS, WOMEN IMPACTING PUBLIC POLICY

Melanie Sabelhaus, an experienced small business owner and entrepreneur, is the founder of a property rental and management company in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. She most recently served as the SBA Deputy Administrator. She has served on various boards of directors, including the United Way and

the Alzheimer's Association of Central Maryland. She also serves on the Board of Governors of the National American Red Cross.

DR. MARSHA FIRESTONE, WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ORGANIZATION

Dr. Marsha Firestone is founder and president of the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO), a nonprofit peer advisory education program for multimillion dollar businesses owned by women. The WPO currently operates 60 chapters nationwide and in Canada. She also sits on the board of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), New York Women's Agenda, Women's Jewelry Association, Enterprising Women, Kennedy School Women's Leadership Initiative, and she just completed her term on the National Women's Business Council (NWBC).

DR. SHARON G. HADARY, CENTER FOR WOMEN'S BUSINESS RESEARCH

Dr. Sharon Hadary is the Executive Director of the Center for Women's Business Research, the premier research institute dedicated to unleashing the economic potential of women business owners and their enterprises through conducting research and sharing the resulting knowledge. At the Center, Dr. Hadary leads major initiatives to improve the quality and comprehensiveness of the knowledge on the role of women business owners and their enterprises in economies and societies around the world. Dr. Hadary has served on the Board of Visitors of the University of Maryland University College and The George Washington University School of Business and Public Management Alumni Committee.

SUSAN BOREN, EARTHWALK ORTHOTICS, INC.

Susan Boren is the founder, President and CEO of Earthwalk Orthotics, a Prescription Foot Orthotics Centralized Fabrication lab serving a national customer base of over 400 medical practitioners. Boren handles all administrative and financial operations in addition to all marketing and promotional operations and the hiring and training of employees.

CARMELLA CALTA, STAFFING SOLUTIONS ENTERPRISES INC.

Carmella Calta is the CEO of Staffing Solutions Enterprises, a leading provider of staffing services, including staffing of administrative and professional personnel, outsourced recruitment solutions, managed staffing and payroll services. She is actively involved in the United Way Learning and Earning for Life Vision Council and the United Way Small Business Committee.

JENNIFER COLEMAN, COLEMAN CREATIVE LLC/CITY PROWL

Jennifer Coleman is the owner, chief designer and project manager for Jennifer Coleman Creative, which provides architecture, planning and design services. She is Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Botanical Garden, was recently appointed to the Cleveland Landmarks Commission and Design Review Committees and serves on the Ohio Board of Building Standards.

ROSE ANN DARE, HYDRO DYNE INC.

Hydro Dyne Inc. was incorporated in 1967 and designs, engineers and manufactures heat transfer equipment mainly for the power industry, one of its main product lines being feedwater heaters. They provide field service for turnkey projects as well. It is a National Board certified ASME Code engineer/manufacturer holding current "U", "R" and "S" stamps, and is also a certified Women Business Enterprise (WBE). The company employs 30 full-time employees, at times increasing to over 50. DaRe became president of Hydro Dyne Inc. in 1989 after taking over the business from her father. As president, DaRe is responsible for managing all operations. Since assuming leadership, she has increased revenue for the company by nearly ten-fold.

LORI DEVORE, DEVORE TECHNOLOGIES

Lori DeVore founded DeVore Technologies in 1991, and has served as the company's CEO, President and chief strategist for the past 15 years. Since its inception, the organization has grown into a multi-million dollar provider of successful computing and application development solutions. The company's staff of over 60 employees has developed extensive experience in a wide variety of IT solutions including shared and dedicated web and application hosting plans, e-commerce services, computer training, customized desktop and web & application development. Lori's achievements have been recognized locally and nationally. Her honors include: 1997 NAWBO Winner and the prestigious Microsoft US Central Region Partner Excellence Award in 2005. Also in 2005, she was nominated by Microsoft for The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and was a Realizing Best Business Potential finalist. Lori currently sits on the Board for the Bedford Chamber of Commerce and St. Joseph's Christian Life Center and also is involved as a National and Bedford Rotarian. Lori is also member of the Cleveland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as well as Hispanic Chambers throughout the US. In 2006 DeVore started a new company under the DeVore Technologies umbrella -- Spanish Translator Services. This exciting new venture provides translations and interpreting services that enable clients to correspond more productively with customers, employees, partners and assist in translating using the DeVore Technologies expertise in Information Technology.

JOAN COFFMAN FIRST, LANG STONE COMPANY

Joan Coffman First is the Executive Vice President of Lang Stone Company, America's oldest stone company. First oversees all areas of administration, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, HR, payroll, marketing and controller responsibilities for Lang Stone.

VIRGINIA HALE, NORTHEAST ESCROW SERVICES

Virginia Hale is the founder and sole owner of NorthEast Escrow Services, a company that specializes in servicing the traditional Viatical field, Senior Settlement portfolios, distressed portfolios and providing escrow and research services to Viatical Receiverships. She also serves in an advisory capacity to several United States District Court Receiverships.

AILISH MURPHY, MURTECH CONSULTING

Ailish Murphy founded MurTech Consulting, a premier information technology consulting and placement firm, in 2000. Currently, MurTech Consulting has over 45 employees in NE Ohio and 6 different states. MurTech Consulting is poised for continued growth and market expansion in 2006. Our value proposition of matching qualified talent with client's expectations has afforded MurTech Consulting to become a Tier 1 business partner to many of the areas largest employers. Before starting MurTech Consulting, Murphy had a Sr. Marketing position with the Gartner Group.

TAMMY R. TROILO-KRINGS, TRAVEL SOLUTIONS, INC.

As CEO and Leadership Coach of Travel Solutions, Tammy Troilo-Krings oversees the day-to-day operations of the company, including operations and account management, as well as sales and marketing. Travel Solutions was founded in 1995 and has grown to become the seventh largest corporate travel company in the nation (according to Business Travel News). In 2005, Travel Solutions was named the # 3 Woman-Owned Business in the U.S., the #1 Woman- Owned Business in Ohio and the #7 Diversity-Owned Business in the U.S. by DiversityBusiness.com. Also in 2005, Troilo-Krings was honored with the prestigious Visionary Award by NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners). She is a member of the planning committee for the Coalition Against Family Violence. Troilo-Krings' husband, Torsten Krings, is Travel Solutions' president and Global Development Coach.

KARA TROTT, QUANTUM HEALTH LLC

Kara Trott founded Quantum Health in 1999 with the goal of helping people manage their health and guiding them through the confusing healthcare system. Quantum Health has developed a program known as Coordinated Health/Care(TM) that now operates in more than 40 health plans around the country and held employer's annual cost trend to 5-6 percent over the past six years, versus a 10-17 percent industry average over the same period. Under Trott's leadership, Quantum Health has seen approximately 30 percent annual growth and now coordinates the healthcare of more than 50,000 members.

BETTY VILLANUEVA, INDIAN HILLS SENIOR COMMUNITY, INC.

Betty Villanueva is the President of privately-owned senior facility, Indian Hills Senior Community, Inc. Villanueva is responsible for strategic planning, forecast/budgeting and overseeing the professional, non-professional and volunteer staff of 100 in all operational areas including housekeeping, security, landscaping, maintenance and transportation. She is also the owner of several commercial real estate properties across different states. She is Chairwoman for the Circle of Elderly Care and a member of the following boards: Gilmour Academy, MetroHealth Medical Center, Hispanic Political Action Committee and the Cleveland Port Authority.

More information on Key4Women can be found at Key.com/women. About KeyCorp

Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation's largest bank- based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $93 billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally.