RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, May 19, 1995 -- Cisco Systems, Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer John T. Chambers joined area business leaders and elected officials today to dedicate the company's new eastern headquarters in Research Triangle Park, and to announce eminent ground breaking for a second building on the 43 acre site. Cisco is the fastest growing, most profitable telecommunications and computer company in North America over the past seven years.

Joining Chambers in the ceremony was Cisco Systems Vice President and General Manager F. Selby Wellman, North Carolina Secretary of State Rufus L. Edmisten, and James O. Roberson, President of the Research Triangle Foundation.

Cisco hired its first employee in North Carolina in January 1993, and has grown to its current size of more than 200 people. The company moved into its first building at the Research Triangle Park site last month. To accommodate immediate growth plans, a second building 50% larger than the first -- at three stories and 120,000 square feet -- will be erected.

"We are proud to be a part of North Carolina and fully expect to expand our business here," said Chambers. "If we are able to maintain our growth path for the business unit in the RTP, I certainly expect us to be as many as 650 employees strong when we fill out the second building, and grow to more than 1,000 people once we fully develop the site."

During the ceremony, Chambers, Wellman, Roberson and Edmisten planted a tree that Chambers referred to as "a symbol of Cisco establishing roots in North Carolina." The Cisco president went on to say, "As this tree grows, so will we in North Carolina, firmly establishing Research Triangle Park as home for our eastern US headquarters."

"I am very pleased to welcome Cisco Systems to our growing family of companies on the frontier of technology," said Secretary Edmisten. "Research Triangle Park continues to be a hotbed for the growth of ideas, innovation, and economic development. I hope that, like the tree we planted here today, Cisco Systems continues to thrive. And I believe the company will help North Carolina participate in the global world economy."

The mission of the RTP facility is both to provide headquarters for the IBM Internetworking Business Unit and to house other engineering, customer support, and sales functions serving the entire company. The IBM Business Unit was recently formed to address the integration of existing SNA-based (Systems Network Architecture) computer networks with non-SNA local- and wide-area networks. The formation of the business unit reflects a strong Cisco commitment to this fast growing market.

Wellman, as the new general manager of the business unit said, "Our company truly represents the global future of the networking industry. Cisco is an industry leader and I am proud to have an opportunity to be a part of such a dynamic organization with such a great future."

The company employs more than 3000 people worldwide. The initial building of a three-building site plan is approximately 80,000 square feet and was completed in just under 200 days. The two-story structure has more than 80 miles of communication and data cable incorporated into its design.

Cisco Systems has been a leader in developing the Internet, the "network of networks" that today connects more than 15 million university, corporate and government computer users worldwide. The company has been building Internet nodes since its formation in 1985, and technology originated and commercialized by Cisco has made possible the establishment and rapid growth of the Internet by providing the "intersections" of the global information highway.

Cisco Systems is the leading global supplier of enterprise networks, including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and network management software. These products, integrated by the Cisco Internetwork Operating System(tm) (Cisco IOS(tm)) link geographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBM networks. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and in the US is traded under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.

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Posted: May 19 11:27:27 1995