Thursday November 5, 6:44 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Columbia Capital Announces Resignations of
Chairman and Director
ABILENE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1998--Columbia Capital Corp. (OTC-BB: CLCK - news)
announced today that Glenn Gallant, the company's Chairman of the Board and Secretary, and Douglas Baetz, a
Director, resigned from the company, effective November 3, 1998. Messrs. Gallant and Baetz, who own
approximately 80 percent of Columbia's outstanding stock, have agreed not to have any involvement with the
company because of the pending litigation involving certain companies they control.
Kenneth Klotz, 53, President and a Director of Columbia, was named to the additional post of Chairman of the
Board of Directors. Charles LaMontagne, 45, the company's chief financial officer, was also named Secretary of
the company.
Messrs. Gallant and Baetz are defendants in a civil complaint filed October 29 by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) in its capacity as receiver of BestBank, a Colorado bank that was seized by state regulators
in July. Neither Columbia nor its operating subsidiary, First Independent Computers, Inc., has been named in the
litigation.
First Independent processes transactions and handles related back-office operations for credit cards issued by
BestBank under a program administered by Florida-based Century Financial Group, which is controlled by
Messrs. Gallant and Baetz.
''Columbia and First Independent have performed, and continue to perform, all of their obligations under the
servicing agreement with BestBank as administered by the FDIC,'' Mr. Klotz said.
First Independent was acquired by Messrs. Gallant and Baetz in April 1997 from Security Shares, Inc., a bank
holding company based in Abilene, Texas. In September 1997 Columbia Capital, which was controlled by
Messrs. Gallant and Baetz, acquired all of First Independent's common stock in exchange for Columbia common
stock.
Messrs. Klotz and LaMontagne, along with Olan Beard, Executive Vice President of Credit Card Services, have
been senior executives of First Independent since 1994. Mr. Klotz has more than 30 years experience in data
processing and information systems, including senior managerial and executive positions at Republic National
Bank and Pride Refining Inc.
Columbia Capital Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiary First Independent Computers, Inc., provides
information and transaction processing to small and medium sized financial institutions, retailers and health care
providers. The company specializes in credit and debit card processing and servicing, transaction processing and
document management and distribution services.
Forward-looking statements in this document are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties which may affect
the accuracy of such statements. Such risks may include any delays or the loss of existing customers. For a full
discussion of such risks, please refer to the company's Annual Report on Form 10-KSB/A for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 1997 and subsequent filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update such factors
or to publicly announce the results of any revisions to the forward looking statements contained herein.
Contact:
The MWW Group
Public Relations - Tel. (201) 964-2407
Ron Stack (rstack@mww.com) |
