CLEC-People  - September 20, 2001

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE: BKH) announced the resignation of Gerald R. Forsythe from its Board of Directors. Daniel P. Landguth, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Black Hills Corporation appreciates the vision and leadership provided by Mr. Forsythe through a period of tremendous growth for the company, the merger and integration of the Indeck Capital acquisition, and in the significant expansion of our independent power business segment. Including the Indeck Capital acquisition, the company has announced projects to achieve our goal of 1,000 MW of independent power generation in operation by 2003."

Touch America, the broadband network and service provider subsidiary of The Montana Power Company (NYSE: MTP), announced Bill Lannan, an 18-year veteran in the telecommunications industry and an expert in operations support and back office systems, has joined Touch America as vice president, Operations. Lannan's initial focus will be to make sure Touch America's support systems continue to meet and surpass customers' expectations for quality service in a timely manner. His responsibilities will grow over time, encompassing a number of areas in the way the company conducts business. Lannan will report directly to Mike Meldahl, president and chief operating officer of Touch America, who said, that Lannan is a seasoned veteran in the telecommunications industry and brings a wealth of wisdom and experience in operations and back-office support. Lannan joins Touch America from Price Waterhouse Coopers, where he consulted in planning, integration and implementation of next-generation network operations support systems and also provided business advisory services. Prior to joining Price Waterhouse, Lannan was employed at U S WEST Long Distance, where he served as director of Operations Support Systems. His work experience includes positions with Cable and Wireless, Microtel, and as an owner of a successful telecommunications consulting practice. A native of New England, he is a graduate of New Hampshire College and took graduate courses at the New Hampshire College Graduate School of Business. Lannan will assume his responsibilities in Touch America's Denver office.

Covad Communications (OTCBB:COVD), a national broadband services provider utilizing DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) technology, announced that Mark A. Richman joins the company as chief financial officer (CFO). Richman brings over 18 years of financial management experience to Covad. He joins the company from MainStreet Networks where he was vice president and CFO, and built the finance, accounting and IT functions into departments. Prior to MainStreet, Richman held senior management positions at Adecco S.A. where he was vice president of finance and administration for Adecco U.S., a $3 billion operating division. He was also vice president and corporate treasurer at the parent company where he raised over $3 billion in funding through various debt and equity transactions. He also worked for Merisel, Inc., a global computer hardware and software distributor, and was primarily based in London as European finance director. Prior to Merisel, Richman had held various banking positions with ING Capital, Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and Wells Fargo Bank. Richman holds a bachelor of science degree in managerial economics from the University of California at Davis and a master of business administration degree from the Anderson School at UCLA. Richman will be responsible for all aspects of Covad's finance organization, including strategic and financial planning and analysis, financing, investor relations, accounting and treasury.

Broadwing Inc. (NYSE:BRW) announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Lawrence J. Bouman, experienced technology leader and consultant, to the Board. Currently, Bouman is a technology adviser to several corporate boards including Diamond Cluster, Terrabeam, Nuvox Communications, and NeuStar Inc. He also sits on the Board of MetaSolve Software. Prior to his current advisory work, Bouman was senior vice president and chief technology officer for LCI, where he deployed their initial fiber optic network and developed and managed operational and support systems all network services and applications. Before LCI, Bouman held numerous executive positions at MCI Communications Corporation. Bouman's appointment was approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting on September 17, 2001.

Yipes Communications, Inc. announced the formation of an advisory board of business, technology and media leaders to help guide Yipes in strategic planning and the evolution of its business and technology model. Members of the board include:

-- J. Scott Briggs, a technology media entrepreneur, served as President of Ziff-Davis. He was instrumental in establishing their strong set of computer-oriented publications in the 90's, including PC Magazine and PC Week. Scott is an advisor to several companies and sits on the boards of Red Herring and PhotoTablet.

-- Clayton Christensen is Professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, with a joint appointment in Technology & Operations Management and General Management. His research and writing interests center on the management of technological innovation, developing organizational capabilities and finding new markets for new technologies. His book, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, won the 1997 Global Business Book Award for the best business book published in 1997.

-- Peter Huber is a lawyer and writer. He earned a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from M.I.T., where he taught on the faculty for six years. He clerked on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and then on the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He is a Senior Fellow of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, Partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans, and Chairman of Telecom Policy and Analysis: a Kellogg, Huber Consulting Group. He is the author of several books, including The Geodesic Network, the report filed by the Department of Justice with Judge Harold Greene on the occasion of the 1987 review of the AT&T divestiture decree.

-- David S. Isenberg founded isen.com, inc. in January, 1998 to help telecommunications companies navigate from business models based on scarcity towards new models informed by today's abundance of communications infrastructure. The isen.com idea began in 1997, when he was at AT&T, where he wrote an acclaimed essay entitled, "Rise of the Stupid Network: Why The Intelligent Network Was A Good Idea Once But Isn't Anymore." In his 12-year career at AT&T (1985-1998), David Isenberg was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff with AT&T Labs Research.

-- Nick Lippis is a telecommunications industry analyst, named by Network World as one of the top 40 industry influencers. Nick was founder and president of Strategic Networks Consulting, which developed network architectures for Global 2000 enterprise companies. Strategic Networks was acquired by Softbank in 1997. He participates on over twelve boards and is an advisor to many high-tech companies such as Crossbeam Systems, Alteon Websystems and Extreme Networks. He has published more than 200 columns and articles in major industry publications such as Data Communications and Tele.com.

-- Dr. Robert W. Lucky is Corporate Vice President of Applied Research at Telcordia Technologies. Bob, who joined Telcordia in 1992, began his telecommunications career at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Holmdel, N.J., where he became Executive Director of the Communications Sciences Research Division. His research on ways of sending digital information over telephone lines led to his invention of the adaptive equalizer--a technique for correcting distortion in telephone signals, which is used in all high-speed data transmission today.