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PRESS RELEASE

BACKGROUND:
CELEBRATING EARTH DAY WITH SUSTAINABILITY INVESTMENTS

Chicagoans concerned about preserving the environment can celebrate the 35th anniversary of Earth Day Friday, April 22, by putting their investment dollars where their values are.
Carl Birkelbach, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Birkelbach Management Corp. (BMC), advises environmentally conscious investors to "listen to your heart and your brain" by considering a corporate sustainability strategy when investing.
Birkelbach heads one of the few Chicago firms specializing in a sustainability investment strategy and is a longtime activist for the Cook County Forest Preserve and other environmental causes.
He defines sustainability investment as “investing in companies that benefit their organizations, and therefore shareholder value, by considering opportunities and risks associated with environmental, economic and social issues.”
In advising investors, BMC gives investors an opportunity to avoid companies that manufacture alcohol and tobacco products or are involved in gambling or weapons production and thereby avoid any crisis that may develop from having ownership in a company that imposes harmful effects on society. In choosing investments, Birkelbach believes that investors must consider both financial and corporate sustainability issues.

Sustainability Stocks Beat S&P 500 Performance
Performance of the model BMC Growth portfolios shows that sustainability investors can benefit their stock performance as well as the environment.
The Model BMC Portfolio Strategy chooses stocks in (and some outside) the S&P 500 that could likely significantly outperform the S&P 500. Choices are based on BMC’s own methodology and Strategy Index, both proprietary to the firm. The BMC Strategy Index uses technical analysis to give buy signals for stocks when they are oversold and sell signals when they are overbought.

BMC Sustainability Portfolios Includes Chicago Area Companies
Chicago area stocks in the BMC sustainability portfolios include those of Abbott Laboratories, Baxter International, Caterpillar, Motorola and William Wrigley Jr. Company. “These companies pursue and regularly report to shareholders and the public on their environmental and sustainability policies and programs. Several of them are part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which tracks the performance of companies worldwide that value social and environmental issues as well as the financial bottom line.”
BMC’s sustainability investment strategies marry Birkelbach’s devotion to investing over his nearly 40-year investing career with his concerns about the environment. He is president and founder of RIDE Inc. (Recreation for Individuals Dedicated to the Environment) and a member of the Board of the Friends of the [ Cook County] Forest Preserve.
Birkelbach has been a member of the Cook County Forest Preserve Council and treasurer and board member of the International Mountain Biking Association. He received a Certificate of Commendation from the State of Wisconsin for efforts in resolving conflicts over trail usage in natural settings.

Chicago Institutions Support Sustainability
Birkelbach points out that Chicago boasts institutions supporting sustainability investment in a variety of ways:
· The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is the first voluntary North American market for reducing and trading greenhouse gases.
· Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart Graduate School of Business offers programs in environmental management with emphasis on sustainability.
· Northwestern University’s Kellogg Management School offers a new major, business and its social environment.

About Birkelbach Management Corp.
Birkelbach Management Corp. (BMC), a Chicago-based money manager since 1974, is a registered investment advisor affiliated with Birkelbach Investment Securities, Inc., a full-service NASD-registered broker dealer with safekeeping and execution services provided through its correspondent relationship with Pershing LLC, the world's leader in brokerage services.
Featured among BMC’s full range of investment alternatives and strategies is an innovative strategy for managing separate investment accounts seeking to obtain performance returns superior to those of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index while giving investors an opportunity to consider corporate sustainability issues. For more information on Birkelbach Management Corp. please visit www.investmentvalues.biz or Birkelbach Investment Securities Inc. (www.my-broker.com).

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March 17th, 2005

Media Contacts:

Carl M. Birkelbach

(312) 853-2820 x 105

(800) 458-2358 x 105

CarlBis@aol.com

(To avoid identification as spam, please write “CB:” at start of subject line)

E. William Hammons

(847) 577-1932

EWHammons@compuserve.com