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Stephen R. Leeolou has spent the past 30 years in the telecommunications and communications industries.From 1982 to 1999, Mr. Leeolou was co-founder and COO, then CEO of Vanguard Cellular Systems, Inc., one of the first cellular telephone companies in the United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., Vanguard operated in 28 suburban and rural markets in the eastern U.S. under the Cellular One brand name. Mr. Leeolou helped guide the company through more than $1 billion of private and public financing transactions, dozens of acquisitions, and operating growth that reached nearly one million subscribers. Publicly listed on NASDAQ, Vanguard was sold to AT&T in 1999 for approximately $1.7 billion. After the sale of Vanguard, Mr. Leeolou served for two years as Chairman and CEO of InterAct Electronic Marketing, Inc. which provided on-line and in-store targeted promotional services in the U.S. and U.K. retail grocery and pharmacy industries. In 2002, he formed SouthStar Capital, LLC, a private investment firm owned primarily by Mr. Leeolou and his family which, in 2004, became and remains Conterra’s largest owner. Prior to his 17 years in wireless communications, Mr. Leeolou was a print, radio and television journalist, primarily in the southeastern U.S.He is a 1978 graduate of James Madison University and was appointed by Governors Warner and Kain of Virginia to serve on the JMU's Board of Visitors, a position he still holds. | 