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Principals

CEO and Chairman

STEVE KIERNAN

Stephen joined Algonquin Studios as President and Chief Executive Officer in January 1999. During his tenure, Algonquin Studios revenue has grown at an annualized rate of 85% during one of the deepest recessions in U.S. history. He is responsible for setting the vision and direction of the company and providing the financial, technical and leadership resources necessary to support Algonquin's employees and clients. Stephen has been providing professional consulting services since 1983 and has developed a number of personal and business philosophies that he incorporates into the daily operations of Algonquin Studios.

Stephen is a former Sr. Vice President and Chief Information Officer for North American Health Plans (NAHP). During his tenure, NAHP grew from an 18 to an 80 million dollar per year Third Party Administrator/Health Maintenance Organization. He grew the IT staff from 3 to 50 people, the physical plant from 30,000 to 125,000 square feet, handled the acquisition and absorption of seven (7) IT systems resulting from multiple acquisitions and joint partnerships during this high growth period.

Prior to NAHP, Stephen was the President of Consulting Associates of WNY (CA) for eight years. CA developed some of the finest 4GL systems in the country during this time frame. During this time Stephen developed most of the system development methodologies (including prototyping) that Algonquin Studios uses today to deliver business solutions to its clients. CA developed over 300 custom software solutions and accounting system implementations for clients throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Prior to forming Consulting Associates, Stephen was a Financial Information Systems Consultant on the management consulting services staff of Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) based in Buffalo, New York. Stephen worked extensively on custom software development projects for the Ernst & Whinney National Bank Practice and the Ernst & Whinney National Health Care Practice as a designer, developer and project manager. He has worked in all aspects of the Health Care market and wrote the first automated Nursing Home Cost Report System in New York State for submission of RHCF4 reports to the Department of Health.

Stephen has a diverse background in business. He is a member of the Mayors Council and the Mayor's IT Council in Buffalo and is an advisor and coach to a number of business owners and executives. He is a volunteer with the CEPHAS program in Buffalo and provides financial support and sponsorship to more than a dozen charitable organizations in and around Buffalo. Stephen has developed business plans for his various companies and clients, provided direct funding and facilities for startup operations and guided numerous companies (including his own) through the varied channels of debt, equity and government funding.

On a technical note, he has extensive experience in the design, development and deployment of comprehensive information systems for small to large scale environments and is an expert in database design and deployment. He is an expert in the use of microcomputer technology, and knowledgeable in both mainframe and minicomputer environments. He has a broad-based knowledge of the sophisticated tools available and their application in solving business problems. He is a strong proponent of using a prototype systems approach both as a design tool and as the foundation system for the final development process. He is competent in numerous programming languages, and is an expert in relational database development and deployment.

His expertise also includes accounting systems design, selection, and implementation in a variety of industries. His systems experience includes strong accounting knowledge thus ensuring that a proper accounting conversion is included as part of any system implementation.

Stephen earned his Masters of Business Administration (with Distinction) from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received a dual concentration Bachelor of Arts Degree (cum laude) in Finance and Management Information Systems also from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He served as a graduate and teaching assistant while at the State University of New York at Buffalo and was an instructor at Erie Community College.