<PAGE> 1
At the Company:
AVANA COMMUNICATIONS REACHES AGREEMENT WITH HOLCOMB
October 5, 2000
Grace Development, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GCDV), doing business as Avana
Communications, Inc., today announced that the Company has successfully
concluded negotiations with Benjamin F. Holcomb, former Chairman and CEO of
Avana, to resolve disputes arising out of his departure from the Company in June
2000.
Pursuant to the settlement, the Company has rescinded its prior action
terminating Mr. Holcomb's employment for cause, and will hereafter deem Mr.
Holcomb's departure to have been by mutual agreement of the parties. In turn,
Mr. Holcomb is dismissing with prejudice his lawsuit against the Company and one
of its directors. The remaining terms of the settlement are confidential. In
management's view, the terms of the settlement with Mr. Holcomb will not have a
material impact on the Company's operations or financial condition.
Jim Blanchard, Avana's President, said "I am very pleased that Mr. Holcomb and
Avana could reach an agreement that was acceptable to both parties. Avana is
entering a critical period of strategic positioning, and it will be important
for us to be completely focused on the business issues that are before us."
Mr. Holcomb said "I believe that Avana and I have found a common ground that
allows both of us to move forward with certainty that the events of the recent
past have been resolved to our mutual satisfaction. I remain very interested in
the success of Avana and wish the management and employees my best."
Avana Communications, Inc., headquartered in Georgia, is a next-generation,
full-service integrated communications provider (ICP), serving businesses and
consumers throughout the eastern United States. Through the convergence of
voice, data, and the integration of products, services and intelligent bandwidth
distribution and focus on the data-centric customer, Avana assumes the
responsibility of all of the customer's complex two-way data and voice
communications networks and services while delivering single-source, one-contact
problem resolution and one-company reliability.
