1.

Offers, Sales and Resales of Notes.

1.1

While (i) the Issuer has and shall have no obligation to sell the Notes to the Dealer or to permit the Dealer to arrange any sale of the Notes for the account of the Issuer, and (ii) the Dealer has and shall have no obligation to purchase the Notes from the Issuer or to arrange any sale of the Notes for the account of the Issuer, the parties hereto agree that in any case where the Dealer purchases Notes from the Issuer, or arranges for the sale of Notes by the Issuer, such Notes will be purchased or sold by the Dealer in reliance on the representations, warranties, covenants and agreements of the Issuer contained herein or made pursuant hereto and on the terms and conditions and in the manner provided herein.

1.2

So long as this Agreement shall remain in effect, and in addition to the limitations contained in Section 1.7 hereof, the Issuer shall not, without the consent of the Dealer, offer, solicit or accept offers to purchase, or sell, any Notes except (a) in transactions with one or more dealers which may from time to time after the date hereof become dealers with respect to the Notes by executing with the Issuer one or more agreements which contain provisions substantially identical to those contained in Section 1 of this Agreement, of which the Issuer hereby undertakes to provide the Dealer prompt notice or

(b) in transactions with the other dealers listed on the Addendum hereto, which are executing agreements with the Issuer which contain provisions substantially identical to Section 1 of this Agreement contemporaneously herewith. In no event shall the Issuer offer, solicit or accept offers to purchase, or sell, any Notes directly on its own behalf in transactions with persons other than broker-dealers as specifically permitted in this Section 1.2.

1.3

The Notes shall be in a minimum denomination of $250,000 or integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof, will bear such interest rates, if interest bearing, or will be sold at such discount from their face amounts, as shall be agreed upon by the Dealer and the Issuer, shall have a maturity not exceeding 397 days from the date of issuance and may have such terms as are specified in Exhibit C hereto or the Private Placement Memorandum.  The Notes shall not contain any provision for extension, renewal or automatic “rollover.”

1.4

The authentication and issuance of, and payment for, the Notes shall be effected in accordance with the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, and the Notes shall be either individual physical certificates or book-entry notes evidenced by one or more master notes (each, a “Master Note”) registered in the name of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee, in the form or forms annexed hereto as Exhibit D.

1.5

If the Issuer and the Dealer shall agree on the terms of the purchase of any Note by the Dealer or the sale of any Note arranged by the Dealer (including, but not limited to, agreement with respect to the date of issue, purchase price, principal amount, maturity and interest rate or interest rate index and margin (in the case of interest-bearing Notes) or discount thereof (in the case of Notes issued on a discount basis), and appropriate compensation for the Dealer’s services hereunder) pursuant to this Agreement, the Issuer shall cause such Note to be issued and delivered in accordance with the terms of the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement and payment for such Note shall be made by the purchaser thereof, either directly or through the Dealer, to the Issuing and Paying Agent, for the account of the Issuer. Except as otherwise agreed, in the event that the Dealer is acting as an agent and a purchaser shall either fail to accept delivery of or make payment for a Note on the date fixed for settlement, the Dealer shall promptly notify the Issuer, and if the Dealer has theretofore paid the Issuer for the Note, the Issuer will promptly return such funds to the Dealer against its return of the Note to the Issuer, in the case of a certificated Note, and upon notice of such failure in the case of a book-entry Note. If such failure occurred for any reason other than default by the Dealer, the Issuer shall reimburse the Dealer on an equitable basis for the Dealer’s loss of the use of such funds for the period such funds were credited to the Issuer’s account.

1.6

The Dealer and the Issuer hereby establish and agree to observe the following procedures in connection with offers, sales and subsequent resales or other transfers of the Notes:

(a)

Offers and sales of the Notes by or through the Dealer shall be made only to: (i) investors reasonably believed by the Dealer to be Qualified Institutional Buyers, Institutional Accredited Investors or Sophisticated Individual Accredited Investors and (ii) non-bank fiduciaries or agents that will be purchasing Notes for one or more accounts, each of which is reasonably believed by the Dealer to be an Institutional Accredited Investor or Sophisticated Individual Accredited Investor.

(b)

Resales and other transfers of the Notes by the holders thereof shall be made only in accordance with the restrictions in the legend described in clause (e) below.

(c)

No general solicitation or general advertising shall be used in connection with the offering of the Notes. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, without the prior written approval of the Dealer (which shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), the Issuer shall not issue any press release or place or publish any “tombstone” or other advertisement relating to the Notes.

(d)

No sale of Notes to any one purchaser shall be for less than $250,000 principal or face amount, and no Note shall be issued in a smaller principal or face amount. If the purchaser is a non-bank fiduciary acting on behalf of others, each person for whom such purchaser is acting must purchase at least $250,000 principal or face amount of Notes.

(e)

Offers and sales of the Notes by the Issuer through the Dealer acting as agent for the Issuer shall be made in accordance with Rule 506 under the Securities Act, and shall be subject to the restrictions described in the legend appearing on Exhibit A hereto. A legend substantially to the effect of such Exhibit A shall appear as part of the Private Placement Memorandum used in connection with offers and sales of Notes hereunder, as well as on each individual certificate representing a Note and each Master Note representing book-entry Notes offered and sold pursuant to this Agreement.

(f)

The Dealer shall furnish or shall have furnished to each purchaser of Notes for which it has acted as the Dealer a copy of the then-current Private Placement Memorandum unless such purchaser has previously received a copy of the Private Placement Memorandum as then in effect. The Private Placement Memorandum shall expressly state that any person to whom Notes are offered shall have an opportunity to ask questions of, and receive information from, the Issuer and the Dealer and shall provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the persons from whom information regarding the Issuer may be obtained.

(g)

The Issuer agrees, for the benefit of the Dealer and each of the holders and prospective purchasers from time to time of the Notes that, if at any time the Issuer shall not be subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, the Issuer will furnish, upon request and at its expense, to the Dealer and to holders and prospective purchasers of Notes information required by Rule 144A(d)(4)(i) in compliance with Rule 144A(d).

(h)

In the event that any Note offered or to be offered by the Dealer would be ineligible for resale under Rule 144A, the Issuer shall immediately notify the Dealer (by telephone, confirmed in writing) of such fact and shall promptly prepare and deliver to the Dealer an amendment or supplement to the Private Placement Memorandum describing the Notes that are ineligible, the reason for such ineligibility and any other relevant information relating thereto.

(i)

The Issuer represents that it is not currently issuing commercial paper in the United States market in reliance upon the exemption provided by Section 3(a)(3) of the Securities Act. The Issuer agrees that, if it shall issue commercial paper after the date hereof in reliance upon such exemption (a) the proceeds from the sale of the Notes will be segregated from the proceeds of the sale of any such commercial paper by being placed in a separate account; (b) the Issuer will institute appropriate corporate procedures to ensure that the offers and sales of notes issued by the Issuer pursuant to the Section 3(a)(3) exemption are not integrated with offerings and sales of Notes hereunder; and (c) the Issuer will comply with each of the requirements of Section 3(a)(3) of the Securities Act in selling commercial paper or other short-term debt securities other than the Notes in the United States.

1.7

The Issuer hereby represents and warrants to the Dealer, in connection with offers, sales and resales of Notes by the Issuer, as follows:

(a)

The Issuer hereby confirms to the Dealer that (except as permitted by Section 1.6(i)) within the preceding six months neither the Issuer nor any person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof acting on behalf of the Issuer has offered or sold any Notes, or any substantially similar security of the Issuer (including, without limitation, medium-term notes issued by the Issuer), to, or solicited offers to buy any such security from, any person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof. The Issuer also agrees that (except as permitted by Section 1.6(i)), as long as the Notes are being offered for sale by the Dealer and the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof as contemplated hereby and until at least six months after the offer of Notes hereunder has been terminated, neither the Issuer nor any person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof (except as contemplated by Section 1.2 hereof) will offer the Notes or any substantially similar security of the Issuer for sale to, or solicit offers to buy any such security from, any person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof, it being understood that such agreement is made with a view to bringing the offer and sale of the Notes within the exemption provided by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act and Rule 506 thereunder and shall survive any termination of this Agreement. The Issuer hereby represents and warrants that it has not taken or omitted to take, and will not take or omit to take, any action that would cause the offering and sale of Notes hereunder to be integrated with any other offering of securities, whether such offering is made by the Issuer or some other party or parties.

(b)

The Issuer represents and agrees that the proceeds of the sale of the Notes are not currently contemplated to be used for the purpose of buying, carrying or trading securities within the meaning of Regulation T and the interpretations thereunder by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In the event that the Issuer determines to use such proceeds for the purpose of buying, carrying or trading securities, whether in connection with an acquisition of another company or otherwise, the Issuer shall give the Dealer at least five business days’ prior written notice to that effect. The Issuer shall also give the Dealer prompt notice of the actual date that it commences to purchase securities with the proceeds of the Notes. Thereafter, in the event that the Dealer purchases Notes as principal and does not resell such Notes on the day of such purchase, to the extent necessary to comply with Regulation T and the interpretations thereunder, the Dealer will sell such Notes either (i) only to offerees it reasonably believes to be Qualified Institutional Buyers or to Qualified Institutional Buyers it reasonably believes are acting for other Qualified Institutional Buyers, in each case in accordance with Rule 144A or (ii) in a manner which would not cause a violation of Regulation T and the interpretations thereunder.

2.

Representations and Warranties of Issuer.

2.1

The Issuer is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, has the power and authority to own its properties and to carry on its business as now being and hereafter proposed to be conducted and is duly qualified and authorized to do business in each jurisdiction in which the character of its properties or the nature of its business requires such

qualification and authorization, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing could not be reasonably expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.   The Issuer has all the requisite power and authority to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under the Notes, this Agreement and the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement.

2.2

This Agreement and the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement have been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Issuer and constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer enforceable against the Issuer in accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar state or federal debtor relief laws from time to time in effect which affect the enforcement of creditors’ rights in general and the availability of equitable remedies (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law).

2.3

The Notes have been duly authorized, and when issued as provided in the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, will be duly and validly issued and will constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer enforceable against the Issuer in accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar state or federal debtor relief laws from time to time in effect which affect the enforcement of creditors’ rights in general and the availability of equitable remedies (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law).

2.4

The offer and sale of the Notes by the Issuer in the manner contemplated hereby do not require registration of the Notes under the Securities Act, pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section 4(2) thereof, and no indenture in respect of the Notes is required to be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended.

2.5

The Notes will rank at least pari passu with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of the Issuer.

2.6

No consent or action of, or filing or registration with, any governmental or public regulatory body or authority, including the SEC, is required to authorize, or is otherwise required in connection with the execution, delivery or performance of, this Agreement, the Notes or the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, except as may be required by the securities or Blue Sky laws of the various states in connection with the offer and sale of the Notes.

2.7

The execution, delivery and performance by the Issuer of this Agreement and the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, and the issuance of the Notes in accordance with the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, each in accordance with its respective terms, and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby do not and will not, by the passage of time, the giving of notice or otherwise, (i) require any Governmental Approval relating to the Issuer where the failure to obtain such Governmental Approval could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) violate any Applicable Law relating to the Issuer except where such violation could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (iii) conflict with, result in a breach of or constitute a default under the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the Issuer, (iv) conflict with, result in a breach of or constitute a default under any indenture, agreement or other instrument to which the Issuer is a party or by which any of its properties may be bound or any Governmental Approval relating to the Issuer, which could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (v) result in or require the creation or imposition of any Lien upon or with respect to any property now owned or hereafter acquired by the Issuer

or (vi) require any consent or authorization of, filing with, or other act in respect of, an arbitrator or Governmental Authority and no consent of any other Person is required in connection with the execution, delivery, performance, validity or enforceability of this Agreement, the Notes or the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement other than consents, authorizations, filings or other acts or consents which have been obtained or made and are in full force and effect or for which the failure to obtain or make could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

2.8

Except for matters disclosed in any filings made by the Issuer with the SEC, there are no actions, suits or proceedings pending nor, to the knowledge of the Issuer, threatened against or in any other way relating adversely to or affecting the Issuer or any of its properties in any court or before any arbitrator of any kind or before or by any Governmental Authority that has had or could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.

2.9

The Issuer is not an “investment company” within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

2.10

Neither the Private Placement Memorandum nor the Company Information contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

2.11

Each (a) issuance of Notes by the Issuer hereunder and (b) amendment or supplement of the Private Placement Memorandum shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Issuer to the Dealer, as of the date thereof, that, both before and after giving effect to such issuance and after giving effect to such amendment or supplement, (i) the representations and warranties given by the Issuer set forth in this Section 2 remain true and correct on and as of such date as if made on and as of such date, (ii) in the case of an issuance of Notes, the Notes being issued on such date have been duly and validly issued and constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer, enforceable against the Issuer in accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar state or federal debtor relief laws from time to time in effect which affect the enforcement of creditors’ rights in general and the availability of equitable remedies (regardless of whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law), (iii) in the case of an issuance of Notes, since the date of the most recent Private Placement Memorandum, there has been no material adverse change in the financial condition or operations of the Issuer which, if not publicly available, has not been disclosed to the Dealer in writing and (iv) the Issuer is not in default under any of its obligations hereunder, under the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement or the Notes that is reasonably likely to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

3.

Covenants and Agreements of Issuer.

3.1

The Issuer will give the Dealer prompt notice (but in any event prior to any subsequent issuance of Notes hereunder) of any amendment to, modification of or waiver with respect to, the Notes or the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, including a complete copy of any such amendment, modification or waiver.

3.2

The Issuer shall, whenever there shall occur any change, development or occurrence in relation to the Issuer that would have a Material Adverse Effect (including any receipt by the Issuer, from any nationally recognized