diff --git a/employ/manager.py b/employ/manager.py
index e0eb80f..367b266 100644
--- a/employ/manager.py
+++ b/employ/manager.py
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ from employ import commands
 
 class Manager(object):
     def __init__(
-            self, ami_image_id, num_instances=1, instance_name="deployed",
-            region="us-east-1", instance_type="t1.micro",
+            self, ami_image_id="ami-da0cf8b3", num_instances=1, instance_name="deployed",
+            region="us-east-1", instance_type="t1.micro", key_name=None, security_group=None
     ):
         self.instances = []
         self.ami_image_id = ami_image_id
@@ -15,19 +15,9 @@ class Manager(object):
         self.instance_name = instance_name
         self.region = region
         self.instance_type = instance_type
-
-    def setup_instances(self):
-        print "starting %s %s instances named %s in region %s" % (
-            self.num_instances, self.instance_type, self.instance_name, self.region
-        )
-
-    __enter__ = setup_instances
-
-    def cleanup_instances(self):
-        print "tearing down instances"
-
-    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
-        self.cleanup_instances()
+        self.key_name = key_name
+        self.security_groups = [security_group] if security_group else []
+        self._connection = None
 
     @classmethod
     def from_config(cls, config):
@@ -50,6 +40,34 @@ class Manager(object):
             all_commands[command_cls.name] = command_cls
         return all_commands
 
+    def connection(self):
+        if not self._connection:
+            logger.info("Connecting to EC2")
+            self._connection = boto.ec2.connect_to_region(self.region)
+        return self._connection
+
+    def setup_instances(self):
+        connection = self.connection()
+        reservation = connection.run_instances(
+            image_id=self.ami_image_id,
+            min_count=self.num_instances,
+            max_count=self.num_instances,
+            instance_type=self.instance_type,
+            key_name=self.key_name,
+            security_groups=self.security_groups,
+        )
+        self.instances = reservation.instances
+
+    __enter__ = setup_instances
+
+    def cleanup_instances(self):
+        instance_ids = [instance.id for instance in self.instances]
+        connection = self.connection()
+        connection.terminate_instances(instance_ids=instance_ids)
+
+    def __exit__(self, type, value, traceback):
+        self.cleanup_instances()
+
     def setup(self, script):
         print "executing setup script: %s" % script