LEE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Southern Base of the Research Triangle Region NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, March 22, 2004 OHIO-BASED LUBRICANT MANUFACTURER MOVING HEADQUARTERS, PRODUCTION TO LEE COUNTY SANFORD -- PolySi Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of greases and lubricants for industrial use, has announced it will relocate its corporate headquarters and manufacturing from a Cleveland suburb to the Lee County Industrial Park. By the end of June, PolySi expects to finalize the purchase of a building north of Sanford formerly occupied by SimRidge Technologies. The company plans to move into its facility in early July and resume production soon after July 4. When hiring begins early this summer, the move will create 15 to 20 new jobs initially --Êand plenty more, if the company's current growth continues. "We expect to see maybe three to five times that number of jobs in growth over the next five years," said Chuck Leuth, vice president of PolySi. "We've been booming, and that's why we moved. Even in a down economy, we've seen a growth spurt of 25 percent a year over the last five years." The move from Avon, Ohio, generally follows a trend in the automotive industry, which is PolySi's primary market. When the company was formed in 1995, major auto manufacturers were concentrated in the Midwest. Since then, growth has generally been in the Southeast. Sanford, Leuth said, allows PolySi easy access to automobile markets throughout the East --Êalong with many other industries it serves. The company provides a full range of lubricants for use around the world by electrical utilities, government agencies and the military, and telecommunication manufacturers. It also is a distributor for Dow Corning automotive products. PolySi made its name by developing and manufacturing silicone greases and silicone and synthetic lubricants other companies didn't offer. It went one step further by packaging its products in smaller quantities, making them more convenient for a wide range of customers. Though many companies ship only in bulk, PolySi also packages its products in cans, jars and tubes -- some as small as a half-gram. Their packaging capability, in fact, has provided a new business opportunity. PolySi's larger, 55,000-square-foot space will allow the company to expand its contract manufacturing and packaging operations -- accepting formulas from customers and turning that recipe into a packaged and shipped product. That kind of innovation has kept PolySi on the cutting edge of its industry, and company leaders want to keep it that way. Leuth said his company is one of just 30 in the nation to have achieved the ISO/TS 16949:2002 quality certification, an important asset for doing business in the automotive industry. Though the certification is not mandatory until 2006, PolySi has been operating with the prestigious rating for two years. After looking all over for a new location, Leuth is excited about the company's future. He said PolySi has found a good manufacturing environment -- a place with a good source of labor, a wide range of ancillary facilities and plenty of support from local officials. "We've had tremendous growth in a down economy," Leuth said. "And, with the tax incentive plans for small businesses, I can see that growth continuing." The Lee County Economic Development Corp. is a nonprofit organization established to attract industry, enhance job opportunities and promote sound planning across Lee County. Funding is provided by the county, as well as the City of Sanford and Town of Broadway, the county's two municipalities. --30-- Media Contacts: Bob Heuts, Director Jane Haber, Administrative Assistant 919-774-8439 (phone) 919-775-5410 (fax) info@lcedc.com (e-mail) Media Web: http://www.lcedc.com/media/ This release: http://www.lcedc.com/media/releases/nr032204.txt PolySi Technologies: http://www.polysi.com