New Management Team Creates 30 Percent Growth at Quatech

Despite the economic downturn, and in sharp contrast to recent earnings warnings from many technology companies, Quatech, Inc. today announced that under new management the company increased Q2 revenues 30 percent over the same quarter last year, while maintaining a strong track-record of profitability.

AKRON, OHIO, August 6, 2001 -- Despite the economic downturn, and in sharp contrast to recent earnings warnings from many technology companies, Quatech, Inc. today announced that under new management the company increased Q2 revenues 30 percent over the same quarter last year, while maintaining a strong track-record of profitability.

Quatech, an Akron-based supplier of data communication and data acquisition products, was purchased in August 2000 by a team of investors. Nearly a year into the process, the privately held company has reported four consecutive quarters of profitable growth since the acquisition.

Steve Runkel, Quatech's President and CEO, along with William Roberts who now chairs the Quatech Board of Directors, and a group of investors, purchased Quatech from the company's founders - former University of Akron engineering professors - who had managed the firm for 17 years. Runkel highlights the opportunity for growth as the motivation behind the investment.

"We saw a company with proven product lines and strong engineering and production, but lacking emphasis on sales and marketing," he said. "We knew if we could focus on the relationship with our customers, we could increase top-line growth while maintaining the company's history of strong profitability."

Pradeep Saha, Quatech's Director of Business Development, also predicts Quatech can sustain significant growth by better aligning sales channels with the marketplace, thereby increasing penetration into promising industry verticals such as retail, banking, and hospitality. "Although we have been selling to these verticals for a long time, Quatech has not focused on these markets before," he said. "As we demonstrate that Quatech products are superior to competing products - by virtue of design, reliability and service - then it will be possible to gain market share."

Quatech's products include data communication products that plug into a PC, enabling it to communicate with a wide variety of peripherals, ranging from industrial machines to bar code scanners to modems. In the retail and banking markets, data communication products are used to connect card readers, cash registers, and other devices to a PC system. Quatech also makes data acquisition products for use by engineers in test and measurement applications.

In addition to focus on key markets, another growth factor will be a steady stream of new products. The company's upcoming introduction of wireless products will launch Quatech into a growth market as industry adopts the new form of communication.

Runkel comes to Quatech with a demonstrated track record of growing businesses. At Oracle Corporation, he dramatically grew sales for a business unit that provided Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions for top-tier financial firms. Prior to Oracle, he was President and COO of Innovative Solutions, a CRM products and services company in Pittsburgh.

Saha, whose background is in high-technology marketing and sales, formerly held senior marketing management positions at Keithley Instruments, a Cleveland-headquartered supplier of test-and-measurement electronics. Prior to Keithley, Saha was Vice President of Photonics Systems, a flat-panel display manufacturer. He holds both an MBA and a BSEE.

About Quatech: Quatech, Inc. is an ISO 9001 registered manufacturer of data communication and data acquisition products for Windows, Linux, Solaris and OS/2 based systems. Its customer base includes Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and major universities, as well as many small companies and individual users. Its products are used in a wide variety of vertical markets including banking, retail, hospitality, airports, medical, and security. Amongst the leading applications in these markets are Point of Sale terminals, Kiosks, automotive testing, industrial control and process monitoring. Founded in 1983, and headquartered in Akron, OH, the company has a worldwide presence, selling its products through a network of representatives and distributors. Website: www.quatech.com.
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