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Park Electrochemical Corp. Announces Closure of Its New England Laminates Business Unit

^{Published on 2008-12-06 07:15:57 - Market Wire}
 

MELVILLE, N.Y.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE-PKE)announced that New England Laminates Co., Inc., Park's electronic materials business unit located in Newburgh, New York, is closing its operations in January 2009 in response to the very serious erosion of the markets for electronic materials in North America. The market for such products in North America has eroded to the point where Park believes it is not possible for the New England Laminates operation to be viable.

After the closure of the New England Laminates operation, Park plans to supply and fully support all existing customers of New England Laminates from Park's electronic materials operations located in Fullerton, California and Tempe, Arizona. The Company believes that its Fullerton and Tempe facilities have a combined capacity that is well more than sufficient to meet any foreseeable demand for electronic materials in North America. At this time, the closure plans do not contemplate the loss of business by Park.

As the result of this closure, Park expects to record a one-time pre-tax charge of approximately $1.3 million in the fourth quarter of Park's current fiscal year ending March 1, 2009 in connection with this matter. After the closure of New England Laminates is implemented, the New England Laminates business will have no further impact on the consolidated financial condition or results of operations of Park and will be treated as a discontinued operation.

Brian Shore, Park's President and CEO, said, "It is really so very heartbreaking and tragic to announce the closure of our New England Laminates Co., Inc. facility in Newburgh, New York. I understand that Park purchased New England Laminates out of bankruptcy in 1961 for $212,000. (Although I cannot confirm this, I believe the funds to purchase New England Laminates came from Park's November 17, 1960 IPO.) New England Laminates, Park's original "Nelco" business unit, was located in Stamford, Connecticut (on Canal Street I am told) at the time of the acquisition. It was relocated to Walden, New York around 1970 and then to Newburgh, New York in 1995. New England Laminates had very auspicious beginnings. I am told that it developed the first epoxy/glass laminate way back when. Also, in 1962, New England Laminates developed the multi-layer printed circuit board system, I believe the world's first. New England Laminates' illustrious history makes its closure all that much more sad and painful."

Brian Shore continued, "Now to our New England Laminates' employees. I want you to know that I have the utmost respect and admiration for you. I know that, over the last several years, it was obvious to you that the U.S. market for electronics materials was deteriorating very rapidly, and that it was probably just a matter of time before the New England Laminates operation would close. Nevertheless, all during this time, you maintained an excellent and positive attitude, you worked hard, you worked well and you worked with dignity. I believe, and our customers believe, that you did an excellent job. You never complained to my knowledge. You never whined. You never asked for anything you had not earned and did not have coming. In my opinion, you deserve better and this end is very unfair."

Brian Shore concluded, "Once again to our New England Laminate employees, I hope you will consider applying for a position at one of our other Park locations in the U.S. In any event, I want to thank you for all of your hard work and dedication over the years. I wish you and your families the very best in the future. It has been my honor and privilege to know you and work with you."

Certain portions of this press release may be deemed to constitute forward looking statements that are subject to various factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from Park's expectation. Such factors include, but are not limited to, general conditions in the electronics and aerospace industries, Park's competitive position, the status of Park's relationships with its customers, economic conditions in international markets, the cost and availability of raw materials, transportation and utilities, and the various other factors set forth in Item 1A "Risk Factors" and under the caption "Factors That May Affect Future Results" after Item 7 of Park's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 2, 2008.

Park Electrochemical Corp. is a global advanced materials company which develops and manufactures high-technology digital and RF/microwave printed circuit materials principally for the telecommunications and internet infrastructure and high-end computing markets and advanced composite materials, structures and components principally for the aerospace markets. Park's core capabilities are in the areas of polymer chemistry formulation, coating technology and advanced composite structures and component design and fabrication. The Company's manufacturing facilities are located in Singapore, China, France, Connecticut, New York, Kansas (under construction), Arizona, California and Washington.

Additional corporate information is available on the Company's web site at [ www.parkelectro.com ].