Steve Santangelo Joins Kester's North American Paste Business Unit

ITASCA, IL � October 2008 � Kester announces the addition of Stephen Santangelo to the Kester Solder Paste Business Unit in North America, which is located in Itasca, Ill. Steve has been employed in various roles within Kester's Asian operations for 12 out of the last 16 years. He was most recently Asian Operations Manager for the Solder Paste Business Unit, being responsible for operations in four facilities within Asia. Steve will assume the role of Operations Manager in North America, with responsibility for production and quality of solder paste products. His nearly 30 years of experience with Kester and solder products provides outstanding technical strength and expertise to the company's recently formed business unit.

�We look forward to having Steve join the Kester Solder Paste Business Unit in North America. This move will help the unit move forward with upcoming exciting and effective new products for the industry,� said William Spring, general manager of Kester's Solder Paste Business Unit.

For more information on Steve Santangelo's role within Kester Solder Paste or Kester's full line of products and services, contact Kester by phone at (+1) 847-297-1600 or 800-2-KESTER (53-7837), by fax at (+1) 847- 699-5548, or by e-mail at customerservice@kester.com. Kester's Web site may be found at http://www.kester.com.

Founded in 1899, Kester is a world-renowned supplier of solder and related materials and services to the electronics assembly, micro-component, and industrial soldering markets. Kester is known for high quality, advanced technology and superior technical support. With headquarters in Itasca, IL, Kester has additional manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and China. Its worldwide manufacturing and technical capabilities provide the support required to serve major electronics manufacturing services providers and OEMs.