WINNIPEG, September 18, 2014 – Empire Industries Ltd. (TSX-V: EIL) today announced changes to the composition of its board of directors, arising from its Annual General and Special Meeting of Shareholders held yesterday.
Changes to the Board
The shareholders elected one new director, and re-elected 6 other directors to the board at the meeting. The new director is Peter White Robinson, who has many years of experience in international contracting businesses. Not returning this year are Campbell McIntyre and Bruce Jackson. Mr. McIntyre announced his intention to retire from Empire before the information circular was issued, and was therefore not included in the slate of candidates. Bruce Jackson announced his retirement after the information circular was issued, and withdrew his candidacy accordingly. Ian Macdonald, Guy Nelson, Terry Quinn, Bob Marshall, Jane Lin, and Jack Chang were all re-elected.
“We’re delighted that Peter White-Robinson accepted our invitation to join the board,” said Guy Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of Empire Industries. “Peter’s years of experience in international engineering and manufacturing business will be a real asset to Empire as our international businesses become an even more significant portion of our revenue and growth.
At the shareholder’s meeting, Mr. Nelson thanked Campbell McIntyre and Bruce Jackson for their years of service to the Company. He noted that Mr. McIntyre had spent 38 years at Empire Iron Works Ltd., 17 of them as President. He was one of the founding directors of Empire Industries, and served as its Chief Financial Officer from 2006 until 2008, and again from 2011 to 2012. Mr. Jackson first joined the Board in 2010, and the company benefited greatly from his prior experiences, including his tenure as president of Dynamic Structures, which was subsequently acquired by Empire.
New Business Developments
During the annual meeting, Mr. Nelson made a presentation updating investors on the status of Empire’s current and new business initiatives. A copy of this presentation has been posted on Empire’s website at www.empind.com.
One of the new business developments that was presented was an expansion of Empire’s interest in astronomical telescopes, through the creation of a strategic alliance between Empire and the Harlingten Center for Innovative Optics Ltd. This strategic alliance is focused on research and development of potentially disruptive new technologies in the manufacture and polishing of the large mirrors used by giant telescopes. These new technologies hold the potential to make large astronomical telescopes much less expensive to build, and much faster to deliver, dramatically changing the potential market for the equipment.