The board of directors for Amerityre Corp. has established a transition plan for the eventual replacement of current Chairman and CEO Richard Steinke, who plans to resign on Oct. 1, 2007.
"I have discussed transition plans with the board for some time," says Steinke. "However, I feel it is extremely important that I oversee completion of several key ongoing projects at the company, while allowing adequate time to make an orderly transition.
"I believe that the board and I have designed a transition plan that meets my objectives while also ensuring that Amerityre continues its exciting progress toward achieving its significant potential."
Since August 2006, Kenneth Johnsen, a former member of Amerityre's board of directors, has served as president of the company. On Jan. 15, 2007, the board unanimously re-appointed Johnsen to the board, assigning to him the responsibility of leading the company's search for a new CEO and supervising the transition process.
In connection with his re-appointment to the board, Johnsen resigned as president. He will continue to consult for the company and work with Steinke in advancing Amerityre's business strategies and completing ongoing projects.
During the transition period, Steinke will resume the title of president.
"Among my responsibilities will be to ensure Amerityre's continued access to Richard's vision, and technical knowledge on a consulting basis," says Johnsen. "I intend for the CEO search to be thoroughly objective and to involve the assistance of outside professionals."
Here is the latest information on some of Amerityre's key ongoing projects.
* Amerityre successfully completed "significant portions of the pending FMVSS 139 safety standard testing" on its Arcus run-flat tire design. The design held up to bead unseating, tire strength and the high-speed component testing.
The company is working on the remaining endurance component of the testing protocol. "Passing FMVSS testing on the run-flat passenger car tire design is a high priority for our company and serves as the foundation for completing our development of the run-flat trailer tire," says Steinke.
* "Since we signed a license agreement in September 2006 with Qingdao Qizhou Rubber Co., Qingdao has begun construction of its facility to begin using our polyurethane elastomer material to start retreading off-the-road tires," says Steinke. "Dr. Gary Benninger, our chief operating officer, is currently in China inspecting Qingdao's progress and gaining insight for future retreading facilities that could potentially be built elsewhere."
The construction of the Qingdao Qizhou facility is expected to be completed this year.
* "Our test work on using our polyurethane elastomer material for specialty tires with a major specialty tire manufacturer continues," says Steinke. "We are benchmarking the performance characteristics of our proprietary polyurethane materials and evaluating specific commercial applications in which the materials can serve as a replacement for rubber."
* Amerityre also continues to test its polyurethane elastomer material for glass encapsulation. "After having achieved positive test results for our material in weatherization testing, we are now in a similar testing program with a major chemical supplier to determine a broader range of performance characteristic so the material can be specified for use in certain automotive glass applications," says Steinke.
* "We have also begun discussions with a major foreign conglomerate regarding a potential business arrangement for the production of automobile tires in a range of popular sizes," says Johnsen. "We have received sample tire sizes from them and expect to send them several prototype samples of our innovative Arcus run-flat prototypes for them to test and evaluate in the next several weeks."
On the heels of its announcement about the company's transition plan, Amerityre also announced that Elliott Taylor, the company's chief administrative officer, executive vice president, secretary and general counsel, will return to private practice. He will become the company's outside legal counsel following a 30- to 60-day transition period to allow his executive duties to be reassigned to Amerityre's other executive officers.
Amerityre is actively engaged in the development of new polyurethane elastomer tire technologies. For more information on Amerityre, visit its Web site at www.amerityre.com.
