PRNewswire-FirstCall
SIOUX FALLS, S.D.
Raven Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAVN) announced today that Aerostar International, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, has won a $7.65 million government contract to produce cargo parachutes for the U.S. Army. The parachutes are used to drop supplies and equipment for both military and humanitarian support. Under the terms of the contract, the Army can exercise an option to double the size of the requirement and extend the program an additional year.
Aerostar will build the parachutes at its outerwear sewing plant in Huron, South Dakota. Production should start in October and run for approximately one year. Without this contract, the Huron plant was faced with downsizing or possible closing by the end of the year. Aerostar manufactures balloons and inflatable products and absorbed the Raven Sportswear Division 16 months ago in a reorganization.
Ronald M. Moquist, president and chief executive officer of Raven, said: "This is a positive step in our overall plan to transition from manufacturing commercial outerwear, which is under intense pressure from cheap foreign suppliers, to sewing and sealing technology-based products. This is a huge win for Aerostar and for our Huron plant."
Raven is an industrial manufacturer that provides electronics manufacturing services, reinforced plastic sheeting and flow control devices to various markets.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Although Raven Industries, Inc. believes that expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurances that its expectations will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from expectations include general economic conditions, weather conditions which could affect certain of the company's primary markets such as agriculture or construction, or changes in competition or the company's customer base which could impact any of the company's product lines. On the Internet, information is available at FRB's website, http://www.frbinc.com/ , or at http://www.ravenind.com/ , the company's website.
SOURCE: Raven Industries, Inc.
CONTACT: Tom Iacarella, VP & CFO of Raven Industries, Inc.,
+1-605-336-2750, or General Inquiries, Dennis Waite, +1-708-246-6265, Analyst
Inquiries, Bill Schmidle, +1-312-640-6753, or Media Inquiries , Tim Grace ,
+1-312-640-6667, all of FRB Weber Shandwick
Web site: http://www.ravenind.com/
http://www.frbinc.com/