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DIGITAL ANGEL BOLSTERS SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM HIRES SEASONED
CATTLE EXPERT JOHN L. BRALY AS VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND
INDUSTRY RELATIONS PATRICIA PETERSEN JOINS AS NEW GENERAL
COUNSEL;
Strengthening Executive Team
Key to Strategic Development Plan, Growing Global Business
SO. ST. PAUL, MN (September 18, 2006) … Digital Angel
Corporation (Amex: DOC), an advanced technology company in the field of
rapid and accurate identification, location tracking, and condition
monitoring of high-value assets, announced today that it had significantly
bolstered its management team by making two senior hires: John L. Braly as
Vice President of Business Development and Industry Relations for the
Company’s Animal Applications Division, and Patricia Petersen as General
Counsel. Petersen begins immediately and Braly will start in
October.
These new appointments are key components of Digital
Angel’s business development program, which is focused on building a
world-class executive team capable of implementing a diverse, global
business plan and driving shareholder and market value.
“Digital
Angel is at a critical inflection point in our business planning and
development. We have made significant progress in a number of critical
areas including electronic tags for livestock, substantial growth in
implantable chips for pets and new search and rescue beacon contracts for
the military. We are poised to take the company to the next level,” said
Digital Angel CEO and President Kevin McGrath. “We are thrilled that John
and Patricia see the opportunity within Digital Angel and have agreed to
join our management team.”
Braly joins the Company from the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, where he was most recently Vice
President and Head of Membership. Prior to that, Braly spent 16 years at
the California Cattlemen’s Association where he started as Senior
Director, Government Relations and later became Executive Vice President.
In his role with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association John has built
strong relationships with producers, Livestock Marketing Council members
and the various state livestock affiliates and beef councils.
“
John is one of the most trusted names and best-known experts in the
livestock and animal identification industries in the United States,”
McGrath said. “He has worked closely with farmers and ranchers all over
the country, as well as the affiliated trade groups and state beef
councils. John will be an invaluable addition to our team as we rapidly
expand our work within the livestock industry to enhance our current
livestock traceability product line and most importantly, take advantage
of new emerging opportunities in the United States and
abroad.”
Petersen has more than 16 years of experience in providing
legal counsel in fast-paced, rapid-growth environments. Before coming to
Digital Angel, Petersen was Sr. Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary for Hollywood, FL-based Technical Olympic USA, Inc. Prior to
that position, Petersen spent two years as Assistant General Counsel of
Corning Incorporated. She also spent eight years in Bucharest, Romania as
Managing Partner of Nestor Nestor Kingston Petersen, a law firm she
co-founded in 1992.
“Patricia has a wealth of corporate experience
in high-growth, high-intensity markets. She has been integral in opening
up new markets, both domestically and abroad, and will be extremely
involved as we expand our portfolio into new product lines and new
geographies,” McGrath said.
The company announced last week that
by the end of September it expects to have sold 1.9 million electronic
RFID livestock tags in 2006, quickly exceeding full-year 2005 sales of 1.7
million tags. The increased awareness of potential animal health issues
and the importance of livestock traceability fueled the record-breaking
sales. In addition to the United States and Canada, Digital Angel now
sells electronic tags in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and
Uruguay.
About Digital Angel
Corporation
Digital Angel Corporation develops and deploys
sensor and communications technologies that enable rapid and accurate
identification, location tracking, and condition monitoring of high-value
assets. Applications for the Company’s products include identification and
monitoring of humans, pets, fish, poultry and livestock through its
patented implantable microchips; location tracking and message monitoring
of vehicles and aircraft in remote locations through systems that
integrate GPS and geosynchronous satellite communications; and monitoring
of asset conditions such as temperature and movement, through advanced
miniature sensors.
Digital Angel Corporation is majority-owned by
Applied Digital Inc. (Nasdaq:ADSX). For more information about Digital
Angel, please visit http://www.digitalangelcorp.com/.
The statements in this press release that are not strictly
historical, are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors
created by these sections. The forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties and the actual results that the Company achieves
may differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to such
risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, that Applied
Digital Inc. owns 55.4% of the Company’s common stock, that new accounting
pronouncements regarding expensing of share based compensation may impact
the Company’s future results of operations, the Company may continue to
incur net losses, infringement by third parties on the Company’s
intellectual property or development of substantially equivalent
proprietary technology by the Company’s competitors could negatively
impact the Company’s business, domestic and foreign government regulation
and other factors could impair the Company’s ability to develop and sell
its products in certain markets, the Company relies on sales to government
contractors for its animal identification and search and rescue beacon
products, and any decline in the demand by these customers for such
products could negatively affect the Company’s business, the Company
depends on a single production arrangement for its patented
syringe-injectable microchips, and the loss of or any significant
reduction in the production could have an adverse effect on the Company’s
business, technological change could cause the Company’s products to
become obsolete, the loss of one of the Company’s principal customers
could negatively impact the Company’s net revenue, the Company’s earnings
will decline if the Company writes off goodwill and other intangible
assets, options and warrants outstanding and available for issuance may
adversely affect the market price of the Company’s common stock, currency
exchange rate fluctuations could have an adverse effect on the Company’s
sales and financial results, the Company depends on a small team of senior
management. A detailed statement of risks and uncertainties is contained
in the Company’s reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including in particular the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2005. Investors and stockholders are urged to read this
document carefully. The Company can offer no assurances that any
projections, assumptions or forecasts made or discussed in this release
will be met, and investors should understand the risks of investing solely
due to such projections. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise
any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances
that may arise after the date of this press release.
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