Wednesday October 15 4:22 PM EDT
Company Press Release
Michael T. Eckhart Elected To The Spire Corporation
Board of Directors
BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 1997--Spire Corp. (NASDAQ:SPIR), which
provides products and services to customers in the photovoltaics, optoelectronics and biomaterials
markets, today announced the election of Michael T. Eckhart to its board of directors.
Eckhart, 49, is a recognized expert in the field of solar photovoltaics and brings a global
understanding of this important market to Spire's board. He is currently Project Director of the
Solar Bank, a planned financing entity that will be a source of secondary lending for solar
photovoltaic markets. From 1989 to 1996, Eckhart served as president of United Power Systems,
an independent power development company he founded. From 1985 to 1989, he was principal of
Eckhart and Co., a management consulting firm. Earlier, Eckhart was vice president and director of
Arete Ventures Inc., a venture capital company fund, and held key management positions at
General Electric, Combustion Engineering and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. Eckhart holds a Master of
Business Administration Degree from Harvard University and a B. S. degree in electrical engineering
from Purdue University.
Roger G. Little, President and Chairman of the Board of Spire, stated, ''We welcome Mike to the
Board and know that his management, marketing, planning, and finance experience in the
photovoltaics industry will be of great benefit to Spire. He has visited most of the major photovoltaic
companies in the United States, Europe, and Japan, often seeing Spire PV equipment in action.''
Eckhart stated, ''Spire has made PV module production technology available to companies around
the world, enabling companies everywhere to produce a quality product at a low cost in modest
volumes, and this has helped create markets worldwide. In this way, Spire is at the very heart of the
PV industry and markets. I believe that Spire will have an exciting future, and I am very pleased to
be a part of it.'' |
