Fairmount Automation, Inc. Receives Financial Investment From Prominent Philadelphia Business Entity

Local Supplier of Mission Critical Equipment for the U.S. Navy is Attracting Attention of Philadelphia Business Leaders

PHOENIXVILLE, PA-OCTOBER 11, 2002-Fairmount Automation, Inc. is turning heads, not only in the automation industry, but now also within the local Philadelphia business community as well. Today the company announced that it will receive a $200,000 investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP), one of the region's premier non-profit economic development organizations. Additionally, just last week, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce announced that it will present the company with the prestigious Manufacturer of the Year Small Business Excellence Award.

"As a young company, receiving the support of a prominent business organization such as Ben Franklin Technology Partners is a significant accomplishment for us," said Andrés Lebaudy, co-founder and CEO of Fairmount Automation. "In just a short time, we've made tremendous progress and have experienced fantastic growth and I'm confident that the investment from Ben Franklin will be a great asset for us as we continue to move forward and meet the growing demand for our new products and services."

The investment from BFTP/SEP is part of its Emerging Investment Fund Program and will provide capital to Fairmount Automation for the continued development of its next generation product line, Chameleon™, due out in early 2003. Chameleon™ products are a family of rugged programmable modules that can function as a conventional Programmable Logic Controller or be joined together over a network to form a decentralized control system.

Similarly, in recognition of its innovative technology, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce will present Fairmount Automation with the prestigious Manufacturer of the Year Small Business Excellence Award on Friday, November 22 at the Hyatt Regency in Philadelphia. As part of the Small Business Excellence Awards Program, Fairmount Automation will be honored for its impressive achievements and success in the automation industry and in the local economy.

Fairmount Automation designs, manufactures and sells rugged process control and automation products for use in harsh environments. Its technical products are considered mission critical for one of the country's largest consumers-the United States Navy.

In fact, Fairmount Automation FAC-2000 controllers played a prominent role in maintaining critical equipment aboard the aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson and USS Kitty Hawk, which were deployed during the main offensive in the war against terrorism in Afghanistan. Aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the company's products control steam machinery in the nuclear propulsion plant while aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, the company's equipment controls the propulsion plant. Today, more than one in four naval surface ships relies on Fairmount equipment for their most demanding applications.

"Our unique combination of hardware, software and services enables Fairmount to offer a compelling and cost-effective solution to our customers who work in harsh and difficult environments," said Gary Cane, co-founder and Vice President of Engineering. "We take great pride in the fact that we can successfully provide critical equipment and services that enable U.S. Navy ships to be better prepared and more likely to survive a catastrophic event such as a terrorist attack or missile explosion."

Since its inception in 1996, Fairmount Automation has grown from two employees to thirteen, has created numerous local manufacturing jobs and was ranked 75th in the Philadelphia Business Journal's 2001 annual guide to the region's fastest growing private companies. Staying true to the co-founders' alma mater, Drexel University, Fairmount Automation employs five Drexel graduates, one current Drexel MS student as well as graduates from the Wharton School of Business, the CHI Institute and individual Drexel co-op students.

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About Fairmount Automation, Inc. 

Fairmount Automation designs, manufactures, and sells rugged process control and automation products for use in harsh environments. The company also operates an engineering services division that is sponsored by the U.S. Navy to investigate cutting edge distributed control technologies. The company's flagship product, the FAC-2000, is a fully programmable controller that is used to monitor and regulate industrial machinery such as boilers, pumps, distillers, heat exchangers, aircraft carrier catapults, and waste transfer systems. Since 1997, the company has been a leading supplier of rugged control equipment to the Navy, where our products are controlling mission-critical processes on more than 25% of the surface fleet. Our unique combination of hardware, software and services enables us to offer a compelling solution to our customers. Our mission is to become the leading provider of survivable process control and automation products for harsh environments through the continued development of innovative and technologically advanced products specifically packaged to serve those environments. We aim to be the dominant automation original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for military applications and to consistently gain market share in the worldwide industrial controls market. The company is based in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit our website at www.FairmountAutomation.com or contact us at info@FairmountAutomation.com or (610) 935-8656.

Press Contact:
Laura Lebaudy
Laura@L2Communications.com