RTP Company Launches Elastomer Division

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christin Ruge Phone: (507) 454-6900

Corporate Headquarters RTP Company 580 East Front Street Winona, Minnesota Press Release 55987-0439 USA Telephone (507) 454-6900 Fax (507) 454-2089 Internet www.rtpcompany.com

RTP Company’s PermaStat PLUSTM Compounds Meet Sensor’s ATEX Requirements

WINONA, MN, USA – November 29, 2006 – Carlo Gavazzi, a leading manufacturer of sensing devices, has utilized RTP Company’s PermaStat PLUSTM compounds to meet the stringent ATEX Directive requirements in its Tripleshield® Capacitive Sensors. In order for the sensors to comply with ATEX regulations, the conductive housing must have a surface resistance less than 109 ohm and the ability to withstand impact testing. “The thermoplastic compounds from RTP Company are more consistent than our other possible choices,” said Michael Nolsøe Larsen, Quality Manager at Carlo Gavazzi Industri A/S. “Because of our decision to specify an RTP Company compound, we believe that the risk of critical errors in our sensing devices will be minimized.” Capacitative sensors are used in industrial and agricultural applications to detect both conductive and non-conductive materials – such as water, glass, plastics, and metals – without physical contact. The sensors use a PermaStat PLUS 1000 series glass-reinforced PBT compound, which is ideally suited for the application and fulfills the demands of the ATEX standard. This compound is permanently static dissipative and provides the necessary surface resistance to meet the ATEX requirement of less than 1 Gohm. It has high impact properties and excellent resistance to a broad range of chemicals, and the glass reinforcements provide a two-to threefold increase in tensile, flexural, and compressive properties.

Winona, MN • South Boston, VA • Fort Worth, TX • Indianapolis, IN • Beaune, France • Singapore • Suzhou, China “RTP Company through Nordic Plastic Service provided all the necessary technical assistance and service,” said Michael Nolsøe Larsen. “We have been very grateful for the speedy response from RTP Company with the ATEX testing and reports, which have been extremely useful in our procedure.”

ATEX-approved Tripleshield® Sensors have set a new market standard by operating continuously and reliably in the most difficult environments, making them ideal for level detection in raw plastic delivery systems and in agricultural applications.

About RTP Company RTP Company, headquartered in Winona, Minnesota, is a global leader in specialty thermoplastic compounding. The company has eight manufacturing plants on three continents, plus sales representatives throughout North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. RTP Company’s engineers develop and produce custom compounds in over 60 different engineering resin systems for applications requiring color, conductivity, flame retardancy, high temperature, structural, elastomeric and wear resistant properties.

For more information, contact RTP Company at (800) 433-4787 or www.rtpcompany.com.

About Carlo Gavazzi Carlo Gavazzi is a diversified internationally active electronics group designing, manufacturing, and marketing electronic equipment targeted at the global markets of industrial automation and information processing. For more information, to go www.carlogavazzi.com.