Kester Wins Prime Source Award

ITASCA, IL � March 5, 2008 � Kester announces that it has been awarded a prestigious Prime Source Award from EIS, an Atlanta-based electrical/electronics industry distributor. The award was presented to Kester�s Mike Nagel, Vice President of Distributor Sales, by EIS President and CEO Bob Thomas at a ceremony on held January 19, 2008 in Orlando, FL.

Kester and EIS have been partners for more than 25 years, with EIS distributing Kester�s solder pastes, liquid fluxes, bar solder, wire solder and other materials to the electronics assembly and industrial soldering markets.

EIS launched the Prime Source Award program in 2007 to recognize superior commitment and support of its suppliers. To be eligible for the program, EIS must sell a minimum of $1,000,000 of a supplier�s products. Criteria for winning an award includes achieving sales revenue growth of at least 7 percent, a total profitability index improvement of at least 10 points over the previous year, and positive results from a sales and customer development field survey of EIS sales and management personnel. Kester successfully exceeded the award components.

EIS President Bob Thomas, said, �The EIS Prime Source Award was designed as more than a sales achievement, as we fully recognize that excellent results are not solely dependent on good products. The sales support, applications expertise and product development know-how of the Kester team are what make our partnership with them so successful.�

Mike Nagel added, �Winning an award from one of the top distributors in North America demonstrates that Kester has world-class products and services, tremendous quality, advanced technologies, and significant market penetration.�

More than 50 EIS suppliers were eligible for the 2007 Prime Source Awards. In addition to Kester, 13 other suppliers were honored as award winners.

For more information on Kester�s full line of products and services, contact Kester by phone at (+1) 847-297-1600 or 800-2-KESTER (53-7837), by fax at (+1) 847- 699-5548, or by e-mail at customerservice@kester.com. Kester�s Web site may be found at http://www.kester.com.

Founded in 1899, Kester is a world-renowned supplier of solder and related materials and services to the electronics assembly, micro-component, and industrial soldering markets. Kester is known for high quality, advanced technology and superior technical support. With headquarters in Itasca, IL, Kester has additional manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Taiwan, Malaysia and China. Its worldwide manufacturing and technical capabilities provide the support required to serve major electronics manufacturing services providers and OEMs.