PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
July 13, 2011 – Portland, Maine, USA
ANANIA & Associates Investment Company LLC (“AAI”), a Maine Investment Fund, announces the addition of two key personnel to its Fund Manager’s executive team. Jayne Leiner, Director of Human Resources & Compliance and David Hiatt, Chief Financial Officer, recently joined the Anania & Associates (“A&A”) team. AAI is also proud to announce its expansion into Europe, with Florian Knappe leaving the A&A executive team to open a sales office in Heidelberg, Germany.
“The AAI Fund is experiencing significant growth both organically and through acquisitions, so we continue to seek out experienced, qualified executives to provide the infrastructure to support the portfolio various companies.,” commented Peter V. Anania, President of A&A.
“We are very excited about bringing Jayne and David on board ….They each bring a myriad of experience and expertise to the organization which will assist us in managing current growth plus provide insightful guidance as the Fund adds to its portfolio….”Anania continued, “AAI is also establishing a European office, with our help, which will be managed by Florian Knappe, our former CFO. He will help establish new relationships and enhance existing ones on behalf of four of the Fund’s portfolio companies regularly doing business in Europe”
Jayne Leiner‐‐ Jayne comes to us through the Fund’s latest acquisition, Lighthouse Imaging Corp, working alongside her husband Dennis Leiner, PhD., as they started Lighthouse from scratch. Jayne’s experience in HR will be very valuable as we continue to add companies and employees. AAI now has approximately 120 employees requiring more on‐going human resource and benefit plans management. Jayne also brings her compliance experience including working closely with the FDA for medical device registrations, with ISO for quality control both in design and medical device manufacturing and other compliance areas such as OSHA, ERISA and other quality systems.
David Hiatt—David will function as our new CFO overseeing our budgeting, planning, finance, tax planning and the accounting functions. He has fifteen years of experience as CFO of high technology and international companies. This includes experience as general manager of a multi‐national business and as managing director of a Japanese joint venture where he established European distribution channels and managed European‐wide financial operations as CFO. Additionally, David has IPO experience, successful M&A experience, as both buyer and seller, and successful turnaround experience. His extensive experience in the financial markets, including working with both the sell and buy sides of Wall Street, venture capital firms, and commercial banks, will be a great asset to the AAI Fund as it continues to grow.
Florian Knappe – Florian currently A&A’s CFO, since 2009, previously worked as Controller for Correct Building Products LLC, a company ANANIA & Associates was contracted by to help turnaround/restructure and eventually lead negotiations in a sale. Florian, a German native, is a logical choice to set up the Fund’s European office which will be headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany. In addition to English, he speaks German and Dutch. He also has the financial experience and working knowledge of the AAI Fund to develop the infrastructure required in Europe. His primary focus will be to develop new sales channels for four of the portfolio companies with a presence in Europe plus enhance existing relationships to help increase sales. AAI also plans to establish a warehouse operation in the Netherlands to facilitate more economical transfer and registration of product into
the EU.