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Plextronics Featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric: Story Focused on Pittsburgh’s Economic Turnaround as it Welcomed G20 Summit

Plextronics Media Contact:
Lori Lecker
Phone: 412-423-2030, ext. 111
E-mail: llecker@plextronics.com

Pittsburgh, PA, September 24, 2009 – On September 23, 2009, Plextronics, Inc. was featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. The program – which draws an audience of more than 5 million viewers according to the Nielsen Media Research – is broadcast to about 200 CBS affiliates nationally. Click here to see the video clip of the segment.

In her introduction of the piece, entitled “The New Pittsburgh,” Couric commented that President Obama and other world leaders would be arriving in Pittsburgh for the G20 Summit on September 24 and 25. “And,” she said, “if you’re asking ‘why Pittsburgh,’ Anthony Mason tells us it’s a model of how to turn an economy around.”

CBS Business Correspondent Anthony Mason said that the new Pittsburgh that will play host to world leaders this week is a potent symbol of economic recovery in a time of financial crisis. Thirty years ago, 27 percent of Pittsburgh's jobs were in manufacturing. Today, it's just 10 percent, but the region now has well over one million employees - more than in the last great years of the steel industry.

Mason interviewed Plextronics' CEO Andy Hannah to learn more about him, Plextronics and its role in the new Pittsburgh. “I wanted to work on a business that could literally change the world,” said Hannah in his discussion with Mason.

Identified as a Plextronics co-founder, Hannah described the company and what it does. “This is an ink that when put on glass, will absorb photons from the sun or any light and turn into electricity.”

Mason continued to describe the company’s products – inks that can be used to print low-cost solar panels. “In seven years, the company has grown from four employees to 70.”

About Plextronics, Inc.
Plextronics, Inc. is an international technology company that specializes in printed solar, lighting and other organic electronics. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, the company's focus is on organic light emitting diodes (OLED) and organic solar technology, specifically the conductive inks and process technologies that enable those and other similar applications.

With a company vision of enabling 15 billion printed electronic devices by 2015, Plextronics is creating technology capable of commercial-scale manufacturability and performance. The company's device design, process technology and Plexcore® branded inks enable the formation of active electrical layers — the key drivers of printed electronics.

The privately held company was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Carnegie Mellon University, based upon conductive polymer technology developed by Dr. Richard McCullough. Over the past seven years, Plextronics scientists have refined and further developed this technology to deliver exceptional performance for printed electronics.

For more information about Plextronics, visit www.plextronics.com.


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