April 4, 2005. Wake Forest, NC: Today Southern Lithoplate announced its fifth plant expansion in less than 10 years. This expansion comes on the heels of NEXPO 2005 where according to CEO Edward A. "Trip" Casson, "Our customer partners have clearly made the technology decision to move down the Thermal technology path". Our customers want the assurance that we will meet capacity demands for their future. As a leading Thermal plate technology provider this expansion provide this increased capacity and also brings increased R&D facilities delivering our customers the future supply and technology they need to drive their business well into the future. Casson continued, "In the midst of all the recent market consolidation of plate suppliers there has been a lot of money spent by large manufactures that are betting on future returns on those investments. This usually means higher prices on plates. We here at Southern feel that as a privately held company our competitive advantage is enhanced. Southern has long enjoyed the reputation for Quality and Value. We intend to continue that commitment as we move forward."