Crown Forms Two New Divisions to Focus on Underground Lead Pipe Inspections and Remediations
Crown welcomes Industry Pioneers Chuck Hansen as Chief Advisor Lead Pipe Assessment and David Kinsella as President of Element 82 and PE Pipelines
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ: CRKN) ("Crown" or the "Company"), a leading smart glass technology company and an expert in underground construction, announced today the formation of two new divisions - Element 82 and PE Pipelines. Element 82 will focus on lead pipe inspection, and PE Pipelines will focus on lead pipe remediation.
Lead in drinking water pipes represents an enormous problem for the United States of America. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) estimates that 9.2 million lead pipes carry drinking water to American water taps. The National Resources Council has estimated numbers as high as 12.8 million pipes. These numbers could be significantly higher, given the poor mapping and enormous complexity of the country’s water systems. Despite the range, experts agree that millions of American households remain at risk of lead exposure through their drinking water.
Element 82 has teamed with Chuck Hansen and his California-based company, Electro Scan Inc., to offer services using the company’s revolutionary Swordfish hand-held tool. Swordfish automatically detects various pipe materials automatically using electrical resistance, a low-voltage machine-intelligent method. Before Swordfish, no technology other than digging or excavation was commercially available to accurately and reliably identify lead pipe. Recognized by the US EPA, Swordfish quickly and accurately identifies multiple buried pipe materials, including lead, without expensive, time-consuming, and destructive digging. The Swordfish technology and Chuck Hansen’s expertise provide Crown a significant competitive advantage.
Chuck Hansen observed, “The partnership with Element 82 creates an amazing platform to expand Swordfish rapidly across the country. Lead pipe identification is the critical step before remediation and, ultimately, reducing lead exposure in drinking water in our cities and towns.”
Element 82 has already commenced new projects in New York, Virginia, and Florida. Over the course of the next month, Element 82 will be making announcements regarding purchase orders and revenue targets for the remainder of this calendar year.
To establish these divisions, Crown is hiring a team of world-class experts, innovators, and operators. Chuck Hansen, a 40-year water pipe industry expert, joins as Chief Advisor Lead Pipe Assessment. An 18-year veteran, David Kinsella will serve as President of Element 82 and PE Pipelines. To assist Mr. Hansen and Mr. Kinsella, Mike App and Matt Campos are joining in project management and engineering roles for Element 82’s projects. Erich Spangenberg has been hired as Chief Advisor, Risk Mitigation.
“I am truly excited about this opportunity. Element 82 and PE Pipeline bring together a turnkey solution to address the lead pipe challenge," says David Kinsella. “These divisions further Crown’s mission to help transform infrastructure to improve people’s lives.”
In connection with new appointments and pursuant to the agreed-upon terms, Crown granted Mr. Kinsella 750,000 RSU; Mr. Hansen 200,000 RSU; Mr. App 50,000 RSU; Mr. Campos 50,000 RSU; and Mr. Spangenberg 700,000 RSU as an inducement equity award outside of Crown's 2024 Employee Incentive Plan in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The vesting dates will be based on business milestones agreed to between employees and the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors for Crown. These inducement awards were approved by Crown's Board of Directors (the "Board"), including a majority of the independent directors serving on the Board.
About Crown Electrokinetics
Crown is comprised of two divisions, Fiber Optics and Electrokinetics Film. The Electrokinetics Film division is a smart glass technology and the creator of our Smart Window Insert based on its patented electrokinetic film. Crown’s Fiber Optics division is a builder of underground fiber optic networks as well as other utility infrastructure projects.
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