BURLINGTON, N.J., April 10 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Franklin Electronic Publishers, Incorporated (Amex: FEP) today announced the appointment of Mark Winter, Vice President/General Manager of its Proximity Technology Division, and Thomas Chow, General Manager, Asia Business Development, to its management team.
Mark Winter has more than twenty years of software industry experience in electronic publishing, CAD and simulation applications and services. Previously he was CEO of Simulis LLC., a provider of online knowledge assessment and training systems for workforce development. He has also served as SVP Marketing/Corporate Development for e-SIM Inc., a simulation software company, and as VP Corporate Development for Continental Graphics Holdings which operated one of the largest technical document publishers in North America.
Franklin, through its Proximity Technology Division, is a leading provider of linguistic software resources for desktop and enterprise where language accuracy is critical to content quality and search functionality.
"We are delighted to have Mark as an addition to our Senior Management team," said Barry J. Lipsky, President and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin. "Proximity represents a significant strategic growth opportunity for the company as we offer increased functionality both through product innovation strategic partnerships, and through our investment banking initiatives. Mark’s experience matches perfectly with both our business development objectives and our development infrastructure initiatives to create that growth," he added.
"Many software products and web services have a growing need for improved linguistic support so that content creation is accurate and complete" said Mark Winter. "Proximity has an excellent product line that supports the broadest range of international languages. I’m excited about delivering this solution to an ever-expanding universe of software products in global markets where language accuracy is a critical feature set," he added. Mr. Winter holds an MBA in Corporate Strategy and an undergraduate degree in Communications. He also serves on the Board of the American Institute of Graphic Arts | Los Angeles.
Thomas Chow, with over 30 years in marketing and brand management, was President of China Innovative Co. at which he provided consulting services to Johnson & Johnson, Bausch & Lomb and Revlon in connection with the launching of these brands into the greater China markets. Mr. Chow was also a board member of Bausch and Lomb’s joint venture in China. Prior to holding this position, Mr. Chow was the Managing Director, Asia Pacific of Globalenglish.com an English Language Learning initiative where he established distribution networks throughout Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Korea.
Mr. Chow will be responsible for the development and marketing of Franklin’s business initiatives in the burgeoning Asian markets focusing on Japan, Korea, and the greater China markets as well as expansion into the other smaller Pacific Rim markets. Mr. Chow will also lead the effort to cultivate relationships with the large multinational retailers with local buying offices in Hong Kong and other parts of the Far East.
"Thomas is another great addition to the Franklin team," said Mr. Lipsky. "He has launched some of the world’s best known and respected brands into China and other Asian markets through innovative and cost effective partnerships. Now that Franklin has established its foothold in the Far East markets, we believe that Thomas will be able to bring to the Franklin team that same marketing savvy he has demonstrated over and over," he added.
"Having grown up in China, I’ve experienced first hand the challenges of learning English as a second language and continue to see on a daily basis the enormity of the market" said Thomas Chow. "In the Asian regions no one has to be convinced of the value of learning English. With Franklin as the leading brand in the western markets and its vast publishing partnerships we are well positioned to extend that reach. I look forward to the challenge and am excited to be part of the Franklin team," he added.
Mr. Chow holds an MBA in General Management and an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and is a resident of Hong Kong.
About Proximity
Franklin, through its Proximity Technology Division, designs and licenses linguistic software that provides spelling error detection, correction and hyphenation in 36 languages as well as thesaurus, dictionary and other linguistic functionality to such world renowned technology leaders such as Adobe and Sun Microsystems. More information is available at http://www.proximitytechnology.com/
About Franklin
Franklin Electronic Publishers Incorporated (Amex: FEP) is a world leader in electronic handheld information, having sold more than 37,000,000 electronic books since 1986. Current titles available directly or through partners number more than 26,000 in sixteen languages under license from world class publishers, such as Merriam-Webster and HarperCollins, focused in five genres: Learning, Language Learning, Travel, Spiritual, and Leisure. The Company also licenses its underlying technology to an array of partners including Adobe, Sun Microsystems and Ademco (a division of Honeywell). Franklin distributes ROLODEX(R) Electronics branded organizers worldwide and SEIKO branded reference products in North and South America, Australia and the European Community. Franklin’s products are available at 43,000 retail outlets worldwide, through catalogs, and online at http://www.franklin.com .
ROLODEX(R) is a registered trademark of Berol Corporation, a subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. SEIKO is a registered trademark of SEIKO Corporation.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed throughout this release, including, but not limited to, those that are stated as Franklin’s belief or expectation or preceded by the word "should" are forward looking statements that involve risks to and uncertainties in Franklin’s business, including, among other things, the timely availability and acceptance of new electronic products, changes in technology, the impact of competitive electronic products, and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in Franklin’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
