Nufern Opens Headquarters in Connecticut; Company to Design, Manufacture, and Test Application-Specific Optical Fiber Under One Roof.

Business/Technology Editors

EAST GRANBY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2001

Nufern, a manufacturer of application-specific optical fiber, announces the opening of its world headquarters in East Granby, Conn. The new 50,000-sq.-ft. state-of-the-art facility enables Nufern to consolidate under one roof the design, high-volume production, and testing of highly engineered optical fiber for telecommunications, industrial, medical, and aerospace applications. Coupled with the company's optical labs and production facility in Sydney, Australia -- which have been in operation since 1999 -- Nufern is positioned to fulfill large-scale orders for premium-grade, application-specific optical fiber and provide round-the-clock customer support.

After solidifying plans made in summer 2000 to build a U.S. facility in one year, Nufern contracted Konover Construction Corp., which began site work in November 2000. In April 2001, Nufern received its first shipment of capital equipment and, in May, produced its first fiber preforms. The company drew its first optical fiber in June and shipped its first commercial product on Aug. 15, 2001, successfully meeting the one-year deadline the company imposed on itself.

"Opening this unique facility on time and on budget was a key milestone in the growth of Nufern," says Martin Seifert, Nufern CEO. "Part of our goal was to show the industry that we had assembled a team with the expertise and the drive to set demanding timelines and meet them."

"We thank all who helped to make this accomplishment possible, especially our financial backers, customers, suppliers, contractors, and state and local officials who all worked extraordinarily well together to make Nufern's vision a reality," says Siefert.

Nufern products are used in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), light amplification, laser, data transmission, and light pipe applications. The company is privately held by JDS Uniphase, Intel, Optical Capital Group, Redfern Photonics, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Storm Ventures. Nufern intends to grow its significant market position through continued investment in fiber-optic science and technology at its facilities in East Granby, Conn., and Sydney, Australia. For more information about Nufern, contact the company's headquarters at 7 Airport Park Rd., East Granby, CT 06026, call toll-free [phone], or visit www.nufern.com.