ElectriPlast: Shareholders Slam Integral Commo Policy

Silence

is Not

Golden


By Vince S.
ElectriPlast Blog Editor

EB Publisher's Note: Recently, the EB Editor conducted an informal survey, polling a number of ITKG Shareholders on various Internet Boards, Forums and other Venues. This article is a direct result of what you, or your fellow stock holding stakeholders have shared. So, what say we all see just what "The Survey Says"...

"We need consistent and transparent shareholder communications."
ITKG Shareholder

Hello, Bellingham? Is Anyone There?

Nine months after the famous joint press release in which Integral CEO Bill Robinson boldly proclaimed 2008 as the year our ElectriPlast technology would be commercialized, shareholders and EB readers are still waiting. By now, we expected a steady stream of press releases, a CEO Letter to the Shareholders, supportive statements from Investor Relations, and the opening of the new website, ElectriPlast.com. Indeed, the EB desk should have been in crisis mode dealing with the abundance of news extolling the virtues of our disruptive conductive polymer!


That's the way it should have been.

Instead, we are eight months into 2008 and no commercialization! Even worse, there have only been two insipid press releases* from Bellingham ((*)now "three" counting yesterday's 'nail-biting' article), and they were issued six months ago! Since those two releases, there has been no information out of Bellingham other than the obligatory SEC filings. Loyal Longs are hard pressed to think of a period in Integral’s long history during which shareholders have been so isolated by management. And based on their survey results, shareholders are ticked off at being shut out. We’re not talking about receiving material or inside information; that would be illegal! We’re talking about common courtesy; information that shareholders in any publicly traded company expect as a right of ownership!


There’s Nothing Like a Survey to Get it Out in the Open!

Anger and frustration, the ITKG shareholder’s lot, really spilled out during a recent confidence survey. A small, but critical, block of ITKG shareholders were participants in the survey. They are critical because they hold or influence 266 investment accounts and nearly eight million shares (18% of the shares outstanding), and they vented their anger about Integral’s managerial and communications style! To no one’s surprise, the issue that grated the majority of shareholders is the abysmal lack of communication between Bellingham and the shareholder base. Survey responders, many of whom have held their shares eight years or better, roundly castigated Integral management for its abject silence. In fact, several shareholders said that some other penny stocks they own have taken extraordinary steps (initiating Blogs, sending company letters on a regular basis, etc.), to communicate with them, the very people who helped fund their company. That isn’t the case with Integral Technologies, so some shareholders said they would make this grievous lack of communication their main gripe at the first shareholders’ meeting.


Shareholders believe in the concept and the technology; they have great confidence in the Jasper involvement; and many believe that this will be the commercialization year, based on Jasper CEO Doug Mathias’ comments. Such confidence does not extend to Integral management. As a result, Bellingham was blasted for its narrow-minded approach to the communication issue. Shareholders expressed pent up frustration and anger in a series of strongly worded comments: “communicate more,” “a letter to the shareholders every six weeks,” “I don’t perceive that management cares for us,” “No investor with this company should be reading new information about contracts, business relationships, patents, etc., in a trade magazine,” “I am invested in another…startup and I hear progress reports at least every two months,” “Quarterly updates…,” “…more letters to shareholders,…” “If a previously announced statement of progress has been made and not met, an explanation should be given,” “quarterly management updates,” and on the litany went. Harsher words were spoken by some, but they cannot be quoted here. Clearly, ITKG shareholders are NOT happy with the manner with which Integral communicates with them.


So, What Do Shareholders Like?

Despite strong shareholder feelings against the Boyz in Bellingham, there were mostly positive feelings for Tom Aisenbrey, whose genius made ElectriPlast possible. Sentiment ran high that this, indeed, would be our commercialization year. In fact, many survey respondents thought Q2 would see the first contact announcement, even though there has been no buzz from Bellingham. Most of the respondents said that the relationship with Jasper Rubber was critical to the success of ElectriPlast. Doug Mathias, CEO of Jasper Rubber, was viewed in a highly positive manner, and is the main reason many shareholders still believe in this partnership and continue to hold this investment. Per one contact, “Mathias has a record of success in business. He is receptive, innovative and a hard working organizer…he has my vote in the capability department.” We would be hard pressed to apply any of those adjectives to Integral management! Moreover, Jasper recently stated that it has “committed the necessary resources to bring commercial success in 2008” to ElectriPlast. That was a table pounder, a significant statement of support and another boost to those who know how to read the many small signs that appear here and there.


The Bottom Line

The vast majority (92%) of those who responded to the survey cared more about receiving general (not material) information on a regular basis than the fact that we are 88% down from our all time high share price. They demand to know the status of the ElectriPlast. Com web site. What happened to the notion of a Board of Directors? Why can’t shareholders hear about new patents and media releases before their general release? Is there a reason, other than arrogance and rudeness, why we don’t hear from Bellingham on issues of interest to shareholders?


The bottom line is that Integral Technologies had better have plenty of answers for that first shareholders meeting. To paraphrase one shareholder, "I’m here because I believe in the product, not the personalities in Bellingham." Based on the survey results, that shareholder has plenty of company.


Stay tuned, folks!

ElectriPlast: A Message from Integral Technologies

Lightening the Load

of the Friendly Skies



By © 2008 BusinessWire
July 22, 2008 04:35 AM ET



Lightening the Load of the Friendly Skies

Heavy thoughts are weighing down the aviation industry. In the first half of last year, jet fuel averaged approximately $80 per forty-two-gallon barrel; for the same period in 2008, that barrel averaged over $132. If these trends continue, the nation's airlines will collectively spend over $60 billion this year on fuel, more than five times what they spent in 2002. It should come as no surprise, therefore, to learn that eight airlines have gone out of business since November 2007.

Each and every pound shed from a plane saves airlines fourteen thousand gallons of fuel each year; it is no wonder, then, that in order to stay competitive the airline industry needs to find ways to lighten up. Recent measures and proposals made to lighten the load of the friendly skies have included:

-- Charging for each piece of checked luggage as a way of discouraging passengers from over-burdening flights
-- Replacing seats and food carts with new, lighter-weight models
-- Instructing load planning, baggage handling, and ramp personnel to better distribute cargo to ensure that aircraft have the most fuel-efficient center of gravity
-- Carrying less water in airplane bathroom faucets and toilets
-- Eliminating printed pilot manuals in favor of onscreen computer displays
-- More frequent power-washing of jet engines to reduce the drag caused by dirt and debris

"While the aviation industry struggles with these and other Draconian measures, the answer may lie in lighter, more environmentally sound engineering materials," says William Robinson, CEO of Bellingham-based Integral Technologies.

Integral has developed a moldable conductive plastic, named ElectriPlast(TM), a polymer blend that can be used to conduct electricity and is, on average, 80% lighter than copper or other metals used in wiring and battery designs. Consisting of small pellets of plastic-wrapped metal fibers, ElectriPlast does what no plastic has done before: it can carry electrical currents as capably as copper. Lightweight, versatile, and inexpensive to produce, ElectriPlast may usher in a new dawn of electronics and transportation.

"This family of highly conductive polymers may have all 'the right stuff' for coping with issues such as size, capacity, cost, and fuel savings," explains Robinson. "With gasoline at nearly $5 a gallon and sky-high airline prices, ElectriPlast may lighten the burden for consumers and the aviation industry." For more information visit www.itkg.net.

SOURCE: Integral Technologies, Inc.

For Integral Technologies, Inc.

IRG
Mike Graff, 212-825-3210