Gentex Appoints Vance as a Vice President

ZEELAND, Mich., Aug. 25, 2005 -- Gentex Corporation , the Zeeland, Michigan-based manufacturer of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and commercial fire protection products, today announced the appointment of Robert Vance to vice president of Asian Business Development. Vance brings both sales experience and knowledge of the Asian automotive market to this new position in which he is responsible for the support and development of strategies to grow and manage the Company's business with Asian automakers.

Prior to joining Gentex, Vance was employed for over ten years by Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI) in Holland, Michigan. At JCI, he worked in a number of areas, holding positions in finance, program management, sales, and business management. Most recently, he was the vice president responsible for global sales for the Honda Motor Company account at Johnson Controls.

A native of Pennsylvania, Vance has lived in several parts of the United States, Japan, and England. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Foreign Languages from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and he is conversant in Japanese, German, and Spanish. Vance attended graduate school at Meiji Gaukuin University in Japan where he focused on Japanese language as well as international business and economics. Vance resides in Grand Haven, Michigan, with his wife, Lori, and two sons.

Founded in 1974, Gentex Corporation is an international company that provides high-quality products to the worldwide automotive industry and North American fire protection market. Based in Zeeland, Michigan, the Company develops, manufactures, and markets interior and exterior automatic-dimming automotive rearview mirrors that utilize proprietary electrochromic technology to dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from trailing vehicle headlamps. Many of the mirrors are sold with advanced electronic features, and approximately 95 percent of the Company's revenues are derived from the sales of auto-dimming mirrors to nearly every major automaker in the world.