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OEA Announces New President and Vice President

9 June 1998

OEA Announces New President and Vice President for Automotive Division

    DENVER, June 8 -- OEA, Inc. announced today that
two key executives have joined the Company.
    Mr. William R. Barker has been appointed to the newly created position of
President of the Automotive Safety Products division, where he will be
responsible for all aspects of the Company's inflator and initiator business
worldwide.  For the last three years he was President of Bosal North America,
manufacturers of automotive exhaust systems and catalytic converters.  Prior
to joining Bosal, Mr. Barker was employed 23 years at Gates Rubber company
where his last position was in Germany as Chief Operating Officer of the
European Power Drive Products operations, and his preceding position was in
Japan as Chief Operating Officer of Asia Pacific Operations.  He has a
Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters of Business
Administration, both from the University of Colorado.
    Mr. L. Gene Stohler has been appointed to the newly created position of
Vice President of Business Development, reporting to Mr. Barker and being
responsible for all marketing, sales and strategic planning of the Automotive
division.  Mr. Stohler has 40 years of wide marketing experience in the
automotive industry.  For the last nine years he was Vice President, Marketing
and Planning for MascoTech, Inc.  Prior to joining MascoTech he was
Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Marketing at ITT Automotive for six years.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics from Butler
University.
    Mr. Barker reports to OEA's President and Chief Executive officer, Charles
B. Kafadar, who said, "OEA has targeted the air bag industry for our continued
growth, and has spent the past year preparing for this growth by installing
facilities and equipment and training personnel.  Now we are announcing the
addition of two key individuals, each with extensive automotive components
experience, to lead our automotive business.  Bill's background in all aspects
of automotive components manufacturing and marketing, knowledge of Europe and
Asia, and experience with rapid ramp-ups of production is very important for
the growth of our Automotive Safety Products.  Gene's global background in
automotive marketing and strategic planning is very important for OEA to
develop new markets in the evolving air bag field."
    OEA is a major manufacturer of air bag inflators and initiators, and a
leader in the design and manufacture of personnel escape systems for military
aircraft and high-reliability devices for missile and space applications.