Startech Environmental Announces Retirement of CEO

Startech Environmental Corp. announced the retirement of Joseph F. Longo, its CEO and president effective Jan. 11, 2002. Joseph S. Klimek, currently the COO and Executive Vice President, will succeed Mr. Longo, and has been appointed to the position of CEO and president designate.

Longo has been the CEO and President of Startech since its inception in 1993. During Longo's tenure, the Company has gone from a private corporation to a public one, been listed on the NASDAQ SmallCap, created a world-class training and demonstration facility utilizing the proprietary Plasma Converter and StarCell technologies, and has been instrumental in facilitating interest Plasma Converter to private industry has been manufactured and delivered, and is currently in the installation phase in Fukuoka, Japan.

Joseph Longo said, "Although I will miss the day to day challenges and successes of being CEO of this organization, I have complete confidence in the management team I leave in place, and I look forward to the chance to focus my efforts on my family, community projects, and any other opportunities that life presents. On a more personal note, it has always been a great comfort to me, and I believe to our shareholders as well, to know that if I broke a leg, or something worse, we would have a better man than I to take the reins of Startech. I'll reinforce what you already know, and that is, in Joe Klimek, we are fortunate to have such a very fine gentleman, but beyond that, we are fortunate to have such a very wise and skilled executive leading Startech.

Joseph S. Klimek, said, "I thank Joseph Longo for his dedication and hard work, and I look forward to leading Startech to the realization of the enormous potential that exists for building shareholder value and sustained growth. I am very excited about the pending projects we are looking at and believe that 2002 we be a very productive year for Startech on all fronts. I anticipate a number of public broadcasts that will give our shareholders and others an opportunity to get a feel for my vision and plans for the company to aggressively pursue a clearly defined near-term growth strategy."

Source: Startech Environmental Corp.