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Contact: Keith Nichols, President, EBO Group, Inc. (330)590-8105 or knichols@ebogroupinc.com

April 2007

EBO Group Awarded Ohio Third Frontier Grant

The EBO Group, Inc., located in Sharon Center, Ohio, is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $1 million Third Frontier grant from the State of Ohio. The Third Frontier Project is a 10 year, $1.6 billion program that was initiated in 2002. It is designed to promote the creation of high-tech companies, world class research and the commercialization of new high-tech products. The grant that EBO Group has received is the first to be awarded to a Medina County company through the Third Frontier Program.
 

The funding will be used by Triton Hybrid Drives, Inc., a subsidiary of EBO Group created in 2007, to support the research, development and market entry of the first generation of a unique oil cooled electric drive (OCED) module for commercial vehicles. The OCED will be a low weight, power dense, oil cooled electric drive module that will assist on the launch and operation of the vehicle’s internal combustion engine enabling a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels and reducing green house gas emissions.  The OCED will be developed and demonstrated on several Class 4 and 5 vehicles over the course of 2009 with commercialization targeted for early 2010.
 

A collaborative team of Ohio-based entities has been formed to bring this project to fruition. Led by the EBO Group, the Innovative Ohio Network (ION) has been created and much of the groundwork is already in place to partner on the development of this important project. ION members include the Electric Vehicle Institute of Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, OH), Electric Motor Sports (Cincinnati, OH), Industrial Control, Design and Maintenance (Tallmadge, OH) and Tesco Bus (Oregon, OH). Capitalizing upon the expertise of each individual partner, the Triton OCED will bring an advanced approach to the electrification of commercial vehicles.  The ION partners will also contribute $566,000 as a cost share for the project.
 

EBO Group is an employee owned company with 77 employees. As its name suggests, EBO Group, or Excellence By Owners, is dedicated to the concept of employee-owners working toward a common goal of continuous success through excellenceat every level of the operation.  All EBO Group employee-owners share in the rewards of the success enjoyed by each of the subsidiary companies. More information can be found at www.ebogroup.com