WASHINGTON, Nov. 26, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- World Am, Inc. (OTCBB:WDAM) today announced that Dr. C. Robert Kline, a veteran technology evaluator and government program manager, has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer and as a member of its Board of Directors. He also will chair the board's audit committee. The appointments were effective November 13, 2007.
Dr. Kline succeeds David J. Barnes as CFO. Mr. Barnes remains a Director of World Am. He resigned as chair of the audit committee because he assisted the company this past year in raising funds, which compromised his status as an independent director and, therefore, he could not continue to serve on the audit committee.
"Bob Kline brings a wealth of experience to this appointment, and we are extremely fortunate and honored to have him join World Am," said Chairman & CEO Robert A. Hovee. "In more than 40 years of technology selection and planning, he has helped launch products in the generation and storage of energy, information, telecommunications, and manufacturing technologies, for such governmental agencies as the Departments of Defense, Commerce and Energy, the National Security Agency, and the FBI.
"In that capacity," Mr. Hovee noted, "Dr. Kline has worked on behalf of those agencies for major corporations in partnership with such nations as the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Russia, Israel, Finland and Taiwan. In 1994, the President of Taiwan awarded Dr. Kline the President's citation for work in the development of hard coatings and their application to high specific energy density power storage and heavy manufacturing."
In addition to his work on behalf of the government and corporations, Dr. Kline served as a university professor and leader of university research for many years. He has also served as a technology evaluation/selection leader for private firms, such as Select University Technologies, Inc. -- the largest shareholder of World Am -- as well as public firms including Northrop Grumman, and the government, through IBM Federal and E-Systems. Throughout his career, he has served several national non-military agencies in designing and programming computer systems for large-scale data storage, search, and retrieval.
Dr. Kline is currently Chairman & President of KTC Global, Inc. headquartered in Washington and Kline Technical Consulting, LLC. KTC Global has two operating subsidiaries, one in the U.S.A. and the other in Europe.
He has also authored more than 50 books and articles or chapters, focused on advanced battery technology, electronic warfare and bioterror countermeasures, biomedical engineering, and interpretation theory. He served in the U.S. Marines.
Dr. Kline joins Chairman & CEO Robert A. Hovee, David J. Barnes and James R. Largent on World Am's Board of Directors.
Mr. Hovee is the founder and CEO of RAH Consulting Group, Inc., a private company focused on new product development, strategic planning, organizational issues, operations and international marketing. He has been an active private investor, board member and advisor to early-stage technology companies for the past 13 years. During this time, he has invested in 17 companies, and has served, or is currently serving, on the Boards of more than 20 private and public companies engaged in diverse industries. Prior to this, he was Chairman & CEO of Life Support Products, Inc., a private medical technology venture he led for 11 years, repositioning it from a struggling specialty paramedic burn products company to become an international leader in emergency medical products. The company was sold in 1993 to a NASDAQ level firm. Earlier, Mr. Hovee held increasing levels of responsibility with such firms as Atari's personal computer group, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Spalding Sports Worldwide, and Boise Cascade Corporation. He currently is a member of the board of directors of three privately held companies -- Xpert Technologies, Inc., Select University Technologies, Inc., and Metagenics, Inc.
Mr. Barnes is also President of Nexus Advisory Corporation. He concurrently serves as Chairman of GSL Energy Solutions, LLC. He also has served as Chairman of Datalabs, Vice President Finance and Investor Relations with Commerce Energy Corporation, a Director and Chief Financial Officer of Cage Concepts, a Director and chair of the audit committee of Advanced Spine Fixation Systems, Inc. Over the past 12 years, he has facilitated the financing, sale- or public listing of seven companies. Earlier, he served as a financial advisor with the firms of UBS PaineWebber, Prudential Securities and Spelman & Company. Prior to that, he worked in the office of the California State Attorney General.
Mr. Largent has more than 30 years' experience in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries. His consulting assignments have included strategic planning, business development and Medicare reimbursement projects. He successfully headed a lobbying effort on behalf of a U.S. ophthalmic device company that led to a landmark new policy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that allows for patient shared billing. The potential market for the client's product tripled in terms of numbers of patients, and preserving premium pricing more than 400% higher than current Medicare reimbursement rates. Earlier, he served in positions of increasing responsibility with Allergan, Inc., including Vice President, Strategic Planning and Vice President, Strategic Marketing. In addition to serving as a Director for World Am, Mr. Largent is a Director of Biolase Technology, Inc., the leading manufacturer of medical lasers for doctors and other specialists who perform the full range of dental procedures.
Additional information on the company is available at http://www.world-am.com. A full biography of Dr. Kline is contained in an 8-K filing with the SEC announcing his appointment.
Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications that may arise could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The company cautions that these forward looking statements are further qualified by other factors including, but not limited to those, set forth in the World Am, Inc. Form 10-KSB filing and other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (available at www.sec.gov). The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any statements in this release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.