GT Solar Co-Founder & CEO Retires
GT Solar Incorporated Co-Founder and CEO, Dr. Kedar Gupta, will
retire from the company on December 31, 2006. Company President, Tom
Zarrella, will lead the company and report to the Board of Directors.
Kedar Gupta co-founded the company with his long time business
partner, Jon Talbott, in 1994 with $1,000 between them, then led the
company for the past 12 years as Chairman and CEO. During that time,
GT Solar has grown to 120 employees with record revenues, bookings and
profitability. The company is in a leading position in the solar PV
industry worldwide with its cutting edge technologies and equipment.
Dr. Gupta leaves the company in excellent condition to serve the
future needs of the solar PV industry.
"I am humbled by this success," said Gupta. "I owe a sincere thank
you to the outstanding employees of GT Solar, to the customers who
believe in what we do, and to individuals in New Hampshire who
supported this company in the beginning and ever since. But I am also
excited by my future plans to help entrepreneurial companies in New
Hampshire and other parts of the world grow and succeed like GT
Solar."
GT Solar President, Tom Zarrella, said: "GT has great technology,
a strong brand and important relationships with market-leading solar
companies all over the world. Our order backlog at the moment is in
excess of $190 million. It was $54 million at the beginning of the
year. Dr. Gupta led us to this exciting position, and his
entrepreneurial spirit, his drive to innovate, and his sense of
customer satisfaction are deeply ingrained in the company. Now we look
forward to the challenge of taking GT Solar to the next level."
GT Solar Incorporated is a leading provider of essential
technology, equipment and turnkey manufacturing solutions across the
photovoltaic supply chain. Based in Merrimack, New Hampshire (USA),
the company's products include equipment used to produce
multi-crystalline solar wafers, cells and modules. GT recently
expanded its product line to include poly-silicon reactors - devices
that allow its customers to produce the poly-silicon from which solar
cells are made.