Today we released our interview with Oakridge Global Energy
Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: OGES) Chief Executive Officer Steve Barber.
The full audio interview is available at
http://OGES.MissionIR.com/interview.html
Oakridge is focused on the design, development and
manufacture of American-made high-quality cells, batteries and power systems.
Its innovative product line includes multiple lithium-ion technologies and form
factors optimized to address four high-demand target markets: stationary power
storage units and power back up systems for homes and living space
applications; motive applications such as electric vehicles (especially
including golf cars, local area electric vehicles, and fleet vehicles); remote
control sector batteries for civilian and military applications (for drones and
unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, and unmanned cars and
boats); as well as starter motor batteries for motorcycles, jet-skis, snow
mobiles, and boats, together with specialty applications such as military,
aerospace, marine, medical and telecom backup.
Mr. Barber begins the MissionIR interview by describing
Oakridge’s business model and recent visit from Florida Governor Rick Scott to
celebrate the opening of its new headquarters.
“[Governor Scott] was here to not only himself personally
open our new headquarters, which is our expansion facility because we outgrew
our initial starting point from two years ago, but he also announced a… $33
million incentive package from a combination of the state of Florida, the local
county [Brevard County]… and the city of Palm Bay, which is where our corporate
headquarters is. I think that really got everybody’s attention quite nicely,”
says Steve Barber.
Mr. Barber then briefly details Oakridge’s ongoing
restructuring initiatives and how the Company is now aptly positioned to expand
its market reach in the global lithium-ion batteries market, which is expected
to reach approximately $70 billion by 2020.
In addition to his executive position with Oakridge, Mr.
Barber is the chairman and chief investment officer of a private office family
fund, Precept, which searches out “the next great new thing” in which to
invest. It was through Precept that Barber noticed the incredible growth of the
lithium-ion battery space, along with the need for American-made and
commercialized batteries of superior quality.
In 2014, Precept took control of Oakridge, which at the time
was a shell company, polished it up, and with a new management team decided how
to best utilize the patents for lithium ion battery technology it holds.
“Through our family fund we searched around and about two
years ago we found Oakridge and decided to invest in and take control of it,”
Barber explains. “And that’s another good thing for investors, because as a
family fund we’ve got our two parallel funds… and we own almost 90% of the
company, which means that we can do the restructure that we needed to do
successfully, reposition the company how it needs to be repositioned, inject
fresh capital — which has been, in total, around about $40 million. We really
put our money where our mouth is with this one. And of course, we’re long-term
holders… we aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.”
Today, Oakridge is the only pure-play “Made in the USA” manufacturer
of lithium-ion batteries available for purchase. The company’s battery products
are designed for golf cars, jet skis, motorcycles, boats, home energy storage
and many more exciting applications.
“Batteries are boring unless you wrap them in cool stuff, so
we make batteries for cool stuff,” explains Mr. Barber.
The CEO also names and explains the qualifications of key
members of its leadership team and recent corporate milestones before
concluding with an overview of what’s to come in the near future.
“It’s extremely important to us, in creating a successful
company, that you have the right team. That’s really what we’ve spent the last
18 months to two years doing. We restructured the company completely, cleaned
it up… We’ve filed for NASDAQ — which the company expects to achieve when the
share price climbs to $4. The company is also gearing up to order new equipment
to expand its existing production to become fully operational by spring of
2016, positioning the company among the top 10 battery manufacturers by
capacity in the world,” he says.
For more information, visit http://oakg.net
About MissionIR
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Sign up for “The Mission Report” at www.MissionIR.com
Please see disclaimer on the MissionIR website http://www.missionir.com/disclaimer.html
MissionIR is committed to connecting the investment community with companies that have great potential and a strong dedication to building shareholder value. We know our reputation is based on the integrity of our clients and go to great lengths to ensure the companies represented adhere to sound business practices.
Sign up for “The Mission Report” at www.MissionIR.com
Please see disclaimer on the MissionIR website http://www.missionir.com/disclaimer.html
