The US Department of Commerce (DOC) recently awarded Knit-Rite Inc. — a Kansas City, Kan.-based
producer of medical and consumer textiles — its Export Achievement Certificate in recognition of
Knit-Rite’s first sales to businesses in Greece, Lebanon and Turkey.

Knit-Rite exports products such as prosthetic socks, diabetic socks, compression hosiery and
orthotic textiles, among other products, to more than 40 countries including Mexico, Chile and
Australia.

The certificate program recognizes businesses that have successfully made their first export
sale and/or entered new foreign markets with assistance from the US Commercial Service, a DOC
agency that aids small to mid-sized US companies sell products worldwide. Knit-Rite achieved the
sales in Greece, Lebanon and Turkey with the assistance of services provided by the Kansas City US
Export Assistance Center.

“The Commercial Service has saved our company valuable time and resources, enabling us to
boost our exports and achieve a higher level of sales in the face of international competition,”
said Chris Vering, executive vice president, CFO and COO, Knit-Rite. “Our export sales continue to
make a vital contribution to our company’s growth here at home, enabling us to both maintain and
add local jobs.”

August 28, 2007

Germany-based Dienes Apparatebau GmbH — a spinning plant and man-made-fiber treatment solutions
provider — and Mainsite Services GmbH & Co. KG — operator of the Obernburg Industrial Center
(ICO), also based in Germany — have joined forces to provide complete, customized upgrade or
conversion solutions, from extrusion to winding, for spinning plants that process bulk continuous
filaments, polyethylene terephthalate, polyamide, elastane and assorted high-performance fibers.
The two companies together employ 30 engineers and technicians who work closely with customers to
develop concepts, special components, and automation and process control techniques; and oversee
their technical implementation.

Recently, Dienes and Mainsite completed a project to design a single-step manufacturing
process for Diolen Industrial Fibers GmbH — a manufacturer of high-quality technical polyester
yarns — at Diolen’s facility in the ICO. According to the two companies, the project, which was
completed in record time over a period of a few months without interfering with ongoing operations
at the plant, quickly achieved the goal of improving production efficiencies and optimizing costs
while maintaining product quality.

August 28, 2007

X-Rite Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., and Pantone Inc., Carlstadt, N.J., have entered into an agreement
whereby X-Rite will acquire Pantone for $180 million. Pantone will become a business unit within
X-Rite, and current Pantone executives will continue to have key roles in the new unit.

X-Rite — a developer and provider of color measurement and management software and services
for industries including textiles, printing, packaging and plastics, among others — hopes to extend
its product range with the addition of Pantone’s color standards, while expanding the reach of
those solutions using X-Rite’s international presence and distribution abilities.

Pantone products include the Fashion + Home Color System, a catalog of 1,925 colors for
fashion and home textile applications; and huey™ technology, which calibrates and profiles all
types of computer monitors for more accurate color viewing. X-Rite provides the technology for the
huey system, which is branded and sold exclusively by Pantone.

The deal is expected to close in the coming months, and will be funded with cash financed
through a number of institutions. A debt package of up to $415 million will be used to fund the
transaction and finance X-Rite’s existing debt.

“Pantone and X-Rite have enjoyed a strategic partnership in providing color management
solutions for the digital imaging market for the last two years,” said Larry Herbert, CEO, Pantone.
“Our company is wholly committed to color communication and inspiration and we are enthusiastic
about combining our growing business with X-Rite to apply even greater resources to this work.”

August 28, 2007

Concordia Manufacturing LLC, Coventry, R.I., a producer of fiber-based materials for biomedical,
industrial and consumer applications, has received $250,000 from the Slater Technology Fund, a
Providence, R.I.-based state-backed venture capital fund that provides seed capital for ventures
that will base their operations in Rhode Island. The funding is part of an initial $1.5 million in
equity financing the company will use to expand facilities and provide working capital for its
growing biomedical products business. Concordia also expects to obtain further funding before the
end of the year to use in its expansion efforts.

The 87-year-old company began its thrust into the biomedical field in 2003, aided by an
initial $100,000 in equity seed funding from Slater. In 2005, Concordia acquired Mansfield,
Mass.-based Albany International Research Co.’s biomedical assets related to the manufacture of
nonwoven scaffolds for tissue engineering and introduced its BIOFELT™ needlepunched 3-D felt
bioabsorbable scaffolds for use in regenerative medicine applications, again with assistance from
Slater, this time in the amount of $150,000. Other investments in Concordia’s biomedical business
have come from its shareholders, including members of the company’s founding Boghossian family.

The biomedical activities now comprise close to 30 percent of Concordia’s total business,
about triple the volume of late 2005, said Randal W. Spencer, president and CEO. “We’ve developed
new products, including one coming out in about a month and another in early 2008,” he said. “We
have a number of other products in clinical trials — in addition to arteries, we have a product
going into bladders, another in heart valves. We’re supporting some major research developments at
top universities, including schools in Boston; Yale, Duke and others.”

Expansion plans call for at least a tripling of Concordia’s clean room space and a
quadrupling of what Spencer called its “medical manufacturing space — not quite a clean room, but a
controlled environment,” from 1,000 square feet (ft2) to 4,000 ft2.

August 28, 2007

Home furnishings supplier Springs Global US Inc., Fort Mill, S.C., a subsidiary of Brazil-based
Springs Global Participações S.A., announced it will discontinue its South Carolina bedding
manufacturing operations and close its Grace Finishing and Grace Fabrication plants in Lancaster,
and its Close Plant in Fort Lawn. The closures, expected to be completed around the end of August,
will affect 540 associates who produce finished bed fabrics and sheets at the Grace facilities and
210 who produce comforters and bedding accessories at Close.

The company’s distribution and warehouse operation at Grace, which employs some 150
associates, will continue. After the plant closures are final, Springs Global will retain
approximately 700 associates in South Carolina, primarily at its distribution centers in Fort Lawn
and Lancaster and at its sales and administrative offices in Fort Mill.

The company’s distribution and warehouse operation at Grace, which employs some 150
associates, will continue. After the plant closures are final, Springs Global will retain
approximately 700 associates in South Carolina, primarily at its distribution centers in Fort Lawn
and Lancaster and at its sales and administrative offices in Fort Mill.

“This marks the end of 120 years during which Springs has manufactured bedding in South
Carolina,” said Crandall Bowles, co-chairman and co-CEO. “Both the Grace Plant and the Close Plant
have been integral and valuable parts of our business. The Grace Complex, in particular, once the
largest finishing plant under one roof in the world, has been a symbol of our company in this
area.”

Springs Global still maintains manufacturing operations for some bedding products in the
United States, including a comforter and bedding accessories facility in Alabama; a blanket
facility in North Carolina; and pillow and mattress pad facilities in Virginia, Oklahoma and
California. In addition, the company manufactures towels in Georgia and bath rugs in Tennessee.

July 3, 2007

The Netherlands-based Diolen Industrial Fibers has introduced Diofort®, the first high-tenacity
multifilament yarn made with Wilmington, N.C.-based Fortron Industries LLC’s Fortron® polyphenylene
sulfide (PPS) for use in fabrics, nonwovens or textiles, or as reinforcement. The yarn — which can
be combined with carbon, glass and other polymer fibers to produce blended fabrics — features
chemical resistance, flame retardancy, high durability, low water absorption, toughness and the
ability to withstand extremely high temperatures.

Diofort’s production process comprises plasticizing and extruding Fortron PPS in a
multifilament extruder at the desired diameter, then stretching individual filaments in a defined
temperature range.

Diofort can be used to reinforce hydraulic oil hoses in power steering systems, reducing
vibration and noise; and applied in fuel lines or charge-air coolers to simultaneously provide
resistance to high pressure and temperature and hose flexibility, industrial filter systems for
flue gases and aggressive liquids, and composites for use in aerospace systems.

August 21, 2007

The new Skintex Supercool variant contains high-tech microcapsules comprising such
ingredients as emollients, man-made coolants, menthol and myritol that, when applied to fabrics,
impart a cooling sensation as body heat and friction is generated.

August 21, 2007