Hemisphere GPS Board Appoints Rick Heiniger President and CEO

The Board of Directors of Hemisphere GPS Inc., recently announced that Rick Heiniger will resign his position as Vice Chairman of the Board to accept the appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hemisphere GPS, effective immediately. Heiniger has been appointed to lead the thrust to a more profitable, focused, streamlined and market-driven innovation company.

Heiniger is the founder of Outback Guidance® which was acquired by the predecessor of Hemisphere GPS in 2005. He has been an active board member of Hemisphere GPS since 2005. “Rick knows the business, the industry and the company well,” said Michael Lang, Hemisphere GPS’s Chairman. “Rick and our Board are aligned on a clear path forward. We are encouraged that under Rick’s leadership Hemisphere GPS can return to profitability and provide increased shareholder value.”

Heiniger said, “I believe Hemisphere GPS can return to profitability by focusing on three priorities: our core agricultural business, streamlining and simplifying our business, and market-driven innovation for our customers. We intend to leverage our industry-leading technology and service capabilities to provide our customers with best-in-class solutions, building on the valuable Hemisphere GPS platform. I look forward to working with Hemisphere GPS’s strong leadership team and talented employees.”

Heiniger replaces outgoing CEO Steven Koles, who has resigned his position from the Board of Directors. “We appreciate Steve’s many accomplishments during his career at Hemisphere GPS. Under his leadership, our offering of products and services has grown significantly. We thank Steve for his contribution to the Company,” said Lang.

To assist the company, the Board has retained the Business Performance Optimization™ (BPO) team of Farber Financial Group. “We believe in the leadership and the Board’s strategy for steering the Company towards enhanced profitability,” said BPO Leader, Lewis Rose. “Hemisphere GPS has a strong competitive position with a valuable technology portfolio to pursue the upside opportunity within its chosen markets. We are excited to work with the company to restore long term sustainable profitability, growth and shareholder value.”

Rick Heiniger, 59, has deep roots in the agricultural industry, both in production services and machinery. Under Heiniger’s leadership, Hemisphere GPS successfully completed the integration of the Outback Guidance®, Satloc and DEL NORTE acquisitions making Hemisphere GPS a world leader in agricultural positioning guidance and steering.

Heiniger is the inventor or co-inventor of more than 20 patents, all leading to greater precision in agriculture. He is a former President of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association, and is the founder and principal of Bestway Inc., a specialty agricultural equipment manufacturer and marketer in the U.S.

Hemisphere GPS, Association member since 2004, hemispheregps.com.