SBA'S 2008 "Eastern Pennsylvania Minority Small Business Person of the Year" Awarded to Clear Align CEO Angelique X. Irvin

Philadelphia, PA, October 10, 2008 – The SBA’s Philadelphia District Office named Angelique X. Irvin, President of Clear Align, as the winner of its 2008 “Eastern Pennsylvania Minority Small Business Person of the Year” Award. Clear Align designs, prototypes and manufactures custom imaging and fiber-optic systems for defense, aerospace and commercial customers. To commemorate this achievement, SBA Philadelphia District Director David Dickson will make a special appearance at an award ceremony on October 17, 2008, at 10:00 a.m., at Clear Align’s headquarters, 2550 Boulevard of the Generals, Suite 280,Eagleville, PA. The award ceremony will be open to the media.

“Ms. Irvin’s entrepreneurial success really captures the spirit of the ‘Eastern Pennsylvania Minority Small Business Person of the Year’ Award,” says David Dickson, District Director of the SBA’s Philadelphia District Office. “Every year the SBA awards this honor to a minority small business owner who has built a company with a positive impact on both its industry and the community. It is the extraordinary leadership exhibited by these entrepreneurs that fuels our economy, and the SBA is proud to recognize Ms. Irvin’s place among that elite league of leaders by presenting her with the Minority Small Business Person of the Year Award.”

Since Ms. Irvin founded Clear Align five years ago, the company has grown to a leading position in the defense market and serves an elite group of customers that includes Raytheon, L3 Communications, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin. Today, Clear Align supplies its customers with a range of technology solutions that help detect threats and protect our nation’s citizens, including infrared and visible imaging systems; space-grade fiber-optic sensors; acoustic sensor solutions; and laser systems for many applications.

Clear Align’s success has been widely lauded. Most recently, Clear Align was named one of 2008’s fastest-growing, privately-held businesses in thePhiladelphia region by the Philadelphia 100, which is a collaboration of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum of Greater Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Each year, the winner of the SBA “Minority Small Business Person of the Year” award is selected based on several criteria, including the company’s overall financial strength, sales and profit growth, growth in number of employees, demonstrated ability to overcome business obstacles, and dedicated involvement in community and charitable events. The award is presented during National Minority Enterprise Development Week, a Presidentially-designated celebration of minority small business excellence observed annually since 1983. The theme of this year’s National Minority Enterprise Development Week is “The Power of Strategic Alliances in the Global Economy.”

About Clear Align

Clear Align designs, prototypes and manufactures custom imaging, sensing and fiber optic systems for defense, aerospace and commercial customers. Clear Align’s imaging expertise spans the UV, visible, NIR, SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR portions of the spectrum, delivering both narrow- and wide-field-of-view systems. Fiber optic and sensing expertise includes optical integration for communications, remote sensing and targeting, as well as medical fiber optics. Clear Align is a certified WOSB, 8(a) SDB, and SB per the US SBA regulations.

More information about the company is available at the company’s website, www.clearalign.com, or by contacting:

Laura Hasen
laura.hasen@clearalign.com
484-956-0510 X121