Stockholders Elect New Director, Dane A. Belden

At their annual meeting in February 2010, the stockholders elected Dane A. Belden to serve on the French Oil Mill Machinery Company board of directors. This addition increases the number of French directors to eight.

Chairman of the Board and President Daniel P. French stated, “We are pleased to welcome Dane to the board of directors because of his strong leadership, experience in business development, financing and operational excellence. The expansion of the board ensures that French will continue to benefit from its strong leaders with diverse professional experience and personal knowledge.”

Dane added, “French’s commitment to quality design, innovation and excellent management is impressive. I feel privileged to join their already-strong board and look forward to helping the company continue to be their customer’s Partner in Processing in the ever changing global market.”

Belden has many years of privately held company management experience in the industrial environment, producing both capital and consumer goods. He most recently served as president and COO of the Peerless Group in Sidney, Ohio, where he quickly and profitably turned around business operations and sales. Belden earned his MBA from The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.

French, founded in 1900, continues to design and manufacture equipment for the preparation and extraction of vegetable oils, such as soybeans, cottonseed, canola, etc., for food and industrial uses, including bio-diesel and other fuels. French also offers a wide assortment of hydraulic presses, for molding and shaping rubber and composite materials. Additionally, the company has a broad range of mechanical dewatering and drying presses for the synthetic rubber industry. French’s 225,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and corporate office are in Piqua, Ohio. The company is certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard and has customers in more than 80 countries