A New Chapter for RAE Corporation

Good morning,

Today I’m pleased to announce that Damon Swank will become RAE Corporation’s next President, effective today.

When my father, Jim, started this company in 1971, he had a philosophy I learned early: the best leaders will also sweep the floors. I swept floors here, so did Damon, and so have many of you. From his earliest days, he worked his way into this company, learning and managing and creating new components of it as he went. During his time serving as Vice President of Operations, he’s helped lay the foundation of where we, as an organization, will now take our next big step. Executing his personal motto “Just 1% Better Every Day” has fueled so much of the growth and improvement we’ve seen.

Today, RAE is more than 700 people strong; and leading a company this size takes someone who has done the work and has a clear vision for where we go next. Damon has shown both.

Over the past few years, you’ve seen our relentless focus on quality across the organization. That work led to formal Safety and Quality departments and to our ISO-9001 certification. Damon brought that initiative to the table, and all of you made it real. Our certification makes RAE Corporation an even more competitive player in the industry.

Damon also built the systems we now use to forecast production overages and shortfalls and move people where they’re needed. That has given us more flexibility to meet delivery schedules and opened the door for cross-training as we’ve continued to grow, even during Covid and into this new AI era.

His influence shows up outside the plant, too. Beyond our many RAE Extra events (including RAE Fest), Damon was instrumental in bringing the RAE Family Foundation under the new RAE Cares group, which has brought life-changing programs to employees and the communities we call home. He’s as committed to our community as my dad was, and that’s been a source of great personal pride.

There isn’t a corner of RAE that Damon doesn’t know. He knows every process, on every line, in every building. I couldn’t be more confident in the leadership he’s shown or the path he’ll set for us.

I’ll remain CEO and continue to focus on the challenges and opportunities that’ll come from working with all of you; and plan alongside Damon as we begin this next chapter of our history and RAE Corporation’s legacy.

Please join me in congratulating Damon. Thank you, as always, for the work you do every day. You are the reason RAE is what it is.

Eric Swank

CEO