Exhibit
99.1
Wrap Technologies Appoints Marc Thomas as Chief Executive
Officer
David Norris to Remain on the Board of Directors Subsequent to CEO
Transition
TEMPE, Arizona, July 30, 2020 -- Wrap Technologies, Inc. (the
“Company” or “Wrap”) (Nasdaq: WRTC),
an innovator of modern policing solutions, today announced that its
Board of Directors has appointed Marc Thomas as its new Chief
Executive Officer, effective today. Thomas will succeed David
Norris, who has served as the Company’s Chief Executive
Officer since December 2018, and who will retain his position as a
director following the transition.
“On
behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank David for
the many contributions he has made since becoming CEO,” said
Scot Cohen, Executive Chairman of Wrap Technologies. “Under
David’s leadership, Wrap has grown from a nascent business
concept into a company with an established brand, a proven product,
and a robust and growing, global customer base.”
“It’s
been a great privilege to lead Wrap through its startup phase, and
I’m very proud of the work the entire team has accomplished
to bring the idea of a new remote restraint device to life,”
said David Norris, Director of Wrap Technologies. “With
worldwide sales accelerating, the board of directors, the rest of
the management team, and I came to the conclusion that it was an
appropriate time in the company’s history to bring on a
leader with a deep operational background to support the
Company’s growth. As a fellow shareholder and staunch
believer in the importance of Wrap’s mission, I’m very
encouraged that we’ve found such a capable leader in Marc,
whose background and track record speak for themselves when it
comes to experience in related fields and successfully scaling
businesses.”
“I’d
also like to personally welcome Marc aboard,” Cohen
continued. “Marc has a long history of successfully leading
and growing organizations, and we’re confident that the
expertise he has developed across a broad array of industries will
be of great benefit to Wrap. We’re very excited to have him
as part of the team.”
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Marc Thomas is an
experienced executive with a diverse background who has
successfully led and advised teams in a variety of industries
including financial markets, aerospace engineering and
manufacturing, management consulting, government, and the armed
services.
Incoming
Chief Executive Officer Marc Thomas commented, “With the
momentum Wrap has been building over the past year, it’s an
incredibly exciting time to be joining the team. Wrap is working to
close a critical gap that exists in policing, and by doing so, it
will benefit not just law enforcement officers, but all of us.
Today, the BolaWrap is more prominent than ever before, and more
and more agencies are beginning to view it as a ‘must
have’ rather than a ‘nice to have.’ I’m
looking forward to leveraging my past experience to help
effectively scale the business and accelerate the Company’s
growth over the coming quarters and years.”
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Thomas
joins Wrap from Thorium Capital Ventures and Consulting where,
during his 14 year tenure as president and CEO, he was responsible
for private equity deal sourcing, valuing, acquiring, and operating
small to medium sized manufacturing and services companies, as well
as serving as an interim president, CEO, and board member of
several portfolio manufacturing and asset management companies.
While serving as a Chief Operating
Officer in a private equity portfolio company, Marc worked
"shoulder-to-shoulder" with various direct reports and staffers to
develop SOPs / SOWs / and key metrics to design and implement a
growth strategy resulting in annual increases of 27% and 189% in
sales revenues and operating profit,
respectively.
From
2001 to 2006, he held multiple leadership positions at General
Electric Company including manager of the Corporate Initiatives
Group, general manager of Rail, and chairman, president, and CEO of
Aviation Materials. At GE Aviation
Materials, Marc designed and successfully implemented a turnaround
strategy that rapidly grew the business from $151 million to $246
million in sales revenue, and $9 million to $31 million in
operating profit.
During
his career, Thomas has also served as an engagement manager at
McKinsey & Company, a legislative assistant to the Office of
Senator Dirk Kempthorne, a special advisor to the Office of the
Vice President at the White House, an adjunct associate professor
to the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Columbia
University, and an assistant professor to the Department of Systems
Engineering at the United States Military Academy.
Prior
to his work in the private sector, Thomas served as a Detachment
Commander and Civil-Military & Psychological Operations Officer
in the 5th
Special Forces Group in the United States Army. He holds a JD in
corporate and intellectual property law from the University of
Texas School of Law in Austin, an MBA in international finance and
management as well as an MS in industrial engineering and
operations research from Columbia University, and a BS in civil and
environment engineering from Stanford University.
About Wrap Technologies (Nasdaq: WRTC)
Wrap
Technologies is an innovator of modern policing solutions. The
Company’s BolaWrap 100 product is a patented, hand-held
remote restraint device that discharges an eight-foot bola style
Kevlar® tether to restrain an individual at a range of 10-25
feet. Developed by award winning inventor Elwood Norris, the
Company’s Chief Technology Officer, the small but powerful
BolaWrap 100 assists law enforcement to safely and effectively
control encounters, especially those involving an individual
experiencing a mental crisis. For information on the Company please
visit www.wraptechnologies.com. Examples of recent media
coverage are available as links under the “Media” tab
of the website.
Trademark Information: BolaWrap and Wrap are trademarks
of Wrap Technologies, Inc. All other trade names used herein are
either trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective
holders.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements – Safe Harbor
Statement
This
press release contains “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but
not limited to statements regarding the Company’s overall
business, total addressable market and expectations regarding
future sales and expenses. Words such as “expect,”
“anticipate,” “should,”
“believe,” “target,” “project,”
“goals,” “estimate,”
“potential,” “predict,” “may,”
“will,” “could,” “intend,”
variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and
similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of
risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or
circumstances that are beyond the Company’s control. The
Company’s actual results could differ materially from those
stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of
factors, including but not limited to: the Company’s ability
to successful implement training programs for the use of its
products; the Company’s ability to manufacture and produce
product for its customers; the Company’s ability to develop
sales for its new product solution; the acceptance of existing and
future products; the availability of funding to continue to finance
operations; the complexity, expense and time associated with sales
to law enforcement and government entities; the lengthy evaluation
and sales cycle for the Company’s product solution; product
defects; litigation risks from alleged product-related injuries;
risks of government regulations; the
business impact of health crises or outbreaks of disease, such as
epidemics or pandemics; the ability to obtain export
licenses for counties outside of the US; the ability to obtain
patents and defend IP against competitors; the impact of
competitive products and solutions; and the Company’s ability
to maintain and enhance its brand, as well as other risk factors
included in the Company’s most recent annual report on Form
10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press
release and were based on current expectations, estimates,
forecasts and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of
management. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no
duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained in this release as a result of new information, future
events or changes in its expectations.
WRAP TECHNOLOGIES CONTACT:
Paul M.
Manley
VP
– Investor Relations
612-834-1804
pmanley@wraptechnologies.com