East Teak Announces
Name Change

New Sales and Marketing Initiatives

DALLAS - July 20, 2006
East Teak Fine Hardwoods, Inc., the industry leader in First European Quality teak lumber and other fine hardwood products, announces a new executive management team to further expand its market share throughout the United States. Formerly operating as East Teak Trading Group, Inc., the company has been renamed East Teak Fine Hardwoods, Inc., to broaden the brand emphasis from teak woods to all fine hardwoods, worldwide.

The executive management team is led by Dallas businessmen Don R. Daseke, chairman and CEO, and John R. Sloan, vice chairman. East Teak's existing operations team will remain in place, preserving longstanding relationships with suppliers and customers. This team, which on average has more than 20 years of experience in the hardwood industry, includes Wayne I. Rogers, president; Scott Hamilton, senior vice president; Rick McKinney, vice president; George V. Guy, vice president and James R. Brown, controller.

According to Daseke, the corporate renaming is a strategic initiative to support the company's growth as the leading supplier of teak and other fine hardwoods from around the world. "The East Teak Trading Group name has served the company well over the years. However, by introducing a new name, we believe we will be able to demonstrate our commitment to better serve our customers as we move forward into the next phase of growth at East Teak."

Other changes taking place to reflect the new company image will be a rebranding strategy that will include a new logo design, Website redesign and the redesign and creation of other marketing materials to help support East Teak's new image. In addition, Daseke and Sloan say they see an opportunity for East Teak to acquire other complementary hardwood companies over the future years to further expand the product line.

"Although some of these rebranding elements will be a departure from the company's original brand design, we feel this new direction will better represent our aspirations to be the company that provides the finest and most extensive line of hardwood products in the industry to meet the growing needs of our customers," said Sloan.

"Over the past 30 years, East Teak is very proud to have been the premier supplier of teak woods in the industry. We have nurtured that reputation through the relationships we have built with our customers," said Daseke. "This is an exciting time for our company and I believe we have the right management team and strategy in place to accomplish our long-term goals."

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Media contact:
Michael A. Burns & Associates
Jennifer Green   jgreen@mbapr.com
Lainie Kritser   lkritser@mbapr.com