Park Electrochemical Corp. Announces a Major Expansion of its Nelco Singapore Facilities

LAKE SUCCESS, New York, May 22, 2001….Park Electrochemical Corp. (NYSE – PKE announced that its Board of Directors has approved a major expansion of the manufacturing facility of its Nelco Singapore business unit. The expansion will involve total capital spending of approximately US$25 million over approximately the next eighteen months. The company plans to fund this expansion through currently available cash. The company’s Nelco Singapore facility currently has manufacturing capacity of approximately US$120 million per year. When completed, the expansion program is expected to increase the annual manufacturing capacity of the Nelco Singapore facility to approximately US$200 million. This expansion will incorporate the new manufacturing technology the company has recently developed with its equipment suppliers in the area of next-generation treating, automated set-up, automated lay-up, vacuum pressing and automated finishing. These new manufacturing technologies are designed to improve cycle times, product quality, product technology, manufacturing yields and efficiencies and productivity and to reduce manufacturing costs.

Brian Shore, Park’s President and CEO, said, “We are all very excited about our new Nelco Singapore expansion program, as it will enable us to continue to aggressively expand our Asian advanced circuitry materials business and to better serve our customers in Asia. These investments signify our continuing commitment to tomorrow’s manufacturing technologies and to our long-term strategy of working closely with our customers in their geographic regions to help them be more successful. Notwithstanding the current global electronics manufacturing industry correction and downturn, we are still very optimistic about the long-term future of the global electronics industry (especially in Asia) and we certainly are optimistic about our company and our business over the long haul. The expansion of our Nelco Singapore manufacturing facility is also designed to complement our recently announced plan to establish a business center in Wuxi, China. This expanded and enhanced capacity at our Nelco Singapore business unit will facilitate our Company’s ability to better serve our customers throughout Asia.”

Certain portions of this press release may be deemed to constitute forward looking statements that are subject to various factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from Park’s expectations. Such factors include, but are not limited to, general conditions in the electronics industry, Park’s competitive position, the status of Park’s relationships with its customers, economic conditions in international markets, the cost and availability of utilities, and the various factors set forth under the caption “Factors That May Affect Future Results” after Item 7 of Park’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 27, 2000.

Park Electrochemical Corp. is a leading global designer and producer of electronic materials used to fabricate complex multilayer printed circuit boards and interconnection systems. Park specializes in advanced materials for high layer count circuit boards and high-speed digital broadband telecommunications, internet and networking applications. Park operates through fully integrated business units in Asia, Europe and North America. The Company’s manufacturing facilities are located in Singapore, China (to be established during the second half of the current fiscal year), England, France, Germany, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Arizona and California. Park’s electronic materials business operates under the “Nelco” name.