We recently announced that this month, The Coretec Group has opened a new office at the Michigan Innovation Headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Why Michigan, and more specifically Ann Arbor, you may ask? This region is an established hot spot in the world of materials manufacturing and development due to the talent, customer base and resources that this city has to offer. Diving in a bit further, here are some of the reasons why we’re taking our operations to the Midwest. Customer & Partner Proximity One of the most important draws to this area is the potential for partnerships with companies and customers. There are a number of companies currently focused on semiconductor development and mobility applications that are based within and around the city. Forming strategic partnerships is key to company growth and success, and with companies such as KLA Tencor, Renesas, Wacker, and Google in the area, we see significant potential and opportunity to work more closely with these companies and their applications. Most importantly, we will be in the trenches, so to speak, ready to introduce our cyclohexasilane (CHS) silicon solution as a cutting-edgetechnology capable of driving innovation and development within a variety of health, energy and industrial applications. Semiconductor, LED, solar, printed electronics, and energy storage development are certainly among our target markets. Being in close proximity to potential customers/partners, we will be able to regularly meet with, collaborate and get important face-to-face time with these companies as our CEO, Michael Kraft, will now be based in this office. Talent & Resources at the Ready The materials sector is growing rapidly, with next generation batteries, solar technologies, EVs and more all requiring new chemical developments to extend battery life, energy output and storage, and more. Take EVs for example;approximately 18.7 Million EVs are expected to be on the roads by 2030, a far greater amount compared tothe 1.18 million currently on the road. As a result,production and continued development will need to ramp up significantly. Furthermore, and to achieve these targets, EV manufacturers will need to incorporate new materials that enhance the capacity, fast charging for convenience and safety capability for their batteries. But who will be developing those materials over the next 10 years? As we push CHS closer towards commercialization, our growth and technology development strategy does weigh partially on recruitment to further build out our team in the Ann Arbor office, pull in fresh perspectives in an evolving industry, and continue to explore the potential of CHS in a number of different applications. Being based in Ann Arbor puts us close to new and existing talent. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) claims that Michigan has the highest concentration of engineers in the nation while the region also leads the USA in intellectual property and patent generation for clean technology and mobility. Furthermore, top research universities including The University of Michigan and Michigan State University are nearby. Establishing the Ann Arbor office is the next step in our plan for getting our CHS technology in the hands of the right people; the people who are driving innovation and creating the next generation technologies within their respective industries. We’ve positioned ourselves for the best exposure possible and will be sharing updates on the company’s progress in this region throughout the year.