AgEagle Aerial Systems Expands Business Development Team with Key Hires of Accomplished Drone Industry Veterans

Paul Allen Named Vice President of Business Development, Drone Solutions and
Maribeth Forst Named Director of Business Development, Drone Solutions

WICHITA, Kan., March 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. (NYSE American: UAVS) (“AgEagle” or the “Company”), an industry leading drone solutions provider, today announced the expansion of the Company’s business development team with the appointment of two highly experienced and accomplished drone industry veterans.

Paul Allen has been named the Company’s new Vice President of Business Development, Drone Solutions, tasked with identifying, pursuing and negotiating strategic new customer and partner relationships.

From 2009 through 2019, Allen rose through the ranks at Insitu, The Boeing Company’s UAS division. At Insitu, Allen created their Commercial Program Office, where he oversaw the UAS Type Certification efforts culminating in the first Group II UAS restricted type certificate (14 CFR 21.25) as well as three historic UAS firsts: 1) Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) UAS operations in Denmark, 2) the first UAS operations in support of fire suppression efforts at the Paradise Fire in Washington State, and 3) BVLOS operations in the continental United States for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railways in New Mexico.  He also spearheaded efforts to use UAS for disaster relief efforts with an emphasis on wildland fire suppression resulting in more than 450 operational flight hours over wildfires in Oregon and California.  Prior to his Commercial UAS successes he held roles from Business Manager to Director of International Operations, and Vice President of Business Development where he was responsible for achieving enterprise short-term order targets and developing new business to realize long-term order targets.  He achieved significant growth for Insitu internationally, while maintaining their core customer, the United States Department of Defense. Allen also served as the Director of Sales at Iris Automation, a safety avionics technology company, where he was credited for connecting Iris Automation’s DAA technology with critical drone OEMs and end users, resulting in a significant increase in the Company’s order pipeline. 

In addition to Allen, AgEagle has also recruited Maribeth Forst to join AgEagle as its new Director of Business Development, Drone Solutions. Forst will be responsible for driving revenue growth and market adoption of the Company’s end-to-end commercial drone systems. For the past 15 years, Forst has maintained a successful track record in developing, securing and managing new business development opportunities centered on technological and consultative solutions for the enterprise and government sectors.

Most recently, Forst served as Business Development Executive at ARGUS International where she spearheaded the UAS/UAM vertical market by providing subject matter expertise, custom solutions, and consulting to support Public Safety, commercial/civil, and drone delivery operations. Her high integrity can be attributed to the solid partnerships and working relationships that she built with key federal, state and local government agencies, UAS manufacturers and operators, as well as leading UAS advocacy groups with strong influence over emerging regulatory policies and compliance standards for various drone platforms. Forst also served as Public Safety Sales Manager of North America at FLIR Systems, Inc., a world leading industrial technology company focused on intelligent sensing solutions for defense and industrial applications.

Michael Drozd, Chief Executive Officer of AgEagle, stated, “At AgEagle, we are focused on attracting and recruiting the best talent in our industry, as reflected in our new hires of Paul Allen and Maribeth Forst. Both proven business development executives greatly complement our team with their proven industry experience and respective skillsets. I am very pleased and excited to welcome them to AgEagle.”

About AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc.

Founded in 2010, Wichita-based AgEagle is one of the nation’s leading commercial drone technology, services and solutions providers.  We deliver the metrics, tools and strategies necessary to define and implement drone-enabled solutions that solve important problems for our valued customers.  AgEagle’s growth strategies are centered on the delivery of advanced drone technologies, contract manufacturing services and agtech solutions.  Our goal is to establish AgEagle as one of the dominant commercial drone design, engineering, manufacturing, assembly and testing companies in the United States and become the world’s trusted source for turnkey drone delivery services and solutions.  In addition, we continue to leverage our reputation as one of the leading technology solutions providers to the Agriculture industry with best-in-class drones, along with data analytics for hemp and other commercial crops.  Through our subsidiary, AgEagle Sensor Systems, Inc., d/b/a MicaSense, we remain at the forefront of multispectral sensor development, providing high quality drone-based cameras to the global market. For additional information, please visit www.ageagle.com and www.micasense.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s current expectations include those risks and uncertainties relating to our competitive position, the industry environment, potential growth opportunities, and the effects of regulation and events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, wars or health epidemics. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.