TekVet Announces Marketing, Sales and Distribution Thrust into Latin America

TekVet, LLC, a Utah-based developer of agricultural technologies, today announced it has promoted John Vigueras to director of Latin American operations from director of Puerto Rico operations. Due to the overwhelming response to its TekVet System™, the company is making a significant move into the Latin American beef industry by advancing marketing, sales and distribution efforts in that region of the world.

“We are pleased to announce John’s advancement into this crucial role,” said D. Bret Smith, chief executive officer of TekVet. “John has been an advocate and true evangelist of our TekVet System project since day one. His persistence in Puerto Rico helped us in a time when we were just starting to realize the potential of what our technology could really do to protect our food/meat supply from the threat of diseases, manmade or otherwise.

“John has done much to champion our cause and establish manufacturing arrangements that can meet the challenges of the worldwide demand for our TekVet System. We are confident that he can carry our mission and product into the Caribbean, and Central and South America.”

Vigueras has been running TekVet’s operations in Puerto Rico and will now take charge of operations in more than 20 countries. Having worked extensively in the telecommunications and wireless technology markets, Vigueras has an impressive record of high-level international contract negotiation experience. With his expertise and professional network of contacts within Latin America, TekVet expects to quickly establish its presence in the region and certainly impact the beef industry’s response to what consumers are demanding.

“We consider it our responsibility to bring technology to the meat producing industry, and we accept the challenge to protect our food supply from the threat of disease,” Vigueras said. “I am proud to be a part of the TekVet team that has the confidence in me to take us ‘south of the border.’ There is a real need right now for the products, services and security that we offer to consumers. Now it’s up to me and the TekVet team to help get our technology and methodology to the producers and distributors who so badly need it.”

TekVet’s move into Latin America has the potential to help countries in one of the world’s largest beef-producing regions in the wake of significant insecurity caused by foreign animal diseases and viruses such as Hoof and Mouth disease, flu strains and others.

“South America is home to some of the world’s largest and finest beef-producing operations, however, they’re all facing the same health-related concerns with their meat that we’re just beginning to encounter in the United States,” Vigueras said. “There is a real need for our technology that simply tracks, traces and monitors the health condition of every animal. Certification protocols using technology is the only way to ensure that meat products are safe to consume. Some estimate that a solution to do this is still years away, but we know that our currently available TekVet System solves this problem and will surprise everyone.”

About the TekVet System
The TekVet System™ consists of four components:
·TekVet SmartSensor™ (a wireless monitoring transmitter);
·TekVet SmartReceiver™ (a wireless receiver and antenna system);
·TekVet SmartNetwork™ (a wireless [or wired] network infrastructure system); and
·TekVet SmartManagement™ (an electronic management, data tracking/collection and RFID system, including a sickness alert and animal-locating system).

Central to the TekVet System is the TekVet SmartSensor: a small wireless device that is attached to a cow’s ear and includes a flexible thermometer, a wireless transceiver and other electronic components. The TekVet SmartSensor is attached to an animal’s ear in much the same way identification tags are as used by beef producers, ranchers and dairy farmers.

Once in place, the TekVet SmartSensor constantly monitors the animal’s core body temperature and alerts management immediately of temperatures outside of normal thresholds. The data is then captured by TekVet SmartReceivers and transmitted wirelessly to the TekVet SmartManagement system where the data is immediately uploaded to the company’s central database and network operation center in Utah for trend analysis and historical archiving.

Although the TekVet System is initially designed to monitor core temperature, future products are currently under development to also measure blood pH, heart rate and other vital signs. TekVet is currently adapting its SmartSensor to other large livestock such as swine, goats and sheep.

About TekVet, LLC
Formed in 2003, TekVet, LLC is a privately funded Utah-based developer and manufacturer of agricultural technologies. The company focuses on the application of wireless technologies to lower production costs, increase profits and improve product safety in the livestock industry. For more information on the company, visit its Web site at www.tekvet.com or call 801-335-0500.

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TekVet, TekVet System, TekVet SmartSensor, TekVet SmartReceiver, TekVet SmartManagement, and TekVet SmartNetwork are each trademarks of TekVet, LLC.