Press Release 01/09/06

John Stauss Takes Helm of Hand Tool Pioneer

CAMPBELL, Calif. January 9, 2006 — Zircon Corporation, creator of the world's first electronic stud finder, announces that John Stauss has been appointed chief executive officer by the board of directors. John has been affiliated with the company since 1984.

"My vision is to strengthen our long tradition of bringing high-tech product innovation, "Silicon Valley style", to the world's toolboxes," stated CEO John Stauss. "We established the electronic hand tool category in 1980 with the introduction of the StudSensor™, and dominate that business to this day. We aim to maintain that leadership, with the cutting-edge new tools, not gimmicks, that provide real value to people of all skill levels who take on home improvement projects."

Mr. Stauss is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and an MBA. He joined Zircon full time in 1984 and served as president and chief operating officer from 1989 – 2000.

About Zircon Corporation

Silicon Valley-based Zircon, celebrating 30 years in business, is dedicated to delivering innovative, easy-to-use technology to the world's toolboxes. Since 1975, the company has used patented technology to design, develop, manufacture, and market one-of-a-kind hand tools that perform critical, everyday jobs, saving users time and money. Zircon's products include the StudSensor™ family, the original and best-selling line of stud and joist finders, the new OneStep® line of products with patented CenterVision® technology, and a full line of electronic scanning, measuring, and leveling tools for almost every job.

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Note: CENTERVISION, DEEPSCAN, DIMENSION PRO, EXTREME PRECISION, iLINE, iSENSOR, LASERVISION, METALLISCANNER, MULTISCANNER,ONESTEP, RADAR VISION, REPEATER, SPOTLITE, TRISCANNER, TRUCAL, ULTRALEVEL 6, VIDEOLEVEL, VIDEOSCANNER, WIREWARNING and ZIRCON are registered trademarks of Zircon Corporation. AUTOCAL, DIMENSIONATOR, EASYMARK, HYPERTAPE, LEAK ALERT, MAKE NO MISTAKE, PLUMB PYRAMID, QUBE, STUDSENSOR, STUDVISON and WINDOW-IN-THE-WALL are trademarks of Zircon Corporation. (041307)