MERX Merix (MM)

U.S. based printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer Merix Corporation (NASDAQ: MERX) today announced that Liberty Northwest, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, has awarded the company with a Loss Prevention Achievement Award for 2008-2009. As a Liberty Northwest workers' compensation policyholder, Merix has decreased its claim frequency by a company record 87 percent in that timeframe.

Based on a recent nationwide industry survey, Merix boasts the lowest OSHA recordable lost-time incident rate among U.S. printed circuit board manufacturers. Over the last eight years, Merix has achieved an 85 percent decrease in its OSHA incident rate.

To achieve these substantial reductions, Merix introduced a behavioral-based system that makes safety integral to the company's culture and empowers employees to improve the safety of their work environments. A series of metrics are continually reviewed by the company's management team, safety review council, and its employee safety committee in order to interpret trends and assess workflows and effectively direct resources to improve areas of concern.

"We emphasized employee training, invested in ergonomic equipment and implemented work processes in support of creating safer workspaces," said Merix Health and Safety Director John Schwan. "Senior management's support is critical for employees to feel empowered to take ownership for safety concerns at work. Our management team values their feedback and has invested in solutions that are delivering exceptional safety results."

Liberty Northwest's Consulting Industrial Hygienist, Laurence Rosen, commented, "Merix has developed a world-class safety program and we are pleased to recognize their achievements in loss prevention. Their consistent focus on the nuts and bolts of safety is a guiding principal for company planning and a key reason they are seeing such positive results."

Merix President and CEO Michael Burger is seeing the payoff in making safety a company-wide priority. "There are definitely financial reasons to invest in safety, but at the end of the day it comes down to valuing employees and their contribution to our company's success," said Burger. "We want Merix to be a safe place for employees to spend their careers, and we also want to be known worldwide for our ability to produce high quality circuit boards, built in a very safe and responsible manner."

About Merix

Headquartered in the United States, Merix is a leading provider of technologically advanced rigid, multi-layer printed circuit boards used in the design and development of complex electronic applications. The company maintains operations throughout Asia, Europe and North America. It provides a large, diverse worldwide customer base with a seamless and cost effective transition from quick-turn prototyping through pre-production to high-volume PCB manufacturing across the broadest array of technologies worldwide. Principal markets served by Merix's manufactured solutions include automotive, defense and aerospace, communications, computing, industrial, networking, peripherals, and test end markets in the worldwide electronics industry. For more information please visit the company's website at www.merix.com.

Merix Investor Relations Contact: Allen Muhich 503.716.3700