Larry Firestone President and CEO, Qualstar

Qualstar Corporation announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Lawrence D. Firestone to the position of CEO and president of the company, to succeed William J. Gervais, who will retire as of June 15, 2012.

He will commence his new position by June 4, 2012.

Gervais commented: "I am pleased that Larry has agreed to assume day-to-day leadership of the company that I co-founded 28 years ago. Having worked with Larry as a member of our Board for the last 12 months, I’m confident that the company will be in good hands."

"I am excited to join Qualstar as its new CEO," said Firestone. "It is a privilege to be asked to lead such a fine organization. I believe that Qualstar has great technology and I will be working to deliver strong value to shareholders through growth in sales of existing products and through targeted acquisitions."

Firestone, age 54, joined Qualstar’s Board in May 2011 and will continue to serve as a director of the company. He has over 30 years of operations and financial management experience in global public and private companies, including significant turnaround and M&A expertise.

Until he commences his new duties with Qualstar, he will continue in his current position as the CFO of Xiotech Corporation (XI-O), a supplier of enterprise storage systems, a position he has held since February 2011.

From 2006 to 2010, Firestone was EVP and CFO of Advanced Energy Industries, Inc., a provider of power conversion devices for the semi-conductor and solar inverter markets. He also served as a director of Amtech Systems, Inc. and as a director of Hyperspace Communications, Inc.

He holds a BSBA degree in Accounting from Slippery Rock State College.