November 13, 2009–ClassOne Equipment, Inc., a Decatur, GA supplier of refurbished equipment for the semiconductor and nanotechnology markets, says it is making an aggressive push into the KLA-Tencor marketplace. The company, which focuses on wafer fabrication and metrology equipment, has opened a Silicon Valley office and hired former KLA-Tencor executive Fred Kelley to direct the business push.

Recently, Dean Freeman of technology market research firm Gartner Dataquest predicted that the refurbished semiconductor equipment market will spike dramatically in 2010, rising 33% over 2009 figures.

"The time is right to aggressively expand our KLA-Tencor business," commented Byron Exarcos, president of ClassOne Equipment. "Having spent his entire 28-year career at KLA-Tencor, including several years as business development manager of K-T Certified [KLA-Tencor’s business division for purchasing, refurbishing and selling used semiconductor inspection equipment], Fred has an intimate knowledge of not only the equipment, but also the market, the customers, and the sales cycles. Who better in the world is there to lead this effort for us?"

ClassOne says Kelley will head US and Asia sales from its new Silicon Valley office.