Clearfield CEO Finalist for a Stevie Award

Cheri Beranek Honored by Premier Business Award Nod

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 18, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clearfield Inc.'s (Nasdaq:CLFD) president, CEO and founding member, Cheri Beranek, has been named a finalist in the 8th Annual Stevie® Awards for Women in Business. The international competition recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding women executives, business owners, and the organizations they run. The category for which she was nominated is "Best Executive – Non-Services Businesses – Up to 2,500 Employees."

The Stevies for Women in Business are widely considered to be the world's premier business awards. They are produced by the creators of the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards. This year, more than 1,300 entries were submitted for consideration by organizations and individuals around the world.

Beranek, who was named Clearfield's CEO in 2007, is considered a visionary in the telecommunications networking industry. Before she assumed the helm, the company had experienced 20 years of ongoing losses. Under her leadership, Clearfield has just completed its fourth year of growing profitability. In the midst of the economic downturn, she has led Clearfield to unprecedented gains, including a 50 percent increase in revenue, a 69 percent increase in gross profit and has more than doubled year-over-year net income (year to date - Q3 FY 2011 versus FY 2010 in total).

In 2010-2011, Beranek and her team strengthened Clearfield's profitability and sustainability by focusing on scalability, both for the company and the products it markets. Clearfield's product line, which initially focused on the niche market of the under-served Independent Local Exchange Carriers, today also addresses the needs of additional broadband markets, including its first significant revenue outside the U.S. Beranek credits Clearfield's success to realigning it as a performance-based company, resulting in a "win-win-win strategy" so that all people with a stake in the company -- shareholders, customers and employees -- win together.

"While it's always gratifying to be recognized for one's accomplishments, I share this honor with everyone within the Clearfield community," said Beranek. "None of our successes could have been accomplished were it not for a team effort."

Beranek has held leadership positions with various high-growth technology companies throughout her career, including Transition Networks, Tricord Systems and Digi International. She has previously been honored with the American Business Stevie Award for Turnaround Story of 2008; The Business Journal's "Top 25 Women Leaders of Minnesota" (2009) and "25 Women Change Makers in the Twin Cities" (2004); and Women's Business Minnesota's "Technical Trailblazer" (2003).

The final results of the 8th annual competition will be announced at an awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City on Friday, November 11. A portion of each ticket sold for the awards dinner will be contributed to Camfed (www.camfed.org), which fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. For a complete list of Finalists by category, visit www.stevieawards.com/women.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

About Clearfield, Inc.

Clearfield, Inc. sets the standard for fiber performance with FiberDeep, while lowering the cost of broadband deployment with the FieldSmart fiber management platform and the CraftSmart OSP enclosure system. Clearfield is a public company traded on NASDAQ: CLFD.

CONTACT: Gary Young 612-247-8123
         garydyoung@comcast.net

Released October 18, 2011