SurgePays Appoints Mark Garner as Executive Vice President

Industry veteran brings nearly three decades of operational experience to help spearhead the expansion of company initiatives including LinkUp Mobile

BARTLETT, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- SurgePays, Inc. (Nasdaq: SURG) ("SurgePays" or the "Company"), a technology and wireless telecommunications company, proudly announces the appointment of Mark Garner as executive vice president. Garner, a seasoned corporate operations veteran with nearly 30 years of industry expertise, brings a proven track record of delivering innovation and growth.

Since joining SurgePays in October 2019 as vice president of technology, Garner has been instrumental in driving technological advancements and operational excellence. In his expanded role, he will oversee the integration of SurgePays' platforms—SurgePays, Shockwave and ClearLine—with wireless and financial technology partners globally. Garner will also collaborate closely with internal teams across sales, marketing, accounting, programming and contractors to ensure seamless alignment with the Company's ambitious short- and long-term objectives.

"Mark's strategic vision and operational expertise are vital as we continue to scale our business and pursue our transformative objectives," said Brian Cox, Chairman and CEO of SurgePays. "His extensive experience, including launching prepaid wireless campaigns and managing high-growth startups, make him an invaluable leader for our team. Mark is spearheading the direct integration with AT&T and leading the multifaceted launch of LinkUp Mobile, our own prepaid wireless brand. With multiple revenue channels launching simultaneously, we're confident in his ability to make decisive, informed decisions under pressure."

Before joining SurgePays, Garner served as vice president of operations at ECS Prepaid, where he played a pivotal role in enabling merchant partners to offer prepaid cellular top-ups, activations and other financial services. SurgePays acquired ECS Prepaid in 2019 to expand its portfolio of financial services and capabilities for its rapidly growing network of independent convenience stores. Garner's expertise has been key to successfully integrating partners and vendors into SurgePays' platform ecosystem.

"My business style has always been hands-on and entrepreneurial with a focus on day-to-day engagement and reacting quickly to market changes," said Garner. "Working within SurgePays will enable close coordination with our team's daily efforts and have a greater impact on our business results and drive continued growth."

Garner has a Bachelor of Science from Missouri State University. He and his wife Sydney reside in Springfield, Missouri, and have one son who attends college nearby. They are active volunteers in their community and enjoy outdoor pursuits at their lake house, including boating and hiking.

About SurgePays, Inc.

SurgePays, Inc. provides prepaid wireless and point-of-sale platform services in underserved communities utilizing convenience stores, bodegas, and other neighborhood stores. Please visit SurgePays.com for more information.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes express or implied statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance and may contain projections of our future results of operations or of our financial information or state other forward-looking information. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "project," "potential," "continue," "ongoing," "attempting," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements relate to future events or our future operational or financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements including but not limited to our ability to maintain a strong balance sheet and our ability to execute our business plan. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control, including, without limitation, our ability to increase sales and revenue due to our new sales center. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ending March 31, 2024, June 30, 2024, and September 30, 2024. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update and expressly disclaim the obligation to update, any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

SOURCE SurgePays