Minority Supplier Development Council Names Exelon Corporation of the Year

PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Minority Supplier Development Council (MSDC) of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware (PA-NJ-DE) recently named Exelon, the parent company of PECO, as its 2006 National Corporation of the Year for exemplary minority business development practices.

The award is regarded as the most significant honor a corporation can receive for utilizing minority suppliers. Exelon competed against 28 other companies in the Delaware Valley including Comcast and Johnson & Johnson. At the same event, Emmett Vaughn, Exelon manager for diverse business enablement received an award for Distinguished Service to the MSDC.

Exelon was recognized for not just supporting the organization, but for growing vibrant supply relationships with minority business enterprises (MBE). The corporation has several programs that are designed to develop these critical relationships. The Tier 2 initiative, for example, ensures that all non-minority- or non-women-owned businesses (MWBEs) that contract with Exelon must establish a MWBE supplier development process and contracting relationship of their own.

"Exelon Corporation's commitment to supplier development is evident by its management's strong involvement at all levels," said Bienvenido Calaf, Jr., a member of the MSDC board of directors and chair of the MSDC Corporation of the Year committee. "They have a very aggressive program and are always exploring innovative ways to raise the bar in respect to supplier development initiatives," he added.

Craig Adams, Exelon senior vice president and chief supply officer, said Exelon is honored to have received such recognition. "We have been working for sometime to improve our support and involvement with the MSDC of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and this award is indicative of the actions we have taken to expand our corporate relationship," he said.

Exelon's subsidiaries have purchased more than a half billion dollars worth of goods and services from a diverse supplier base. To date, Exelon has achieved about $38 million in spending with the MSDC of PA-NJ-DE membership. Exelon's spend with MWBEs has steadily increased over the past three years. In 2005, Exelon's MWBE spend was more than $252 million, a 32 percent increase over 2004. The corporation expects to break the $300 million mark in supplier diversity spend at the end of 2006.

The MSDC of PA-NJ-DE is dedicated to developing business opportunities between MBEs, corporations and government agencies in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware. The organization's membership includes corporate citizens representing 300 of the Fortune 500 companies. The MSDC of PA-NJ-DE not only certifies MBEs and facilitates business and contracting opportunities between minority vendors and the business community; it offers training, networking, technical support and advocacy for its membership. Exelon has been a partner of the MSDC since 2003.

Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation . PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 470,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2005, the company delivered 38.7 million megawatt-hours (Mwh) of electricity and 85.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to residential, business and institutional customers. PECO's energy delivery services generated $4.91 billion in revenue for Exelon. Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.

Contact: Angela Shelton Certification & Marketing Manager MSDC of PA-NJ-DE 42 S. 15th Street, Suite 1400 Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-569-1005 x14 Cameron Kline PECO, An Exelon Company 2301 Market Street, S14-1 Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-841-5555