Hampton, NH – November 20, 2000 – Unitil Corporation (AMEX:UTL) announced today that it continues to receive national acclaim for its 1999 Annual Report to Shareholders. Unitil's report has now taken multiple awards in both the National Association of Investors Corp’s (NAIC) "2000 Nicholson Awards Competition" and the "American Business Communicators Annual Report Awards" competition. Earlier, Unitil announced that it had also won top awards in the American Society of Professional Communicators’ (ASPC) 2000 Annual Report Awards competition.
Said Unitil’s Chairman and CEO Robert G. Schoenberger, "It comes as no surprise to me that our Annual Report has been recognized in so many ways. Unitil is a great little company that does things right, and that includes our corporate communications. I am pleased to receive confirmation of that fact from the business world, from the investment community, and from professional communicators."
In all, Unitil’s 1999 Annual Report to Shareholders has received seven awards in nation-wide competition. Following is a review of the awards received:
1) American Business Communicators (ABC) presented its Overall First Place Award to Unitil. This competition, which judges from a business perspective, also awarded Unitil First Place in Photography/ Illustration and Second Place in Cover Design. Other winners in these categories included Ford Motor Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Choice Hotels International, and Valassis Communications.
2) The National Association of Investors Corp. (NAIC) chose Unitil’s annual report as "Best in the Industry" for Electric Utilities (East) in its 2000 Nicholson Awards competition. This is the third year in a row Unitil has taken top honors in its class. Said NAIC President and CEO Kenneth S. Janke, Sr., "Competition is keen, and I can personally state that the annual reports have improved dramatically since the Nicholson Awards program was initiated in 1978." Other Best of Industry awards went to Northwest Airlines, Alcoa Aluminum, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, Xerox, Johnson & Johnson, Whirlpool, and Walgreen.
3) The American Society of Professional Communicators (ASPC) looks for clear, unambiguous communication and good design. This organization awarded Unitil’s annual report "Best of Category" for Narrative, and two "Colonial Awards for Excellence" -- one for Front Cover and one for Photography/ Graphic Design. Other award recipients included such well-known companies as Genentech, Snap-On Incorporated, The Limited, Inc., Tyson Foods, Exxon Mobil Corporation, PaineWebber, Sprint, and United Airlines.
Unitil is a public utility holding company with subsidiaries providing electric service in New Hampshire, electric and gas service in Massachusetts and energy services throughout the Northeast. Its subsidiaries include Concord Electric Company, Exeter & Hampton Electric Company, Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, Unitil Power Corp., Unitil Realty Corp., Unitil Service Corp. and its unregulated business unit Unitil Resources, Inc. Usource L.L.C. is a subsidiary of Unitil Resources, Inc. The Usource product line of Internet-based energy brokering and related products and services is available at www.usourceonline.com.
Contact
Don Hudson
hudson@unitil.com
Corporate Office
Liberty Lane West
Hampton, NH 03842-1720
800/999-6501
