Black & Veatch Receives State’s Top Business Award

Overland Park, Kan., June 27, 2007 – Black & Veatch of Overland Park was announced as a winner of the 2007 Governor’s Award of Excellence on Wednesday night at the annual Kansas Cavalry Encampment in Junction City. J-A-G Construction of Dodge City was named a co-winner of the award.

“I am honored to recognize these outstanding Kansas companies,” said Lieutenant Governor Parkinson, who presented the awards on behalf of Governor Kathleen Sebelius. “These companies embody Kansas ingenuity and values, and they illustrated what a great place Kansas is to live, work and do business.”

The Governor’s Award of Excellence is presented annually to the Kansas business that best represents the state’s ideals of leadership, service and contributions to the economy. The finalists were chosen from a pool of more than 270 applicants nominated as part of Business Appreciation Month, which the Department of Commerce celebrates each June. Applicants were judged by a panel of economic development professionals, business leaders and chamber of commerce officials from across the state.

Black & Veatch was nominated by the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Council.

Tracey Osborne, CCE, president of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce, said Black & Veatch is global in stature, but people at the employee-owned company make the difference.

“Black & Veatch is known for its work in improving the environment on six continents but, closer to home, we’re the beneficiaries of the hundreds of hours and multi-thousands of dollars Black & Veatch employees devote to community service,” Osborne said.

Black & Veatch is a global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in energy, water, telecommunications, environmental markets and management consulting. The company has more than 90 offices worldwide and is ranked on the Forbes “500 Largest Private Companies in the United States” list.

Black & Veatch’s Overland Park facility is actively-involved in the community and in Kansas. The business sponsors its Explorers’ Post program in which Black & Veatch engineers and technicians donate time to help high school students learn about the different disciplines of engineering. Black & Veatch professionals also serve as mentors and judges to the Future Cities Competition and FIRST Robotics. The company supports numerous external groups at the K-12 level, namely Project Lead the Way, NICE and Science Pioneers.

Black & Veatch has participated in the annual United Way campaign for more than 50 years. In 2006, professionals in the Kansas City area donated $665,000 to the United Way and its agencies. Black & Veatch’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament has raised more than $540,000 for Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics over the past 10 years.