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Black Enterprise Magazine Names Verizon to Publication's List of 40 Best Companies for Diversity

Posted on: Monday, 30 June 2008, 12:02 CDT

NEW YORK, June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon has again been named to Black Enterprise magazine's 40 Best Companies for Diversity, the most recent in a series of honors this year recognizing Verizon as a top employer and a leader in corporate diversity.

In selecting the companies, Black Enterprise evaluated diversity programs and consulted with diversity experts and corporate diversity officers. The publication also conducted an extensive survey of more than 1,000 of the country's largest publicly traded companies and more than 50 leading global companies with significant U.S. operations.

This is the third time that Verizon has been named to the list. The company was cited for the diversity of its Board of Directors, for having spent $3.1 billion with women and minority suppliers in 2007, and for rating highest for the percentage of advertising dollars spent in diverse markets.

The results of the survey appear in Black Enterprise's July issue.

"We're proud to be recognized as a company that sets the standard in American business," said Magda Yrizarry, Verizon's vice president for workplace culture, diversity and compliance. "At Verizon, diversity is as much about good business practices as it is the right thing to do."

Verizon has been recognized as a leader in workplace practices by numerous publications.

Earlier this year, Verizon was named No. 1 on DiversityInc magazine's list of Top 50 Companies for Diversity, for the second time in three years. BusinessWeek ranked Verizon fourth in the publication's 12th annual ranking of the best-performing companies in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. For the past two years, Verizon has been ranked by BusinessWeek as one of the Best Places to Launch a Career. And for the third consecutive year, Working Mother magazine named Verizon to its list of Best Companies for Multicultural Women.

Part of Verizon's culture and an integral part of its business strategy, diversity cuts across all business groups and functions -- from human resources and supplier relations, to marketing and philanthropy. The Verizon Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, contributed more than $34 million in 2007 to charitable causes and organizations that serve minority communities across the country. The Verizon Center for Customers with Disabilities is in its 15th year and handled over 800,000 calls last year alone. Verizon's multilingual centers were created to answer customer demand for multilingual, multicultural services and provide services in six languages -- Spanish, Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian and Vietnamese.

Whether it's a wireless service, the latest in broadband technology, or the best in entertainment, Verizon depends on the unique talents, perspectives and experiences of all employees to maintain its premier network and better serve its customers.

Verizon Communications Inc. , headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 67 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employed a diverse workforce of approximately 232,000 as of the end of the first quarter 2008 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of $93.5 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

Verizon

CONTACT: Alberto Canal of Verizon, +1-908-559-6367,alberto.c.canal@verizon.com

Web site: http://www.verizon.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html

Source: PRNewswire

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