Potomac Edison Honored by Maryland State Chamber for Supporting Small Business Vendors

FirstEnergy Press Release:

Potomac Edison Honored by Maryland State Chamber for Supporting Small Business Vendors

WILLIAMSPORT, Md., June 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Potomac Edison, a subsidiary ofFirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE), has been recognized by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce with its 2013 Business Breakthrough Large Employer Partner in Business Award for the utility's ongoing commitment to support small and minority-owned businesses. In 2012, Potomac Edison purchased about 38 percent of its goods and services from small businesses, including nearly 20 percent procured from certified minority-owned businesses.  The company does business with 48 local small businesses. "The Maryland Chamber is pleased to honor Potomac Edison, which is leading the way when it comes to supplier diversity," said Maryland Chamber President and CEO Kathy Snyder. "Potomac Edison has fully embraced Maryland's spirit of inclusion," said James A. Sears, president of FirstEnergy's Maryland Operations.  "We adhere to business practices that support women, minority and service-disabled veteran-owned enterprises.  It just makes good business sense.  Diversifying our vendor base with small businesses helps enhance competition among suppliers, resulting in more innovative products and services." The Maryland chamber presented Potomac Edison with the award at a recent luncheon ceremony in Baltimore.  The annual Business Breakthrough awards program showcases Maryland businesses for breakthrough performance, innovation and growth.  The Maryland Washington Minority Contractors' Association nominated Potomac Edison for the award. Potomac Edison spent $3 million with local contractors in 2011 to renovate its regional headquarters in Williamsport, with 20 percent of the dollars spent on the project for services and materials benefiting minority-owned businesses.  The list of opportunities for small businesses to partner with Potomac Edison is long: equipment, services, materials, construction ventures, legal, technology-related research and development, testing and more. To learn more about opportunities to partner with Potomac Edison and other FirstEnergyoperating companies, visithttps://www.firstenergycorp.com/content/fecorp/supplychain.html. Potomac Edison serves about 250,000 customers in seven Maryland counties and 132,000 customers in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.  Follow Potomac Edison on Twitter @PotomacEdison. www.firstenergycorp.com SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.