Altria Group Named among America's Top Corporations for Women's Busi

    Business Editors

    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2005--Altria Group, Inc. is proud to announce that it has been named one of America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises by Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). The award recognizes 15 corporations that not only have instituted programs to offer equal access for women-owned suppliers, but that also have attained world-class quality in their supplier diversity programs featuring women's business enterprises.
    In accepting the award, A. Shuanise Washington, Vice President, Government Affairs Policy & Outreach, Altria Corporate Services, Inc., said, " This organization (WBENC) recognizes the importance of working with both sides of the supplier diversity equation - with women-owned companies and the corporations they serve. Altria commends WBENC's foresight and vision. We respect and value the work you do, and we remain committed to this organization and its critical mission."
    The Altria family of companies' active engagement with diverse suppliers began in the early 1970s, and in 1981, the Supplier Diversity Program was established as a priority initiative. The mission of Altria's diversity program is to build and maintain a collaborative work environment and culture by including diverse ideas and perspectives that will contribute to the best business solutions - this includes a need for a diverse supply base where many of our ideas and innovations originate. In addition, Altria has also long understood that a strong supplier diversity program helps to support the economic development of the communities where its family of companies' operate.

    Altria Group is the parent company of Kraft Foods, the world's second largest food company, Philip Morris International, the world's leading international cigarette business, and Philip Morris USA, the leading cigarette manufacturer in the United States. For more information about Altria and its family of companies, please visit www.altria.com.

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CONTACT: Altria Corporate Services, Inc. Tamara Moore, 917-663-2144

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HUMAN RESOURCES CONSUMER/HOUSEHOLD FOODS/BEVERAGES RETAIL SOURCE: Altria Corporate Services, Inc.

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