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Professional Businesswomen of California Honors Top SF Bay Area Companies for Women Business Leaders

California State Senator Jackie Speier to Present Third-Annual Pacesetter Awards; Top-Ranked Bank of America Sets Shining Example

Bay Area companies are setting the standard for the advancement of women in the workplace, according to research by the Professional BusinessWomen of California (PBWC). PCWC will honor 14 Bay Area companies for their outstanding commitment to women business leaders at the 16th Annual PBWC Conference on Tuesday, May 3, 2005, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

"As the leading organization in California supporting the advancement of women, PBWC is proud to recognize companies that promote women into the highest ranks of their organizations and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to their professional development," said Debra Boblitt, president of PBWC and vice president-agency, State Farm Insurance. "The 2005 award winners underscore the valuable contributions women are making to drive the success of the world's leading companies."

The PBWC Pacesetter Award winners were selected from 53 of the largest public companies from nine Bay Area counties. The winners include: Bank of America, Hewlett Packard, AT&T, Genentech, Wells Fargo, State Farm Insurance, SBC Communications, Guidant Corporation, Knight Ridder, Silicon Graphics, IBM, ChevronTexaco, Seagate Technology and McKesson.

The PBWC Pacesetter Award ranks firms according to:

--  Percentage of women employees;
--  Percentage of women executives;
--  Percentage of women corporate officers;
--  Quality and quantity of company-sponsored programs that benefit women
    in the workplace.
    

Score sheets and rankings for the winning companies will be posted at www.pbwc.org. Information and details about the winning programs that support the advancement of women is available upon request from PBWC.

Media interviews with the winning companies may be arranged by contacting Joanna Rustin at Rustin Communications 866-297-6070, jrustin@rustincommunications.com; or Kelly Cytron at Kelcyn Communications 415-271-3638 or kcytron@kelcyn.com.

About the PBWC Conference

The Professional BusinessWomen of California (PBWC) Conference on May 3, 2005, is the largest gathering of professional women in Northern California. The conference keynote and general session speakers are experts on women's health, finance, business, life balance and politics. Featured speakers include State Senator, Jackie Speier; New York Times #1 Best Seller Malcolm Gladwell, author of "Blink" and "The Tipping Point"; Safra Catz, Oracle Co-President; Tom Rath, author of "How Full is Your Bucket?"; Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, "Hot Tamales" chefs and restaurateurs; and many others. More than 150 exhibitors will showcase technology and services that are propelling the next generation of women business leaders. For a conference brochure and to register, visit http://www.pbwc.org.

About PBWC

The Professional BusinessWomen of California (www.pbwc.org) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the professional and personal development of Bay Area women by providing tools, resources, training and inspiration.

Distributed by Market Wire