ATLANTA, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power's Vice President of Diversity, Frank McCloskey, received one of four inaugural Willie O'Ree National Hockey League (NHL) "Black Ice" Diversity Awards on Friday, January 25, 2008 at the league's diversity luncheon held at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in downtown Atlanta. The luncheon was a part of the 2008 NHL All-Star Weekend. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050216/CLW066LOGO ) In 1958, Willie O'Ree became the first black player in the NHL, when he played for the Boston Bruins in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Fifty years later, O'Ree is still involved in hockey as the director of youth development for the NHL's diversity program. In the past 10 years, he has helped expose more than 40,000 boys and girls of diverse backgrounds to hockey, while stressing the importance of essential life skills, education, and the core values of hockey: commitment, perseverance and teamwork. The awards were given to four pioneers, nominated by the local community as major contributors to promoting diversity through leadership, courage and respect for differing backgrounds and points of view. Each of the "Black Ice" award recipients portrays the traits continually demonstrated by O'Ree. During his 36-year career with Georgia Power, McCloskey has blazed many trails in diversity. Most notable is the courage that he demonstrates daily to insure fairness and equity for all employees by overseeing the development and implementation of strategies that help sustain a culture of excellence through inclusion. "Georgia Power is honored to receive this award. It recognizes who we are and what we stand for," said McCloskey. "Our diversity initiatives have helped to improve our leadership and organizational culture where every employee feels valued, respected and productive. It's about building trust with employees, our communities and vendors and suppliers. And that will drive our long term business success." Other award recipients included Dr. John Maupin, President of Morehouse School of Medicine; Eric W. Norman, Vice President of Network Services at Ricoh America's Corporation; and Jackie Parker, Vice President of Global Inclusion and Diversity at Newell Rubbermaid. "The National Hockey League is honored to recognize these outstanding individuals for their commitment to diversity and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Willie O'Ree breaking the color barrier," said Ken Martin, Jr., NHL Vice President, Community and Diversity Programming. Net proceeds from the luncheon will benefit NHL Diversity, which provides support and programming to not-for-profit youth hockey organizations across North America. Money raised also will go to the Atlanta Thrashers Foundation in support of several initiatives designed to engage diverse youth groups in the sport of hockey. Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Company, one of the nation's largest generators of electricity. The company is an investor-owned, tax-paying utility with rates well below the national average. Georgia Power serves 2.3 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050216/CLW066LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Georgia Power CONTACT: Konswello Monroe of Georgia Power, +1-404-506-7676, or +1-800-282-1696, Web site: http://www.georgiapower.com/

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