Earlier this year, Fortune magazine once again included AMERICAN on its list of "The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America." It was the seventh time in a row that AMERICAN has received this recognition, and this year we hit Fortune's list at Number 6 - our best ranking yet. It is noteworthy that two-thirds of our ranking is based on employee responses to a confidential survey. Fortune mailed a survey with questions related to job satisfaction and company performance to 200 AMERICAN employees selected at random by the magazine. Fortune dealt directly with our employees to encourage their responding with total honesty and complete anonymity. Although it's gratifying that our employees gave the company high marks, it is not surprising to anyone who knows the full story of AMERICAN. That story begins with our founder, John J. Eagan, who, in my opinion, was one of the most remarkable business persons in America's history. He was an incredibly intelligent, decent, and compassionate man. What he established for employees almost 100 years ago is still in place, and that's a major reason why our employees like working here. Consider: In the early 1900s, malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, pneumonia and cholera were common. So at AMERICAN, in a virtually unprecedented move for those days, Mr. Eagan established medical services for all employees and families; in 1916 he added free dental services. Today, AMERICAN is one of the few companies that owns and operates its own healthcare facility with its own medical staff. We provide medical and dental services to employees and their families for life. We've also added a wellness center with programs to encourage exercise, healthy nutrition, and lifestyles that foster better living. There are cash incentives for our people to improve and maintain their overall health. In 1913 AMERICAN established a safety department; today, our safety record is far above the industry average and an everyday priority in our operations. In 1915 the company instituted a night school to train employees. This proved to be the forerunner of our continuous improvement program, which today provides training and thus more opportunities for all employees. By making our employees even better at what they do, this constant training and improvement helps us maintain existing business and find new business as well. From 1915-1918, AMERICAN established a savings bank for employees, instituted an annual bonus, started a pension plan, and began paying time and a half for overtime. All of those were revolutionary steps for those days; it would be several years before such moves became commonplace or mandated by law. Today, our hourly wages are higher than the industry average, and our bonus plan remains a tremendous incentive to be more efficient and do better work. All of this reinforces one of Mr. Eagan's strongest beliefs - that employees should be paid a fair wage for a fair day's work. Somewhere along the way, our employees apparently decided that they like working for AMERICAN. Our turnover rate is less than 1 percent, the average employment is 20 years, and 75 percent of our work force has more than 10 years at AMERICAN. Mr. Eagan's most basic belief was that the Golden Rule - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you - could be applied to business. He stated that principle would govern the conduct of the company not only with our employees but also with regard to the public - you, our customers. So, on behalf of everyone at AMERICAN, I'll close by extending a genuine 'Thank you' to the customers and business partners who give us the opportunity to apply that principle to our relationships with you. If you ever feel we aren't, I want to know about it. I believe that John Eagan would have, too. Van Richey President and Chief Executive Officer

Van Richey President and Chief Executive Officer