February 2002

After 20 months of extensive research and analysis we are proud and excited to announce that we are purchasing a total of 1450 acres in Wood County to develop new spring water sources and build a state-of-the-art bottling facility for Ozarka Natural Spring Water. This facility will support 56 jobs at start-up, in January 2003, and employ around 300 people by full build-out in 2013. Bottling facility jobs pay between $10-$15 per hour and we will begin accepting applications and hosting job fairs late this spring. Training will be available for all future employees. Please check with us periodically as we update employment information – we will work with community leaders and the media to publicize our initiation of the employment process late this spring.

The total investment by Ozarka is estimated to be $55 million by January 2003 and up to $150 million by January 2013. Our economic impact will extend far beyond jobs and an initial payroll of $2.2 million, however. Based on an Economic Impact Assessment by The Celero Group in Austin, TX, there will be $46 million in added tax base to Wood County and the Hawkins and Harmony Independent School Districts will see an increase of more than $550,000 and $43,000 respectively.

In addition to the significant revenue generated by our project for Wood County we are also unveiling our 10-point Good Neighbor Policy that includes; open communication with the community, environmental excellence, a drought curtailment plan, water resource relations, public use of land clause, traffic mitigation, exemplary employment practices, water education, and emergency relief. This Good Neighbor Policy is our creed and was created to reflect and assure that Ozarka is a positive partner in the communities where we operate. We invite you to view the Good Neighbor Policy on this Web site.

We are also proud to unveil our “Every Drop Counts” scholarship fund. This is a $30,000 fund that is designated for each of our spring communities in Texas. Two $10,000 statewide scholarships will be available in 2003 for graduating high school seniors pursuing a college degree in the Earth Sciences. In Wood County, there will be a $2500 scholarship for Hawkins ISD and a $2500 scholarship for Harmony ISD for a student pursing a college degree in the Earth Sciences. Our other spring communities, Roher Springs and Moffitt Springs, will receive the remaining $2500 scholarships each. We are also designating a Project W.E.T. (Water Education for Teachers) Fund, which is a water education curriculum that Perrier supports nationwide. This is a Texas Education Agency-accredited curriculum that will be offered to all Wood County schools and to our other spring community school districts. Ozarka will sponsor local and regional training seminars, will underwrite the cost of training manuals for teachers and will create special W.E.T. accounts for teachers to purchase classroom supplies needed to implement this curriculum. We will also make available education facilities on our property for classroom field trips.

We are proud to be your newest corporate neighbors in Wood County and we thank the community members and leaders who, over the past two years, have supported our efforts in East Texas. We intend to make every effort to be a positive influence in the community and will continue these monthly updates as we begin construction on our new bottling facility. Please check back with us as we will also be posting our most current employment information on this site. As we have been in the past, we remain absolutely dedicated to maintaining open and earnest communications with the community and are always available for your questions and concerns.