PRESS RELEASE
14 May 2002

For more information contact:
Terri Rondeau, director, corporate communications
Besser Company
801 Johnson Street
Alpena, Michigan 49707 USA
e-mail: trondeau@besser.com 
phone: 989.354.1040
fax: 989.354.3120

Alpena High School Students to Learn the Importance of Manufacturing

Throughout the state, Michigan Manufacturers Week is being celebrated from 13 – 19 May 2002. Besser Company has invited over 100 Alpena High School students and instructors to tour the Alpena facility on Thursday, 16 May 2002 in recognition of this event.

Students will participate in specialized tours of Besser that will focus on their specific areas of interest. Students from the Welding, Machine Trades, CAD (Computer Aided Drafting), Advanced Drafting, School-To-Work Group and Marketing classes will participate in the tours. Tours will take place from 8 a.m. until 10:15 a.m.

"Participating in Michigan Manufacturers Week, by inviting students to tour our facility is one way we can give back to the youth in our community. We are encouraged because each year the number of students taking the tours grows. It is encouraging to see students taking the initiative, investigating careers, learning about the importance of manufacturing and finding out about a local business," commented Janet Behnke, Tour Coordinator and Safety and Training Supervisor at Besser. This is the fourth consecutive year that Besser has hosted tours associated with Michigan Manufacturers Week.

Jean Eggemeyer, Communications Director for the MMA shared these facts:

• There are close to 1 million workers directly employed in manufacturing activities in Michigan.
• Manufacturing accounts for $55.7 billion, over 25%, of Michigan’s gross state product.
• There are 17,200 manufacturing facilities in Michigan, representing every county in the state.
• Men and women in manufacturing, on average, earn 50% more than workers in non-manufacturing and service sector jobs.
• Manufacturing endeavors brought 78,000 new jobs to the state since 1991.
• Michigan was named first in the nation, by Site Selection magazine, for new and expanded business facilities for the fifth year in a row, with 1,419 new facilities built in 2001.

Jesse Besser founded Besser Company in 1904. The Alpena based company designs and manufacturers complete systems for the production of concrete masonry units and concrete pipe. Besser operates manufacturing facilities in Alpena, Oscoda and Holland, Michigan; Sioux City and Boone Iowa; San Antonio, Texas; Compton, California and Quebec, Canada.