OWEGO, NY, 26-JUN-00 -- For the third time in the past four years, Lockheed Martin Corporation in Bethesda, Md., has selected two teams from its Owego facility to receive NOVA Awards, the company's highest recognition for individual or team achievements. Fifty awards are presented annually. Year 2000 NOVA Award recipients from Lockheed Martin Owego include 28 employees. This is an outstanding achievement for a single division. I'm exceptionally proud of our stellar NOVA Award performance since joining the Lockheed Martin family, said Frank C. Meyer, president of Lockheed Martin Owego. This event honors leadership, technical excellence and teamwork. I would like to extend my sincerest congratulations to this year's winners.

The two teams selected are from the Distribution Technologies and Systems Solutions business areas and work on projects that deliver innovative solutions to the United States Postal Service and General Motors Corp., respectively. They were nominated by Meyer and Robert B. Coutts, executive vice president of the Lockheed Martin Systems Integration business area, of which Lockheed Martin Owego is part.

Honorees represent an extraordinary level of individual and collective achievement that earns customer satisfaction, builds shareholder value and enhances Lockheed Martin's reputation, Coutts said. Talented people such as these 28 employees set Lockheed Martin apart from its competitors and enable our corporation to grow as we successfully take on some of the world's most complex technical challenges.

The Distribution Technologies Remote Computer Reader Team won a Teamwork 2000 NOVA Award for outstanding achievements on two address recognition projects that significantly improve operational efficiencies for the U.S. Postal Service. Team members are James E. Barker, Richard C. Fassold, Audrey P. Ferry, Mark S. Goldman, Katherine M. Grove, Thomas L. Hanrahan, Joseph T. Higgins, Adam L. Jung, William A. Lindquist, Tracy W. Manning, Michael A. Mele, Nancy E. Miller, Thomas J. Moberg, John S. Plourd, Lennart A. Saaf, Fredrick M. Sebastian, Mary E. Spadine and Charles J. Whitmarsh.

Their work focused on the Handwritten Improvement Program and RCR2000 software algorithm and hardware upgrades to remote computer readers. The team successfully integrated technology that enabled the U.S. Postal Service to double the automatic reading of handwritten addresses, and a guaranteed level of performance was achieved six months ahead of schedule. The team also improved the automatic reading of machine printed addresses for RCR2000 readers, again exceeding a guaranteed performance. Their work resulted in aggregate contract awards with the U.S. Postal Service worth $250 million.

Ten employees supporting General Motors Financial Systems Sustainment Applications Program for Systems Solutions also received a 2000 NOVA Teamwork award for their exemplary effort migrating seamlessly from proposal stage to a performance team. The team leverages common, proven and tailored processes to improve efficiencies and services for General Motors, reducing overall costs for the automaker. The team operates from Owego and Detroit. Owego team members include James L. Garrett, Jeffrey M. Hamed, Thomas A. Marzo, Paul M. Phillips and Robert Zendarski. The Southeast Michigan team includes Harold L. Bonning, Keith D. Durfee, William M. Fisher, Daniel E. Sniezek and Tommy J. Viner.

The 2000 NOVA Awards ceremony was held June 23 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vance D. Coffman and President and Chief Operating Officer Louis R. Hughes presented the awards. Keith Durfee, representing the General Motors Financial Systems Sustainment Applications Program team, and Nancy Miller, representing the Remote Computer Reader Handwritten Improvement and RCR2000 Program team, accepted the awards.

The NOVA Award program was established in 1995, upon Lockheed Martin's formation, to recognize outstanding contributions to the corporation's mission and business objectives. Awards are made annually in four categories - Exceptional Service, Leadership, Teamwork and Technical Excellence. The NOVA Award derives its name from the Latin word for new, and its astronomical definition as a stellar outburst of creative power, with the star motif building on the Lockheed Martin symbol. The NOVA Awards program recognizes those stars - from Lockheed Martin's 140,000 employees - who contribute their own creativity to the overall success of Lockheed Martin.