NewPage Honored for Support of Military Members

MIAMISBURG, Ohio, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- NewPage Corporation today announced that it has received three awards in recognition of its support for military-member employees from the Ohio Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

The awards were bestowed upon NewPage at the ESGR Annual Awards and Recognition Dinner held March 15 in Dublin, Ohio. NewPage was cited for maintaining a variety of military service-friendly policies that include: providing gap pay (the difference between the employee's military pay and on- the-job pay); extending benefits coverage; providing manager responsibility education; and scheduling temporary replacements for reservists during periods of active duty.

NewPage received the following honors:
-- The State Chair "Above and Beyond" Award recognizes employers that
exceed the legal requirements for granting leave and providing support
for military duty.

-- The Pro-Patria Award is presented to one employer in a state or
territory that has provided the most exceptional support of national
defense through leadership practices and human resource policies that
aid employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.

-- The AMVETS Award honors an organization, company or agency that has
shown exceptional support of the ESGR mission in promoting both public
and private understanding of the National Guard and Reserve. The $1,000
gift is awarded to the AMVETS Career Center on behalf of the honored
recipient.

Michigan Army National Guard member Danny Hansen, who works for the company's Escanaba, Michigan facility, completed and submitted the application to nominate NewPage. Hansen, a Lieutenant Colonel, is deployed in Afghanistan through the end of this year. Currently, more than 20 NewPage employees are members of state and national military reserve units.

"NewPage is very proud to be honored with these awards for what we believe is just doing the right thing. Adapting the work environment when an employee leaves is a challenge if the employee has a one-of-a-kind position," said Mike Edicola, vice president, human resources. "We work hard to expand special skills so we have appropriate backup when these situations occur." As an additional way to help, NewPage employees provide moral support by encouraging one another to stay in touch with deployed employees as well as sending care packages.

Captain James Hanson, a millwright at the Escanaba facility, along with Amber Garwood, company vice president of communications, accepted the awards in Colonel Hansen's absence. "This is no small feat," Captain Hanson noted. "It shows NewPage Corporation's dedication and commitment to its employees during this time of frequent call-ups. Only three organizations, out of 750 nominees, received the Pro-Patria award." Two other Escanaba employees are presently on active duty and Captain Hanson has been deployed previously.

In addition to Captain Hanson and Garwood, Edicola and Glenn Grill, NewPage director of benefits, attended the awards ceremony.

To learn more about NewPage Corporation, visit www.NewPageCorp.com.

About NewPage Corporation

Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest printing paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with more than $4.3 billion in pro forma net sales for the last twelve months ended September 30, 2007. The company's product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.

NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nova Scotia, and Wisconsin. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 5.5 million tons of paper, including 4.3 million tons of coated paper, 920,000 tons of uncoated paper and 300,000 tons of specialty paper, as well as approximately 3.2 million tons of pulp.

About Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)

ESGR was established in 1972 to promote cooperation and understanding between Reserve component members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from an employee's military commitment. Today ESGR operates through a network of more than 4,200 volunteers throughout 56 committees located in each state, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Europe.

About The State Chair "Above and Beyond" Award

This award is given in limited numbers by state and territory ESGR Committees. It recognizes employers at the state and local level who have gone "Above and Beyond" the legal requirements for granting leave and providing support for military duty by their employees as defined by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

About The Pro-Patria Award

This award is presented annually by each ESGR Committee to the one employer in their state or territory who has provided the most exceptional support of our national defense through leadership practices and human resource policies that support their employees who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.

About The AMVETS Award

This award honors an organization, company or agency that has shown exceptional support of the ESGR mission in promoting both public and private understanding of the National Guard and Reserve. The $1,000 gift is awarded to the AMVETS Career Center on behalf of the honored recipient. ESGR sincerely appreciates the generosity of AMVETS for its contribution to gaining U.S. employer and community support for our reserve components.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: NewPage Corporation

CONTACT: Shawn Hall of NewPage Corporation, +1-937-242-9373

Web site: http://www.newpagecorp.com/

2008-03-20 16:31:41 0317626 PRNEWSWIRE