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U.S. Department of State   Office of the Coordinator for Business Affairs

2000 Award for Corporate Excellence Rayonier New Zealand Jacksonville, Florida Rayonier, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, is a global supplier of pulp, timber and wood products. It has 200 employees in eight offices, and owns 2.4 million acres of timber in the United States and New Zealand. Rayonier New Zealand was selected to receive a State Department Award for Corporate Excellence for its good governance and employment practices. Among the company's achievements: Implementation of programs designed to encourage employee development. The company reimburses employees for 75% of the cost of approved outside studies, allows employees to claim back pay for sports memberships and stress-reducing activies, offers scholarships for employee dependents, and runs programs for workers and management to encourage respect for equal employment opportunity principles; -- Donation of $23,500 to the city of Gore, New Zealand, for community projects; Provision of materials to local farmers to build dairy roads; Purchase of emergency radios for use in school buses which use logging roads in rural areas; Granting scholarship funds for local students (over $100,000 since 1994); Allowing controlled access to its forestlands for recreational purposes; and Showing special attention to the needs of indigenous Maori groups, including joint venture projects with Maori landowners and helping defray costs for Maori-sponsored environmental management strategies. Rayonier manufactures and markets high performance cellulose fibers which serve high-value end uses such as plastics, filters, textiles, tire cord, films, and highly absorbent materials. The company has been in existence for more than 70 years. Its 2,300 employees serve customers in 60 countries. W. Lee Nutter is Rayonier's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. [end of document] Support for Business | Commercial and Business Affairs| Economic and Trade Policy