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<DIV><PRE style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><TT><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT color=#000000>CITY OF <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">NORWICH</st1:place></st1:City> RECEIVES STATE AWARD </FONT></SPAN></B></TT><TT><B><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><FONT color=#000000>FOR EXCELLENCE IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></TT></PRE><PRE><TT><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt"><o:p><FONT color=#000000> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></TT><FONT face=Arial><st1:City w:st="on"><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">SYRACUSE</SPAN></st1:City><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> – The
City of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Norwich</st1:City></st1:place> has received a Governor’s Award for Excellence in Emergency Management.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></PRE>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial>John R. Gibb, chairman of the state Disaster Preparedness Commission (DPC) and acting commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (HSES) presented the New York State Disaster Preparedness Commission Governor’s Award to Norwich Emergency Management Director A. Wesley Jones Tuesday night (November 9) during a dinner in Syracuse.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial>Gibb cited the Norwich Emergency Management Office in particular for its innovation in developing communication efforts for notifying and alerting residents about the importance of emergency preparedness and the potential for disasters through implementation of a new social media, Web 2.0.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial>“Mr. Jones is to be commended for using Facebook and Twitter in addition to conventional means to broadcast information to the people he serves,” Gibb said, noting it is “essential that public safety agencies have viable means of communicating with the public, especially in times of emergency.”<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial><st1:City w:st="on"><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Norwich</SPAN></st1:City><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> was the first emergency management office in the state to actively use Twitter as a means of disseminating emergency information and the second in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State> to use Facebook, Jones said.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It also was the first city in the State to achieve designation as a National Weather Service StormReady Community from the National Weather Service.<B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></B></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial>“On behalf of the City and community of <st1:City w:st="on">Norwich</st1:City>, I would like to extend our appreciation for awarding the 2010 Governor's Award for Excellence in Emergency Management to the City of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Norwich</st1:City></st1:place>,” commented Norwich Mayor Joseph P. Maiurano.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial>Jones said it was an honor to receive the award and expressed his “appreciation for the support of my colleagues and the State in our disaster preparedness efforts.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial>He said his goal is to” find ways to take the information we receive and disseminate it in an easy-to-read format to the public.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Online presence is just another tool we use to achieve that commitment,” he said.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT color=#000000><FONT face=Arial>Jones has been with the City’s Emergency Management Office since 1995 and has served as director since 1997.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT color=#000000><FONT face=Arial>Mayor Maiurano commended Jones’ efforts, saying the director’s dedication, experience and drive “have put the City way ahead when it comes to emergency management.”<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT color=#000000><FONT face=Arial>“I have had the privilege to work with (Jones) during the 2005 and 2006 floods and every other emergency situation to the present, and his professional approach, advice and expertise in these situations are second to none,” the mayor commented.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><o:p><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"><FONT face=Arial><FONT color=#000000>Additional information about Norwich Emergency Management is available on the Internet at <U>www.norwichnewyork.net/emergency</U>, on Facebook at <U>www.facebook.com/NorwichEMO</U>, and on Twitter at </FONT><U><A href="http://www.twitter.com/NorwichEMO"><FONT color=#0000ff>www.twitter.com/NorwichEMO</FONT></A></U><FONT color=#000000>.<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></P></DIV></div></body></html>