Avista invests $100,000 in Montana Community Foundation this month
SPOKANE, Wash. Oct. 23, 2009: Continuing a legacy of community partnership, Avista has announced a significant investment to benefit the communities of Montana. The $100,000 investment in the Montana Community Foundation will establish the Avista Fund, which will provide grants to non-profit organizations to support programs that strengthen communities and enhance the quality of life for the people of Montana, including Sanders County.
Some 50 years ago, those who lived and worked in the communities in Sanders County, Montana, were primarily miners, fishermen or loggers. When Avista’s Noxon Rapids Hydroelectric Dam was being built in the late 1950s, the county’s population swelled with construction workers. Avista – then Washington Water Power – invested nearly a half a million dollars to provide new school facilities, teachers’ residences and school buses to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population.
“In the 1950s and 1960s, people who helped build Noxon Rapids planted roots here, and many of our employees and their families who live and work in the Clark Fork Valley have been here for generations. Today, they serve on volunteer boards, as firefighters, community leaders, teachers, and more – they are good neighbors, as well.” Avista Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Morris told a group of more than 150 attending the Oct. 1, 2009, anniversary celebration overlooking Noxon Rapids Dam.
Grants from the Avista Fund, in the Montana Community Foundation, will be available beginning in 2011, after a process for applying and awarding grants has been implemented.
“Supporting the vitality of Montana’s rural communities is a large part of the mission of the Montana Community Foundation,” said Linda Reed, president and chief executive officer of the Montana Community Foundation. “This investment from Avista will ensure that funds are available to address community needs far into the future. We are delighted with the new partnership.”
“Avista is proud to begin a new chapter in supporting the communities in Sanders County,” added Tim Swant, Noxon resident and Avista’s manager for the Clark Fork River license. “There is a strong history of cooperation among the many groups of citizens and organizations in this part of the Northwest, and we look forward to continuing those relationships for at least another 50 years.”
Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy as well as other energy-related businesses. Avista Utilities is our operating division that provides electric service to 353,000 homes and businesses and natural gas to 313,000 homes and businesses in three Western states, serving more than 492,000 customers. Avista’s primary, non-regulated subsidiary is Advantage IQ. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol “AVA.” For more information about Avista, please visit www.avistacorp.com.
This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding the company’s current expectations. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than historical facts. Such statements speak only as of the date of the news release and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company’s control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, in addition to those discussed herein, all of the factors discussed in the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2008, and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2009.