Dallas Entrepreneur Receives Honorable Mention inWorking Woman National Awards Campaign...

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 1999--

Local businesswoman Nanci Mackenzie received Honorable Mention in the "General Excellence" category of the first national Working Woman Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards sponsored by Bank One (NYSE:ONE).

Mackenzie is President of US Gas

The Working Woman Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards program sponsored by Bank One is the first ever national campaign to specifically identify, recognize and celebrate the achievements and contributions of women entrepreneurs. Winners in seven categories were announced yesterday at a daylong event held at the Hotel Inter-Continental Hotel in Miami. The categories were: Innovation, Best Employer, Overcoming Obstacles, Turnaround, Socially Responsible, Customer/Client Service and General Excellence.

Mackenzie was selected for Honorable Mention status by the editors of Working Woman magazine from the hundreds of nominations received since the program was announced last June. In the category of "General Excellence," she was one of only four women to receive Honorable Mention, after the winner.

"Women like Nanci Mackenzie, who represent the small business front, are among those leading the way in business in the United States," said Vanessa Freytag, director of Bank One's Women Entrepreneur Initiative. "The number of women-owned businesses has grown nearly 80 percent in the past decade and women now own almost 40 percent of all businesses in the country."

In the Dallas metropolitan area, there are 108,500 women-owned firms, employing 236,300 people and generating nearly $33 billion in sales. This, according to a 1996 National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) study.

Between 1987 and 1996, the number of women-owned firms in Dallas has increased by 74 percent, employment has grown by 356 percent and sales have skyrocketed by 391 percent, according to the NFWBO study.

Women-owned firms now represent 36 percent of all firms in the Dallas area, employ 19 percent of all workers and generate 18 percent of all business sales in the area.

BANK ONE CORPORATION (NYSE:ONE), headquartered in Chicago, is the nation's fifth-largest bank holding company, with assets of $250 billion. BANK ONE offers a full range of financial services to commercial and business customers and consumers. It is one of the nation's largest credit card lenders, the second-largest consumer and commercial finance company, the third-largest bank lender to small business, and the third-largest bank mutual fund company. It operates more than 2,000 offices and a nationwide network of ATMs. It is a major commercial bank in the United States and in selected international markets. Information about BANK ONE can be accessed at http://www.bankone.com, www.bankone.com or through Fax-on-Demand at 614/844-3860.

WORKING WOMAN magazine, published by MacDonald Communications Corporation, reaches more than 3.4 million readers. Founded in 1976, it is the number one national business magazine written for executive women. Each issue reports on business, finance, technology, and entrepreneurship as it relates to today's female leaders and achievers, corporate executives and entrepreneurs. The magazine's news-making and news-breaking reporting includes ongoing national market research studies and signature issues such as its annual ranking of the Top 500 Women-Owned Businesses, Top 25 Companies for Executive Women and Top Business Schools. Bernadette Grey, WORKING WOMAN's Editor-in-Chief, is a nationally recognized expert on workplace, financial and technology issues. The magazine can be accessed online at http://www.workingwomanmag.com.

Editors Note: Nanci Mackenzie's local phone number is 214/827-9464.