For Immediate Release

Chevron Announces $1 Million in Grants to Richmond and West County Organizations to Promote Economic Development

Five Nonprofits Receive Funding as Part of Chevron’s California Partnership

RICHMOND, Calif., Dec. 1, 2009 – Chevron today announced that five Richmond and West County-based nonprofit organizations have been selected to receive funding from a $1 million grant as part of Chevron’s California Partnership, a new initiative to invest in education and job creation in California. Recipients of the funding were selected through a competitive review process where applicants were required to demonstrate how their projects would increase access to vocational education and improve the livelihoods of residents in the Richmond and West Contra Costa region.

“For the more than 100 years Chevron has been a part of the Richmond community, we’ve been committed to supporting economic development and job creation in the region,” said Mike Coyle, General Manager of Chevron’s Richmond Refinery.  “The nonprofit partners that we’re announcing today share that goal, and have demonstrated their ability to play a positive role in improving the economic self-sufficiency of local families.” 

The following nonprofit organizations were selected for their programs offering high-quality vocational education or small-and medium-sized enterprise development programs, and will receive funding from Chevron:

·         Catholic Charities – A collaborative job training program that partners with RichmondWORKS and West Contra Costa Adult Education

·         Lao Family Community Development, Inc. – A comprehensive pre- and post-placement service to assist with job preparation and retention

·         Solar Richmond – An internship program offering experience in solar installation to promote innovative job creation

·         The Latina Center – Providing Latina women with personalized training, peer networking and family support services needed to start their own micro-enterprise or small business

·         The Stride Center – Career preparation services in the information technology field for Richmond residents to help secure employment in upwardly mobile careers

“This funding allows us to expand our program at a time when our community is experiencing record unemployment and the community needs our services more than ever. We are confident this grant will help us provide our clients with the services needed to get them on a more secure career path,” said Miriam Wong, executive director, The Latina Center.  “We are thrilled to be included as a grant recipient by Chevron, along with Catholic Charities, Solar Richmond, Lao Family Community Development, and the StrideCenter,  to help grow our program in the Richmond and San Pablo communities to assist individuals who have experienced barriers to employment,”

Chevron is the largest employer and taxpayer in Richmond with approximately 2,700 employees and 850 contractors. The company has invested over $3 million in the Richmond community over the last year and has long supported economic development and job creation in the area.

The California Partnership is a recently-announced Chevron initiative to invest in education and economic development in California by expanding the company’s partnerships with nonprofits.  With the California Partnership, Chevron has formed relationships with new nonprofit partners providing programs for education, entrepreneurs and job training for the state’s underserved communities.  The California Partnership represents a $7 million enhancement to Chevron’s community engagement investments in the state, bringing Chevron’s total investments in California in 2009 to approximately $28 million. 

About Chevron

Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company's success is driven by the ingenuity and commitment of approximately 62,000 employees who operate across the energy spectrum. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and other energy products; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables. Chevron has been headquartered in California for 130 years and is the state's largest company. Chevron operations indirectly support approximately one in every 250 jobs in the state. The company generated $9.2 billion in economic output in California in 2007, and has spent nearly $2 billion with small businesses in the state since 2007, approximately 40 percent of which are minority- and women-owned. More information is available at www.chevron.com/CA.

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Contact:          Brent Tippen, Chevron Public Affairs,  +1 510-242-4700 or brent.tippen@chevron.com