East Coast Petroleum Corporation —N. Quincy, MA— honored with national Blue Chip Enterprise Award

Business Wire, June 9, 1999

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1999--

Company flourishes today despite being faced with

insurmountable financial problems, and employee and

supplier defections in past years

Severe financial problems alone would close the doors of most small businesses. In 1996, Loretta T. DeGrazia, owner and founder of East Coast Petroleum Corporation, faced these and much more. Dealing with personal tragedies, DeGrazia trusted the day-to-day operations of her company to a newly hired manager. Soon profits declined, quality suffered, and the manager and over half of East Coast's staff left for another heating oil company. Near rock bottom, East Coast was also threatened with an environmental violation. As a result, a major supplier cut off the company's supply.

For overcoming and surviving these obstacles, DeGrazia, the first and only woman founder and owner of a heating oil company in Massachusetts, was honored today with a prestigious Blue Chip Enterprise Award at a gala luncheon at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Nation's Business Summit in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 1990, The Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative(R) is co-sponsored by MassMutual, one of the nation's premier financial service companies, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business federation. Through a national application process, the Initiative seeks to identify and learn from small businesses that have demonstrated the ability to succeed in the face of serious challenges and adversity. East Coast Petroleum is one of six national recipients of the 1999 award.

"MassMutual is proud to honor Loretta DeGrazia and East Coast Petroleum," says John Palamar, National Director of The Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative. "Her tenacity and iron-will to keep her company going, despite a number of major setbacks, speaks directly to what the Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative is all about. We recognize Loretta on two fronts: for standing alone as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and for her determination to keep her company afloat and thriving."

Applications for the Year 2000 Blue Chip Enterprise Initiative National Awards competition are available by calling 1-800-FOR-BCEI.