Avnet's SARS Communication Effort Wins ASPC Masters Communication Award; Web Site and Leadership Video Also Receive Honorable Mention

Business Wire, May 10, 2004

Business Editors

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2004

Avnet's (NYSE:AVT) efforts to inform employees about SARS last year was recently recognized by the American Society of Professional Communicators (ASPC) with a Masters Communication Award in the Crisis Communications category. The company also received honorable mention awards in the Electronic Media Web Site and Internal Video categories.

From the first news reports of the disease out of China, Avnet recognized that SARS posed a potential threat to the company's Asian employees, business travelers, international shipments and customer and supplier support activities. The company needed to gather information and make decisions quickly to provide reliable messaging to its employees and trading partners. Avnet's Emergency Response/Disaster Recovery team was immediately deployed to act as the disseminator of information and the crisis policymaker. Since SARS presented a first-of-its-kind threat to Avnet employees' health and to business continuity, the Emergency Response/Disaster Recovery team was faced with unusual circumstances with which to cope, including early reports of a deadly and spreading illness, the cause of which was unknown.

Through continuous monitoring of the SARS crisis, and as new information surfaced, Avnet's Emergency Response/Disaster Recovery team kept stakeholders informed about the disease and its impact on the company -- such as travel restrictions to and from Asia, and later, Toronto -- through consistent e-mails, intranet updates and Internet site links. These proactive communications efforts resulted in Avnet's winning an ASPC Masters Communication award.

"By gathering and disseminating straightforward, up-to-date information about SARS, Avnet mitigated employee concerns by sorting out fact from fiction, clearly stated the temporary travel restrictions, and avoided negative impact on the company," said Jan Jurcy, vice president of public relations at Avnet. "Avnet is honored to receive this Masters Communication award from ASPC."

Receiving honorable mention in the Electronic Media: Web Site subcategory, Avnet was also recognized for providing its corporate Web site -- www.avnet.com -- visitors with more comprehensive, helpful and robust information than many other corporate sites provide, including its expanded Investor Relations content and the addition of Press Room and Quality sections.

"Great Leaders," a video produced for Avnet's annual global leadership conference, received honorable mention in the Electronic Media: Internal Video subcategory. In just six and a half minutes, this upbeat video set the tone for the conference while highlighting nine critical qualities of leadership by featuring more than 40 world leaders who exemplify them.

The ASPC Masters Communication Awards recognize exemplary work and exceptional achievement across all professional communications. Participants in the international competition include professional communicators working for some of the world's largest corporations, not-for-profit agencies or as freelance communicators.

About Avnet

Avnet enables success at the center of technology, providing cost-effective services and solutions vital to a broad base of more than 100,000 customers and 250 suppliers. The company markets, distributes and adds value to semiconductors, interconnect, passive and electromechanical (IP&E) components, enterprise network and computer equipment, software and embedded sub-systems. Avnet generated revenue of $9.05 billion in fiscal 2003 (year ended June 27, 2003) through sales in 68 countries. Via its premier market position, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities, which help its trading partners accelerate growth and realize cost efficiencies.

About American Society of Professional Communicators

The American Society of Professional Communicators (ASPC), headquartered in Pittsburgh, is working to create a platform for education, innovation and the recognition of excellence among professional communicators. Efforts are currently under way to develop a membership program that provides resources and encourages communicators to share best practices and professional experiences with one another in order to raise the standard of excellence within the industry. The ASPC sponsors two annual competitions, the ASPC Masters Communication Awards competition and the ASPC Annual Report Awards competition. For more information, visit the ASPC Web site, www.asprocomm.com.