Lockheed Martin was honored March 30 by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural B2B online portal, as the top company for providing multicultural business opportunities to minority and women-owned businesses in 2005.

Collectively called the Div50, Lockheed Martin and 49 major corporations comprise the list as determined by more than 500,000 diversity-owned businesses through an online election. Honorees were selected based on factors including the volume, consistency and quality of business opportunities granted to women and minority-owned companies. This is Lockheed Martin's fifth consecutive year as one of the top three companies recognized for its commitment to diversity-owned business, and its first year in the top spot.

"We have made a sustained commitment to strengthening and growing our relationships with minority and women-owned businesses in an effort to seek out expertise and skills from two of the fastest growing business segments, recognizing that our future success is dependent on our ability to build diverse supplier relationships today," said Mike Bush, Lockheed Martin's Director of Supplier Diversity.

To learn more about doing business with Lockheed Martin, visit https://suppliernet.external.lmco.com/suppliernet/main/small_business.cfm

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

For additional information, visit our website:

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin