San Jose Water Honored as Diversity Champion by Institute for Supply Management

Company recognized with prestigious Supply Chain Trailblazer Award

SAN JOSE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–San Jose Water (“SJW” or “the Company”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SJW Group (NYSE: SJW), announced today that it has been awarded the 2022 ISM Supply Chain Trailblazer Award as a Diversity Champion.

The ISM Supply Chain Trailblazer Awards celebrate organizational programs that set new standards, drive new possibilities, and exceed expectations. According to ISM, those honored set the bar and help to advance the supply management profession.

In 2021, SJW achieved $40.5M of diverse spend (33.8% of total spend), a 41% increase in diverse dollars spent, when compared to 2020. The total number of diverse suppliers within the SJW supply chain increased by 13%. The number of diverse suppliers doing business directly with SJW increased by 24%.

“We are honored to have been recognized by the ISM and this award,” stated Andy Gere, San Jose Water President and COO. “This award validates our success in efforts to expand our vendor partnerships and champion new possibilities within the communities we serve.”

For the second year in a row, SJW met all three diversity spend sub-goals for minority, women, and disabled-veteran suppliers, as outlined in the Company’s latest ESG Report:

• Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE) spend was $29.8M, representing 24.9% of 2021 addressable spend;
• Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) spend was $6.0M, representing 5% of 2021 addressable spend; and,
• Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise (DVBE) spend was $4.7M, representing 3.9% of 2021 addressable spend.

SJW sets goals at the corporate level and reports on progress towards the Company’s ongoing Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) business efforts on an annual basis, including diverse supplier spend.

“San Jose Water’s success in this area reflects our unwavering commitment to the communities we serve,” said Gere. “I am proud of the progress SJW continues to make in diversifying our supply chain.”

SJW supplier diversity efforts have also been recognized by the California Public Utilities Commission and U.S. Veterans Magazine.

About San Jose Water

Founded in 1866, San Jose Water is an investor-owned public utility, and is one of the largest and most technically sophisticated urban water systems in the United States. The company serves over one million people in the greater San Jose metropolitan area. San Jose Water is owned by SJW Group, a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SJW. SJW Group also owns: Connecticut Water Company in Connecticut; Maine Water Company in Maine; and SJWTX, Inc. (dba Canyon Lake Water Service Company) in Texas. To learn more about San Jose Water, visit: sjwater.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Some of these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “strategy,” or “anticipates,” or the negative of those words or other comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. The accuracy of such statements is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, but not limited to, the following factors: (1) the effect of water, utility, environmental and other governmental policies and regulations, including actions concerning rates, authorized return on equity, authorized capital structures, capital expenditures and other decisions; (2) changes in demand for water and other services; (3) the impact of the Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic on our business operation and financial results; (4) unanticipated weather conditions and changes in seasonality; (5) climate change and the effects thereof; (6) unexpected costs, charges or expenses, including but not limited to, droughts, and wildfires; (7) our ability to successfully evaluate investments in new business and growth initiatives; (8) the risk of work stoppages, strikes and other labor-related actions; (9) catastrophic events such as fires, earthquakes, explosions, floods, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, terrorist acts, physical attacks, cyber-attacks, or other similar occurrences; (10) changes in general economic, political, business and financial market conditions; (11) the ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, which can be affected by various factors, including credit ratings, changes in interest rates, compliance with regulatory requirements, compliance with the terms and conditions of our outstanding indebtedness, and general stock and debt market conditions; and (12) legislative and general market and economic developments.

In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and uncertainties that relate more broadly to our overall business, including those more fully described in SJW Group’s filings with the SEC, including the most recent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Contacts

Media
Liann Walborsky

Director of Corporate Communications

408-918-7247, Liann.Walborsky@sjwater.com