Elster Collaborates with President Obama's Jobs Council in Raleigh, NC

RALEIGH, N.C., June 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Elster (NYSE: ELT) announced today that, at the invitation of the White House, Elster participated in President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness Listening and Action Session held today at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

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Mark Munday, executive vice president of Elster's North American electricity business and president of Elster Solutions, contributed to the invitation-only session with area business leaders focused on energy.

The session provided an opportunity to offer perspectives based on Elster's long-standing position as a top employer in the region, an innovative provider of Smart Grid systems solutions and a leading American manufacturer of meters for electricity, gas and water utilities.  

"Elster is proud to have participated in President Obama's Jobs Council session, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to help guide the Council's work in creating economic policies that support driving job creation in the United States," said Munday.

"Elster's electricity metering business has been part of Raleigh's economy for nearly 60 years and has helped to establish the region as a 'hub' of Smart Grid technology. With the modernization of the electric grid among the key initiatives for President Obama's administration, and the growing adoption of Smart Grid technology around the world, we expect the Council will gain tremendous value from its visit to Raleigh today," Munday added.

Today's meeting was the latest in a series of "listening and action" sessions designed by the Jobs Council in an effort to collect feedback from across the country and provide recommendations on future policy efforts. The Jobs Council itself, formed in January 2011, was created to help the United States become more competitive in the global economy and encourage economic and job growth. The Jobs Council is comprised of leaders from various sectors of the economy including the private sector, employers, workers and economists.

The listening and action session on energy which Mr. Munday participated in at NC State University was one of four separate meetings on key jobs creation topics that occurred in the Raleigh area on Monday morning. Following these sessions, President Obama met with his entire Jobs Council to learn about the issues and hear suggestions from the Raleigh community. Members of the President's Jobs Council who attended Mr. Munday's energy session included:

• Jeffrey Immelt, chair and CEO, GE and chair, Jobs Council
• Lewis Hay, chair and CEO, NextEra Energy Inc.
• Gary Kelly, chair, president and CEO, Southwest Airlines
• Brian Roberts chair and CEO, Comcast Corporation
• John Doerr, partner Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfied & Byers

In addition, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and U.S. Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina both participated in the session.  Randy Woodson, Chancellor of NC State, served as the event host.

About Elster

Elster (NYSE: ELT) is one of the world's largest electricity, gas and water measurement and control providers. Its offerings include distribution monitoring and control, advanced smart metering, demand response, networking and software solutions, and numerous related communications and services – key components for enabling consumer choice, operational efficiency and conservation. Its products and solutions are widely used by utilities in the traditional and emerging Smart Grid markets.  

Elster has one of the most extensive installed revenue measurement bases in the world, with more than 200 million metering devices deployed over the course of the last 10 years. It sells its products and services in more than 130 countries across electricity, gas, water and multi-utility applications for residential, commercial and industrial, and transmission and distribution applications.

For more information about Elster, please visit www.elster.com.

SOURCE Elster