For Immediate Release
	Editorial Contact: Jeff Cannon  Sr. Vice President, Planning and Business Development Diamond V Mills, Inc. 800.373.7234  or Mike Opperman Charleston|Orwig, Inc. 262.563.5100 Email:  mopperman@charlestonorwig.com

Diamond V 2007 Howard Hall Excellence 
in Business Award

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (September 27, 2007)—The eighth annual Howard Hall Excellence in Business Award was recently bestowed upon Diamond V^® Mills in the category of “International Business.” Each year the award is presented to one company in the Cedar Rapids area that exemplifies outstanding and enduring business values that create a better economy and community.

“I was honored to accept the award on behalf of Diamond V,” said John Bloomhall, company president and grandson of Diamond V’s founder.  “It is the great people in Diamond V around the world who have earned this honor by the pride and passion they demonstrate in what they do everyday.  These people are the heartbeat of our company and the reason I had the privilege to accept this award on their behalf.”  

The annual award is given in the memory of Howard Hall, a Cedar Rapids industrialist and philanthropist who used his influence to create a better economy and community. Each year the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber honors a different category of business that exemplifies the same values that Howard Hall exhibited in his own business.

The first seven recipients of this top honor were: Alliant Energy in 2000, in the class of international business; Quaker Oats in 2001, for excellence in agribusiness; JC Penney in the retail category in 2002; Justice Electric as a longtime, family-owned business in 2003; Mary Quass as a local woman with entrepreneurial roots in 2004; Cedar Graphics in the category of diversity in business in 2005 and last year, Worley Warehousing, Incorporated in the entrepreneurial category.

Diamond V Mills was founded 64 years ago in Cedar Rapids by C. W. Bloomhall, and is led today by his grandson, John Bloomhall. Diamond V is a global marketing company that currently employs 161 employees on three continents. Employment has increased 151% in the past 18 years at the Cedar Rapids headquarters alone.

Diamond V Mills is the world’s leading manufacturer and marketer of fermented products used to optimize the palatability and digestibility of feeds for all types of animals. Diamond V Mills is an American-owned and operated company; its products are manufactured through the company’s proprietary DiaMatrix Technology™ at headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and are used in feeds for dairy, swine, beef, horses, poultry, pets and aquaculture.  For more information, contact Diamond V Mills at 800-373-7234, or on the Web at www.diamondv.com.

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