Four Teams In Competition For Company's Top Innovation Award

Fourteen Bell Helicopter employees have been named winners of the 2010 Lawrence D. Bell Pioneer Award. With this recognition, four Bell teams are advancing to the final stage of the Chairman's Award for Innovation, an internal Textron competition honoring innovators whose exemplary innovations have led to significant improvements and contributed directly to Bell and Textron's growth, globalization, profitability or competitive position.

Winning team innovation projects and categories include:

• Productivity: "Compression Molded Carbon Epoxy (CMC) for Low Cost Composite Parts" - Anthony Bergerson, Daniel Burns, John Rogus, Paul Russell and Robert Chris
• Service: "On Aircraft Repair of Complex Shaped Composite Components with Contaminants" - Eric Nottorf, Denver Whitworth, Vance Cribb
• Innovation: "Tooling Center Lap Machine" - Monte Smith, Richard Pae, Royce Moore, Stephen Stalnaker
• Growth: "Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) Helicopter Integration and Infrastructure Development" - William Fulton, Jonathan Silvester

The four team finalists were honored at the Lawrence D. Bell Awards ceremony on Oct. 20 at the Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth. The teams each received a trophy, $500 cash and the chance to compete against eight other Textron business units for the Textron-wide Chairman's Award for Innovation, which will be announced in November.

The Lawrence D. Bell Pioneer Award and the Textron-wide Chairman's Award for Innovation recognize and reward employees whose exemplary innovations have led to significant and measurable improvements in products, technology or business practices and contributed directly to Bell and Textron's growth, globalization, profitability or competitive position.

"We are very proud that four of our Bell Helicopter teams are advancing in competition for the Chairman's Awards," said John L. Garrison, president and chief executive officer. "Bell Helicopters has had a strong legacy of innovation and engineering excellence and these teams keep with that tradition."

Seventy-one Chairman's Award nominations from across Bell Helicopter were submitted for work performed between January 2009 and June 2010 in the categories of innovation, growth, productivity and service. Nine finalists were selected and received a certificate of recognition. Each Textron business unit submits four finalists, one from each category, to the Textron Enterprise Review Committee for final review and consideration. The committee will then choose a winner from each category to receive the Chairman's Award for Innovation.

Chairman's Award winners each receive $10,000 and a trip for them and their families to the Textron Global Leadership meeting Jan. 4 in Orlando, FL. The Chairman's Award for Innovation continues to be an important program as Bell and Textron remains committed to growing the company by developing ground-breaking technologies and finding creative ways to meet customers' needs. It supports smart risk taking, simplified processes, speed in daily work activities, organic growth and focus on the customer - in addition to innovation.

FMI: www.bellhelicopter.com