WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Mint has been recognized as one of the Top 100 organizations around the world that “exemplify the highest level of operational and strategic excellence” by CIO magazine.

CIO honors companies that “make the customer central to doing business and set the benchmarks for others to follow.”

The Mint is one of only three Federal government agencies, along with the Social Security Administration and Department of Veteran Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, to receive the 2000 CIO-100 Award. The Mint shares the award with companies well known for their customer service including Amazon.com, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, FedEx, Home Depot and Starbucks Coffee.

“We’re proud and honored to be selected as one of CIO magazine’s Top 100. We have been working to become the best in business with regard to our customer service —fulfilling orders in less time and maintaining a state-of-the-art on-line catalog at www.USMINT.gov. Receiving this award confirms we are committed to providing the highest level of customer service,” said Mint Director Jay W. Johnson. “This award,” said Johnson, “reflects the hard work of Mint CIO Jackie Fletcher and Associate Director of Numismatics David Pickens, and their staffs.”

According to Abbie Lundberg, CIO editor-in-chief, “Customer relationship management is a way for large organizations to gain the depth of understanding of their customers that comes naturally to smaller, local businesses. It helps them build customer satisfaction and loyalty, better focus marketing efforts, and significantly increase sales. However, while the promise of customer relationship management is tantalizing, it takes tremendous commitment to get there. This year’s CIO-100 honorees have demonstrated excellence in one or more of the critical areas of managing the customer relationship.”

Complete coverage of the 2000 CIO-100 Awards is featured in the August 15 issue of CIO magazine and at www.cio.com.

The U.S. Mint is a Fortune 500-size manufacturing and international marketing enterprise with an estimated $4.3 billion in revenue, $3.1 billion in profits, and more than 2,700 employees. In 2000, the U.S. Mint will strike 28 billion coins and sell, worldwide, over $400 million in collector and investment quality coins through mail order, Internet, wholesale, and retail channels.

For more information about the U.S. Mint and its initiatives, please visit the U.S. Mint’s website at www.usmint.gov.