FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2000

CONTACT: Robert D. Schettler (760)339-9018

El Centro - Imperial Irrigation District General Manager Jesse Silva and the Board of Directors recognized the District's Human Resources and Training Services teams Tuesday as July's Team of the Month for their work in converting and implementing the District's new SAP computer software system.

The teams played a major role in the project, which was implemented to prepare the District for deregulation, water marketing, improved operations management and Y2K.

"It was a tremendous task," said Marcy Rivera, Human Resources team leader and employment and compensation supervisor. "It was a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice, but our team did an excellent job."

Converting information from the AS400 system to the new system took a considerable amount of coordination among many teams, she said, as much of the data affected other SAP modules.

The groups are subteams of the SAP Implementation Team, which was made up of members from various departments. The District honored other subteams earlier this year.

"The implementation is expected to cut costs by providing access to integrated data across all business areas, enabling more informed business management decisions," Silva said. The software will eliminate redundant data in multiple computer systems and be flexible enough to meet the industry-specific water and power needs of the future.

Team members spent many evenings and weekends working extra hours to complete the conversion on time.

The July Team of the Month includes Cyndy Butler, Sally Butler, Maria Caldera, Rosemary Cooper, Rosa Dominguez, Marcy Feuerstein, Rick Johnson, Susana Lopez, Alicia Medina, Marcy Rivera, Martha Romero and Jazmin Wong-Delgado.