HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES PRESIDENT AND CEO HONORED BY THE COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Sept. 14, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) announced today that its president and CEO, Mike Petters, received the 2017 Owen B. Butler Education Excellence Award. Petters was honored at the Committee for Economic Development’s Distinguished Performance Awards Dinner last night at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.

The Owen B. Butler Education Excellence Award was established in 2013 in honor of Brad Butler, former chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble and former chairman of the Committee for Economic Development (CED). The award recognizes an individual’s exceptional commitment to quality education, skills development and workforce development programs.

“Receiving an award named for Owen B. Butler, a name synonymous with commitment to early childhood education, is quite humbling,” Petters said. “I’m a strong believer that our national security is dependent on a well-educated populace. And the earlier we can formalize that education, the stronger our nation will be.”

In 2016, Petters established the HII Scholarship Fund to annually provide scholarships for children of its employees who are pursuing post-secondary college or technical/vocation degrees, or who are enrolled in pre-k school readiness programs. Petters declines his annual salary, but for $1, to fund the program. He and his family are also the sponsors of the class of 2014 at An Achievable Dream, a Newport News school dedicated to the belief that all children can learn and succeed regardless of their economic status.

Congratulations to HII President and CEO Mike Petters on receiving the Committee for Economic Development’s 2017 Owen B. Butler Education Excellence Award.

The Distinguished Performance Awards Program recognizes business leaders who have answered the call for leadership in their companies and the communities in which they operate. The CED believes when business becomes significantly involved in helping to solve key economic problems, it can have a long-term positive effect on society. Highlighting the outstanding work of our Distinguished Performance Awardees offers the business community strong examples they can follow.

Founded in 1942, the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board (CED) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization that delivers well-researched analysis and reasoned solutions to our nation’s most critical issues. CED’s work is grounded on seven core principles: sustainable capitalism, long-term economic growth, efficient fiscal and regulatory policy, competitive and open markets, a globally competitive workforce, equal economic opportunity, and nonpartisanship in the nation’s interest. View our latest research on sustainable capitalism, education, immigration, infrastructure, campaign finance, tax reform, and health care here: www.ced.org.