Utility Automation & Engineering T&D - The Empire District Electric Co. announces changes in its board of directors

JOPLIN, Mo., Dec. 31, 2002 -- The Empire District Electric Co. Monday announced changes to its Board of Directors.

B. Thomas (Tom) Mueller has been appointed to fill the seat that will be vacant with the retirement of R. Dwain Hammons on December 31, 2002. Mueller's appointment becomes effective January 1, 2003. He will stand for election at the Company's Annual Meeting in April 2003. Hammons' retirement was announced in October.

In addition, D. Randy Laney has been nominated to stand for election in April 2003 for the seat now held by Jack R. Herschend who will retire from the Board on April 24, 2003. Herschend is Chairman emeritus and Co-Owner of Silver Dollar City, Inc. of Branson, Missouri, and has been a member of the Empire Board since 1994. Herschend has contributed immensely to the Board during his tenure through his thoughtful counsel and leadership and will be missed.

Mueller is the Founder and President of SALOV North America Corporation of Hackensack, New Jersey. SALOV North America Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of SALOV S.p.A., a privately owned Italian company. The subsidiary is a sales and marketing company for the Filippo Berio brand of olive oil, the second-largest brand in the United States. Mueller is a Co-Founder and former Chairman of the North American Olive Oil Association, an international association of olive oil producers and marketers.

Mueller previously held positions with KPMG Peat Marwick, New York, as an International Tax Partner; KMG Main Hurdman, National Office, as a Technical Tax Partner; Hurdman & Cranstoun, New York, as an International Tax Partner; and Farquhar & Heimbucher, San Francisco, as a Tax Supervisor. In these positions, he served as a tax advisor to a broad range of U.S. and foreign owned businesses, and as the tax engagement partner for audits of many publicly traded and privately owned multi-national companies. During this time, Mueller was a Certified Public Accountant in California and New York, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and of the State Bar of California.

Mueller graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He obtained a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in Palo Alto, California, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in New York, New York.

He brings to the Board his background and expertise as an accountant and financial consultant and as a consumer product entrepreneur.

Laney is Co-Founder and Chairman of Mercari Technologies of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Co-Founder and Partner in Bentonville Associates Ventures, Lowell, Arkansas. Mercari Technologies' collaborative merchandise solution, IntialLink, helps companies optimize retail space, integrate consumer behavior into assortment and category management decisions, collaborate with suppliers and consumers to achieve greater business performance, and become more responsive to the consumer market which the chain serves. Bentonville Associates Ventures provides consulting services to consumer product supply chain companies to assist them in the areas of category management, training, strategic planning, product management, marketing, purchasing, and performing due diligence for acquisitions, joint ventures and investments.

Laney has advised Llama Company, formerly of Fayetteville, Arkansas, a non-traditional investment banking company, and also co-founded Capital USA, Fayetteville, a company that supplied low-cost financing to companies supplying products to Wal-Mart. Laney has held positions as Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer with Flagstar Company, a $3 billion restaurant company; as President and CEO of Rally Hamburgers of Louisville, Kentucky, a double-drive-through hamburger chain; and several positions including Vice President of Finance and Treasurer with Wal-Mart Stores.

Laney received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Laney brings to the Board significant depth of knowledge of corporate finance and the capital markets, as well as experience working with boards of large and medium-sized organizations. He has a long distinguished career building businesses, providing critical corporate guidance and customer care.

Based in Joplin, Missouri, The Empire District Electric Company (NYSE:EDE - News) is an investor-owned utility providing electric service to approximately 152,000 customers in southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas, northeast Oklahoma, and northwest Arkansas. The Company also provides monitored security, decorative lighting and fiber optic service and has investments in wireless Internet service and close-tolerance custom manufacturing. Empire provides water service in three incorporated communities in Missouri.

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