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Communities

Communities

Williams has a long-standing mission to be an exceptional neighbor in all of the communities where we have operations.

Our employees are encouraged to be involved with their local communities. They volunteer, donate money and serve on boards of countless on-profit organizations throughout the country.

While stakeholder engagement and community participation is part of the company’s culture, it is also formally included as a requirement that must be measured and documented in Williams’ Environmental, Health and Safety Management Framework, as well as in our regulatory compliance practices. In addition, groups within the company form meaningful relationships with stakeholders by participating on task forces, holding community meetings, volunteering in community activities and for non-profits.

Williams engages stakeholders regulatory through a variety of methods and communications channels – many of which are described more fully in the chart below
Stakeholder group Access points to Williams
Investors Earnings releases, SEC filings, investor teleconferences, analyst day meetings, investor relations contacts, annual shareholder meeting, annual report, proxy, Corporate Secretary contact listed  on our website
Employees Print, electronic and video communications, employee networking groups, town hall meetings with executive management, staff meetings, electronic employee newsletters, lunch and learn seminars, volunteer activities, surveys, formal reporting channels
Community Facility and rig tours, community meetings, open houses, public safety communications, phone hotlines to report problems or provide feedback, advertising, community relationships, philanthropic giving programs, surveys, focus groups
Customers Business relationships, electronic bulletin boards, customer newsletters, annual meetings  with management
Landowners/royalty owners Personal meetings, letters, access to company landmen, open houses, public meetings
Legislators and regulators Policy discussions, Political Action Committee, frequent meetings with national and state regulators, government affairs representatives, lobbyists, membership in trade associations, surveys
Non-governmental organizations Partnerships, reporting (e.g. Carbon Disclosure Project), research projects, philanthropic giving, surveys
News media, industry analysts News releases, website, phone calls, e-mail, interviews
Suppliers Commercial relationships, websites, request-for-proposal process
  
Williams also conducts specific programs to engage communities in our operations, in addition to open houses and community meetings prior to construction of new projects or expansions. For example, in the Piceance Basin, Williams conducted 39 rig tours during 2010, which gave 471 students, government officials, civic leaders and others a close up of our production operations. The company has also teamed up with other production companies in the area that provides a central phone number to local industry representatives when community members have questions in a program called Community Counts.

Public safety programs

Another important program is the company’s public education program about pipeline safety and awareness. 2010 was the sixth year of Williams program that is compliant, and exceeds, the requirements of the Department of Transportation’s RP-1162. Although there were a number of program improvements implemented in 2010, many focused on increasing the awareness of 811 – the number for excavators to call to locate pipelines.

Some actions implemented to address One Call awareness included adding the 811 logo to our LNG tank in Carlstadt, NJ, mailing out over 174,000 supplemental 811 post cards, distributing over 500 DVDs to schools, providing 1,500 decals to tool rental companies, and issuing a news release promoting 811 to local media.

Our online training for emergency responders indicates that it remains a popular supplemental tool as well, with 1,425 participants taking the training. The number of emergency officials indicating that they know the location of the nearest Williams pipeline in their community has increased significantly the past four years – from 33% in 2005 to 53% in 2010.

Public officials’ awareness of Williams’ pipelines remains high, yet has increased from 88% in 2005 to 98% in 2010. Based on a 2010 phone survey, 63% of excavators were aware of pipelines operating in their community. The percentage of public officials who indicated they knew how to contact Williams in the event of an emergency has increased from 65% in 2005 to 88% in 2010.

Philanthropic giving

Williams’ total charitable contributions for 2010 amounted to over $9.4 million, which includes in-kind contributions, multi-year commitments, college contributions and giving in the communities where we have operations.

In addition to our award-winning company-wide United Way campaigns, which donated $4.5 million dollars to approximately 200 communities in 2010, the company also has giving programs that are driven by employee involvement.