San Jose Water Announces Community Donations of $285k in 2020

SAN JOSE, Calif., – San Jose Water (“SJW” or “the Company”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SJW Group (NYSE: SJW), announced today that it donated $285,000 to local non-profits, community organizations, and other philanthropic entities in 2020, a 26% increase over 2019. Monetary donations are funded by Company shareholders.

Supporting local organizations with financial contributions and employee volunteer time are the foundation of the company’s ongoing commitment to improving quality of life in the communities it serves.

While the company was unable to provide in-person volunteerism during most of 2020 due to COVID-19, financial donations were increased to support organizations most affected by the pandemic, including homeless shelters, food banks and donations made to organizations in need of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Giving in 2020 also included donations to help promote racial equality and educational opportunities for disadvantaged groups. These include the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and San Jose Aspires, an educational initiative launched by the office of San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to support underserved San Jose high school students.

SJW continued its longstanding support of Happy Hollow Park & Zoo and the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.  At Happy Hallow Park & Zoo, SJW sponsored an important upgrade to the Pacific Fruit Express roller coaster. Once the park reopens, this promises to be a ride enjoyed by many children and parents for years to come. The Company also continued its support of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy as a sponsor of the Window on the River Park program.

In addition, San Jose Water supports employees’ efforts to give back to their communities through the San Jose Water Company Employees’ Community Fund.  This separate 501c3 organization leverages employee contributions along with the company match to support employees’ involvement with their local PTAs, churches, little league teams and other organizations.

In 2021, SJW intends to continue its support of non-profit organizations providing youth and educational enrichment activities, human health and services, and arts and cultural experiences.

“This past year was challenging and unprecedented on many levels. It was a time of elevated community need — with our goal being to provide increased support.  We believe there can be no company without community and remain steadfast in our commitment to making a positive impact on the health and wellness in the communities where we live, work and serve,” stated Andrew Gere, San Jose Water President and COO. “The great strides made in 2020 demonstrate this commitment along with our promise to deliver outstanding customer service and safe and reliable water service to the families and businesses we serve.”

Supplier Diversity

SJW is also committed to continuous improvement of its Supplier Diversity Program in which the company strives to work with Diverse Business Enterprises (DBEs) that reflect its community, including Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), Women-Owned Business Enterprises (WBE), Disabled Veteran Business Enterprises (DVBE) and Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) DBEs. Company purchases from DBEs grew from 13% of controllable expenditures in 2019 to 30% in 2020. 

Learn more about San Jose Water’s community giving.

About San Jose Water

Founded in 1866, San Jose Water is an investor owned public utility, and is one of the largest and most technically sophisticated urban water systems in the United States. The company serves over one million people in the greater San Jose metropolitan area. San Jose Water is owned by SJW Group, a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SJW. SJW Group also owns: Connecticut Water Company in Connecticut; Maine Water Company in Maine; and SJWTX, Inc. (dba Canyon Lake Water Service Company) in Texas. To learn more about San Jose Water, visit: hrfjk.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Some of these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “projects,” “strategy,” or “anticipates,” or the negative of those words or other comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. The accuracy of such statements is subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions including, but not limited to, the following factors: (1) the effect of water, utility, environmental and other governmental policies and regulations, including actions concerning rates, authorized return on equity, authorized capital structures, capital expenditures and other decisions; (2) changes in demand for water and other services; (3) the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on our business operation and financial results; (4) unanticipated weather conditions and changes in seasonality; (5) climate change and the effects thereof; (6) unexpected costs, charges or expenses; (7) our ability to successfully evaluate investments in new business and growth initiatives; (8) the risk of work stoppages, strikes and other labor-related actions; (9) catastrophic events such as fires, earthquakes, explosions, floods, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, terrorist acts, physical attacks, cyber-attacks, or other similar occurrences; (10) changes in general economic, political, business and financial market conditions; (11) the ability to obtain financing on favorable terms, which can be affected by various factors, including credit ratings, changes in interest rates, compliance with regulatory requirements, compliance with the terms and conditions of our outstanding indebtedness, and general stock and debt market conditions; and (12) legislative and general market and economic developments.

In addition, actual results are subject to other risks and uncertainties that relate more broadly to our overall business, including those more fully described in SJW Group’s filings with the SEC, including the most recent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and speak only as of the date made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Contacts

Investors

Suzy Papazian, SJW Group

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

408-279-7961, Suzy.Papazian@hrfjk.com

Media

Liann Walborsky

Director of Corporate Communications

408-918-7247, Liann.Walborsky@hrfjk.com