NAPERVILLE, Ill., Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- OfficeMax®, a leading provider in office supplies and services, is proud to announce that OfficeMax Chairman and CEO Sam Duncan is a recipient of the 2009 CEO Diversity Leadership Award presented by Diversity Best Practices, the pre-eminent organization for promoting diversity in the workplace. Duncan was honored along with seven other CEO winners at Diversity Best Practices' annual Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Summit & Gala held in Washington, D.C.

"I am honored to receive recognition for a program that fosters personal success through genuine opportunity," said Sam Duncan, Chairman and CEO of OfficeMax. "We have worked hard to put programs and practices in place to create a culture that honors, supports, and celebrates all talents and backgrounds. We are proud of the rich and diverse talent that is helping to make OfficeMax a top retailer and a great place to work."

Diversity Best Practices honored the executive leaders and their companies at the organization's annual Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Summit & Gala in Washington, D.C., on October 6, 2009. The celebration included the Gala Awards Dinner plus the CEO Forum, where winners answered questions and shared best practices on how CEOs embed diversity commitment and inclusion excellence throughout all levels of their companies. The honorable Arne Duncan, secretary for the United States department of education, presented the 2009 award to Sam Duncan.

"I am so proud of our 2009 awardees. These CEOs have shown a long-term commitment and deep passion for diversity that proves out through excellent corporate initiatives," says Carol Evans, who heads Diversity Best Practices. "Our honorees possess exemplary leadership traits and serve as role models to their communities and to our country. As we saw at our recent CEO Roundtable, the impact that a CEO has on a company's culture is enormous and is key to successful diversity and inclusion work."

OfficeMax promotes an inclusive culture that embraces the diversity of its associates, business partners and customers. Currently, there is a focused strategy to support our associates through training and mentoring programs as well as associate resource groups. OfficeMax supports eight associate resource groups, including the MochaMax (African American), YIP (Young Innovative Professionals), OWL (OfficeMax Women Leaders) LGBT Council, OLE (Hispanic and Latino), COPAA (Council of Pan-Asian Americans), MaxMoms (Parents), MaxAbilities (People with Disabilities) OfficeMax has also greatly enhanced its supplier diversity program and continues to develop business strategies that move the diversity and inclusion efforts into our community.

About Diversity Best Practices

Diversity Best Practices (DBP) (www.diversitybestpractices.com), based in Washington, D.C., is the pre-eminent organization for diversity-thought leaders to share best practices and develop innovative solutions for culture change. Through research, benchmarking, publications and events, DBP provides its members with valued resources, information and strategies on how to implement, grow, measure and create "first in class" diversity programs. Diversity Best Practices is part of Working Mother Media, which is a division of Bonnier Corporation.

For more information on the 2009 Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Summit & Gala and the CEO Forum, visit www.diversitybestpractices.com.

About OfficeMax

OfficeMax Incorporated (NYSE: OMX) is a leader in both business-to- business office products solutions and retail office products. The OfficeMax mission is simple. We help our customers do their best work. The company provides office supplies and paper, in-store print and document services through OfficeMax ImPress®, technology products and solutions, and furniture to consumers and to large, medium and small businesses. OfficeMax customers are served by more than 30,000 associates through direct sales, catalogs, e-commerce and more than 1,000 stores. To find the nearest OfficeMax, call 1-877-OFFICEMAX. For more information, visit http://www.officemax.com/.

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SOURCE OfficeMax