W.R. Timken, Jr. Named Honorary Citizen of Colmar, France

W.R. Timken, Jr., chairman of The Timken Company, has been named an honorary citizen by the city of Colmar, France. He received the title of Citizen of Honor from Gilbert Meyer, Member of Parliament and Mayor of Colmar during a ceremony on Monday evening, December 8, 2003 at the Municipal Theater in Colmar. Nearly 70 people representing local and regional governments as well as the business community attended the ceremony. The title was awarded in recognition of Mr. Timken's lifetime contributions to the Colmar community. Mr. Timken recently announced his retirement as an executive of The Timken Company effective Dec. 31, 2003. He will continue to serve as chairman of the board of directors. Mr. Timken said, "This is an exceptional honor. I moved here in 1965 and spent one year discovering the charm of Colmar. Since then, I have returned nearly every year and the city is now a second home to me. This has also been a good location for The Timken Company. We are proud of our operations here, proud of the employees and proud to be part of the Colmar community." In 1991, Mr. Timken was awarded the Legion of Honor, one of the highest recognitions by the Government of France for Timken's outstanding contributions to French industry. Close to the German and Swiss borders, Colmar is home to the European headquarters of The Timken Company. The picturesque town, with its century-old, beautiful half-timbered houses, offers excellent access to the European markets on either side of the Rhine River. The Timken Colmar site employs 1,000 people. The manufacturing plant was built in 1960 and today provides high value bearings to European automotive and agricultural equipment manufacturers. In 2001, the company built a new technology center at the Colmar location to expand the company's global research and development network.