To Our Shareholders, Customers, Associates and Friends:

In this space last year, I wrote that we were keeping a “weather eye on the U.S. economy.” The storm that hit was bigger than anybody could have predicted, which is why I’m prouder than ever of our company’s performance.

Even after the economy dropped off a cliff in the second half of the year, our value proposition and dedicated associates came to the fore and we posted another year of record earnings and increased sales, with record operating cash flow to boot.

This shouldn’t surprise anybody familiar with our company. Over the past three decades, Airgas has grown from a $4 million company to a $4 billion leader in the packaged gas industry. It hasn’t always been easy, but we have a history of moving forward in boom or bust times, and our long-term view of the business has always served us well.

As I write this, in June 2009, we don’t yet see the light at the end of the economic tunnel. Business conditions in the U.S. industrial economy are still dreary, demand levels for some of our products remain low and there’s no guarantee that it will turn around next month or next year.

Still, none of that will deter us from pushing forward and pursuing the best available growth opportunities. That’s the Airgas way.