Airgas Presents Carol Bayles With Annual Scott Melman Award.

RADNOR, Pa. -- Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG) today presented its fifth annual Scott Melman Award to Carol Bayles, director of administrative services for Airgas Northern California & Nevada, one of 13 regional companies within Airgas.

The annual award is named for Scott M. Melman, former chief financial officer of Airgas, Inc., who died in 2001. According to the award's inscription, it honors "Airgas employees who exhibit the qualities we remember in Scott M. Melman: Professionalism, perseverance, enthusiasm, energy, a sense of honor, and the courage to speak up and make a difference."

"Through Carol's professionalism and perseverance, she has built a small team within her region that is dedicated to ensuring that her colleagues in 43 branches have the resources to provide superior service to our customers," said Airgas Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Peter McCausland.

"She leads a team that not only provides routine support functions of data entry, account maintenance and collections, it also has taken on responsibility for helping the branches plan their daily workloads through centralized ticket selection and to keep track of their cylinder inventories through centralized dock stock administration," said McCausland. "In addition to handing these support functions for her region, Carol has participated in several corporate-wide initiatives to improve accounts receivables and order entry, to help her region manage the data conversion for several major acquisitions."

"In her mind, doing it right the first time and every time is the only option," noted Jim McCarthy, president of Airgas NCN, who nominated Bayles for the honor. "Carol exudes integrity and always has the courage to speak her mind and make a difference for the benefit of the company."

Bayles first joined Airgas in 1993 as an assistant controller for Sierra Airgas, one of the hub companies that combined to form Airgas NCN headquartered in Sacramento, CA. As the region and her responsibilities grew, she began to develop and lead a central Administrative Services team that provides the region's 43 branches with support services. She has served as director of the team since 1998.

About Airgas, Inc.

Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG), through its subsidiaries, is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical, and specialty gases, and related hardgoods, such as welding equipment and supplies. Airgas is also the third-largest U.S. distributor of safety products, the largest U.S. producer of nitrous oxide and dry ice, the largest liquid carbon dioxide producer in the Southeast, and a leading distributor of process chemicals, refrigerants and ammonia products. Its 10,000 employees work in about 900 locations including branches, retail stores, gas fill plants, specialty gas labs, production facilities and distribution centers. Airgas also distributes its products and services through eBusiness, catalog and telesales channels. Its national scale and strong local presence offer a competitive edge to its diversified customer base. For more information, please visit www.airgas.com.