Penn National Insurance wins national technology awards

Business Wire, Oct 18, 2007

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Penn National Insurance has received several recent technology awards and has also been named among the top 100 Best Places to Work in IT in the United States, by Computerworld Magazine.

Awards

Ektron All Star award

Penn National Insurance won the Ektron All Star award for its corporate intranet site. Ektron wrote in its award announcement that the site "represents an innovative and effective implementation of CMS400.NET, Ektron's all-in-one application for creating, deploying and managing interactive web, intranet and extranet sites." The award comes on the heels of Penn National Insurance's achievement of Computerworld's Best Places to Work in IT award.

Chief Information Officer Bill Jenkins says, "The Computerworld award provides outside verification of what we've been striving to be - one of the nation's best places to work in IT, where we can attract and retain the best and brightest IT professionals. The Ektron All Star award, like the other awards we have earned, verifies that our best-and-brightest employees are producing the most innovative and effective IT results for their customers. I couldn't be more grateful to our outstanding staff of professionals."

Each year, All Star participants submit information detailing how Ektron's Web content management software has benefited their organizations. Criteria includes how the Ektron-powered websites meet business and technical goals, advance online strategies, better satisfy site visitors, produce tangible return on investment and support effective business processes. This year's winners were chosen from more than 150 nominations. For more information, visit www.ektron.com/allstar.> Penn National Insurance named among the Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT in the United States by Computerworld Magazine

Computerworld Magazine named Penn National Insurance one of the best places to work in IT in the United States, as part of its 2007 Best Places to Work in IT program. The company also received this honor in 2005. The Best Places program ranks the top 100 work environments for technology professionals, based on a comprehensive analysis of applicants' benefits, diversity, career development, training and retention, and results of an IT employee survey, with equal weight placed on each component. Details of the Computerworld Best Places to Work in IT program are on the Computerworld Web site, www.computerworld.com.

Chief information officer Bill Jenkins attributes the award to the high level of employee engagement engendered among IT staff, saying, "We keep our IT staff people directly connected to our strategic corporate operations. Our IT deliverables play a key role in our corporate strategy to be the regional carrier of choice for our agents. We believe we invest more in training than our peers invest, and that we offer our employees greater opportunities to see the direct connection between what they accomplish and the success of our organization."

Celent All Star Carrier award

Celent awarded its All Star Carrier honor to Penn National Insurance's new mobile computing system that allows the company's loss control and safety consultants to more effectively manage their work in the field. The All Star Award is granted to companies after judges ask themselves the following question, applied to various sales and service categories within the insurance industry: What would it look like for an insurance carrier to do everything right with today's technology? The Penn National Insurance mobile computing system for loss control and safety consultants allows those field staff members to gather data on tablet computers, including photos and handwritten notes, and uplink it to the company's systems using a wired or wireless Web connection. The system increased productivity by 20 percent. Celent is a research and advisory firm serving companies in the financial services industry.

About Penn National Insurance

Penn National Insurance (www.pennnationalinsurance.com) sells personal and commercial property-casualty insurance in PA, MD, DE, NJ, VA, NC, SC, TN, and AL, through a network of more than 750 independent agencies. The company wrote $579 million in premium in 2006, achieved net income of $39 million, and total assets of $1.3 billion. The company employs approximately 900 people, with its headquarters operation in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and regional underwriting and claims service offices throughout its sales and service territory.