National Urban League and Nationwide create agent recruiting program
Initiative to help expand candidate pool of diverse agents
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 17, 2006
Contacts:
Nationwide
Bob Cunningham
(614) 249-3091
cunninb1@nationwide.com
National Urban League
Ricky Clemons
(212) 558-5371
srclemons@nul.org
Atlanta, Georgia, October 17, 2006 — The National Urban League today announced a joint effort with Nationwide Insurance to launch a new agent recruiting initiative to help expand the number of diverse Nationwide agents.
“This recruiting effort aligns with our focus on economic empowerment, particularly in minority communities, said Marc H Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League. “We know recruitment and training are critical components to assuring agent success in this endeavor. We are pleased to join Nationwide in making this commitment to diverse communities.”
The national recruiting initiative will be launched in seven cities: Los Angeles, CA; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; Atlanta, GA; Jacksonville; FL; Kansas City, MO; and Dallas, Texas. A key component of the new initiative is the role of the National Urban League. The organization will serve as a resource for Nationwide in recruiting and identifying potential candidates to become Nationwide agents.
“This initiative supports our objective to further enhance the diversity of our customers and agents, while expanding our sales force to meet the insurance and financial service needs of all consumers,” said Steve Rasmussen, President and COO, Property and Casualty Insurance Operations, Nationwide Insurance. “We believe this initiative will assist our current activities to increase the diversity of our agents and producers and leverage our capability to help us acquire and retain more diverse consumers.”
The National Urban League will use its proven resources to assist with the recruitment, training and mentoring of talented individuals interested in the growing insurance industry. Insurance agents play a critical role as entrepreneurs, trusted advisors and professionals committed to their communities.
Nationwide and NUL will work together to create a streamlined procedure to gather information on candidates and move these candidates through a pre-screening process. NUL will drive candidates to a web-based application that will deliver information as well as offering database, tracking, and screening capabilities.
Persons interested in more information may go the web sites of either organization or call
the offices of Marvin Owens, National Urban League, Vice President-Economic Empowerment, at (212) 558-5440 or Martin Hynes, Nationwide, Vice President Agency Development, at (614) 249-8065.
Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the world, with more than $158 billion in assets. Nationwide ranks #98 on the Fortune 100 list. The company provides a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, life, commercial insurance, administrative services, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, pensions and long-term savings plans. The Nationwide companies include the country’s seventh-largest property/casualty, the fourth-largest homeowners, the sixth-largest auto insurance group and the country’s largest farm owners insurer. Nationwide Life Insurance Company, the major subsidiary of Nationwide Financial, ranks 11th in assets according to A.M. Best. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com.
Nationwide and the Nationwide Framemark are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. On Your Side is a service mark of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
National Urban League (www.nul.org) Established in 1910, The Urban League is the nation's oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. Today, the National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the non-partisan efforts of its local affiliates. There are over 100 local affiliates of the National Urban League located in 35 states and the District of Columbia providing direct services to more than 2 million people nationwide through programs, advocacy and research.
