By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
February 1, 2010

Conference of Mayors President Burnsville (MN) Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz, introduced Anne Arvia, the new president and COO of Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS) at the 78th Winter Meeting. The United States Conference of Mayors, through its relationship with NRS has helped public'sector employees prepare for and live in retirement since 1979. "In that time, we've helped close to 4,000 cities, municipalities, towns, and special districts establish workplace savings programs for their associates, and we've started more than 320,000 workers on a path toward a more secure retirement," Arvia said, addressing the Thursday Plenary session.

Arvia gave a brief history of the 30-year journey the Conference of Mayors and NRS have taken establishing a workplace savings program specifically designed for city workers and made a commitment to the session, which included Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran, to foster the relationship, saying, "As the administrator for the USCM Deferred Compensation program, we are working harder than ever to reach out to city workers with the resources and information they need to make prudent financial decisions today, to help ensure they can feel more confident about their financial picture tomorrow."

The celebration continued into the Friday Plenary session where Kautz and NRS Vice-President of Strategic Relationships Louie Watson exchanged awards commemorating the 30-year relationship. Kautz noted, "nationwide's extensive knowledge of public sector retirement plans, leadership in the 457 deferred compensation area, and ability to offer a number of tools to educate city officials and their employees makes Nationwide the best in the industry." Watson focused on the expansion of the relationship from the early days after the creation of IRC section 457(b) specifically for government workers. "Together we formed a partnership and established the USCM Deferred compensation program for cities and since the beginning the partnership has grown significantly," he said. "In March 1979, 16 cities made the choice to offer the USCM program for city workers. Those 16 cities are still in the program today," Watson added. Thousands of cities have adopted the plan and in all that time, USCM and NRS have maintained a fundamental commitment to helping city workers prepare for their financial future.

For more information about how the USCM deferred compensation program can help your city's employees, contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland by email at kweyland@usmayors.org or Louie Watson, by e-mail WatsonL2@Nationwide.com or visit the website at NRSforU.com.

As President of Nationwide Bank, Arvia spearheaded a strategy that accumulated more than $2.7 billion in assets in just two years, using parent company Nationwide Mutual to leverage existing customer relationships across the insurance and financial services businesses. With a strong brand behind her, Arvia also attracted new customers using capital strength and liquidity. She was handpicked for the retirement plans leadership position in September 2009, after William Jackson, the business' former head, announced his retirement. Arvia assumed her new role as president and COO of Retirement Plans on November 1, 2009. She joined Nationwide in 2006 after 15 years with ShoreBank, America's first lending and community development bank, where she served as the president and CEO.

Her leadership was most recently recognized by US Banker, which just last week named her one of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Banking," a recognition she also received in 2005. Arvia was featured as one of the "100 Most Influential Women" by Crain's Chicago Business and was named to the publication's "Forty Under 40." She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from Michigan State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Speaking at the Winter meeting Plenary session, Anne said, "I am personally committed to fostering our relationship with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and I am confident that our associates are among the most dedicated and conscientious people in the industry ­— from our field representatives who work directly with your workers, to Louie Watson who works closely with the USCM Leadership team as well as many of you, to continually build on the success of the program."