By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland
July 12, 2004

Conference immediate past-President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner announced on June 27 that Duane Meek, President of Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS), a Platinum Member of the United States Conference of Mayors, will be leaving his current post to take over as president of Nationwide Retirement Plans.

For many years, Meek has worked diligently with the Conference to make the deferred compensation program an industry leader and the best and largest deferred compensation program for public employees. To date, this program has benefited public employees in more than 4,000 cities across the United States. It is through Meek's successful leadership that NRS has reaffirmed its position as the industry leader in the government sector retirement plan business.

As president of Nationwide Retirement Plans, Meek will work in an area including both the public and private sector retirement sectors. In this expanded role, Meek will continue to be actively involved with NRS. In addition , Meek will be responsible for the 401(k) lines of business.

In a tribute to Meek, Garner, then-Vice President Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, and Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran presented Meek with a special gift, recognizing his years of service for quality retirement for public employees. Meek accepted the tribute, thanking mayors for working hard with Nationwide to make the deferred compensation programming the best and largest in the country. He reaffirmed his commitment to continue working with the mayors to ensure the continued success of the NRS partnership and to aid in Nationwide's ongoing commitment to education, the key to successful retirement planning. He then took a moment to introduce his successor as president for NRS, Matt Riebel.

Riebel comes from Nationwide's Financial Institutions business, a business noted for its strong focus on the customer and an exceptional service-oriented model. Riebel has an extensive background in the public sector, nonprofit and bank arenas that will serve to continue and progressively reinforce NRS's long-term success. Riebel assured the mayors of his commitment to them, their employees and the Conference partnership. He promised a smooth transition, continuing the positive growth of the USCM/NRS partnership that has occurred under Meek's leadership.