By Jeannie Fanning
November 22, 2010

Every year, Nationwide Retirement Solutions (NRS), in connection with its partnership with The U.S. Conference of Mayors, plays an active role at the annual National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDCA) Conference, held this fall in Philadelphia. The NAGDCA Conference focuses on 457 deferred compensation plans. Conference of Mayors Second Vice President Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter addressed attendees to the event, including Anne Arvia, president of NRS, as well as many key NRS staff and Conference of Mayors representatives Jeff Bean and Jeannie Fanning.

Nutter's welcome to the Conference came with a personal thanks to conference participants for their charitable contribution to Philadelphia's youth. Nutter expressed his gratitude to NRS, and said the representative's volunteer work showcases the social responsibility NRS carries for cities. He also lauded NRS and the Conference of Mayors on its 30-plus year relationship and for the benefits their relationship and hard work has meant in the lives of so many public employees.

NRS was again the sponsor of the meeting's community service project, which benefited the Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia. With the help of a donation from Nationwide Corporate Citizenship, over 45 NRS associates and other conference attendees lent a hand to assemble 20 children's bikes and 15 library-quality bookcases for area youth.

The spirit of giving back continued throughout the meeting as all participants were encouraged to follow the theme, "Supporting Philadelphia's Youth," by bringing new children's books to the reception. The bookcases assembled earlier in the day were used to decorate the opening reception and by the end of the evening over 250 donated books filled the bookcases.

The community youth efforts concluded at the Nationwide Client Appreciation Dinner, where city representatives and other guests enjoyed tables adorned with boxing gloves as centerpieces, which were later donated to the Joe Hand Boxing Gym. This local gym opened in 1995 to provide a safe place for Philadelphia's youth to come and hone their skills in boxing or to spend time learning about computers. To date, this non-profit gym has touched the lives of nearly 800 children. During the dinner, guests listened to original works written by three young poets trained in the Philly Youth Poetry Movement (PYPM), another wonderful Philadelphia group dedicated to inspiring teens to use the power of their own voices.

The 2010 Leadership Recognition Awards Ceremony was another high point of the event, where eight NRS clients took home awards for "outstanding achievements in effective communication, plan design and administration" and great National Save for Retirement Week promotional efforts. The marketing materials, information, and representative access available through NRS helped to make these achievements possible. The Conference of Mayors is proud of the 30-plus year relationship with NRS in offering deferred compensation to city employees.

NRS and the Conference of Mayors worked with Nutter's office to plan meaningful community projects which would benefit Philadelphia's youth, and all felt that goal was met.

To find out more about the NRS/USCM Deferred Compensation Plan, contact Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251 or kweyland@usmayors.org, or Jeff Bean at 202-446-8140 or jbean@usmayors.org.