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Benefit Planning Services, LLC

Local Healthcare Experts Reveal Ways That Businesses Can Reduce Costs

-- Guidance on Cost Control Offered by Benefit Planning Services LLC and Other Healthcare Organizations --

Norwalk, Conn., January 12, 2010 — Fairfield County businesses struggling to pay high health insurance premiums for their employees will learn what drives healthcare costs at a special forum at Norwalk Community College from 5:30–8:30 p.m. on January 26, 2010.

At the forum, a panel of healthcare experts will provide information on the financial aspects of delivering and managing healthcare and will then answer questions from the audience.

Ruben A. Nogueira, Partner at Benefit Planning Services LLC of Norwalk, Conn., will participate in the panel. He will speak about the hidden costs affecting health insurance premiums in the state.

"Connecticut employers contribute one of the highest amounts in the nation toward health insurance premiums for employees and their families," Nogueira said. "Yet reducing benefits is unthinkable, because then businesses would lose talented executives and workers. However, businesses can apply several creative strategies to cut costs and still provide excellent healthcare coverage."

Nogueira will be joined by the president of the Fairfield County Medical Association, the CEO of ConnectiCare, the director of health of the Norwalk Health Department, the chief financial officer of Norwalk Hospital, and the president of Devine Bros. Inc., a local business. Tom Appleby of News 12 Connecticut will moderate the discussion.

Business leaders and members of the public who attend the forum will learn about options that can bring healthcare expenses under control.

"They will have an opportunity to pick the brains of highly experienced professionals from the healthcare industry," Nogueira said. "They will receive well-informed and actionable answers."

The forum, organized by the Leadership Institute of the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, is open to the public free of charge.

More information about the forum can be obtained by calling Benefit Planning Services at 800.378.7526.

About Benefit Planning Services, LLC:

Since 1980, Benefit Planning Services has been helping businesses throughout the Tri-State area find the best and most cost-effective insurance coverage for their employees. The company is based in Norwalk, Conn., and has relationships with all the top-rated insurance carriers in the country. As an independent agency, Benefit Planning Services is free to choose the policies that best fit the needs of each client company, without being limited to any single insurance company’s products and services.

For more information, please visit www.bpsllc.com.

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Kuraray America Inc.

Packaging Converters Gain Greater Control and Reliability During Trials Following Upgrade of EVAL Americas’ 7-Layer Blown Film Lab Line

PASADENA, Texas, July 13, 2009 --As packaging film structures grow more complex and cost pressures on converters mount, the need for better control, reliability and predictability during trials grows stronger. To help meet this need, EVAL Americas recently completed a major upgrade of the Brampton Engineering 7-layer blown-film lab line at its Kuraray Research and Technical Center in Pasadena, TX.

The upgrade included adding Brampton's ITALYCS® 4 (Integrated Temperature And Line Yield Control System) and new drives and motors to the labline, at an investment of nearly $150,000.

As a result of the upgrade, EVAL Americas' customers enjoy greater reliability and new capabilities to record process conditions during trials.

"Converters who use our lab line save significant amounts of development time and cost," said Robert Armstrong, EVAL Americas' Director of Technical Service. "This line can produce up to a dozen different film structures per day. Customers are able to accomplish multiple tests of different materials in a short period of time with far greater precision than in the past. Further, they can be confident in using process data from trials during scale-up."

The custom Brampton 7-layer line has been in service at EVAL Americas for the past 10 years. In addition to running trials, the company uses the line in annual training seminars for its Latin American customers. "These customers will benefit by learning on the latest control systems that the industry has to offer," Armstrong said.

He continued: "The Brampton line is now ready for further development of new packaging materials for our customers' and our own applications. Upgrading the system allows for the continued use of this versatile line for customer trials and training in the art and science of coextrusion."

About EVAL Americas Inc.:

EVAL Americas manufactures and markets the world's largest range of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymer resins in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central and South America. EVAL™ resins are characterized by their outstanding gas barrier properties; resistance to solvents, chemicals and hydrocarbons; and excellent barrier to odor and flavor permeation. These unique polymers are particularly suited for food, medical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural and industrial packaging as well as automotive applications.

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The Realization of Art

A Stamford, Conn., newspaper published this release word-for-word.

Jenna Lash's Paintings of Money on Display at the Sackler Gallery

-- Currency Reflects Country’s Identity --

Art and commerce unite in a series of unusual paintings now on display at the Sackler Gallery of the Palace Theater.

Titled "Currency," the exhibition features 13 paintings by monetary artist Jenna Lash that depict a rethinking of the traditional look of money. The exhibition runs through Dec. 28, 2006.

The oil-on-canvas works focus on the faces of national figures on notes such as the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen, the Israeli shekel and the British pound. Their size, colors and style turn the viewer’s attention away from the formal context of money to its social, political and cultural significance. The canvases range from 40 inches wide by 32 inches high, to 8 feet wide by 10 feet high. Most measure 4 feet by 5 feet.

"I am fascinated by currency," said Lash. "A country’s money reflects its identity. My paintings of international currency lead people to consider each note as a symbol of the country’s self-image and its system of barter."

Lash's paintings are collected by currency traders, hedge-fund operators, brokerage companies, accounting firms and corporate executives.

"Jenna Lash's works are of feeling as much as paintings of the external world, and as such breathe a fineness and sensitivity not often found in contemporary visual arts," said Robert Kirsch, former professor of art history at Columbia University and a noted art critic.

The Sackler Gallery is located in the Palace Theater, 61 Atlantic Street. It is open weekdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on weekends from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

About Jenna Lash:
Lash is an artist whose aesthetic exploration focuses on money. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut and a Master of Arts from New York University. She has also studied at the American Academy of Rome. A veteran of solo shows and juried exhibitions, Lash has won many awards, including a first prize at the Westchester Beaux Arts Finale. Lash grew up near Hartford, and now lives in northern Westchester County.

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e2Value, Inc.

e2Value, Inc. Introduces Annual "Prevedere Award" Honoring Courage in Insurance Industry

-- Steve Arcia of Fireman's Fund is First Winner --

Stamford, CT, December 4, 2007 -- e2Value Inc. today presented its inaugural Prevedere Award to Steve Arcia, recently retired director of residential services of Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.

Stamford-based e2Value, a leading provider of insurance-to-value Internet applications, established the annual award this year to recognize insurance-industry executives who demonstrate foresight, leadership, vision and courage in their work. Winners receive a commemorative plaque and statuette.

Todd Rissel, chairman and CEO of e2Value, Inc., explained the origin of the award. "'Prevedere' is Italian for 'foresight,'" he said. "It is a verb, and I consider the prize an action-oriented award and distinction.

"The term is also slang for 'see you next time,'" he added, "which is apt because this will be a recurring tribute, bestowed every November. And I know our industry will feel the impact of each winner as he or she is sure to be an exceptional person who helped constructively shape the insurance business over the years."

Accepting the award, Arcia said he was honored to be the first Prevedere Award recipient. "It is easy to keep the status quo and hard to make real changes," he said. "When we chose to work with e2Value several years ago it was then a risk. At the time, the company had few customers and a limited track record. But in insurance, you calculate the risk and plan for it, and in this case the risk surely paid off. e2Value has evolved into a true leader in property valuation services and is an exceptional company."

Arcia worked with the Fireman’s Fund team to ensure its business needs would be met as he led the charge to incorporate e2Value’s EVS™ insurance-to-value tool into Fireman's high-end home insurance program.

"Steve's vision paid off," Rissel said. "He protected the Fireman’s Fund image and business while integrating a new technology that he believed was necessary to make the Residential Consultant program more competitive. And he succeeded."

Rissel continued: "Steve demonstrated his ability to lead, to create a bold vision of the future and to analyze risk and eliminate it. These qualities make him a worthy first recipient of the Prevedere Award."

About e2Value, Inc.:

e2Value, Inc. is a full-service application development, insurance consulting, strategic technology partner and provider, offering products to assist with Insurance-To-Value (ITV) and workflow solutions. Founded in 1999 by former insurance executives and based in Stamford, Conn., e2Value is the leading hosted application provider delivering replacement cost valuations over the Web for all residential, commercial and farm and ranch properties in the United States and Canada. The company offers full-featured, knowledge-based Internet applications for insurance, real estate and banking professionals that enable consistency and standardization of pricing, processes and procedures. e2Value provides a tool that tracks through the entire sales, valuation, and final claim process via an application that maximizes the latest available technology, and provides quick and easy updates without a significant investment in software or infrastructure. Its customers range from the world's leading insurance companies to one-person insurance agencies, as well as banks, property appraisers and risk managers. For more information, visit www.e2value.com, or contact sales@e2value.com, or call 888-371-2788.

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