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What better way to tell the 80-year history of Los Angeles headquartered Farmers(R) Insurance Group of Companies, than to hire award-winning, world-wide-known event designer and builder, Craig Parkinson. Parkinson was asked to design, build and fill a special Farmers Heritage Center to display eight decades of pictures, memorabilia, mementos, signs, film, publications, buttons, papers and oral histories for all past, present and future Farmers employees and agency force members to enjoy.

  (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080703/LATH012-b
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  (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080605/LATH062)

"Farmers CEO Paul N. Hopkins was the inspiration and driving force behind the Center," noted Doug Onyon, vice president of Farmers Corporate Communications. "Craig designed a facility which visually tells the story of how Farmers was founded and grew to be the third-largest property and casualty company in America today and number one in California."

"When I came on board October of 2007, I met with Doug who showed me 80-years worth of material collected over the years," Parkinson said. "I found the depth of the collection amazing. I worked with Tiffany Plunkett, project manager, and we made some startling finds in the course of compiling the exhibits. I came to appreciate the hard working, honest people that built Farmers. We even developed favorites that we insisted on telling their stories. At the end it was very satisfying to hear Doug say, 'You made insurance fun!'"

The Heritage Center is located at the University of Farmers, which is a 150,000-square-foot training facility in Agoura Hills, California, just northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The Center was dedicated by the Farmers Board of Governors on June 4th.

"The Center is truly a masterpiece, and tells our history in a way that makes it very easy to understand how Farmers has grown so significantly over the years," Onyon stated. "We are continuing that growth and future generations of Farmers people will add to our rich heritage."

Parkinson Profile

Parkinson has over 20 years' experience in the consumer products industry. He has developed mechanical and fabrication designs for museum exhibits including installations at the Getty Museum, Disneyland and the Huntington Library. He has also designed and managed construction and installation for custom trade fair exhibits worldwide, including Chile, Hong Kong, Argentina, Venezuela and numerous exhibits in the United States.

He also worked at Mattel, Inc. in El Segundo, California as a Senior Designer where he designed Barbie accessories and Barbie-themed electronic toys. He built custom displays for over 50 Mattel Toy Fairs worldwide.

"We are fortunate to have Craig on our team to fulfill the dream of displaying the Farmers story for the Farmers' family to enjoy in the future," concluded Onyon.

Farmers

Farmers Group, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Financial Services, an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia Pacific, Latin America and other markets. Farmers(R) is the nation's third-largest Personal Lines Property & Casualty insurance group. Property and casualty products are underwritten and issued by the Farmers Exchanges and their subsidiaries, which Farmers Group, Inc. manages but does not own. Headquartered in Los Angeles and doing business in 41 states, the Farmers insurers provide Homeowners, Auto, Business, Life insurance and financial services to more than 10 million households. For more information about Farmers, visit our Web site at http://www.farmers.com/.

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SOURCE: Farmers Group, Inc.